This past weekend I was feeling in a Downton Abbey mood, so I decided to re-watch some of the episodes. I first heard about the show when last year my mom was watching it on Netflix before it left the streaming service. I couldn’t understand why everyone kept referencing Downton Abbey at first; it seemed a lot of people had seen the show. But then again, I am behind in a lot of shows that my friends have seen: Glee, Game of Thrones, Black Mirror, and of course, who could forget, Squid Game. When Squid Game became a craze, I didn’t know whether to watch it or not to be honest. I am pretty squeamish about violence, and I kept hearing some say it was violent. But then again, that depends on the person’s comfort level. I am super squeamish so anything related to Quentin Tarantino is out (sorry, Kill Bill.) All my friends were like, “OH MY GOSH YOU NEED TO SEE SQUID GAME!!!” I respect them and their TV choices and I respect that the show got so popular when it did. But I just for whatever reason ended up not watching it because I am a party pooper sometimes when it comes to TV. But I am totally getting off tangent here, as per usual. Back to Downton.
So last year I decided to go on a binge and watched it with my family. I felt kind of guilty because I had quit my job at the personal injury law firm I was working at and wasn’t making any money, just lying at home sleeping and applying on and off for jobs. It was a frustrating process and I found myself often feeling depressed and hopeless most of the time, but what got me through this entire year of navigating the guilt and anxiety of post-quitting-a-nice-9-to-5-gig was watching lots of movies and television. And Downton Abbey was one of those shows. My family and I loved watching the show together and I almost got emotional when we watched the movies, Downton Abbey and Downton Abbey: A New Era. I really liked the show and fortunately they had DVD copies of the show at the library so I checked them out.
In these past two episodes I watched, a lot happens. If you haven’t seen Downton Abbey it’s about an aristocratic family who lives on an estate and must figure out who will be the heir of the estate, and it’s also about the staff who work at Downton and how they navigate challenging and joyful times together. The Grantham family consists of Lord Grantham and Cora and their three daughters: Mary, the oldest daughter, Edith, the middle child, and Sybil, the youngest. In episode 6 Sybil goes off to a political rally because they are tallying the votes in the local election, and they are debating women’s rights at the rally. Isabel tells Sybil she should leave the rally so that Tom Branson, who drove her over there at her request, won’t get in trouble because they all know Lord Grantham is going to scream if he finds out Sybil went off to a rally without her parents’ permission. Later when Sybil asks to be dropped off at the rally again, Tom warns her that she really shouldn’t keep going to the rallies anymore because she will get in trouble with her family. However, Sybil ignores him and goes anyway. A group of men ride to the rally and try to beat up on Tom and Matthew, who are trying to get Sybil out of the rally, but they end up knocking Sybil over and she hits her head on a liquor table and falls unconscious. After she is cleaned up at home, Lord Grantham finds out from Mr. Bates, his valet, that Sybil went to the rally and Tom took her. He is livid and tells Sybil she is grounded and no longer allowed to leave the house without his permission. Sybil tells her papa that she loved going to the rally because it gave her a purpose and a voice, and tells him that if he grounds her, she will run away. She doesn’t know where but she is determined to run away if her dad continues to police where she goes.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Patmore, who is the head chef of Downton, is having problems with her eyesight and as usual takes her frustration out on her protegee and member of the meal preparation squad, Daisy, who just wants to make Mrs. Patmore proud. Mrs. Patmore says she is too busy to get her eyesight taken care of, but when preparing and fussing around the kitchen, she drops one of the dishes and Mrs. Hughes finally has to tell her to take a break. Anna takes Mrs. Patmore to London and Mrs. Patmore at first is scared but then she gets her eyesight fixed.
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