Downton down the drain?

[chirpychirpy]

the storylines are getting a bit silly and rushed now, don't you think? Matthew's recovery was ridiculous.

[237SJ]

That`s exactly what I was thinking tonight. It`s getting a bit far fetched. One minute Matthew had mere tingling in his legs and the next minute he was standing up. Likewise with the eloping couple. It took all of 30 seconds to talk the girl out of her plans.

[Dee-M-See]

Told you last week he would walk again and eventually marry Mary, now wait for the car crash that kills the newspaper man she is engaged to,
the maid who kissed the lord has his baby, and when born is a boy, and becomes the new lord of the manor

[Maydup]

I've always found it tiresome but OH likes it. It is ITV after all!

[Maydup]

Sounds correct dee! And what happens below stairs?

[chirpychirpy]

it's become like a bad American soap opera. Bates, who was the best thing about Series 1, now has a stupid storyline. Julian Fellowes clearly didn't know what to do with scheming Thomas and Sarah.

[Dee-M-See]

Carson the butler has a heart attack and dies, Bates becomes the next Butler and the ex footman and would be black marketeer, gets to be the Lords batman,The old lady housekeeper cant stay as she too upset that Carson has died, so Anna gets her Job, the old cook retires and the young girl who made the cake gets her job

[chirpychirpy]

Looks like Cora will die next week. Sybil needn't worry bout her Dad disapproving of her relationship with Branson, as Lord G is canoodling with a maid.

[chirpychirpy]

...and then a long-dead character named Bobby reappears in a shower scene....

[Maydup]

Mwahahaha!

[flipnflap]

I agree. This second series of Downton is so poorly written and put together that I seriously wonder if Julian Fellowes has actually written it or brought other writers in to do it for him. Even without the tacking 'Coming up next week' preview at theend of each episode, the storylines are totally predictable. So little thought has gone into them too. One minute Matthew is written off physically, the next he feels a tingle in his legs, and then he's up on his feet in no time. One minute Lord Grantham meets a new maid, the next he's snogging her face off. One minute Lady Sybil is eloping with Branson, the next she's talked out of it. This week we saw Cora warn of the fever; next week she's stricken by it. If the first series was this bad, I doubt it would have got a second series. And now I do wonder if a third series will actually happen, because on this form it doesn't deserve to.

[carolegif]

Apparently there is going to be a third series without 3 of the female characters. Cora will be one going, and I suspect Edith will be whisked off by the family of the father of her child. Perhaps Sybil goes off with the chaffeur anyway!

[emmie]

i confess I'm still hooked, but the way Matthew stood up as his ladylove was about to take a fall made me wonder if Julian Fellowes hasn't lot the plot, quite literally. As to his Lordship snogging the face of the maid, well i never, i wondered before if this was going to be the case, but even so..
I miss the first series, it had so much more heart, and the storyline much more believable.

[footieshorts]

Yes, Cora will die from Spanish Flu in the final episode. There's a Christmas Special planned. Quite likely that Robert wil marry the maid and have a baby son, who will be the new heir.

[emmie]

I reckon that the first series surprised everyone, including Julian Fellowes, by it's runaway success, and that no second series had been thought of. So he has had to write it in quite a hurry, with little thought or care, unlike the first series.

[carolegif]

The thing is that Spanish Flu killed young people, not middle aged ones like Cora. I lost some ancestors from it - my aunt's fiancee died of it. They were all in their 20's. I think it is something to do with the immune system and the young have better immune systems than older people and were therefore more susceptible.

[emmie]

carolj
The 1918 flu pandemic (the "Spanish" flu) was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus (the follow-up was the 2009 flu pandemic, an outbreak of Swine Flu). It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin.[1] Most victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks, which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or weakened patients. The flu pandemic was implicated in the outbreak of encephalitis lethargica in the 1920s.[2]

[carolegif]

I thought it was young adults that died from it. they took DNA from victims in Norway some years ago to test for a vaccine, but not heard anything.
I wonder how the third series will pan out.
Any ideas anyone?

[naomi24]

I recently watched an old episode of Upstairs Downstairs. Eat your heart out Downton!

[emmie]

I still like the characters, Mary is a game one, and his Lordship a good jolly chap, when not snogging the maid. Not sure a third series is warranted, just more of the same.

[Eve]

I'm enjoying it albeit it gets a bit silly. I never saw the first series though so have nothing to compare it to. Keep meaning to try and see if it's on special offer on DVD somewhere. The quick recovery was a bit convenient but then I guess medical knowledge back then wasn't great so feasible.