Downton Abbey, Season 1: Wonderful. Marvelous. Loved it. Just the right balance between upstairs and downstairs, meanness and kindness, love and hate. Could there be a better man than Lord Grantham? Could there be a finer love than Anna and Bates? Could anyone throw a barb like Maggie Smith?
Downton Abbey, Season 2: Started out wonderful. Started out marvelous. Started out with the right balance ... well, you get the picture. But many of the characters seemed to become caricatures. (I'm talking about you, Mrs. Crawley--get that chip off your shoulder!) The couple we loved to love got screwed by the couple we love to hate. Lord Grantham almost has an affair??? And don't even get me started on Daisy and William.
Downton Abbey, Season 3: Started out OK. Matthew and Mary's wedding? I'm in. Shirley MacLaine as a more tart Maggie Smith? I'll watch that. But this situation with Mr. Bates must be rectified. Mary has to be less bitchy--and Matthew must stop being so self-righteous (more caricatures). The creators *must* stop treating Edith so badly. And how is it that Lord Grantham has become such an idiot. He can't manage money, he can't manage Downton, he can't even manage ... well, I'll resist the urge to say lest I spoil episode 4 for those of you who haven't watched it.
But if you've been reading Love Talk, and if you're caught up on Downton, then you know why I'm writing a blog post.
Lexie Grey.
That's right. Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, has apparently graduated from the Shonda Rhimes School for Killing People (or Giving Them Illnesses) for No Good Reason.
I didn't really care when he killed poor Mr. Pamuk. He's on a new show now anyway. Vera Bates? Rest in hell, bitch. William? Really, I didn't care about him. (No offense, William.) And I know they wanted to have Mary and Matthew together, but what did poor Lavinia ever do to anyone that they had to kill her? But this latest death? (Which again, I will not mention for anyone who's not caught up.) NO REASON FOR IT. STUPID. NO NEED. WTF? And I also don't want to spoil what's going on downstairs, but let me just say that I don't believe for a second that the person who had an illness scare earlier in the season is not actually ill.
So I once again am suffering from Lexie Grey-itis. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. Take that, television.
OK. That's enough for this week. I have to go watch Glee now.
