Western New York football fans can breathe a sigh of relief: the Bills are staying in Buffalo, thanks to the successful bid for the team placed by Terry and Kim Pegula.
Following Bills owner Ralph Wilson’s death last March, the future of the Bills was uncertain. The late Ralph Wilson was the founder and owner of the Bills for 54 years, until his death at age 95. Top contenders for ownership of the Bills included not only Buffalo Sabres owner and natural resource development businesspeople, Terry and Kim Pegula, but also multibillionaire and television personality Donald Trump and former rockstar Jon Bon Jovi.
Much to the consternation of many Buffalonians, the latter contender was reported to be working with investors in Toronto—giving rise to fears that Bon Jovi’s plans were to eventually move the football team there. (Bon Jovi later denied these reports.) However, western New Yorkers were relieved at the news that the Pegulas—favorites because of their deep ties to Western New York and commitment to the area—won the bid at $1.4 billion.
The Pegulas announced their bid, an all-cash purchase, on September 9 when the National Football League’s (NFL’S) finance committee met with the Pegulas. The committee unanimously accepted the Pegulas’ offer to become the next owners of the football team. The Pegulas final ownership approval will be voted during a meeting of the full ownership of the league next week, on October 8. The Buffalo News reported from a source, who was a former finance committee executive for the NFL, that the full ownership rarely, if ever, goes against the recommendation of the finance committee. The Pegulas, then, are posed to pass the October 8 vote.
Said Terry Pegula in a statement reported by ESPN on September 9:
“Our interest in owning the Bills has everything to do with the people of Western New York and our passion for football. We have knowledgeable, dedicated fans here and along with our ownership of the Buffalo Sabres, it is gratifying to reassure these great fans that two franchises so important to our region are both here to stay.”
As the Houghton Star reported in 2012, the Pegulas made their billions through a natural resource development firm named East Resources Inc., founded in 1983, that owned acres of shale oil and gas across several states, including New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Prior to the bid for the Bills, in August the Pegulas sold 75,000 acres of Utica and Marcellus Shale leases in West Virginia and Ohio for $1.75 billion. The Pegulas still retain some natural gas resources, but in recent years (particularly after a larger sale of their natural resources in 2010) they have pivoted toward entertainment and real estate investment.
The Buffalo Bills have played in western New York since they were established as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. The Bills later joined the National Football League (NFL) following the AFL-NFL merge in 1970.
I was a little bothered by Hope Schwartz’s opinion piece titled, “Worship: the Tension Between Ritual and Reflection,” published in the September 12 issue of the Star
In her piece, Schwartz asserted “traditional corporate worship seems to encourage Christians to live out their faith in conditioned, ritualistic ways.” She continued to say, “Can we truly draw closer to God through corporate worship that gives little attention to the need for the individual aspect of our faith?
I am most bothered by Schwartz’s assertion because it indicates a very West-centric point of view. Contrary to Schwartz’s opinion, I argue that we in the West (particularly in Protestant traditions) are in absolutely no danger of undervaluing the individual aspect of faith, especially in contrast with other Christian faith traditions, notably Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox and other faith traditions in other cultures of the world. Acute focus on the individual person is one of the most defining aspects of Western Protestantism, even since its stirrings in the Reformation. By contrast, for Catholics, Orthodox practitioners, and other believers around the world, individualism is lower on the priority list both for worship and within their faith traditions. Rather, their emphasis rests on the corporate and creedal nature of the worship and the unity of believers.Schwartz’s assessment that “insufficient individualism” (not her words) is the thing that is preventing Christians from worship doesn’t really hold very well when you examine both Protestant church history and theology and how our fellow Christians worship around the world. Perhaps the problem of Christians “going through the motions” isn’t a corporate worship issue, but instead an (yes) individual issue: an issue of the heart for worship.
Start lining up: 3 Bums Pizza is coming to Houghton.
