With the Downtown Abbey saga coming to a close, it enters a brand new era. The movie is set in 1930 and finds Downtown on the precipice of major change. A new butler is set to take over as Andy finally prepares to replace Mr. Carson, another longtime staff member's retirement is on the horizon, and most pressingly, Robert is debating whether to officially relinquish control to Mary. The last point is complicated by the fact that Mary, once the most hottie member of the Cawley family, is embroiled in scandal. She's separating from her husband, and society doesn't take kindly to divorced women. This only makes Robert more reluctant for change, and it puts Mary offkilter from everything she's ever known.
In classic Downtown Abbey fashion, practically every member of the sprawling ensemble has something going on. Kora's brother, Harold, returns after his single episode show appearance to handle some financial problems, and Isabelle oversees the local county fair with some surprising allies. With so much going on, it feels very much like an extended episode of the original series.
Downtown Abbey, the grand finale, which was penned by creator Julian Fellows, is largely constructed as a love letter to the fans and honors the characters they all love. There are several references to the original series and several key relationships. Robert and Bates, Mary and Anna, Mrs. Patmore and Daisy, to name a few, get satisfying, heartfelt moments to close out their stories.
If I had to single out any MVPs, it's an absolute delight to see how far Laura Carmichel's Edith has come over the years, and Thomas goes to some rather unexpected places. Visually, the world of Downtown is as beautifully rendered as ever. Anna Robbins costume design really flourishes with the onset of a new decade. Mary's red dress at an early ball is particularly stunning, and production designer Donald Wood's work is topnotch.
The grand finale features fresh London locations, an extravagant horse race, and the county fair, providing plenty of opportunities for celebration and beautiful historical detail. In some ways, few fans will actually be surprised by how the grand finale closes out the franchise. The past two movies all nudged the series in this direction, and the newest installment only seeks to put a finer point on it.
And yet, I dare viewers not to cry during the last sequence, a gorgeously edited moment that serves as the strongest tie to the original show. Though Fellows has indicated Downtown Abbey could live on in the future through new characters, this movie is as close to a perfect ending as the franchise could get. The extended sendoff with three different movies is unnecessary, but anyone who has loved these characters will enjoy getting closure. As Mary says at the end, long live Downtown Abbey. It's fair to say it will.