Noble households, unalike

There are numerous shows on tv now (“on” in this case meaning they either air more or less weekly or are on hiatus/between seasons but should be back at some point in the future) which seem to be the closest thing possible to everyone-talks-about-it material: Girls, Louie, Breaking Bad, Justified, The Walking Dead, &c. It’s arguable that Community falls into that category as well, but that may or may not just be my unwavering devotion to it talking, and who knows if Community really will get its February 7 season premier or not. Community has always been appointment television for me and my wife, whereas the other (pop) culturally omnipresent shows on right now fall into one of two categories: those I’m a season or so behind on, but catching up with on Blu-ray; and those I’m not watching at all (for reasons which are not always synchronous with my desire to do so). There are really only two shows in the former category, Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey, which I’ve recently realized are pretty much as opposite one another as two shows can possibly get.

But of course, when you talk about opposites you often talk about two things which are actually quite similar yet have a few striking contrasts. Of course both Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey are serialized dramas, and both have to do with lords and ladies and servants, enmeshed in politics and wars as well as the mundane struggles of life. The most glaring difference between them is that Game of Thrones takes place in a fantasy world where, at the very least, there are zombies and dragons, and everyone is engaged in violent life-or-death struggles all the time. Downton Abbey is set in the nominally real world, a hundred years ago, and might as well be in the dictionary next to the word “grounded”.

I would argue that both Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey are explicitly escapist entertainments, as well, though again that fundamental similarity underscores how very different the approach on either show is from the other. Game of Thrones is geared toward visceral escapism, with all the bloodletting and copious nudity that premium cable allows, everything cranked up to maximum shock value to get the viewers’ blood pumping. And it’s also unrelentingly dark and bleak, portraying a harsh world where anything that can go wrong will go more horribly awry than the audience would have previously imagined possible. (To its credit, in my mind, this is because it’s pretty faithful to the books.) I suppose that makes Game of Thrones potentially cathartic, in the ancient and classical sense of presenting the trials and tribulations of mythic heroes in such a way that the audience stops feeling sorry for themselves and their own petty problems, and technically I’d say that satisfies the temporary respite aspect of escapism.

Downton Abbey, contrariwise, is escapism from the world around us into something more pleasant. I’ve latched onto at least three different levels on which this is the case. First, there’s the opulence of Lord Grantham’s hereditary estate. Of course everyone wants to live in a world where footmen and maids cater to one’s every whim, helping one dress in the finest fashions and serving one exquisite dinners and bringing around the horses or the auto or whatnot. Second, there’s the appeal of a different culture with different rules of behavior. I mean, not to sound like a grouchy old crank or anything, but I see enough commercials for reality shows to long for an escape from the insistence that whoever can be the rudest and most selfish and shout the loudest and most obscenely is the one who’s winning. Immersing oneself into the world of Downton Abbey, where everyone’s primary aim is to demonstrate their good breeding with excessive formality of conduct and polite (however hilariously passive-aggressive) speech, is like wrapping up in a soft warm blanket.

I mean, basically this is your Tyrion Lannister, right here.

Third, though, and maybe most important, Downton Abbey (so far! and see below for further disclaimer) provides an escape into a universe where the stakes are generally low and whatever problems do present themselves are solved to almost everyone’s satisfaction by the end of each episode. This may be the show’s most intrinsic anti-Game of Thrones quality; Downton Abbey is a world where everything goes right. Matthew takes his valet for granted? He’ll come around. Sybil cracks her head open in a post-election donnybrook? She’ll be fine. William doesn’t know his mother is ill? Mary will spill the beans because she does whatever she wants. Thomas and O’Brien try to frame Bates for something? They’re the most inept villains imaginable, and Bates will get the upper hand. I don’t know if there’s a word for the opposite of catharsis, and maybe that’s because we don’t really need one for “everything’s fine”.

Now, I grant you, I have read most of A Song of Ice and Fire so I’m pretty comfortable making broad sweeping statements about the episodes of Game of Thrones I haven’t seen, but my wife and I are only six episodes into Downton Abbey, so maybe I’m being slow-played by that show without even realizing it. I have noticed, at the very least, that what I thought was the most galling instance of tidy wrapping-up of plot threads, the cover-up of the circumstances of Mr. Pamouk’s death, has actually continued to have (minor) repercussions. But I would need to see more to really change my mind. I did notice a headline on a pop-culture site recently asking the question “What is at stake in Downton Abbey?” and although I did not click on the link because I knew it would be about season three, I assumed the answer was “Not much! Everything’s fine!”

That’s kind of the point, here, though. Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey are shows everyone is talking about right now, and it’s hard to be into them but incredibly vulnerable to spoilers and just generally unable to partake in the conversation. The Blu-ray of Game of Thrones season two I pre-ordered is supposed to arrive around the third week of February, by which point I hope to be done with the seasons one and two box set of Downton Abbey. But that third season, as I just said, is airing right now and season three of Game of Thrones should kick off in March, I believe. I can recall being a reader of the Harry Potter books,a bandwagon I didn’t jump on until around the time the fourth book was published and the movies started coming out. First I borrowed friends’ copies of the older books which had come out years ago. Then I would borrow copies of the newer books, and just be a few weeks behind the conversation. When the seventh book came out, though, I had to have it on release day, and bought my own copy (which to this day is the only Harry Potter book I own). I can see something similar happening with Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey, as my wife and I get sucked deeper and deeper into both, and possibly even catch up to the point where we could jump in on the first-airing broadcasts. Except of course for another crucial difference between the two: Downton Abbey is on PBS, which we already get, but we’d have to shell out for a subscription to HBO. Oh, Time and Money, my old nemeses, I’ll never really escape you.