10. The premiere of Downton Abbey, Season 5, is a good excuse to binge watch Seasons 1–4…just in case any crucial details were missed during previous viewings.
9. Binge watching Seasons 1–4 makes the dead of winter go by faster.
8. Seeing all the Downton Abbey windows is a reason to be grateful to not be in charge of washing them.
7. After a November, December, and January (so far) filled with family changes and challenges, watching someone else’s problems is good therapy.
6. Those creepy scenes where perfectly capable men and women are dressed by other men and women make me glad Mom insisted all her children could dress themselves and put away their own clothes.
5. Every episode makes me more grateful for modern amenities such as enclosed car cabs, running water, and gas and/or electric stoves.
4. Every episode makes me long to wear arm length gloves and to ask my lady’s maid to do my hair.
3. The subtle snobbery of Carson the butler always brings a smile.
2. Maggie Smith.
1. Binge watching Downton Abbey and reading a biography of Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, in the same week leads to some interesting character parallels. Such as:
Lady Edith as Charlie Brown
Lady Mary as Lucy Van Pelt
Lady Sybil as Sally.
But Linus and Snoopy’s parallel characters are a bit harder to pin down. Your suggestions?
Maggie Smith can purse her lips and look even more disapproving than Grandma Hess! She has brought on an episode of shameful feelings just by watching the last episode in which Maggie discovered Mary’s dalliance.
I blush just writing this.
Totally agree. The Dowager’s expressions often bring Grandma Hess to mind. Though Grandma would give Maggie Smith a Maggie Smith-like look of disapproval for dressing so ostentatiously.
I love watching Maggie. I can get a laugh just by some of her facial expressions.
Me, too, Russell.