The local favorite is preparing to move its operations from its current Belfast location into the building formerly occupied by the Allegany Harvest Cooperative Market at Houghton.
The reason for the move, according to owner Jake Hillman, is to better service the business that 3 Bums receives from the Houghton-Fillmore area.
The business “hopes to move fairly quickly” to Houghton, said Hillman, with a projected opening date of June 1. The business will be transferring some of its equipment from the Belfast location, but will also be renovating the new building to better suit the needs of a pizza restaurant.
In preparation for the move to Houghton, Hillman has been assisted by the Houghton College business department’s Marketing Research class who have been surveying the student body to assess what students would prefer at a pizza place. Said Ken Bates, professor of business, “the owner is really interested in student opinion” and how the business could best appeal to students.
According to Bates, the new business is sure to meet a particular demand among the college-aged set. “A college community without pizza delivery is almost unheard of,” said Bates, “I think they will do very well here.”
Said Phyllis Gaerte on behalf of the Houghton River Group, an organization dedicated to promoting the Houghton community’s economic development, “We are very excited about the prospect of 3 Bums coming to Houghton and what that will mean for our students.”
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Hillman, “I hope our relationship with Houghton will last a long time.”
After a long period of deliberation, Houghton may well add a data science program to its educational offerings in the near future.
A key player in initiating data science at Houghton is alumna Carmen McKell, a data science professional who graduated from Houghton in 1987 with a degree in psychology. After graduation, McKell went on to attain a masters degree in statistics and applied research at the University of New Brunswick as well as another Masters in psychology. McKell has over twenty years of experience working in the field of data science. She is the co-founder and president of BaseMetrics which, according to its website, is “a full service Predictive Analytics and Software Development enterprise.” BaseMetrics is centered in Ontario, Canada, with offices in the United States, Mexico, and India.
McKell approached the President’s office last fall with the proposal to initiate a data science program at Houghton. Since that time, her company, BaseMetrics, has produced a report analyzing the demand and Houghton’s ability to offer the program. According to Paul Young, professor of psychology, the results were positive and the program is now being in “the process of deciding to whether to go ahead.”
What is data science? According to Young, the modern age is awash in data but “our ability to collect data has outpaced our ability to understand it.” The discipline of data science, then, has formed in recent decades to “make sense” of the large amounts of data. The meanings that are then derived from sets of data could be applicable to nearly every field of study. For instance, according to Wei Hu, professor of computer science, it is not unrealistic that an analysis of tweets on the social media site, Twitter, could generate information about the general health of a community–thereby providing valuable information to the field of healthcare.
To Hu, this is what makes data science an “exciting” field of study to introduce at Houghton in particular. “Data science is a connector that connects different disciplines together, which makes it very powerful at a liberal arts college,” said Hu. At its core, said Hu, the field is based in a thorough understanding of computer science and statistics, but it bleeds into a number of the disciplines already offered at Houghton: business, the sciences, linguistics, economics, political science, international development, and others.
Additionally, though data can provide seemingly innumerable insights to various disciplines, the use and analysis of data often involves ethical questions. Hu said that this is also what makes it a “powerful” program to add at Houghton, an institution that regularly engages in ethics.
This was confirmed by Dean Linda Mills Woolsey who said in an email, “We have a proposed curriculum and are working on a business plan…We hope to pilot a course or two next year, and, if Data Science emerges as a priority, to bring it to the faculty for approval next year.”
Though “the program is still far from settled,” according to Young, it would most likely involve a core in computer science and statistics from which students would apply into a content area (such as business, political science, etc.), operating in much the same way as the intercultural studies major in which students are required to take on a second major.
This year’s Film Fest, which took place last Saturday, April 5, boasted an array of student films ranging from animation to drama to commercial work.
Houghton’s Film Fest is an annual CAB-produced event. Students were asked to submit their own work earlier this semester, to be judged by a panel of faculty, staff, and students. The final nominations were announced on April 3 into the following categories: best picture, direction, editing, cinematography, sound, and actor. Other awards included: best animation, comedy, commercial, creating awareness, documentary, drama, and narrative.
