Masterpiece Theater - Downton Abbey 2 (Season 2 starts tomorrow night)

PBS ^ | 1/7/12 | PBS

[randita]

Program: Masterpiece Episode: Downton Abbey 2: The Critics Can't Stop Talking

The critics can't stop talking about Downton Abbey season 2 on MASTERPIECE! Watch the season premiere, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 at 9/8C. See why USA Today's Robert Bianco said "Lightning can strike twice" and US Weekly declared "With six Emmys and an endorsement from Will and Kate, the delicious period drama returns, and is even more grandly addictive."

Duration: (1:00) Premiere Date: 01/08/2012 Episode Expires: Never TV Rating: NR

[flaglady47]

“Do you mean Mrs. Hughes?”

Yes, I meant Mrs. Hughes. I got my cast of characters confused, there are so many. Thanks for the assist.

[FrdmLvr]

....that of the Doctor and Isobel Crawley (Matthew's mother and mother-superior of the Abbey convalescent quarters).....

Yes! I believe this is true. And she will end up with a respectible station in life as the wife of the good doctor. She will be responsible for starting a famous hospital. She may even be given a title by the King for her good work. I like her. AND I believe she and the dowager countess will become best of friends as well.

[Artem55]

When I heard that the series was well done I watched the first and second seasons as well as the Christmas special in one marathon session. I enjoyed it very much but now have to wait until at least September for the next episodes. :(

[MinuteGal]

A gentle reminder to all FR lords and ladies to tune in on Downton Abbey tonight (Sunday).

Settle in with a spot of tea or a glass of sherry for the third episode of this season's series.

Sunday night telly has now become an avidly-awaited evening instead of the vast wasteland it had become.

Post your apres-episode comments and critiques here as we watch new twists and turns unfold before our very eyes !

Cheerio and pip, pip.....

Leni

[randita]

DVR is set to record as football will likely preempt the real time airing.

Now we’ll find out who got caught in bed together and who caught them. Tsk...tsk...

[stylecouncilor]

[MinuteGal]

"If You Were the Only Boy in the World and I Was the Only Girl"....tra la la.

A wonderful one-kleenex job tonight. At last!

We needed that!

Leni

[Mountain Mary]

I haven’t watched yet. Tomorrow on DVR. Two episodes of Prime Suspect were on at the same time as well as the Giants/49er game. :-)

Looking forward to it!

[stylecouncilor]

Yes-that was wonderful, wasn't expecting that.

The Sybil/Branson storyline is gaining steam all though I think he's trouble!

[MinuteGal]

G’morning, dukes and duchesses, barons and baronesses, earls and earlesses (oh, my)....a gentle reminder that our favorite period drama airs tonight on Masterpiece Theater.

What romantic entanglements and diabolical schemes will play out as we finally plop down on the couch to relax, a hot cuppa at our side, after an exhausting week of U.S. political intensity on our tellys?

Enjoy your evening, m’lords and ladies. Bookmark this thread and post your comments about tonight’s episode when you’ve come back down to earth after an hour’s worth of heaven.

Cheerio,
Leni/MinuteGal

[Mountain Mary]

BATED BREATH!!!!!

[MinuteGal]

"BATED BREATH !!!!!

Good one, heheh.

Leni

[Jemian]

I’m in! Watching last week’s rerun now. My daughter has just caught Downton Abbey Fever, too. It’s Ladies’ Night at our house!

I hate O’Brien and Thomas.

[Rutabega]

You are in luck! You can watch full episodes on pbs.org.
There is a funny blog by someone named Viv (I think) from the UK about each episode and her commentary and the comments from others were worth full chortle, but be warned that they had the whole second series before Christmas, so only read what you have seen. The blogs were almost as great as the show (there is a funny section about who had the most ‘fart worthy’ expression, and it is usually Lady Violet or the butler. Very much British humor.

Also, my grandmother loves the guy who plays Bates and for all his fans, watch ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ on pbs or netflix because he looks very handsome in comparison, and besides being an angry prol, he is a likable character.

[Jemian]

Ha! Lavina, always looking for the main chance, is going to ditch him, Mary will marry him on the rebound. She’ll nurse him back to health and wonderously find that the doctor’s dire prognosis was absolutely wrong.

[ottbmare]

Yes, I’m watching episodes for Season 2 online, just as I did Season 1. Thanks for the info about the blog, I’m going to catch that, too. Freepers really are the best.

[Jemian]

For the record, I don’t know how this will play out. My conjecture only.

[randita]

Lovely episode tonight, although certainly with some tearful moments. Poor William. Poor Daisy. I wasn’t sure she would go through with it, but in the end she gave of herself to make him happy and it wasn’t really deception. People marry for many different reasons besides love.

The callous Major should be taken out and horsewhipped. Imagine not even wanting to see your own child.

Mary’s acting was stellar tonight. She, as well, is sacrificing much of herself for the good of others. Lavinia did truly seem distraught.

There sure do seem to be a lot of gyrations that need to occur before Mary/Matthew and Bates/Anna end up together.

I don’t have any hunches about whether or not Matthew recovers. It could either way with equal validity. If his condition remains unchanged, then that would be more reason why the entail should go to Mary. That would really turn the tables in their relationship.

Thanks for keeping the conversation going on this marvelous series.

[MinuteGal]

Do you recall I posted that last week's episode was a one-kleenex job.....prompted by Mary's emotional singing of "If I Were the Only Girl in the World" at the fundraiser?

Well, tonight was a four-kleenex job if not more....there I was, blubbering away at several points.....wishing I owned stock in the Kimberly-Clark corporation!

Too many unresolved dramas unfolded tonight to comment upon....it's late and I'm just too tired.

But I do want to remark how sublime the overall acting is....everyone is type-cast perfectly....and the actors' performances well up from the heart and soul.

So skillful is the acting that one begins to get the feeling that both the upstairs and downstairs characters are in a way related to us....we almost really WANT them to be real.

Not to mention that most of the males in the cast could light my fireplace anytime, LOL.

Leni

[TexasNative2000]

Excellent episode. I become increasingly impressed with the acting ability of Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary). Her concert scene in last weeks episode was monumental - straining to maintain control as she saw Matthew, yet revealing a vulnerability that may have surprised even her.

I am also really enjoying the parallel nature of the stories of Lady Mary and Anna - both seeming to have love just eluding their grasps. There is a lot of empathy between the two of them and speaks to the universality of how love affects all of us.