Whether it always merited the attention it received can be and has been debated, but the first eight episodes of the sixth and final season, although not flawless, remind us of why we care about the show.
The Dowager Countess Violet (Maggie Smith), that organdy battleship who has always been the most vivid character in the series, may have used her formidable power to keep newness at bay, but we always know her victories are going to be temporary.
The number of servants has been reduced and more layoffs may be coming, a fact causing particular worry to the underbutler Barrow (Rob James-Collier), who’s never been well liked by Carson (Jim Carter), the butler, household manager and staunch family loyalist.
Kitchen maid Daisy (Sophie McShera) has been studying to better herself and is taking increasing interest in the fate of Mason (Paul Copley), the father of Daisy’s persistent suitor, who was killed in the war.
Other members of the household staff — Bates (Brendan Coyle) and his wife, Anna (Joanne Froggatt); Baxter (Raquel Cassidy); and Carson and Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) — face new, unexpected challenges in the new season.
With Tom Branson (Allen Leech) off seeking a new life in Boston, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) has become the agent for the estate, while her surviving sister, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), is quarreling constantly with the editor of the magazine she has inherited from Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards).
Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) tries to stay out of the conflict, especially when his American-born wife, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), retains an open mind as she gathers more information about the merger.
Fellowes’ tendency to have important conversations conveniently overheard, or the arrival of letters to shortcut a more natural development of key plot points.
[...] “Downton” earned its keep and will be remembered for its very human stories and for its melancholy exploitation of the fundamental truth of existence — that time passes and things change, and all of us are forced to change as well.
David Wiegand is The San Francisco Chronicle’s TV critic and an assistant managing editor.
