I would like to start off by saying that this post is fraught with spoilers. Fraught. So if you haven’t seen the finale of Downton Abbey you should probably 1) get your act together and 2) don’t read any further, because this is about to get REAL.
I am fully aware that Mr. Fellows, creator of DA and Oscar-winning writer of Gosford Park, probably had very little to do with Dan Stevens’ decision to leave the show. Stevens is a star, baby, and if he wants to head off in search of bigger and better parts, more power to him. (This is me being diplomatic; in actuality I am super pissed). What I can’t condone, however, is the emotional roller coaster Fellows forced us to ride, like a cinematic Splash Mountain. I mean, killing someone off minutes after the birth of their on-screen son? A joyous event that has been three seasons in the making, followed by a fatal, and dare I say totally avoidable, car crash? Not cool. Also, why are we trying to vilify babies? Killing off a lead character every time there is a birth in the family seems a little unfair to the infants in question.
Matthew melodrama aside, I loved this episode. It was nice to see Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) getting some well deserved extra screen time, and watching the reconciliation between Jimmy (Ed Speleers) and Thomas (Rob James-Collier) was pretty satisfying. Oh, and then there was this…

Good. Grief. We at Fangirly try really hard not to objectify our favorite stars (false) but I think the award for Best 20th Century TV Bod goes to Mr. Allen Leech. I don’t know about you, but I’m suddenly much more optimistic about series four.
-Whitney