Downton Abbey, Season 2 Review

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So I heard about Downton Abbey long before I actually saw it. Everything I read suggested that I would love this show. It's a historical drama (pre-WWI) set in a country estate of England. The drama is very Jane Austen-esque. The story is great. The actors, superb. I just knew it would be my kind of thing.

I didn't get my hands on the 1st season DVDs (via Redbox, btw) until the 2nd season had already begun. My sister and I watched the entire first season in three days (not as hard as it sounds considering there's only about ten episodes per season) and LOVED it.

That was more than six months ago. Fast forward to Black Friday, 2012. That same sister found Season 2 on sale for a RIDICULOUSLY reasonable price and bought it. This one we watched in two nights flat.

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I could not get enough of this show! As great as the first season was, the second season was infinitely better! Who would have thought that possible?

As anyone who watched it can attest (*minor season 1 spoiler*) season 1 ended with the announcement that England was at war. This is WWI. So, season 2 deals with the Great War and how it affects the inhabitants of Downton Abbey.

I loved the way this was handled. It's historical fiction at its best! Of course all the characters had their personal conflicts, but they were also all affected on a larger scale by their country's war. Each character had slightly different experiences and, therefore, a slightly different take on the conflict and what it meant for their lives. This was a superb way to show many (seriously like fifteen) views of the war.

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And amazingly, you totally identified with and related to them all. Even one-time villains got the audience's sympathy.

And let me just say: I COULDN'T STOP CRYING!!!

Okay, maybe that's not shocking. I'm a bit of a crier. But still! This was tremendously tragic in the best sort of way--you know, the way that makes it so you can't stop crying but you also can't stop watching it? And when it ends you shake your fists at PBS in general for producing such an addicting show that only airs ten episodes a year.

If you liked season 1, you'll LOVE season 2. I guarantee it! If this sounds at all like your kind of thing, and you haven't watched these yet...do it. Trust me. Really.

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Downton Abbey will appeal to you if: you like drama, historical fiction, period pieces, stuff about WWI, Jane  Austen, Downton Abbey Season 1, tragic love stories, or literary fiction in general.

I don't really do stars, but if I did I'd give it 5. Or, you know, whatever my highest rating is. This kind of storytelling is simply exquisite.

Happy Wednesday! :D

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