"You must say it properly. I won't answer unless you kneel down and everything."
I don’t think I ever feel more elated watching a television program than when one character proposes to another. It must be the cheesy romantic comedy-loving nerd in me who can’t get over the prospect of an on-screen wedding. So Matthew’s proposal to Mary tonight – after a long separation and then a convenient push of his previous fiancée, Lavinia – provided happiness worth the wait with an almost excessive level of excitement.
A few years ago when I was more obsessed with The Office than any other show on television, I loved the Jim-Pam relationship just as much every other person in the country with a TV. After Jim’s gas station proposal, I immediately ran to my computer to post a MySpace (yes, MySpace) bulletin with a clip.
Another one of my favorite shows was (and is) Friends. And Monica and Chandler’s engagement is still one of my favorite moments of the show.
But the difference between Jim and Pam, Monica and Chandler and Matthew and Mary is that the latter has been egging this on to the point that I was in between wanting to say “Just get on with it!” or “Oh, what will happen next?” Most of the second season has left us with the trite question of “Will they or won’t they?”
This was all part of writer Julian Fellowes’ game, you see. He gave us obstacles – a war, a new fiancée, a disability and fights upon fights upon fights – to the point that we could no longer see a feasible way for Matthew and Mary to get back together. And meanwhile, he gave them just the right amount of romantically tense interaction and valuable character exposition to make us absolutely want them to have that chance.
While I would have gone so far as to say I hated Lady Mary in the first series of Downton Abbey, by this Christmas Special I have learned so much more about her character. She is troubled and bothered by society’s strains. And though she is very visibly arrogant, she has vulnerabilities and positive duplicitous facets that make her much more well-rounded than the obnoxious rich girl we saw a year ago.
Though the episode as a whole was shrouded under a veil of sadness with Mr. Bates’ trial and conviction as the perpetrator of his wife’s murder, I felt myself growing almost bipolar along with the story. One minute I felt ecstatic with and for the characters and the next I was terribly sad at the fates of others. The dichotomy of the storyline straddled the line between terrible sadness and temporary stability.
But in the end it had a relatively “All’s well that ends well” vibe. With the prospect of Matthew and Mary’s marriage as well as Lord Grantham’s decision to back-up Bates and offer him any protection he can muster from unlawful conviction, there was a ray of hope that stood next to the darkened spirits of the employees and residents of Downton.
I have spent many hours growing to love Downton Abbey. The characters, the drama, the lovely historical lessons (and occasional inaccuracies) make this show one of the best television experiences of my life.
Like watching an amazing period film or a stage play, Downton speaks to an audience starved of well-written, well-directed, well-staged and well-acted television.
When Matthew said "Lady Mary Crawley, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?," I was reminded of all those half-hour stints of sitcom-watching where I’d become invested for just a moment in the grandeur of an on-camera wedding proposal.
But Downton Abbey is a show in which a wedding proposal is just one of a million amazing points along the overall storyline. It may be easy to swoon and proclaim the Godliness of Julian Fellowes at these moments, but the whole series is a testament to why TV doesn’t always have to be mindless, heartless entertainment.
Downton Abbey’s second series may be over, but its legacy is not. In the coming years of production, this show will continue to present itself as a beacon of quality in the entertainment world. It is a program where sensibilities from history, literature, film and theater combine to create a form of digestible weekly entertainment. And I can’t wait to find out what happens on the next series of Downton Abbey.