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General Discussion (May Contain Spoilers from S1 to 2nd film)
Give it to me now!
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I hope its a great film but if Matthew Goode isn’t back as Henry, I hope they kill him off or have Mary be divorced. It’s so weird her having an absent husband.
I agree the fact that he was absent for his wife's grandmother passing away upsets me.
And Tom's wedding. He would NOT have missed that.
Not just her grandmother, the reigning matriarch of the entire Crawley family, a role which Mary inherits from her. That is a HUGE deal
Fully agree. Ive loved him since Brideshead and he's a solid actor but they shouldn't have cast him if he couldn't commit and I feel like he deserved a better backstory than what Julian Fellowes wrote for him.
Honestly I’d rather they just swap his actor, Mary deserves better than to loose another husband because of the male actors lack of commitment 🥲🥲 lol
I better see Moseley and Baxter’s wedding or at least some of their happily ever after. I love Moseley.
I think it would be a nice change to see a significant amount of time, pomp and circumstance be devoted to the staff downstairs. It would serve as both fan service and be a new storyline to explore.
I felt the same way about Daisy's wedding. We were cheated.
Very excited but also curious to see what the plot will be. I feel like everyone has theirs wrapped up pretty neatly except for Mary with her marital problems I suppose. But if the whole thing is just Mary leaving Henry I would gladly watch it 😌
Paul Giamatti is going to be back as Cora’s brother, so that’ll be interesting. Maybe return of Ivy?
Despite the 2nd movie having a lot of closure, Paul Giamatti is probably my #1 reason for being interested in yet another DA movie. His was one of the better guest roles in the entire series.
Agreed! Loved him ever since Sideways
Yes, please! I really liked him and it always annoyed me that was in only one episode (even if it was a special)
Yeah well...maybe it is, and maybe it ain't! :P
Is she returning as his wife or because she's homesick?
Because she’s his cook
I missed the part where the family is going to America... So I came into this with the idea of Ivy being back in England..
Giamatti is my favorite actor!
Chuck Rhodes
Have you listened to the podcast he cohosts? It’s called Chinwag-I highly recommend it!
Thanks, will check it out!
I wonder in what kind of trouble he has gotten himself into this time. Excited!
We are getting into the depression era.
Please god, divorce Henry and get with Hugh Dancy. They had more chemistry in their (relatively) few scenes together than Mary had with ANY other man in the whole franchise aside from Matthew.
I did like the actor that played Charles Blake. I completely don’t understand the whole Tony Gillingham story line but I really didn’t find him attractive.
Bring back Dan Stevens playing another role - a look a like. Have some fun if this is the last one.
I'll watch whatever they want to do. I just love these characters and stories.
Having Barrow and his gentlemen friend included seems like the hardest storyline to include. Barrow was running off to Hollywood, last we saw. Do we get to see life in America, or does he return to England?
Since Paul Giamatti is in it I bet they go to the US
😲 oooooooooohhhhhh~~~
Dominic West is showing in the credits for the pre-production status work on IMDb. Since Levinson is rich and a was a playboy the last time we saw him, maybe he and West’s character (Guy Dexter) roughly know one another. Levinson gets engaged to Ms. Allsopp (although she’s not currently listed on the IMDb page) and everyone packs up and heads to America for the wedding. Levinson invites Dexter and he brings along Barrow. Joely Richardson is joining for the film, so maybe she’s who Levinson marries.
Yeah. Don’t know how that’s going to tie together.
Well, the last movie was 1928, a global depression began in 1929 so anything could happen. If they thought running an estate in the 20s was difficult the 30s would have been so much worse
The early ‘40s ain’t looking to bright either.
George would be the right age to fight in the War right?
So excited to see Paul Giamatti and Dominic West returning! I don’t, however, see Tuppence Middleton included in the press release. Wonder if that will change as things progress.
yes i wondered that too… it wouldn’t make much sense for Tom to be there and Maud not to be, but who knows?
My guess - The Crawleys visit New York!
It would be amazing to see pre-war NYC. It’s gonna be tricky with the great depression and then how awful the 30s are..
Also can they bring Lady Rose back!!
I’m so freaking excited!!!!! I miss looking forward to Sunday’s in the early 2010’s. I wish they would have just continued the show.
I just don’t know how they are going to do it.
They keep ending it in a way to make it happy endings. Which they then after to ruin and undo to make new conflict in the movie
They could have the cast walk down to the village to collect post, and I’d still watch it.
Collecting post at the house of ill repute could be golly gumdrops level spicy.
Sounds like you just started Downton: After Dark
JF is just milking the series. It's like he doesn't want to let go and let it rest.
Nope, it’s like everywhere else. No one has an original idea anymore. Everything is remakes or sequels
I hear people say they want prequels for Downton Abbey with Violet's youth but I feel like it would be doomed because it wouldn't be the same series
I would have rather had a series about Violets youth than the Gilded Age for sure.
yes i quite like the air of mystery with violets past and whatever we do know being revealed in the series while never being explicitly shown
Movie 2 SPOILER🚨
Very sad that Maggie smith won’t be back. Since she died in the second movie. Violet will forever be my favorite.
i think she’s nearly everybody’s favourite, but Maggie is 89 and going to be 90 at the end of the year. it was the right time for her personally I think as well as her character.
