# Has anybody else ever woken up one morning to find they're no longer in love... with Downton Abbey?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-else-ever-woken-up-one-morning-to-find-theyre-no-longer-in-love-with-downton-abbey/678200>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 8, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-else-ever-woken-up-one-morning-to-find-theyre-no-longer-in-love-with-downton-abbey/678200 "2014-01-08T00:11:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-else-ever-woken-up-one-morning-to-find-theyre-no-longer-in-love-with-downton-abbey/678200/61 "2014-01-21T04:03:43Z")

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I didn’t wake up one morning to that sad revelation. It came on me suddenly about 25 minutes into the Christmas Episode of Season 4.

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**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-else-ever-woken-up-one-morning-to-find-theyre-no-longer-in-love-with-downton-abbey/678200/62 "2014-01-23T08:08:07Z")

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[quote=“Sherrerd, post:49, topic:678200”]

Several days later, I remain bothered by this (and I’m not going to spoiler-box it, but will omit character names):

Julian Fellowes sent a very clear message in episode three of the fourth season: What a good, virtuous, sensible woman does when beaten and raped is _keep quiet about it_.

So what the smart, loving, caring, good woman does when beaten and raped is: belt up.

Fellowes chose, as vehicle for this message, a character who has been presented as a model of intelligence, integrity, and common sense. So, no matter what developments may be in later episodes—her decision in this episode to KEEP QUIET has great force. She is a role model for being a Good Woman. And this is what a Good Woman does. Even if she changes her mind later, the fact is that this was the conclusion this smart, decent woman came to. …And that truly does send a message.

I’m dismayed that this doesn’t seem to bother others (or not enough to post, anyway).

Sherrard,

Others haven’t bothered “enough to post” because Fellowes is NOT sending a  
message. No good producer/director/writer “sends a message” with his story  
unless he is a propagandist for a commie or fascist government.  
Louis B. Meyer said it best: “If you want to send a message, go to Western  
Union.”

Cheers, Singanas 1-23-14

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