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Stiff upper lip, now: Downton Abbey says a proper goodbye
Downton Abbey’s final Christmas special opens on an idyll. The Crawleys gather on the lush grounds of the manor,…
Downton Abbey
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A bananas Downton Abbey wrecks lives, pulls rank, and makes peace
The series finale of Downton Abbey (with the Christmas special still to come) doesn’t pull any punches: a death, a…
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A manipulative Downton Abbey settles down, breaks up, and mends fences
This episode is transparently, cynically manipulative, and I resent how efficiently it worked on me, from the tense…
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The manor goes meta for Downton Abbey’s open house
Readers, we have seen the star of tonight’s Downton Abbey, and he is us:
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An explosive Downton Abbey brings secrets into the open
As Downton Abbey races toward its conclusion, everything, and I mean everything, comes out. Mary confides in Tom one…
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A fun but facile Downton Abbey pays lip service to social mobility
“Tom the peacemaker is back,” Edith Crawley says after a contentious dinner, and she’s right. Over the years, Tom…
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On Downton Abbey’s wedding episode, standards slip and time slips away
In the first scene of Downton Abbey’s wedding episode, Mrs. Hughes sighs, “I don’t mind. Not really.” Those aren’t the…
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Downton Abbey asks “Whose side are you on?” as cracks grow into chasms
For six seasons now, and over the years between 1912 and 1925, the residents of Downton Abbey have spoken of changes…
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Downton Abbey’s return drags Mary through the mud
Downton Abbey’s return spotlights more than ever the era’s changing social and economic mores, the seismic shift Carson…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Nine”
In this last gasp of season five, there’s plenty to grouse about, then—as befits Downton Abbey’s Christmas…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Eight”
Now, this is what I like to see from Downton Abbey: deftly paralleled characters, a dragging plot arc culminating in…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Six”
There are plenty of stories on tonight’s Downton Abbey, but Edith’s and Thomas’ are the most immediate and compelling.…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Five”
No one in tonight’s episode really listens to the things they’re told, or to the silences that say so much. Nobody can…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Four”
Called on the carpet by Lord Grantham, Daisy speaks with a candor and passion that seems to surprise even her. She’s…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Three”
In this episode’s opening scene, Lady Mary and Lord Gillingham sprawl amid tangled sheets, looking appropriately wanton…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode Two”
The world is getting smaller, and getting bigger. The wireless brings news and music from afar, even carrying the voice…
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Downton Abbey: “Season Five, Episode One”
The fifth season of Downton Abbey opens with Edith on a bicycle, riding away from the manor, past a crossroad, as she…
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Downton Abbey stabilizes, but don’t call it a comeback
As they digest the show’s fifth season, Downton Abbey diehards will stumble repeatedly into the same conversation again…
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Downton Abbey: Season Four, Episode Eight
I can forgive Downton Abbey a lot of flaws when it delivers pomp and circumstance. This fourth-season finale is a…