An overbearing mother.
Class warfare.
Spats with loved ones and dramatic relationships.
Sound familiar?
It’s the basic skeleton of any episode of “Downton Abbey,” but they’re also signs of a new semester.
Welcome to the Spring semester of 2013. It’s going to be a doozy.
It may not be as fancy as life at Downton, and you may not drink as much tea, but it will rival the series in drama and hard work. Please don’t worry. Because this piece contains no spoilers for the third season of “Downton,” which only just started airing here in the United States.
Take the “upstairs,” the family. You have the Dowager Countess making demands and funny quips. She sounds like everyone’s mom or grandmother, especially when big exams roll around. You want to please them, but you also totally know better. Get used to it.
Also, you don’t know better.
There’s Mary and Matthew, on-again, off-again lovers who finally seem to have settled down long enough to get serious. They’re the Ross and Rachel of 1920. They’re also exactly like those two people in your group of friends who can’t decide if they’re in a relationship or not, or if they’re on a break. Get used to it.
Lady Sybil, the younger daughter at Downton, wants to wear pants! That’s a new idea back then. These days, we’re lucky to see a celebrity wearing pants at all. Sybil’s a pretty progressive lady for her time, so follow her example and make some daring wardrobe choices of your own.
Don’t forget about Edith, the one sister at Downton who just can’t seem to find a man. Let’s not talk about her because we’ll just start to pity her and no woman wants that. She’s plucky enough that she’ll pick herself up by her bootstraps.
Then there’s the “downstairs” crew: a whole host of people who cook and clean all day.
Take Mrs. Patmore, for example. She’s a tough lady who takes no funny business. Let’s all try to be like her during this semester. But maybe be a little more understanding than she can be at times.
Don’t be like Thomas. Now, he’s a pretty misunderstood character, but he has a very mean streak in him. He’s the same as O’Brien, a woman who will stoop to low places to get back at people and get whatever she wants.
Instead, be like Branson, the handsome and charming chauffeur — who also happens to be a socialist. We’re not saying to become socialists, so put your email urge away. He’s just a man who knows what he wants and to be treated fairly.
Start this new semester with your best foot forward. That’s all we’re trying to say.
The characters on “Downton Abbey” go through a ton of emotional turmoil in nearly every episode. They literally go through war. So, with the new season coming to America this week, take it to heart.
It’s a metaphor for your own life, even though the series takes place a hundred years ago. If they can make it through World War I, you can make it through the Spring semester at UF.
Welcome back. Welcome home.
