Downton Abbey, the view from under a rock

Those of you that know me will know that I mostly live under a rock. Scandal rocks my alma mater and the President is asked to resign, followed by massive student protests and is then reinstated...yeah, what? I missed it.

There's a show called Bachlor and women do what? I missed it.

There's a show called American Idol and people do what? I don't know what you're talking about.

There's talk show host who was once a VP nominee? Huh?

So you'll understand the miracle of the fact that I am totally and completely hooked on Downton Abbey (it helps that it's on PBS.)

This past Sunday, catching up on last week's season, I watched 3.5 hours of the British show, which is quite a feat for me. As a writer, I loved watching the stories develop, the characters evolving (or not) and the sheer pleasure of watching masters at work revive a bygone time.

I don't want to spoil any endings for those of you interested in the show who haven't seen the second half of this season, but I don't think it reveals much to say there were some real humdingers that I didn't see coming (and one that I totally and completely saw coming! Honestly, the season finale's last 15 minutes were predictable from the opening scene, in my humble opinion. Again, I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but email me and I'll tell you why.) So I was riveted by this interview in the New York Times with the show's creator Jullian Fellowes who explains some of the more shocking twists and turns in a remarkably down to earth way that made me go, "oh, yeah, that explains it."

More later,

Tammar