Does Downton Abbey get any more cheerful?

[smallglassbottle]

I'm binge watching it to try and get me to stop doomscrolling. I'm on series 3. Sybil has just died and him in prison is going to duff someone up and kill them and go to the gallows I think (it's easily predictable). I'm very disappointed in it because it's so relentlessly miserable.

Does it get any better? It's like a cut price version of Upstairs Downstairs, which was at least well acted. I like the costumes though.

Sybil dying is particularly grim. So it gets happier in that that is probably the worst part. But it never becomes a ‘cheerful’ program.

If you’ve got to series 3 and aren’t enjoying it then maybe just let it go?

It's very melodramatic but pretty!

After Sybil died it took me years to watch the rest of it.

They really should have shipped her and Branson off to Ireland and written them both out.

Lots of misery especially for the Bates. But the dresses are very pretty and Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilson wonderful to watch.

I think Sybil is about the lowest point, misery wise. There are other miserable moments but a fair bit of joy too. I loved it, but then I loved it from episode 1.

There are some weddings, a release from prison, some comedic moments, especially from Dame Maggie Smith, some babies, some sad times and some happy times. Plus the 1914/1918 war.

I've enjoyed it up until now, it's just getting more and more negative 😂

Does Bates get released from prison then? I think I could continue if I know he gets released, as their story is very sad.

That is probably the most negative part. There is one other upcoming but yes it does get a bit better.

I love Downton! I don’t think it’s particularly miserable - apart from all the war and death and prison of course! Sybil dying is awful.
Since you’ve asked - yes Bates does get out.
there are other sad parts though but it’s definitely not all bad. If you get that far I think the first film is hilarious

I'll keep going then 😂

I couldn't get beyond the first series and didn't understand the hype.

There’s a truly horrific sexual assault I’m afraid.

There’s quite a bit of prison, and it is grim. But it gets ever more ridiculous and melodramatic and is this worth watching as a soap opera about posh people in nice frocks.

there’s a Christmas special youre going to want to skip though.

One of the characters gets beaten to a pulp at a twee country fair and there's a suicide attempt, too.

Not the best show if you're looking for a happy plot or likeable characters.

I was very late to watching it but loved it. The death of Sybil was definitely the saddest part but it's never very jolly.
I loathed and detested the saintly Bates from the beginning to the end though.
I'm completely uncritical about it's authenticity, it's just entertainment.
I'm rewatching at the moment but I don't do bingeing, I'll watch one or two episodes a week.

It does have its moments but overall it's a wonderful show. I've probably watched it 6 times over. I do fast forward through all the Bates storylines they are tedious.

Sybil’s death was so over the top and her acting was awful, we found it funny rather than sad.

I wouldn’t say much of DT is cheerful, but it’s a great watch and delightfully silly.

We call Bates 'smuggy mc smug face' in our house.

Downtown Abbey was my comfort watch during the early days of lockdown!

It has ups and downs like most series and it's deliberately written to have downs because otherwise, the main writer Julian Fellowes, thought it would be too saccharine. He intentionally wrote grim plot lines and planned horrible things for 'good/nice' characters.

Avoid the end of S3 Christmas special. Watching that live on Christmas Day was a downer.

But these dramas are always heaped with plenty misery because it drives the story. People overcoming adversity and all that. Look at poor Meredith in Grey’s Anatomy. Downton is great though, there is enough lightness to lift it.

I think of DA as a very poor man's Upstairs Downstairs which was a zillion times better and more subtle

I’ve never seen upstairs downstairs. Maybe one to add to the watch list :)

That scene genuinely made me shout at the screen in shock.

I'd fast forward the Bates scenes, I found them utterly tedious too. Love the costumes and Maggie and Penelope though.