The fifth season of the highly-popular Downton Abbey doesn’t premier on PBS until January 5, but that hasn’t stopped the producers from giving viewers a tease of what’s to come.
As Mrs. Hughes herself says in the trailer, “Downton is catching up with the times we live in,” and apparently the times are focused on mainly secrets and sex.
Season 4 of Downton Abbey ended with Lady Mary struggling to make sense of her love triangle, finally admitting to Lord Gillingham that she cannot see herself with Charles Blake, because frankly, he isn’t wealthy. It’s then that Gillingham reveals to Mary that Blake is actually the heir to a fortune that makes Gillingham himself look like a pauper. Edith compels Mr. Drewe, a farmer indebted to the Downton family, to adopt her “friend’s” baby, which is, of course, actually her own baby whom she has decided to give up for adoption.
And then there is the whole matter of Bates, who seems to swing from good buy to bad guy every episode. Is Bates still just Anna’s loving, concerned husband? Or is he a potential murderer and the man who does all of Robert’s dirty work?
Downton Abbey has a huge appeal on both sides of the Atlantic. With the beautiful, time-appropriate costumes and gorgeous sets, and its portrayal of the “upstairs / downstairs” mentality, with the “upstairs” aristocrats fearful of coming changes, while many of the “downstairs” servants hunger for it, the show has a broad but unique appeal.
And certainly Season 5 of Downton Abbey promises to be every bit as appealing, dramatic, and gorgeously produced as the last four seasons, if the trailer can be believed!
The Downton Abbey producers managed to pack a lot of punch into one minute. There’s a fleeting image of Jimmy Kent in bed with a mysterious, unknown woman. Lady Mary Crawley seems to have a new love interest. Class distinction, of course, and the emergence of servants as people, which has always been a central theme, is captured by Isobel Crawley, a champion for the less fortunate, saying that surely “servants are people, too,” with the ever dry-witted Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, quickly retorting, “Yes, but preferably only on their days off.”
There’s a fire, too, if all of that’s not enough to get you interested. Check out the video, and tell us — are your calendars marked for the season premier yet?
[Image via E! Online]
