Has anyone been watching Downton Abbey? I saw a portion of an episode during season 1 but things were busy at home and I just didn’t really have the time to watch the show. When Season 2 started I watched a full episode and was hooked. I mentioned it to my mother and she said that she had watched Season 1 so she filled me in.

I did go to the PBS website to catch-up on Season 1 and I ordered the DVDs from the library. In the meantime, my mother bought me a Kindle Fire for my birthday and it came with a free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime. Fortunately, the Downton Abbey episodes are free on Amazon Prime so I have been catching up on the episodes that I missed. I was so excited because the DVDs at the library have quite a long waiting list.

I don’t know about you but I have totally gotten into this show. When I was a little girl I remember my mother and I watching Upstairs, Downstairs as well as the Wives of Henry VIII on PBS.  We would watch it on our black and white television with the bunny ears antennae on top of it and it still had some snow on the screen. Now, years later, we are still enjoying the PBS shows such as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and, now, Downton Abbey.  The difference is though that we are watching on color televisions and I’m watching some of the episodes on a Kindle Fire that I can actually hold on my lap. It’s amazing how times and technology have changed!

Anyhow, back to the show, I won’t comment on tonight’s episode in case some of you haven’t seen it yet. I was so glad that Anna and Mr. Bates got married. Mr. Bates just seems like an all around nice guy and Anna is so sweet. I love the cook and Daisy. The cook is just so matter of fact. I was glad that Sybil married the chauffer but Mary and Matthew need to stop playing these games and just admit they want to be together and get married already. I was shocked last week when the Earl was kissing the maid. I like both characters but it just really seemed out of character for them to be starting an affair. I’m glad that they ended that. I totally love the Earl’s mother, Violet, but I think that part of that is because I liked her in the Harry Potter movies.

What I find totally captivating is the lifestyle. It’s just so fun to watch how they would dress for every meal and how proper everything was. I love the dresses and the style. The women’s clothes are so feminine and stylish and the decor of the house is amazingly beautiful. I like how the series portrays life for both the family and the servants. A lot of times we just see and hear about the families that live upstairs but this show really lets you see the lifestyle of the servants also. The housekeeper had to give up marriage and the footmen had to wait a number of years before they were married. It appears that life for the young ladies upstairs was difficult too. They did not have the legal rights to properties and were not always permitted to marry for love. They may have had all of the gorgeous dresses but it doesn’t mean anything if you cannot share it with someone you love. It’s just all very interesting to me and I really like how this show portrays the lifestyles, both the good and the bad.

I know that Season 2 just ended but I am really looking forward to Season 3! What does everyone else think of this show? Is anyone else watching it too?  I would love to hear your thoughts.