Leigh Ann Loney

Wow. Every episode just gets better. I cannot say enough good things about this show. It is hilarious and poignant and mundane all at once. It’s relatable. It’s real. The casting is fantastic. The writing superb. It’s sort of hard for me to put my finger on exactly what makes this work- I think the performances by the actors, and the writing itself have a perfect amount of restraint (when needed) and rawness. These characters are so fleshed out in just a few episodes, I can’t wait to see what happens next. Bravo.

I really really really wanted to love this show, and I thought I would. I have given it five episodes, but I’m just so bored. Something about it always feels slightly off, and totally inauthentic unlike Downton Abbey. There is a lot of wasted talent here— Christine Baranski?! I wish she had more to do. The storylines are contrived. I don’t even know why they bother having random scenes of the downstairs household when they barely have a real plot in the show. DA was so good because it really only focused on the dynamics of the downstairs/upstairs. It feels like they just put the downstairs folks into the show to try to mimic DA, but the magic is lost. The writing is lackluster, the costumes feel fake, and overall just a big snooze. What a shame.