On the surface, the two shows (The Walking Dead and Downton Abbey) could not be more different. What they do have in common is – at least here in the central time zone – both shows air at 8 p.m. on Sundays. That requires some juggling, yes, so maybe things are getting slightly muddled in my brain … did Lori have a baby or was that Edith? (Both.) Was Matthew Crawley killed by zombies or a car wreck? (The latter.)
I know, I know! I’ve probably stepped on everyone’s toes by suggesting any of the above. But the huge casts involved in both productions make for some interesting contrasts, don’t you think?
I’ve posted about both shows before: here are links for Downton and for Dead. Because I love period dramas, Downton was a natural for me, The Walking Dead much less so. What I’ve discovered in watching both are their interesting similarities … uh-oh, did I just utter blasphemy?
For The Walking Dead, we’re not treated to an imposing castle structure but rather the lack of any structure at all to fill the same role. A hostile landscape, nights and days and more nights and days on the run through forests and on endless roads and hiding in makeshift structures provides a backdrop equally striking … though nowhere as grand. In this hostile landscape, the unpredictability of the zombies may be compared to the societal rigidity at Downton that demands conformity or severe consequences.
There are of course some marked contrasts. In Sunday’s episodes, Rick Grimes and his motley group of companions shot and ate the dogs, while Lord and Lady Grantham shared their bed with their dying canine. In Downton, whatever regrets the upstairs residents feel are mostly subsumed and forgotten, though the servants seem to more freely express their emotions … as the characters in Dead are more prone to do. Tortured souls both, Mr. Barrows punishes himself via physical pain as does Daryl; one feels too much, the other fears he doesn’t feel at all.
In both shows, death is a constant. Yes, it seems slightly more genteel in Downton (no knives thrust into skulls) but killing off main characters doesn’t appear to bother the writers of either production. (Truthfully, when I first began watching The Walking Dead, I wondered how long the show could last due to so many deaths! Would it be a revolving door always introducing new characters?)
In relation to Downton Abbey, the lessons are clearer … and have more currency. Over recent episodes, the ethnic hatred has heightened uncomfortably (for me). The racial tensions have bothered me as well. The expectations of class have maddened me! When Edith first bore her daughter, I wanted her (pleaded with her!) to proudly keep the child, damn the aristocratic conventions! It saddens me mightily that people were loyal to certain dictates of what was and wasn’t “proper!“
I mentioned how it seems the patterns of Downton have currency in today’s world. I shudder to think how the attitudes and practices of previous generations are being acted out today! Have we learned nothing? For all our claims to being civilized, I fear the veneer of Downton Abbey mutating into its own despicable version of The Walking Dead. We must not allow it to happen!
Great post. You’re very brave to tackle the Walking Dead and Downton Abbey in the same post. Believe it or not, I’ve had similar thoughts. Are we Downton Abbeying our way right into the Walking Dead? Sometimes
I’m not sure if we’re heading for Les Miserables or a post apocalyptic horror show, but either way, it can’t possibly end well.
Yes, my thoughts exactly. With attacks on Christians and Jews, is this really 2015 or 1938?!