This is the eighth year that CAB has hosted the Film Fest, but according to Greg Bish, director of student programs, this year showcased some of the finest work in Film Fest history. “Eight years ago, we created Film Fest when there was minimum academic support for video…in the past few years we’ve seen a dramatic improvement.” Bish credited this to the expansions of Communications major, but stressed that, “we continue to look for ways to encourage all students to submit films.”
The black-tie event was hosted by David Davies, assistant professor of composition and theory, and Mike Jordan, dean of the chapel, who announced the winners of each of the categories. CAB members presented each of the winners with “Willies” and prizes such as newly-released Hollywood films such as Frozen and The Hobbit.
Cory Martin, a senior majoring in communications, was awarded a total of six “Willies” during the evening, including “best picture” for his short drama, “Rivers and Roads.” In an interview, Martin said that all of the films he presented “were from a digital video class that I took last semester.” “Rivers and Roads,” according to Martin, was a project that was helped by conversations and assistance from friends.
Other winners included Raphael Derungs, senior; Evan Symanski, junior; Mason Wilkes, sophomore; Joshua Duttweiler, junior; and Steve McCord, senior.
According to a public opinion poll taken last year, Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and root canals. In fairness, it is not unusual for Americans to be dissatisfied with congressional performance, but popularity levels of Congress are at their lowest in recent American history. A Gallup opinion poll reports that currently congressional approval rests at just about 15%, well below the historical average of 33% since Gallup began polling in 1974. Across the country, Americans are crying for congressional reform.
Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
A popular grassroots movement to reform Congress advocates the imposition of term limits on federal lawmakers. In the current American political system, term limits in the House and Senate do not exist. A legislator can be voted into office and, granted that they survive elections every few years, they could stay in office for life. Most supporters of a term limits reform hope to limit legislators to about 12 years in their office–which translates to two terms in the Senate and six terms in the House. (Of course, a Representative that serves six-terms could also have the opportunity to run for the Senate for an additional two.)
According to a Gallup poll taken last year, nearly 75% of American adults favor instituting term limits, with 21% against. The same poll indicates that this reform measure has support across both party lines and across all age groups. It’s a popular reform proposal, but is it a good one?
Supporters claim that this type of reform is directed towards “career politicians,” who they claim pursue office for their own interests rather than on behalf of their constituents. From this point of view, “career politicians” are more concerned about re-election, not legislation, and are beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists, rather than to their vocation as a representative to their home district. In effect, these Americans view incumbents and long-serving senators and representatives as “what’s wrong with Washington.”
Ultimately, the main goal behind the term limits movement is to reform and perfect representation. Term limits seem like a good way to get the “bad” politicians out who might otherwise be kept in place by political machinery and the nearly insuperable advantage of incumbency. Supporters of a term limits reform, like conservative Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will, claim that instituting term limits will change the motivations that politician have in running for office. Imposing term limits would purportedly turn Congress into a “rotating citizen body.” The added effect of a “rotating citizen body” would be that it would be a pool of new ideas and new approaches to the issues, with less corruption.
One can see the appeal of a “citizen body” in Congress–the kind idealized by Frank Capra’s movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It is reasonable for voters to be more comfortable if “someone like me” were elected into office. However, in contrast to these claims, one could pose the following question: is lack of experience now a job qualification?
Like any other job, elected legislators are subject to a learning curve, which takes time to establish. Among the key things that newcomers learn in Congress in their first year is the organization and structure of Congress. To clarify, this does not refer to procedure but to the expected norms of Congress as a social institution.
