Downton Abbey (TV Series) A Moorland Holiday (2014) User Reviews

Nicely Turned

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 2 September 2020]

So many things are settled in an hour and a half. First of all we have the huge party at Rose's in-laws castle. There is a nasty butler who makes the mistake of crossing Thomas. There are two new men who appear, one who finished second in the Cary Grant look-alike contest, who seems to have eyes for Mary. Edith gets a break. There are a series of twists and turns in the Bates storyline. There are other romances in the air. Sadly, Branson is off with his little girl to the States and there is a really dramatic moment at the end. Nice shaping of an episode with some amazing scenery.

Visually stunning

[moviesfilmsreviewsinc · 10/10 · 14 May 2022]

Mary, Mary, Mary, just when we think you're a lost cause, you have to go and do something noble (defending the honor of Branson) and we have to rethink. You make us love you even when we don't wanna do it. From seething Stowell's perspective, it's bad enough he has to wait on Jews, but he draws the line at chauffeurs. He is being nasty to Tom and we can't allow that. With a simple question, "Can't Barrow do something?" Mary opens a Pandora's box. Toxic Avenger Thomas sits right down and writes himself a letter, and makes believe it came from Mr. Daunt. Let that be a lesson to you. This is why you should never take the day off from work. Let us now take a moment to salute the evil genius that is Thomas Barrow. With only a paperclip and a used cigarette filter he can fashion the downfall of Western civilization. Or, at least, the downfall of Stowell, with some welcome collateral karma for naughty boy Sinderby. He's a regular MacGyver of deviousness, isn't he? But while it is handy for Mary to have an executioner at her beck and call, remember, Thomas is not like Bates whose 'talents' the family utilized to save the Monarchy last season. To Thomas, information is currency. Now that Mary has utilized his services, will he think she is beholden to him? Forget about shooting grouse; this week would have been a whole lot better if they'd just shot Denker and Sprat (is there still time?) There is no restorative broth strong enough to rescue those two from a pointless, recycled storyline about sabotaged cooking. Daisy learned that didn't work in Season 1. Poor Sprat. What a waste of someone who (early on) showed such promise as a fabulously pissy queen. If this keeps up, next season he and Denker will invent mud wrestling. And speaking of pissy queens, that Princess Elena is just a barrel of laughs, isn't she? Someone sign her up to be Sourpuss Susan's Ladies Maid. All this Russian angst may be great for literature and symphonies, but sitting in the parlour for tea...not so much. Good times ahead! God bless us everyone!

Downton back to its brilliance

[chenzhanghua · 10/10 · 26 December 2014]

Glad to say Downton has gone back to its normal brilliance, which proves a consolation. Maybe season 4 and season 5 can not be marked as excellent. But this Christmas special is the most amazing of amazing episodes, really worth watching. All cast have done their best in this episode, especially Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery. The writer has finally give audience a touching emotion after season5's disturbance. Hope it could be much better in the next season.

It is really great to see emotional entanglements between characters are done and what greater is this strong britishness is back.

Good music BTW.

Christmas Spirit in the Air

[jpismyname · 10/10 · 8 January 2018]

Well, I suppose this is the Christmas special that made me feel the spirit of Christmas, at least in the ending where they sing and have fun.

This is the best episode on Season 5, no doubt. It shows the Crawleys going to the Sinderby's for days of shooting and lavish dinner parties. We see Thomas schemes, his cunning ways. Of Edith finally happy with Marigold and her family, except Mary accepting her. And then Bates running away, falsely confessing to save his wife. A love so unconditional. And Tom bids goodbye with Sybbie. They are going to go to Boston to have a fresh start. Hopefully, they will come back.

Visually pretty but a little flat

[SsunTsu · 6/10 · 2 January 2015]

It was a visually lovely episode, and I liked that several problems were resolved; 1) Lord Sinderby's attitude problem (although Aticus now has a little illegitimate brother), 2) Edith's child is no longer a secret with Lord Grantham and Tom. Then Fellowes flogs another murder scenario (I'm a lawyer, they hadn't enough to arrest Anna.) Mary seems to have no end of admirers, but not one ever criticizes her obnoxious superior attitude toward others, her lack of interest in the world around her (she's the Dowager Countess reborn) or her lack of any real accomplishments; she thinks she's the perpetual débutante, like Scarlet O'Hara; Mary has title and money, but she's beginning to age and not a nice person. Edith is mooning over Marigold and ignoring her publishing house; I'd like to see her carve out a great career and a life in London, and it makes no sense that she's not offering Tom a job as a writer; he'd be close by with Sybbie, could have a London life, and still influence changes in the estate. Tom is way too nice for Mary, but would be a perfect match for Edith. The Granthams were just dull, and I was disappointed in Mrs. Crawley's decision. This finale could have been so much better if they'd opened up some new avenues for season 6 instead of wasting time on old plot traps. IMO, Season 2 was amazingly good with the War as a backdrop, and I'd like to see something similar in Season 6, perhaps with depression and the rise of fascism.