When they announced a third movie for Downton Abbey, I was perplexed.
I thought the story was kind of going nowhere in the second movie, although I did like how some characters’ arches were wrapped up nicely. So, I couldn’t help but wonder what else can be talked about, especially with Dame Maggie Smith now truly gone, leaving a huge hole in the Crawley family.
Then the trailer came out, and I thought ‘Ok, so are they trying to create a new drama just to have another movie?’
Turned out, I was kind of wrong. They took an actor’s unavailability and turned it into a movie plot, and weirdly that it worked. Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary hasn’t been lucky in terms of relationships, and that run seemed to be continuing. However, instead of focusing on that aspect, it became a story of resilience for her and a re-evaluation of her commitments and priorities in life, which I though was a breath of fresh air. Edith of Laura Carmichael had grown throughout the whole series and the movies, and we have observed that she had completely abandoned her spite against Mary because of her insecurity, into someone who uses her wit and ability to compliment her sister. It is no longer about competition but calling out their past behaviours, acknowledging the faults and move on as a unit to fulfil their duties.
Whether the Grand Finale is truly grand I don’t know, but the fact is that it was about an end of an era, with Hugh Bonneville’s Robert Crawley needing to acknowledge the changing of time and facing a changing role that he could not possibly push back anymore. He is not less loving or committed to Downton Abbey, but the mode of love and commitment had to be changed, and the struggle was real as a protective father trying to pave the way for the next generation to take centre stage, especially with the new drama created by some unforeseeable events.
To be honest with you, I felt that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale had significantly shifted its focus back to the a few main characters. It started off like this, and then became a great ensemble piece, but now with the (hopefully real) close of the saga, it tactfully switched back to what this was about – the succession plan. All the downstair characters had their fair share of screen time, but they are all about tying up lose ends and wrapping up their stories nicely. I mean, they had gone through a lot over the years, so it is nice to see they eventually found what they were looking for, either in retirement or in succession.
The other thing I liked about The Grand Finale was that, despite significantly less screen time, characters of the past who had important roles did show up, even seemingly their story was completed. And they still served a purpose from a plot moving point of view. Nothing is worse than a nostalgic fan service cameo with no purpose and I thought the movie handled these important yet completed characters very well.
Julian Fellowes is a skilful story teller. You can tell that from the quality of the writing. Watching Downton Abbey over the years, no lines he wrote were fillers with no purpose, and I think that was what was engaging about the saga. I cannot say that I agreed with a number of storylines throughout the series, but you knew that when someone said something it added to the character and the story moving forward. That’s really why I still came back for The Grand Finale despite having doubts about the true purpose of the third movie.
If you are not a fan of the series, I don’t see a point for you to jump in for The Grand Finale, but if you have been following the series since it started like me, I think this movie wrapped up the entire saga in a nice little package. I just hope that this is truly The Grand Finale.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is now showing in cinemas.
