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‘Downton Abbey’ Producers Answer Fans’ Burning Questions

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 07:00 PST, Mar 8, 2016

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the series finale of Downton Abbey, wait to read this article.

Let’s take a moment to savor what was Downton Abbey and how it not only changed the way we watch television, but how it convinced more people to tune into PBS. Even fans of Downton Abbey thought it would be impossible to wrap up the successful series and make so many people happy. But Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, seemed to have one rabbit left to pull out if his hat, and he produced a miracle.

According to the Inquisitr, there were a lot of moving pieces involved in wrapping up the series finale of Downton Abbey. Before the last episode, fans were in an uproar that throughout the series, Lady Mary always seemed to get her way, while Lady Edith always got the short end of the stick. When it seemed like the world of Downton Abbey was finally going to right itself and Lady Edith was not just going to marry, but marry well. Then, once again, Julian Fellowes flipped the script on fans.

If you haven’t checked out Downtown Arby’s, enjoy!

To those who follow Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, Lord Fellowes, is a God amongst men, as his series told a story of a people in a time and a place that taught everyone something with such detail that Downton Abbey will be in the western world’s consciousness for years to come, says Vanity Fair.

It seemed impossible as the season went on that all the loose ends of the Crawley household could be tied up, but somehow, Fellowes was able to get the job done with just a few minor threads left. Although fans were hopeful that Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael) would finally have luck go her way on Downton Abbey, fans were on pins and needles until the last moment. Vanity Fair asked producer Gareth Neame if it was always the plan for Edith to triumph by the end of Downton Abbey.

“I mean Edith has just gone on this journey that none of us had quite figured out at the beginning,” said Neame.

Neame explained that part of Lady Edith’s story plan seemed to be that each time Edith set a path, the fates would push her in the opposite direction. But ironically, Edith never planned to have a career, and not only ended up as a writer, but as an editor and publisher of her own magazine. That wasn’t her plan on Downton Abbey, but it ended up being a very positive spin that put her in the right place to meet and fall in love with Bertie, who was perhaps the best match she could have made on the show.

And the turn of events that unveiled Spratt as the “Agony Aunt”? Although this was a minor twist on Downton Abbey, it was pretty brilliant. Gareth Neame explains that Spratt as the columnist was all Julian Fellowes, and it was the kind of turn that exhibited the state of mind in the domestic staff characters that times were changing, and being in service was becoming a dying way of life for many on Downton Abbey.

“And I have to say, I can’t think of anyone else who would ever have thought of such a grandiose, preposterous, wonderful idea…”

The loose thread, though minor, that could have turned Downton Abbey on its ear was the storyline of Patrick Crawley, who was the would-be heir and the next Lord Grantham. The Huffington Post also took note of this loose thread that was never really resolved, but since Julian Fellowes is such a master, fans waited patiently to find out if the burned man who showed up at Downton Abbey when it was a convalescent hospital was a fake or the real thing. But after the man revealed his identity, there was no mention of him again.

“And what really happened with the probably fake Patrick Crawley (Trevor White), Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards) and O’Brien (Siobhan Finneran)?”

O’Brien left, Michael Gregson was killed by Brown Shirts in Germany, but there was still no clarity on Downton Abbey about the real/fake Patrick Crawley. There has to be more than one fan who is irked by pesky loose ends.

But Bravo, Julian Fellowes, and the cast of Downton Abbey, for providing a story that came alive and gave folks who don’t watch football something to talk about on Monday mornings around the water cooler.

What did you think of the series finale of Downton Abbey?

[Photo by Alan Chapman/Getty Images]

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