Whoever thinks there is any truth to the idea that you can
put lipstick on a pig, but you can't. . . .had better think again. Some pigs not only wear their lipstick well,
it turns out they get a lot of people forgetting their porcine roots
entirely. Two cases in point: first, there is the British import just
premiering its second season in the U.S. on Masterpiece
Theatre, Downton Abbey; second there is the
homegrown award winning series recently announcing its breathlessly awaited
fifth season, Mad Men.
Turns out you can take what has been one of the least respected TV
genres, the oft ridiculed soap opera, set it back in the past, dress it up with
some fancy period costumes, and viewers will not only eat it up, but so will
critics, and when push comes to shove, they'll win themselves an award or two. People who wouldn't have been caught dead
watching General Hospital or As the World
Turns will be tuned into PBS with breath baited. They will be looking forward to March, the
announced date for the return of Mad Men, with feverish
anticipation.
And I must confess not only was a sitting in front of my
television for the arrival of the Downton Crawleys and their servants, but my
own temperature elevated considerably at the news of Don Draper's imminent
return. Moreover, as far as the return
of Downton Abbey is concerned, I wasn't disappointed. It is two years later, and WWI is
raging. The episode opens on the Somme
in the midst of the battle. Clearly the
stakes for the new season have been raised.
Social issues remain front and center, but now they are played out
against a background of life and death.
The right dress for dinner and who serves important as it is is less
important than it might have been two years earlier. Class divisions are beginning to break down
more rapidly. The new world that was
beginning in the first series is gathering steam.
There are still those who aren't ready to accept it. The irascible dinosaurs like the Dowager
Countess of Grantham, played with a knowing gleam by Maggie Smith and the
faithful butler, Mr. Carson may not be quite
ready to deal with the new order. But,
if it was only Matthew Crawley, the unwilling heir to the estate, who seemed to
be ready for the changing social values in the first series, now there is a
whole crew of converts. Lady Sybil takes
up nursing. Lady Edith learns to drive
and takes a hand in some local farming. A
chauffer can even look to make advances to the daughter of the house, and a
lady kiss a farmer. This, after all, is
not a social tract.
To be sure, the major story lines are picked up with
relish. Matthew is now engaged, but Lady
Mary has clearly had second thoughts about him. Another romantic entanglement seems inevitable,
despite new attachments showing up for each of them. Bates and Anna begin
making plans for their future until his estranged wife shows up to make waves
and the honorable valet sacrifices himself for the honor of the Granthams. We can only hope, along with Anna, for his
return. The duplicitous lady's maid O'Brien and the scheming ex-footman Thomas
are working their way up to their old tricks. The dowager will continue to try
to run things for the family, and Lady Grantham will assert herself
gently. It is the war, however, that
dominates the first episode—the horror of battle, efforts on the home front,
patriotic fervor and craven cowardice.
It looks to be a promising season: world shaping events with a dollop or
two of soap.
Let's hope that Mad Men's return slated
for March is as auspicious. Those of us
who have been feeding our addiction replaying the first four seasons on Neflix are
impatient for news. What happens to Don
and Megan? Does the agency make it past the Lucky Strike disaster? Will Betty and Henry stay together? What happens. . . . well, there are a lot of
questions, and like any good soap opera, if you can keep your audience
salivating with anticipation, you've done your job. Downton Abbey has done it;
Mad Men has been
doing it for four seasons, there's no reason to suppose they won't continue.
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