Culture Recs: Downton Abbey Comes to An End — For Real This Time
Plus: The Golden Girls at 40, the Emmys, and a documentary about a secret apartment in a mall
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (in theaters Friday)
Downton Abbey has had a lot of endings: first the series came to an end in 2015, after six uneven but thoroughly entertaining seasons of drama involving the Crawley family and their devoted servants. Then came two superfluous-yet-enjoyable movie sequels. But it appears that Julian Fellowes’ rose-tinted ode to the British aristocracy is finally coming to an end with the third film in the trilogy, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. The action begins in 1930 and the world is changing, yet somehow everyone in the Crawley family is still the same. Perpetually scandal-prone Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is caught up in a rather public divorce from her hot, race-car-driving hubby Henry (Matthew Goode) and Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) is worried about the future of Downton Abbey, which faces new threats. The Grand Finale hits theaters almost exactly a year after the death of Maggie Smith, who played the tart-tongued Dowager Countess Violet, and while her absence is keenly felt — no one delivered a withering zinger like she did — it is gracefully acknowledged.
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television (streaming on HBO Max)
Executive produced by Issa Rae, this two-part documentary looks at how Black representation — both onscreen and behind the camera — has progressed since the days of Amos n’ Andy. Featuring interviews with Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, and the late Norman Lear, the series looks at breakthrough performances, like that of Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek (apparently one of the only shows Martin Luther King, Jr. would let his kids watch), and the vital role that Black stars played in the Civil Rights movement.
Seen & Heard argues that authenticity was just as important as visibility, and that has only been accomplished by the hiring of Black producers, writers, and directors. As Good Times star Esther Rolle says in an archival interview that appears in the documentary, “Until there is more participation behind the scenes, we are not going to be able to control what is before the camera.”
77th Emmy Awards (Sunday on CBS)
The surreal workplace drama Severance, the haunting limited series Adolescence. and the showbiz comedy The Studio are expected to dominate their respective categories on TV’s biggest night. I am hoping that Stephen Graham is recognized for his utterly heartbreaking performance as a dad in over his head in Adolescence, and I’m curious how comedian Nate Bargatze, known for his observational standup, will handle his hosting gig (it’s a safe bet there won’t be many political jokes). But mostly I will be watching to see if The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will win for talk series, because the show deserves it (even fellow nominee Jimmy Kimmel thinks so), but also because the awards are airing on CBS, the network that unceremoniously axed the show in July. To quote Marie Kondo, I love mess.
Secret Mall Apartment (available Tuesday for digital rental through numerous platforms)
Like the title suggests, this documentary tells the unbelievable true story of eight young people who built and fully furnished a 750-square-foot apartment in a neglected corner of the Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island and lived there for four years until they were finally caught. The elaborate prank/installation was spearheaded by Michael Townshend, an artist known for creating intricate murals with colored tape and other temporary works. This film by Jeremy Workman, which draws heavily on video shot by Townshend and the rest of the apartment gang, goes beyond the wacky headlines to look at gentrification, public space, and the nature of art itself. It’s a fun, thought-provoking ride.
The Golden Girls (streaming on Hulu)
This weekend The Golden Girls turns 40 — or about half as old as Sophia — which is the perfect excuse to fire up some episodes of the sitcom. Not that you should feel like you need one. The Golden Girls, which starred Betty White, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Beatrice Arthur was as groundbreaking as it was hilarious, depicting older woman in a way that had rarely been seen on television and tackling thorny social issues with great humor. The Golden Girls set the standard for seemingly every female-driven ensembles comedy that has been on TV since, from Living Single to Sex and the City and Girls. Listen, this week has felt like a century, and a particularly apocalyptic one at that. We could all use a laugh.
Elsewhere in pop culture news:
This week David Letterman sat for a rare interview with Vulture, in which he gushed about John Mulaney and questioned CBS’s decision to cancel Stephen Colbert days after cutting a deal with the Trump administration over 60 Minutes. “It smelled bad.” Indeed.
The trailer for Emerald Fennell’s adaption of Wuthering Heights dropped last week and, boy, does the internet have thoughts on it — from 35-year-old Margot Robbie playing doomed teenager Catherine Earnshaw to the casting of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, who is described as ”dark-skinned” in Emily Brontë’s novel. Expect the movie to generate roughly a billion hot takes when it hits theaters on Valentine’s Day next year.
Trump cheered on a West Point alumni group that abruptly canceled an award ceremony for Tom Hanks, the Oscar-winner who has played military heroes in movies like Saving Private Ryan, produced World War II series Band of Brothers and The Pacific, and done more to memorialize veterans than the president, but is apparently too “woke” to be honored by West Point. (Translation: he’s a Democrat.)
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny told I-D magazine that concern over potential ICE raids at his concerts contributed to his decision to do a two-month residency in San Juan rather than touring the continental United States. “People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world,” the musician sad. “But there was the issue of, like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Meredith Blake is the culture columnist for The Contrarian
Enjoyed reading your write ups. Hope to enjoy some of the selections.
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