Yes I agree
replies in flashback
Downton goes supernatural with Violet's ghost offering advice?
My theory is that the family is going to the US for a reason so they can include the American cast. Maybe a split cast like when they went to France so some characters will be shown in the abbey.
I can't wait for the mass outbreak of pernicious anemia!
The Bates child will be framed for murder.
Don't put little Johnny out to dry like that. We can't have Bates taking the blame for another murder again. We know that he would obviously confess to the murder to get his child out of it if he were accused.
Personally, I would’ve preferred a new season to give the entire family & staff well executed character arcs so that the story can be wrapped up once & for all. With each new film, it feels like the endings are contradicted to create pointless conflicts. Unless Fellowes is planning to take us to New Port/Manhattan to visit Cora’s side of the family? If not, I can’t see how another film is going to add much to the overall story. After all, the new film won’t cover WW2 since we’re still in the interwar years… it’s very confusing. This announcement feels more like a cash grab which is disappointing, I love DA :(
Finally, I have something to look forward to!
A New Era took place in 1928 and we all know what happened in 1929....if they're looking for conflict it shouldn't be difficult, the thirties weren't an easy time for anyone. The great depression was a global phenomenon, that was also the time that the British Union of Fascists became a thing. In the 30s the wireless started to become commonplace in people's homes. The Nazis took over the German government. All kinds of stuff. Or they could jump ahead in time a bit, who knows!
I liked the first two films, but they were pure confection. Sugary, decadent desserts. Delicious, but no real substance. Each of them two hours of fan wish fulfillment.
I hope the third film will have some meat & veg to it.
It’s probably going be a nightcap if anything, but my expectations will be met.
Well, isn't it going to start with Black Monday, 1929? And then take us to WW2? I'd say that will be far from frothy!
Where did you hear that? JF doesn't usually write stories that cover a large span of time like that. I'd be really suprised if this movie suddenly spanned 10 years
I just figured...didn't movie #2 end in 1929? The crash is in October, so I don't see how they avoid it.
But probably not WW2, you're right.
"JF doesn't write stories that cover a large span of time like that"? Um what? JF literally time jumps MONTHS and YEARS in between an episode and then the audience is trying to catch up via context clues if he didn't write the new date at the bottom of the screen.
WARNING: Spoiler alert about first movie.
I love the show,but the first movie turned me off to even watching the second. The first movie almost felt like a parody of the show. Like, the whole plot of the servants rebelling against The Crown and scheming to assert authority of the king and queen's servants just seemed so out of character and wildly unrealistic. For the show the writers tried to stick to typical and realistic behavior and customs, but the movie just seemed way too corny. I still love the show and the characters though :)
The second film is superior to the first I feel.
Or it at least had more feel good moments.
i'm sure i'll watch it eventually....just not as excited because of the first one :)
The second is superb
I have to say the first movie felt like they took a proposed season 7 series of plot lines and crammed it into a 2 hour film. It felt extremely rushed at points with a lot going on. Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie, but with everything going on, it should have been a mini series or half a season.
A mini series would be lovely!
I agree wholeheartedly! I’m a devoted Downton fan - it’s my comfort show that Ive rewatched more times than I can count, but I can’t stand either movie. I felt like they completely lost the feeling of the show and just became silly. IMHO, the second movie is even worse and more ridiculous than the first. I can only hope that Paul Giamatti will save the third movie for me because I love him in the series.
Oh wow. I agree that they don’t quite have the same feel as the show, but I enjoyed both movies. The second more than the first.
I definitely seem to be in the minority, but I honestly pretend the movies don’t exist. I just didn’t enjoy them whereas I adore the series.
The first movie felt like a Disney cartoon - some version of Beauty and the Beast. The second was much better.
Good to know the second was better. I watched some trailers on youtube and it looks interesting at least :)
And the BIG question: will tjwe staff get the house clean in time for the royal visit?
The second movie was much better, in my opinion.
I agree, I watched both movies but the first one definitely felt like JF was finding anything he could put together for a storyline for the servants.
I completely understand his problem with writing storylines for them, though. Servants by their nature can't be the ones to cause a big shift in the house since they're suppsed to be invisible, so it has to be the family that ignights the change to start the plot. That means that the family will have a more personal connection to the main action in the story, which means the servants are living around it while not really personally affected by it. I wonder what a story starting downstairs and working it's way upstairs would look like...
I also want Matthew Goode back. Come on!!
Maybe he'll finally show up to sign the divorce papers
Keeping my fingers crossed for one last appearance by Shirley Maclaine as Cora’s mother. She was such fun to watch!
It's a shame it's not another season, the past movies were too happy and I prefer drama
Announcement of the project from NBC/Today
I'm calling it now, just based on casting--Mary will somehow end up with Alessandro Nivola.
God yes please
I love Downton more than anything, but this feels like overkill. Without Violet, the world loses a huge chunk of what makes it brilliant. It feels more commercial now than anything else, and that makes me sad.
Ugh I am honestly not for it. I thought the 2nd movie wrapped things up so nicely.
Aaaaah when does it release
God Michelle seems almost the same she as Cora in the first season