A Franchise Ending with Grace and the classiest of fan service: Downton Abbey: the Grand Finale
The last is, of course, a franchise that has had the good sense and grace to finally call it a day. I’m a fan, but I applaud Julian Fellowes’ wrapping up the saga with a fan-service filled film. Take that, alliteration! To be clear, this last goodbye is very much for the fan base in a way that the previous films were not (and were stronger movies because of it). While Downton Abbey and Downton Abbey: a New Era were continuations of the series, they could very well stand on their own as movies and a newcomer would be no worse for wear.
The Grand Finale, however, is replete with callbacks and obscurities that might baffle, if not distract, the casual viewer, but for those of us who have followed the Crawleys and the Granthams this far, it was as close to a hoot as their tale gets and you better believe, I wept like a baby at the end.
There are no big dramatic arcs in the film that you feel will be unresolved or wrapped up amicably and in one case, no so. The film succeeds on the easy and close chemistry of the performers, a leisurely pace, and the sense of sitting in front of a cozy fire in your slippers, catching up with old friends. I suspect that going into the movie cold would, aside from the aforementioned callbacks, leave the viewer perplexed as to what the fuss was all about. Lady Mary’s divorce creates ripples in high society and the family is somewhat ostracized from the London scene and later, even around the village Downton.
Cora Crawley’s fortune was summarily lost through errant mishandling by her brother in America, who allowed a friend to invest and waste it in bad investments, leaving the family’s fortunes in a precarious state. Lord Grantham is increasingly at odds with change in the modern world and isn’t completely on board with moving to a London flat. And all of this is gibberish if you don’t know who the characters are. Again, it’s the chemistry and charm of the performances that keep the story perking along.
The saving grace of the franchise is that the ensemble is so strong and absent Dame Maggie Smith, it’s hard not to see a sense of “well, we could carry on without her, but why?” Dame Maggie looms over the film and it is heartening to see Lady Mary (the ever-reliable Michelle Dockery) assume the mantle of matriarch. Everyone turns in assured performances, each character fitting the actors like gloves and any slightness of story is overlooked in the interplay between them.
When Dexter Gordon returns to premier a play in the West End, he brings Thomas Barrow, his assistant and lover, with him and Noël Coward is on hand, to boot. Played by Dominic West, Robert James-Collier, and Arty Froushan respectively, they provide a sense of fun and of a larger world beyond the confines of British peerage. They don’t camp it up, but some of the asides are delicious and the conceit that Lady Mary’s recent divorce would provide the basis for Coward’s Private Lives is worked in perfectly. They also prove to be instrumental in saving Mary’s reputation.
Seeing James-Collier return as a fulfilled and non-grudge holding Barrow is a genuine joy. His humility in staying downstairs with the staff is heartwarming and that provides the other side of the Downton Abbey equation; the staff. If there is often a knock on the series, it’s that there is a kind of class-washing; it’s highly unlikely that the staff would have been considered quite as warmly by their aristocratic employers. This might not be unheard of, but it would be unusual. However, by now, we just go with it.
Mrs. (Patmore) Mason, Daisy, Mr. Carson, Mrs. (Hughes) Carson, Mr. and Mrs. Bates, Mrs. (Baxter) Molesley, and Andy are all on hand and provide an almost Platonic ideal of a working class milieu. Much of the humor comes from Mr. Carson being unable to stay away and returning to pester Andy who’s taken over his position. Mrs. Patmore is also coming to realize that her retirement is looming and Daisy will be assuming her position. Anna Bates is expecting a child and given that the Grantham are contemplating moving to London, the future of John Bates as Lord Grantham’s butler is up in the air.
Factor in Joseph Molesley’s writer’s block and his return to work with the staff on the evening of the party the Granthams are throwing for Noel Coward, and Molesley’s fan-boying is all but destined to set up a couple of laughs and a little disappointment when he realizes that Dexter Gordon doesn’t recognize him (which seems odd, since it was Molesley who saved the film’s production in the previous film) but that he does assume Molesley’s down on his luck and had to return to being a footman.
Eventually, the upper-crust swells of Downton come around to supporting Lady Mary, the Abbey is saved and other properties liquidated and Cora and Robert elect to move into the Dowager Countess of Grantham’s (that would be Violet Crawley, Dame Maggie Smith to the rest of us) former estate. Mary’s sister Edith returns to London and all’s well that ends well.
It’s difficult to not call out all the actors for doing what they do so well. Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Laura Carmichael, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech (Tom Branson fan club here), Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, and Penelope Wilton reprise their roles accordingly and with panache. It helps when you have Joely Richardson, Paul Giamatti, and Alessandro Nivola on hand for support.
Ben Smithard returns as cinematographer and upholds the golden hues that act as a filter through which to watch this type of thing. Simon Curtis directs with a lean efficiency and an intimate sense of what James Fellowes’ script is going for.
And it is with gratitude that we bid farewell to the franchise. It achieved a spectacular popularity, introduced more amazing British actors to the world and had the good sense to bow out on its own terms. The Grand Finale is less a grand finale than a nice encore and I’m happy with that.
So the other two…
DCU franchise: Superman (2025)
MCU franchise: Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
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