<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" By now, you may have heard of a show called Downton Abbey. You know, the Masterpiece Theater costume drama featuring filthy-rich, emotionally-constipated Brits with concerns so petty they make your troubles look worse than Jon Huntsman&amp;#039;s. Okay, so you might not be sold on the premise. But maybe you&amp;#039;ve also heard that it&amp;#039;s won several Emmys, or that it&amp;#039;s helmed by Julian Fellowes, he of the Gosford Park Best Screenplay Oscar. And really, there&amp;#039;s a lot to admire: This might just be the finest articulation of class tension on television. (Sorry, Mad Men.) Set immediately after the sinking of the Titanic, it posits a social order in upheaval, in which both servants and aristocrats dream of a blessedly free future until they realize the repercussions of that freedom. What follows is one of the most incredible displays of petulance and tantrum-throwing ever seen on television, including Dame Maggie Smith spitting out her best verbal brutality. And yet it&amp;#039;s all done without reverting to campiness. Did I mention your girlfriend will love it? But a word of warning: Don&amp;#039;t start with season two, which premieres this Sunday. The plot, thrown into World War I, gets dragged out by forbidden romance, overly complicated interpersonal relationships, and conflict you can safely assume all major characters will endure. These bumps are nothing out of the ordinary for an extended series, but to weather them, you need to know the characters. You need to be able to forgive their frustrating inaction. You need to care about their survival even when you know they&amp;#039;ll be fine. In other words, you need to start from the beginning. Which is why, if you&amp;#039;re really going to watch Downton Abbey, instead of turning on PBS, you should go to Netflix right now and watch the entire first season instantly on your computer. You might even find that you like it. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a12291/downton-abbey-season-2-6634225/>