Downton Abbey

If Seasons 1 through 4 have bored or baffled or just annoyed you, Season 5 won't win you over. If, on the other hand, you greet the return of Downton with unabashed affection, as I admittedly do, you won't be disappointed, even if some of the storylines feel like reruns, or even when you want to grab a character by the shoulders and shake him or her.

TV's pre-eminent people-watching pleasure.

For now, Season 5 is proof that Downton Abbey remains in possession of a strong pulse and story lines. It minds its manners--and its stately manors--while keeping its characters vital and vulnerable.

Beyond the sloggy Mistah Bates! scandal, which still gets too much attention, it's a relief to find no secret rapes or pregnancy shame (yet) this season. It's time for these proper ladies to have some proper fun.

Downton Abbey seems just as fresh as it did five years ago.

Show creator Julian Fellowes has defeated jaded skepticism again.

The prettiest soap opera on TV continues to offer a refuge from the present while mirroring contemporary attitudes and evolutions.

Not all of the plots work at a high level. Still, even when things go wrong, you know the grand performances will save the Downton day. You're always in good company with this series.

In some respects, the latest episodic flight feels less like Season 5 than Season 4, Part B, what with so much unfinished business to transact. That’s not a serious knock on the show, necessarily, although the latest storyline doesn’t contain the sort of signature events that have dictated the course for past runs.

Downton Abbey Season 5 may cover some familiar ground, but its steps are so lively, the company so delightful, and the scenery so fine, it's a trip well worth taking.

Startling incidents, odd coincidences and sudden turns of fate abound, sometimes to a ridiculous extent.

While Downton’s fifth season doesn’t quite return to form, it appears to do so often enough to make viewers consider what a Downton renaissance is supposed to look like.

Change is afoot at Downton, and with it a redirection back to the frenzied elegance that defined its first few surprisingly engrossing seasons. The progress is with a grain of salt, though. The plot development is back, but it’s more obtuse than ever.

Certainly Fellowes has developed a formula. A solid, dependable and successful formula, with "dependable" being just a few shades warmer than "predictable."

Downton Abbey doesn’t meet any objective criteria for brilliant television except for one: escapism.

While Downton Abbey may be a large, loose, baggy TV monster, there’s definitely some art in the mix, sidled up right beside the elegant mush.

Yes, a few plots feel repetitive... but overall the feeling for the season is one of new exploration among the characters.

Unfortunately, these flickers of the show's once exuberant energy are too few and far between to sustain the viewer through extended stretches of flagging interest.

Downton Abbey is not the best show on television, or even as good as it was in the first season. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to watch.

Downton Abbey is not even trying anymore.... despite its astonishing talent and productive values, took the path of predictable, repetitive soap opera.