The last season episode of “Downton Abbey” always makes my stomach churn, and leaves my soul with a sense of emptiness. Oh how I miss those British accents, the spectacular scenery of the Downton mansion, and the peculiar ways that Downton is run and managed by its dedicated servants.
Every Sunday evening I sit in front of my large screen TV mesmerized, completely sucked back into the 19th century. At 10pm when the music plays at the end of the episode, I blink several times, slowly letting my eyes wander outside of the television view, and I breathe a sigh of disappointment that another episode is completed in the countdown.
“Downton Abbey” returns for Season 5 on Sunday, January 4th, 9pm ET. The year is 1924. Hello “Roaring Twenties!”
What a fabulous decade. A decade of great dramatic social and political change, which I’m sure will be very evident in this year’s “Downton Abbey” episodes. The “new” woman of the 20th century was called a “flapper”. Although most 20th century woman did not participate in the new found social ways of bobbing the hair, wearing short skirts, and publicly smoking and drinking, many of them gained significant freedoms.
The 19th Amendment allowed woman in the United States to vote in 1920. Jazz became the main genre of the music industry in the 20’s, bringing along with it the freedom to dance: the Charleston, the cake walk, the black bottom, the flea hop. White collar jobs became more available to women as economic growth swept the nation. New machines and technologies allowed more conveniences to woman in the home, and the sexual revolution took off with the increased availability of birth control.
Don’t forget to catch up on Season 4 episodes this week. In my British accent, “The Roaring 20’s” will make a great splash in Downton this season, looking forward to Sunday’s opening theme promptly at 9pm!”
Kim's What's Up 