I thought that Matthew´s death was a bit too predictable and pedestrian, so to say. Disappointing, too, in that I thought he was a fine young actor who lent a lot to the show and I don´t know how they´ll deal with his loss, although I expect they´ve already got that figured out...Tom and Lady Mary will probably join together to jointly raise the kids or some such like that. There´s probably a new prettyboy with a velvety accent in the wings as we speak.

RIP Matthew...Best of luck, Dan.

Our family loves this show because we can watch it together without the fear of profanity and explicit sex scenes. It is really a good production. The scenery, costumes and characters are top notch. Both Matthew and Sybil were favorites and we hated seeing them go but will definitely tune in next year for season four.

A misstep by Fellowes, but perhaps he can redeem himself next season.

The ending was horribly contrived. I know it´s a soap opera but I would really like to see some character growth that doesn´t involve sex between the Upstairs people or Downstairs folks. That is a simpleton´s route to developing the story line.

Our flippin´ country is falling apart and people are more concerned with a soap opera? Sheesh!

Sunday nights will seem so empty. I had heard "Matthew" wanted to move on to bigger and better things. Just hope he doesn´t regret it. And just how long does it take to shoot a season that only last two months?

Posting again to say, some posters get really involved with football, which I do not, so to criticize others involved with television drama, why not? If it helps get one´s mind off of the horrible state of the nation! We need not apologize!

Aw, #5, in the past month have you bought movie tickets, read an outdoor magazine, watched a sports event, attended a concert? Everyone needs an occasional break from the serious stuff.

Years ago, National Lampoon Magazine had an article, "How to Write Good." It advised the fledgling writer of a way to end problematic stories, by concluding his or her opus with the deus ex machina "Everybody got run over by a truck." So art is now imitating parody, like getting your news from Colbert and Stewart.

In a way I am glad that I had stumbled upon the Season 3 "spoiler" ending. Less of a shock that way. I am a devoted fan and will take the good with the bad things that happens at Downton Abbey. Just like real life, things do not turn out the way we would like.

The un-edited version of Downton Abbey, the British version, is much better than the edited PBS version. Don´t know why pbs feels it must edit, guess it is just another case of Leftist control.

It´s very disappointing. They could have replaced him with Patrick Duffy. Yeah. That would have worked. In a shower with a shark.

What about another entail drama--the burn victim who showed up at Downton after the war claiming to be Patrick and just as quickly disappeared? Edith sort of believed him. What if he returns, is proven the rightful heir (thus replacing the baby Crawley,) marrying Edith and giving her the upper hand for once in her life...
This is such fun!

Contracts don´t get renewed and Masterpieces get revised on the fly. Enjoy the beautiful scenery, awesome lighting and imaging and terrific character development. By the way:

"Who are the Crawley girls"?

He did something jolly to his cahhhhh!

I did not like the insipid Matthew Crawley character anyway. Knowing that the actor said he would not come back next season, I was thinking he would be killed off in a hunting accident in Scotland as I watched the finale. Death by car accident has to be one of the oldest devices in soap operas. Of course, another soap opera device is coming back from the dead. Or maybe he´s not dead yet.

Yes, it was annoying. They should have ended the show after this season like they do so many others. I´ve always liked that British shows have an end rather than dragging on forever. Or they could take one servant, move them to another household and take on -- with the exception of that servant -- an entirely new cast with an entirely new family and manor.

But writing people out is so much the stuff of soaps. That´s what every plot line in a soap is about. Writing someone out. And that´s what season 3 was. Not sure if I´m on board for season 4. I thought the quality dipped a lot this last one.

But # 12, Edith is busy doing her Jane Eyre thing with her editor.

The actor, Dan Stevens, decided not to renew his contract, so they kind of had to kill his character off. What else could they do? I suppose they could have waited until next season to see if they could lure him back, but Matthew´s death does open up new plot lines that his happy marriage with Lady Mary would not. I, too, love this series because it is so classy--no "f" word, nude scenes, hooking up, gay couples (though there is a gay subplot).

Here´s an article, dated 12-26-12, from The Telegraph, UK, Titled: "Dan Stevens: Why I left Downton Abbey", by Sarah Crompton...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/9765334/Dan-Stevens-Why-I-left-Downton-Abbey.html

The writers of 24 never let an actor wanting to leave the show dictate the plot.

Voiceover: "The role of Matthew Crawley is now being played by _________." See how easy that could have been?

That said, he was a bit too good to be true. I´ll be back for Season 4.

Hmmm. Remember Dallas? Pam just had a bad dream and Bobby, ´returned,´...from the shower. Just saying...