Rarely am I rooting for anything or anyone in particular when I watch the Emmys. Usually, I'm just in it for the snacks and the painful musical numbers. This year was different, though. This year was epic.
For once one of my beloved British period dramas wiped the floor with everyone else. Best mini-series, best direction, best writing and best supporting actress. Come. On.
And you know who won supporting actress? Maggie Smith, because she's a badass. And she wasn't even there to accept the award. Yes. Because she's too badass to travel for awards shows.
Downton Abbey has perfect pacing but what puts it over the top is its crazy production value. There's nothing cheesy to ignore. There's nothing to imagine. It might almost be boring except that it's hilarious.
Humor moves the show along and adds to the feeling that the people at the turn of the 20th century are not entirely inaccessible and were just as real as the people of today.
Even before their Emmy wins, Downton had become unusually popular for a PBS Masterpiece series. Blogs and forums were buzzing about it and articles were popping up in a wide range of magazines. Now, in honor of the upcoming second season, even Vogue is getting in on the phenomena.
Season 2, which has already aired in England and premieres in the U.S. on Jan. 8, promises to be everything Downton's audience has been craving. World War I will get under way, sparks will fly and familial betrayal, real or imagined, will certainly continue.
The number of parallels that can be drawn between the world of Downton Abbey and today's world is striking. The show doesn't take itself too seriously, though, and seems to intentionally keep modern comparisons to a minimum.
Though it is about an unimaginably wealthy aristocratic family, Downton is shockingly unpretentious and direct. In spite of its period drama genre, it makes the rest of the television landscape look overwrought and way overdramatized. And this is the show where people cheat, steal and marry just to inherit!
Downton Abbey is dangerous because watching it makes the rest of T.V. feel flat. At this point, though, there's no going back. Sunday nights in January and February are booked.
