Blu-ray Review – Downton Abbey: Season 5

"Downton Abbey: Season 4" was met with enormous hostility by fans and critics. Spending three seasons tracking the emotionally chilled antics of the Crawley Family, emphasizing decorum, hushed rumor, and the occasional dramatic flare-up, the show suddenly downshifted into more manipulative scripting from creator Julian Fellowes, with a subplot featuring sexual assault identified as particularly irksome to those already deep into the English fantasy. "Season 5" sets out to rebuild what was lost, largely eschewing dire events and horrifying violence to restore a bit of the old energy that's been lost to practice and time. In fact, "Season 5" is determined to poke sunshine through the clouds, even opening the first episode with a joke. Gasp! While I wasn't offended by Fellowes's visit to the dark side, it's clear many were, making this new round of tea, gossip, and internalized torment easy to recommend to those feeling burned out after last year. The production doesn't abandon every bad habit, but there's a distinct atmosphere of course-correction helping to make the brand name comfy again. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com