By Meredith Blake writing for The Los Angeles Times.
Downton Abbey bid farewell on Sunday night in a bittersweet (but mostly sweet) finale that ticked off all the boxes with a long-awaited wedding, a birth, a pregnancy and the promise of future romance all around. There was just a tinge of sadness as well, as one beloved character grappled with debilitating illness. Here, creator and writer Julian Fellowes reflects on the end of “Downton Abbey” and explains why he too thought Edith should finally get a break. Obviously, spoilers abound.
What were your storytelling priorities going into the final season?
There was this constant theme — one way resolution and in another way change. Those two themes go through the season. I didn’t want to tie up absolutely every last string, but I wanted to resolve the future for most of the characters, and at least indicate what it was probably going to be like. Like Anthony Trollope, I like happy endings. I didn’t want to kill someone with cancer or knock them over on the road. I just felt the audience had earned happy endings, particularly for Edith, because Edith’s has had nothing but bad luck for six years, and so it seemed nice that she should triumph after the last. That was fixed pretty early on in my mind. Apart from that it was just bringing everyone gradually into port, really.
Are you influenced by fan feedback? Fans certainly wanted Edith to catch a break.
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