Downton Abbey! I miss you already!

I'm finding through recent comments & posts on Facebook that you either love Downton Abbey or you don't get it.  I fall in the the LOVE category.  I was a latecomer to the show.  I heard a bit about it during Season 1 & 2 and decided to see what all the hoopla was about.  I caught up with Seasons 1-3 through Netflix & DVD's borrowed from the library.  Season 4 was the first season I watched on tv as it was being aired.  I loved having something to look forward to on Sunday evenings ( I think the last time I had a show that I looked forward to watching each week was when 'Friends' was on the air.  Yeah.  It was that  long ago).  So, I'm sad the the season is over already.  It was too short!

Last night I laughed OUT LOUD several times.  I almost never do that while watching tv or movies.  Here were some of my favorite parts of  last night's episode...

-Carson's face when the young American valet asked if he could speak to him 'man to man' in hopes of getting some information about Daisy.  Oh dear Carson!  He looked so horrified.

-  Daisy's response when the American valet asked her if she was excited about the upcoming events in the house.  "I'm never excited." she replied.

-Any scene with the Dowager Countess & Mrs. Crawley is always fabulous.  Their conversations are just hilarious.  I love that the show has developed their relationship from merely being bickering biddies with very different outlooks on life to the obvious respect & affection they have for each other despite their differences.

-Mr. Carson & Mrs. Hughes sweet interaction at the beach & holding hands while walking into the water.

A couple other thoughts....
 - Have you ever noticed that everyone has impeccable posture?  The women in particular are always straight as a pin whether they are sitting or standing.

-Will poor Edith ever find happiness?  I'm curious to see how the storyline will play out when her secret child is brought closer to home & is living on the estate with the pig farmer's family.

-Was anyone else annoyed that they skipped ahead 8 MONTHS from the previous episode to last night's?  I know they've made dramatic skips  in time between seasons, but it seemed a bit much for between episodes.  We never even got to see Edith looking pregnant.  There was a lot of story development that could have happened.

-A lot of new characters were introduced last night & I had to play close attention to keep track of who was who & how they were connected to the other characters & story lines.

What were some of your favorite parts from last night's episode?

I had Downton Abbey so much on my brain last night that I was dreaming Downton Abbey the whole night.  Even the show's  music soundtrack was playing through my sleeping head.  I had a rather bizarre dream with Lady Mary in it.  Except Lady Mary looked nothing like herself.  Instead of a filmy, elegant & exquisite dress she was wearing a hideous 80s version of the drop waist dress with large shoulderpads.  And, instead of a fabulous 20s hairstyle she had 80's feathered back hair.  Also, she wasn't the waif-like creature that she is in the  show.  In my dream she was rather....plump.