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2 TV ENCORE On the Cover Life after death: 'Downton Abbey' soldiers on after a tragic loss By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media CARPET • CERAMIC • WOOD LAMINATE • VINYL • REMNANTS ALL ON SALE Limited Time Special Financing Available!! All with EXPERT installation T Graybeals Carpet 2 x 3" & many remnants to choose from. Professional Installation Available 5th & Broadway, Logansport • (574)722-2215 • 1-800-886-2215 Mon-Thurs. 9AM-6PM; Fri. 9AM-7PM; Sat. 9AM-5PM s r MAROCCO-RANS FUNERAL CHAPEL 119 E. Market St. | Logansport, IN • 574.753.6282 HarrisonHARRISON-METZGER & RANS Merzger FUNERAL HOMES 304 S. Chicago St. | Royal Center, IN • 574.643.2265 123 E. Main Street | Kewanna, IN • 574.653.2265 2 x 2" Funeral & Cremation Services • Preplanning Options • Monument Sales www.ransfuneralhomes.com Water Softener Salt Special SALT COUPON GOOD MON-FRI COUPON NOT NECESSARY ON SATURDAYS 40# Mini cube ....... $4.49 40# Rustbuster ..... $5.29 80# Mini Cube ...... $8.19 80# Rustbuster ...... $9.39 r TM hose post-Christmas blues have no place in North America this year, at least for "Downton Abbey" fans. With the dawn of 2014 comes a gift that far exceeds anything you found under the tree: the eagerly anticipated new season of the acclaimed period drama is upon us at last. The "Masterpiece Classic" favorite has received numerous accolades and, as of its third season, has become PBS's mostwatched drama to date. The fourth season of "Downton Abbey" has already aired in its entirety in the United Kingdom, and makes its U.S. debut Sunday, Jan. 5, on PBS. "Downton" followers have surely been awaiting this moment with bated breath since the jarring Season 3 finale, which ended with the untimely demise of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens, "Sense and Sensibility"), one of the plot's driving characters and love interests. It seems all too cruel, doesn't it? The willthey-won't-they scenario with Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery, "Anna Karenina," 2012) was finally resolved when the two married early in Season 3, and the couple conveniently provided Downton with an heir Water Softener Specials Rent a Culligan® water conditioner or Drinking Water System $ 90 6 Young's 40# Solar Salt ....... $4.49 50# Block.............. $4.59 per month Culliganfor the first 3 months. 80# Solar Salt ....... $6.69 50# RBuster Block . $5.79 Limited Time offer. * Some restrictions may apply. 3 Try Our Drive Up Window! x 3"YOUNG'S WATER CONDITIONING • 722-2830 YOUNG'S WATER CONDITIONING • 722-2830 Not valid with any other offer. Offer Expires 1/31/14 Not valid with any other offer. Offer Expires 1/31/14 ® Salt Sale Every Sat. 8am-Noon 4115 E. Market St., Logansport 574-722-2830 before Matthew, the current heir, expired. Now, just as Downton seems to be at peace again following the losses of the First World War, a foolish investment on Robert's (Hugh Bonneville, "Twenty Twelve") part that almost cost him the estate and a slew of other calamities and near misses, we're hit with this new and perhaps greatest bombshell. Now it's time to take a breath and remember that however much we love the characters and feel like we know them, these aren't real people. It may seem tragic, but in terms of story, the real tragedy would surely be stagnation. It's the hardships and unpredictability that make "Downton Abbey" so gripping, and the show wouldn't be what it is if everything simply went according to plan. The Matthew-Mary storyline was a major driving force for the earlier seasons. "Happily ever after" really works better at the end of a story than it does in the middle, though. While fans rejoiced in the couple's happy union, that particular storyline really didn't have much life left in it. As Lisa Bernier put it in a PolicyMic.com article, "it was clear Matthew was the type to settle into marriage and family, ready to leave drama behind in the name of stolid Sunday mornings and 1920s sweater vests." As viewers, though, it's the drama we want. With that in mind, Matthew's death, however heart wrenching, was also perfectly timed. Though writer and creator The cast of "Downton Abbey" "She's barely left the house in six Julian Fellowes had no real months and she finds it very difchoice but to write Matthew out ficult to relate to, or have any of the series following actor Dan sort of contact with the baby, Stevens' decision to leave, he because she says each time she worked in the departure seamlooks at him, he reminds her of lessly. The stage has now been Matthew." set for a whole new array of Because of her gender, Mary challenges, and the birth of wee George – fortuitously a male and can't be heir herself (tradition isn't always a good thing). Yet therefore heir to the estate – she's strong, intelligent and cares ensures that the show won't go a great deal about the future of back to square-one with the Downton. So long as she can rise question of the entail. above her depression, she's in Still, the characters can't be expected to see the upside to the the perfect position to groom her son to be a wise and capable death of the heir apparent. future Earl of Grantham. It Season 4 will examine how the lives of the rest of the household remains to be seen, however, — family and staff alike — have who will take up Robert's gauntlet until young George comes of been altered in the wake of this age. terrible loss. The first episode Though it's lost some major opens six months after the accicharacters over its run, dent, and Mary is still mourns "Downton Abbey" always manher husband. ages to keep calm and carry on. "We've got to the point, not obviously where Mary has recov- With a whole new set of challenges, twists and shockers, ered or got over it in that way, but when it's time for her to start Season 4 is sure to be every bit the success here in North getting back in gear," Fellowes America that it's been across the told The Huffington Post. pond. The new season of the Mary has the additional chalperiod drama kicks off Sunday, lenge of rearing a baby without Jan. 5, on PBS. the child's father. Dockery adds, D&J Liquors 3 x 2"

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