Last episode finally aired here in Finland and I have to admit I didn’t like it at all. Way too blatant happy endings for everybody. Maybe if I had seen it on Christmas full of holiday cheer it wouldn’t felt so silly but we are a fair bit into January by now and it is dark and cold outside and I can’t stomach such sickeningly sweet stuff. I know DA has hardly been a paragon of realism so far but this episode broke my suspension of disbelief.
Oh well. I’m glad Edith got happily married even so, though it would’ve felt a bit more real to me if her new MIL hadn’t been suddenly so good sport about it all.
Now that it’s all over, it’s apparent in retrospect that the season treaded water for at least the first four (probably six) episodes and so all the actual drama was stuffed into ep 8 and the CS. Edith winning over her mother in law should have played out over a couple of episodes, not a couple of minutes.
As for the Xmas special being sentimental, there was never any doubt. Fellowes was practically burned in effigy for killing Matthew in the season 3 CS. Ever since then, they’ve been nice and reassuringly pleasant.
I binge-watched seasons 1-5 from Netflix just before season 6 started so I didn’t even realize they all had a Christmas special. It was all just a big pile of Downton Abbey for me.
This one could’ve been nice and pleasant as well without being so insufferably tidy about it, solving every problem in every character’s life. I’m sure I’ll get over the last episode being a disappointment pretty fast though. I did enjoy the series quite a bit.
I don’t think Mrs Pelham was being a good sport so much as she realized her only alternative was being frozen out of her son’s life forever. Though she was more sympathetic to Edith than condensational.