Indeed, Congress, like all governmental structures, is a social body. There are certain norms that legislators are expected to adhere to. In the American system, this includes apprenticeship of junior members to senior members, restrained partisanship, institutional (read: House or Senate) loyalty, individual specialization in key policy fields, and reciprocity between members. Put together, these norms create something we could call “institutional memory”–a collective set of guidelines and know-how within the institution. Newcomers to Congress do not have this information-set going into office, it’s something that they have to learn on the job. In turn, these norms ultimately produce better legislation by the mere fact that they produce better legislators.
The effect of term limits on institutional memory would be largely negative. Think about it: no sooner would a legislator learn the ropes around Congress or experience major pieces of legislation with senior members or begin to specialize in a policy field before they would be turned out of office not by voters, but by a ticking clock. Sure, there are many remarkably talented people that can serve in Congress, but there is a benefit to re-electing members that are already familiar with the information-set to do their jobs well. Rapid turnover in Congress–a rotating “body of citizens”–would decrease the power of institutional memory and would be akin to trying to build a legislative institution on shifting sand.
Although not perfectly analogous, the recent influx of legislative newcomers (who–largely–campaigned against so-called “career politicians”) in the current Congress has provided a glimpse into what a future with term limits might look like. The current Congress has been marked by new members (such as Ted Cruz [R-TX] of government-shutdown fame) who actively have resisted following the historic norms set before them. The result has been, frankly, creating a toxic atmosphere on the Hill that makes legislative work unrewarding and has driven many members–often those used to working across the aisle–away.
In response to senators like Cruz and others who have disrupted congressional norms, many senior members of what has been dubbed as the “problem-solving caucus” have decided to not seek re-election. As former senator and famed bipartisan Olympia Snowe (R-ME) penned in an editorial in the Washington Post, “the Founding Fathers intended the Senate to serve as an institutional check that ensures all voices are heard and considered…Yet more than 200 years later, the greatest deliberative body in history is not living up to its billing. The Senate of today routinely jettisons regular order.” After three terms in office, and despite being a key compromiser and legislative-veteran, Snowe has decided to retire.
Other senior legislatures agreed with Snowe. For example, in a statement to the Detroit News, Representative John Dingell (D-MI) said, “I find serving in the House to be obnoxious….This is not the Congress I know and love. It’s hard for me to accept, but it’s time to cash in.”
To conclude, “the establishment” isn’t the problem–it’s actually one of the greatest strengths of Congress. Imposing term limits on Congress would not just be an ineffectual reform, it would only make things worse.
Like most fans of Veronica Mars, I heard about the show word-of-mouth.
“Really? What’s it about?”
“It’s about this girl who’s trying to solve the murder of her best friend. It’s really good. You should watch it.”
Courtesy of veronicamars.wikia.com
So began my high school obsession. Veronica Mars soon skyrocketed to become my favorite TV show as I powered through the 11th grade. Strong, relatable, female lead? Check. Clever dialogue? Check. Intriguing mystery arcs? Check. Neo-noir feel? Double check.
Admittedly, I was watching reruns of the series at that point. Though Veronica Mars reached high critical acclaim for its first season, which aired in 2004, its ratings were never quite able to keep up. The show was abruptly cancelled after its third season in 2007, without too much thunder.
But there was still a lingering rumble. For years afterwards, hardcore fans were pressuring Warner Brothers–who owned the Veronica rights–to make a feature-length movie. The film was finally realized last year when a Veronica Mars movie initiative on Kickstarter raised enough cash, in addition to shattering Kickstarter records. In less than 24 hours, the project reached its initial $2 million ask, but fans still kept donating. In the end, over 90,000 fans contributed to a total of $5.7 million to make the movie. Filming began shortly afterwards and the movie premiered on March 14 of this year, ten years after the first season’s premiere and six years after the final season’s cancellation.
I’ll admit it: I was not one of those 90,000+ fans. I never donated to the Kickstarter project, despite my younger self’s proud dedication to the show. Veronica and I used to be friends, a long time ago, but to be honest, I hadn’t thought of her lately at all. In many ways, I wanted to put my high school days behind me.
