This series just seems to get better and better.

In season two we are thrust into the First World War where Downton Abbey is seeing a lot of changes, including the women of the family becoming more helpful with the war effort and actually applying themselves into work that they would not of done before, as well as the staff and men being sent off to war and not knowing if they will ever come back. As well as the usual trials and tribulations of being an upper-class family in this era, which includes the fact that Mary and Matthew’s hopeful marriage prospect is dead in the water and that brings a lot of questions into what will actually happen to Downton Abbey.

I really enjoyed this series. I feel a lot of the time in school we learnt a lot more about World War II than World War I and so seeing it first hand in dramatisation is really fascinating because it gives you a different account than being on the front lines. Of course we do see that when we see the men that we know from the Abbey go off to war, but seeing the injured at the house being cared for by these women that we have grown to care and love is a really interesting and new way to look at it, especially as it gives a voice to the men who have come back and probably have survivors guilt and feel lost in a world that was once their own.

I really like how things got shaken up this season and how this was such a big moment in time for the whole world and for the family that we got to see change and grow. We saw Sybil become a nurse which was something that was never in her prospects, we saw Ethel become a beacon of hope for these men that have been ravaged by the war, Mary didn’t really change…she stayed her old usual self, and seeing how the servants changed and became more of one with the family and that dynamic changing was really interesting. It’s fascinating to think how much must’ve changed in just four years and what that must mean for the family in the future.

One part that I wish they gave more time to was the Spanish flu. Of course with the pandemic currently so much is compared to the Spanish flu, however in the show we seem to gloss over it quite quickly, and while we did have characters being affected by it I would’ve loved to have seen more of that if there was more to talk about, because that is not part of history that was gone over in my learnings and I would be really interested to know more about it.

But I am very excited for the future seasons and to see where the sisters go. With the Christmas episode of Mary and Matthew getting engaged it is all very exciting to see how that will affect the Abbey itself, seeing Sybil being pregnant and very excited to meet her child and see how that changes her, as she always came across as the baby of the family. And of course Edith being the last single sister, it’ll be exciting to see where she goes with that and whether the man that she is interested in will actually be the man that she ends up with. I also love the Mr Bates and Anna storyline too, especially with how brutal that is and I’m really excited to explore more of that in season 3 and see exactly what happens and whether they will ever be able to have a normal life again.

While I’ve been talking a lot about season three and the excitement of future happenings in this review, season two had a lot of brilliant moments too that really make it shine and really glued me to the screen wanting to constantly watch it and know what was going to happen next. Every episode had something going on and I really appreciated that about this season, but I do feel that’s a thing with Downton Abbey, it is open to so many different storylines that you can’t not watch it because it’s constantly feeding you new things that you want to know more about, and while some moments might be less exciting and not your favourite storylines, there’s always something to keep you hooked.

What do you think of season two?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding