Abby Life

Saturday, June 05, 2021   (June’s full [“Strawberry”] moon rises in 19 days, on the 24th.)

Netflix has added “Downton Abbey”. I’ve several times watched the series on PBS but for some reason always have missed seeing its Episode One. Not important, as one easily picks up the core issue: Save the family’s vast fortune by getting Lady Mary married, and very soon, to some mega-wealthy suitor.

I had tuned-in to Netflix, planning to re-watch for an upteenth time my most favorite Netflix series, the Spanish-produced, “Velvet”. On noticing Downton on Netflix’s roster, I paused to see its episode one and how it sets up the plot for that wildly popular series. Well, I got hooked and binge-watched the first three episodes, finally reluctantly turning off television and going to bed. Tonight, I’ll resume the series.

Downton has everything, good writing, excellent acting, wonderful costumes, and “vintage all things” related to turn-of-the-century British wealth. In a large role is the great actress Maggie Smith, who doesn’t disappoint.

The series with an “Upstairs-Downstairs” theme has a large cast of very individualized characters. It’s set in the era of significant social change, being altered by technology following the industrial revolution.

If you haven’t watched this all-sensory delight do yourself a favor, tune into Downton. If you have seen it, and even more than once, tune in again. The series has been off the air long enough to become almost a whole new experience.

Dear Friends: Very complex characters, alternately likable and unlikable, like the humans we know. Diana