Nevertheless, the hype has brought me back; this semester I found myself powering through the first season all over again, nostalgically remembering what I liked about the show so much in the first place and what I still love about it now–years later.
The first season opens in the aftermath of a series of traumatic events that happened in the life of the teenage main character, Veronica Mars. It starts with the murder of her best friend Lilly Kane–daughter of billionaire software developer Jake Kane and sister of Veronica’s ex-boyfriend. When Veronica’s father, Sheriff Keith Mars, goes after Jake for Lilly’s murder, the town goes crazy and forces Keith out of office. The Mars family soon become outcasts and Veronica’s mother skips out of town shortly after. Keith gets a private investigator’s license and Veronica learns “the tricks of the trade” under her father’s tutelage. Throughout the season, she applies the skills she learns at her dad’s PI agency to solve Lilly’s murder.
Most of the exposition is told via flashback sequences scattered throughout the season. This helps ground the viewer in some solid character development, particularly on the part of Veronica who, during the flashbacks, is portrayed as a preppy, popular pushover. When the dreamlike flashback ends, however, viewers are thrown sharply back into reality. Instead of a teen fairytale-esque Veronica, we see a spiky-haired outsider with a razor-sharp tongue and a hard-boiled attitude. It’s clear that Lilly’s death changed Veronica deeply–in some bad ways, but also some good.
Despite her tough exterior, however, Veronica is not immune to vulnerabilities. Throughout the season, Veronica solves one minor, standalone case per episode (whether it’s dognapping, school bomb threats, or rigged student council elections) alongside piecing together clues to several other cases that test her confidence and personal strength. The most prominent (and central) of these cases is her best friend’s murder, but throughout the series she also attempts to resolve her rape, her mother’s disappearance, and her true paternity.
Ultimately, the season turns on Veronica’s relationship with her dad–perhaps one of the most positive parent-child relationships ever portrayed on TV. As Veronica narrates in an early episode, “[My friends] gave me a choice. I could stand by my dad or I could stand by [my boyfriend] and my dead best friend’s family. I chose my dad. It’s a decision I live with everyday.” Whether her faith in her dad, and the sacrifices she made in sticking by him, will be rewarded is left unresolved until the final episode when Veronica solves the murder (not without a dangerous confrontation with the killer.)
All told, the first season of Veronica Mars is jam-packed with great character development, strong mystery arcs, and subtle nods to classic noir films. To date, it remains one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever seen–and something I still love even seven years after I first watched the show. Hello again, Veronica, I’m glad we’re still friends.
For Peter Meilaender, professor of political science, the opportunity to embark on a research fellowship next spring at Biola University is a “chance to sit down, free of distractions” to work on a subject that has piqued his interest for almost a decade.
After applying last October, Meilaender was awarded a research fellowship at the Center for Christian Thought (CCT) at Biola University, a Christian, California-based school. According to its website, the CCT awards a number of research fellowships, with all research “[focusing] on a theme of contemporary relevance and importance, which has bearing on both academic and popular issues.” The theme of 2014-2015 at CCT is “Intellectual Virtue and Civil Discourse.”
Specifically, Meilaender will be embarking on a study of loyalty, a virtue that he described as involving a moral tension “between our duties toward particular persons with whom we stand in special relationships and our universal obligations toward all human beings.” In relation to the theme of the CCT, Meilaender hopes that “by defending a virtue that involves commitment to others without requiring ideological agreement, I … hope to strengthen an ideal of civility in our public discourse.”
Meilaender became interested in the subject of loyalty through his work on immigration in a book published ten years ago (and currently available in the Houghton library entitled Toward a Theory of Immigration.) During that study, he was interested in using loyalty as a “positive case for special preference to fellow citizens” in the broader immigration debate which, by contrast, according to Meilaender, currently favors open-border policies. Since his introduction to loyalty through that study, Meilaender has explored the topic in greater detail and even offers a course entitled “Loyalty” through the political science department.
