Like millions on both sides of the pond, I've been glued to the entail*-that-launched-a-thousand-soap-opera-moments known as DOWNTON ABBEY. It's like having the same case of Stockholm Syndrome that all the downstairs folk (except maybe the evil Thomas) have.
No matter how badly the characters treat one another, no matter how silly they are, I care about them. I care about Lady Mary, despite her dissing Carson when he rightfully turns down a job with her nasty fiance. I love Anna, even though she feels guilty for not going to America with Lady Mary (hello! Your husband just had his sentence commmuted!) And I care about Lord Grantham even though he seems to be more loyal to his dog than to his wife.
And I adore Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess.
Watch Downton Abbey: The Best Maggie Moments on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.
I love this show so much that I just about turned a cartwheel when I realized my PBS app on my iPad can stream the show to my big flatscreen. Thank you, PBS Masterpiece. I'm definitely gonna buy the DVDs or download the whole thing from iTunes so I can watch it again. And again.
But no episode of DOWNTON ABBEY is complete without Sarah Ball's brilliantly funny weekly recaps of every episode in VANITY FAIR. It reminds me that I do have Stockholm Syndrome. And how ridiculously funny it all is. (Either that, or we are all collectively, certifiably mad.)
*Another example of an entail is to be found in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. (See, there's always a connection to Jane Austen!)
