When I was first introduced to Downton Abbey in 2010, I was captivated. I loved the look, the feel and music and watched each episode numerous times mostly because I was totally obsessed with the love affair of Matthew and Mary. There was such powerful chemistry between Dan Stevens and Michelle Dockery and show certainly made them earn their eventual marriage.
When Dan Stevens, not to mention original cast members Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil) and Siobhan Finneran (O'Brien) left the show during, and at the end of, the show's third season, my interest fell dramatically. I no longer watched right away, and skipped through much of it on my DVR. Yes, Maggie Smith still entertained and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) still had my heart, but the magic that initially grabbed me with Mary and Matthew was gone.
Last night's PBS broadcast had that interest surge back, and surge back hard. I have loved Matthew Goode since first noticing him in A Single Man, and have enjoyed him every time he shows up on screen. Goode has an amazing gift to illicit chemistry with almost all of his co-stars. Last season on The Good Wife, he had it with Julianna Margulies, even after years of people rooting for her character to end up with Josh Charles. Like Dan Stevens, Charles left his show and his character was killed off. On Downton Abbey, Goode has the same seemingly impossible task with Dockery, but the chemistry, and sexual tension between Mary and Goode's Henry Talbot is incredibly strong. I am glad the show found an actor strong enough to give Mary a good ending and although I still miss Matthew, with the show going off the air after this season, it was time to move on.
Brideshead Revisited (2008)
A Single Man (2009)
Al sur de Granada (2003)
Burning Man (2011)
