Anyone else part of the ratings phenomenon? Series 3 was weaker than the first 2, but… I love my British soap opera, what can I say.
Edited to add: spoilers may be contained in this thread up to whatever has been broadcast in the US: as of right now, that is everything up to and including the 2012 Christmas special.
I’ve only seen season 1 and a couple episodes of season 2, but I was very impressed with how engaging it was.
Casilda - have you seen the season finale? You will need tissues!
The thing is rather fascinating. Me I am not a fan of soap operas, yet I have been enjoying it. I can see why people may not been as impressed about the last season because it is the resolution to much that has happen. If they have another season/series it be a new set of drama coming from the big thing at the last scene. Which would be similar to the first season involving the Titanic.
Oh yes, we have an excellent PBS station here. There was a marathon all day running up to the finale. However…
[spoiler]I had seen that the actor playing Matthew was planning to leave, so I wasn’t so shocked when he was killed, though I thought they’d send him offscreen somewhere or he would leave Mary or something. Sybil, though… I sobbed. SOBBED.[/spoiler]
I think it’s just not as tight a narrative as it was in season 1. Season 2 we had the WWI backdrop so that gave it some structure even as the plot itself meandered. But season 3 was ALL OVER the place, and it covered much less chronological time than the other seasons.
Yes, I am a big DA fan, too! The hub and I both watch. I love reading the articles on Slate.com and I really think Edithmay finally have a chance at the spotlight next season! I used to loathe her, but through all her difficulties, she has grown on me.
The losses of season 3 were devastating, though, like Cas, I saw one of them coming. How much can we talk here? I saw Casilda use spoiler tags.
ack!!
I know there are a lot of people who haven’t finished season 3 yet (and I think I was posting in the days right after it aired here in the US), but we can make this a spoiler-y thread 
I’ll clarify in the top post.
Also: Edith! I couldn’t stand her in season 1 but I’m thrilled to see her argue for the women’s vote! And publicly, no less! Lord Grantham (or as one of the blogs I follow calls him, Lord Whoops!) is certainly out of his world at this point.
MY wife got me hooked on it. Watched season one on Netflix in 2 days. Had to go out and get season 2. Starting watching season 3 then saw it at Costco and picked it up. I watched it in one day. Bad part was I had to wait 3 weeks for my wife to catch up. She refused to watch the DVD and would only watch it on PBS.