This post contains major spoilers. This is your cue to leave if you have not watched Downton Abbey's second season or the 2011 Christmas special.
I, like the seemingly the rest of America, love Downton Abbey. I'm not above a soapy costume drama, people! So I was very excited by the fact that Downton Abbey racked up a nice handful of Emmy nominations last week. Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley), Hugh Bonneville (Robert, Earl of Grantham), Maggie Smith (Violet, Dowager Countess of Granthan), Joanne Froggart (Anna), Brendan Coyle (Bates), and Jim Carter (Mr. Carson) all received nominations for their performances. Downton was also recognized in the writing and directing categories. The most exciting news of all, though, is that is was nominated for best Drama Series!
All of this Emmy buzz has gotten me worked up about the upcoming next season. It won't air in America until January 2013, so until then I'll just have to speculate on what's to come! These are the story lines I'm most looking forward to getting back into:
1. Lady and Mr. Sybil Crawley
Lady Sybil and Branson informing the Crawleys of their engagement during the Series Two finale.
Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay), the youngest Crawley daughter, and Branson (Allen Leech), the family's longtime chauffeur, married and moved to Ireland sometime between the Series Two finale and the Christmas special. Lord Grantham made it pretty clear that the newlyweds weren't welcome at Downton, so they were absent from the Christmas special. Well, mostly. Sybil did send a letter to her mother (Elizabeth McGovern) revealing that a little Sybil or Branson was on the way. When Lady Grantham dropped this bomb on her husband, she made it clear that she would not be kept away from their first grandchild. Hopefully this means that Sybil and Branson will be back in a major way in Series Three. They are both such independent and passionate characters, so their married life is guaranteed to be an interesting one. I only hope it's not quite as dramatic as Anna and Bates's, which brings me to...
2. FREE BATES
Anna visiting Bates in prison during the Christmas special.
Anna, Downton's head housemaid, and Bates, Lord Grantham's valet, were the couple I cheered for from the very start of the show. They had to deal with a lot of complications that kept them apart, most of which had to do with Bates's mysterious past. I cried when they (finally!) snuck off and got married during the Series Two finale. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived: Bates was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, Vera (Maria Doyle Kennedy).
Bates's innocence was hotly debated by Downton's upstairs and downstairs residents, but Anna obviously always believed that her husband was innocent. The cry she let out in the courtroom after he was found guilty and sentenced the death was totally heartbreaking. The good news is that Bates's sentence was reduced to life in prison, but a lot of difficulties are inevitably ahead for him and his missus. Hopefully we'll see a free Bates by the end of the season.
Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) showing his support at a press event in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
3. Shirley You Jest
Shirley MacLaine on the set.
A new face is coming to Downton Abbey this season, and what a face it is! Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine will be playing Lady Grantham's mother, Martha Levinson. I'm really looking forward to the scenes between mother and daughter. However, the main event is sure to be MARTHA LEVINSON VS. THE DOWAGER COUNTESS. There's no way those two legends won't be going head to head this season.
To hold us over until then, here are some of the Dowager Countess's best moments from the last season:
Violet's greatest hits.
The third season of Downton Abbey will premiere on PBS on January 6, 2013. The first two seasons are available to watch instantly on Amazon, as well as on DVD and Blu-Ray.
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