Though his planned research on loyalty next spring is not an official sequel to Toward a Theory of Immigration, Meilaender feels that “intellectually, this is a sequel to the immigration book.” He also expressed his hope that the “three or four conference papers” that he completes during the fellowship might result in four book chapters for a book on loyalty.
Because the fellowship will take him away from campus, and consequently decrease the political science department by half, Meilaender will be teaching a full load of courses next fall, which include “In Search of Justice,” “Introduction to Political Thought,” and “International Law and Organization” in addition to supervising the political science senior seminar.
A referendum on the status of Crimea, formerly a subdivision of Ukraine, is to be held on this Sunday in which Crimeans will decide whether to join the Russian Federation or set a course for independence.
Courtesy of http://static.guim.co.uk/
The move comes after Russian infiltration on the Black Sea peninsula. In seemingly effortless political stagecraft, Russia was able to gain control of Crimea in late February–all without firing a single shot. The crisis began to unfold following the uprisings in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev with the ouster of then pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. With its interests threatened following Yanukovych’s flight, Russia was able to gain considerable political leverage over the new Ukrainian government by sending unidentifiable (no insignia or indication of national origin) soldiers to gradually take over the peninsula of Crimea. According to the Russian government, the intent was to protect the majority of ethnic-speaking Russians in Crimea who, the Kremlin claimed, were under threat from Ukrainian nationalist extremists in the new Ukrainian government.
After Russian soldiers took control of the airports, roads, and other major infrastructures, armed gunmen seized the main Crimean assembly building and presided over the election of Sergei Aksyonov (a high-profile advocate for Crimean unity with Russia) as prime minister of Crimea. Since the election of Aksyonov, the government of Crimea has set referendum for Sunday to decide whether Crimea joins Russia as a federal subject or becomes an independent state. (Additionally, the government voted ahead of the referendum to declare its intentions as independent should voters approve the split from Ukraine.)
A key question surrounding the Crimean referendum is its legality, something that the United States, along with other major world powers, have refused to recognize. In a statement to the press, President Obama claimed that the proposed referendum “would violate the Ukrainian constitution and violate international law,” citing that any discussion on the future of Crimea had to include the “legitimate government of Ukraine.” Said Obama, “In 2014, we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.”
Likewise, a statement released from the G7 (a group of developed world powers, including the US) on Wednesday condemned the referendum and said that such a measure “would have no legal effect.” The G7 leaders voiced their concerns over the hastiness of the referendum, as well as “the intimidating presence of Russian troops” which could influence the vote. According to the G7, “In addition to its impact on the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states.”
The Russian government, however, claims that the referendum is perfectly legal and within the bounds of international law. Citing the case of Kosovo and other international laws, President Vladimir Putin claimed that the Crimean referendum was nothing more than an expression of the right of self-determination. (One wonders, however, if Mr. Putin would feel the same if Chechnya were also presented with this same right.)
In response the crisis in Crimea, a new executive order issued by Obama authorized sanctions and travels bans against those found to be causing or benefiting from the crisis. Worldwide, other countries are following the same measures. In addition to sanctions and other penalties, the United States has also pledged to issue a $1 billion loan package to support Ukraine, while the EU has put together a $15 billion package. Though the US and other international bodies have promised harsher penalities on Russia, exactly what the international response will be following the referendum on Sunday remains to be seen.
PBS’ Downton Abbey was only ever an elegant soap opera dressed in period costume, but, following the recent closure of the fourth season, it appears as if the show has finally abandoned its pretensions and fully embraced itself within the genre.
It comes as a little bit of a disappointment. The first season, set between 1912 and 1914, appeared to be aspiring to something greater. Viewers were introduced a set of intriguing characters (upstairs and downstairs) and plot themes centered around class division, the general uneasiness surrounding the time period just preceding WWI, and cultural changes taking place at the turn of the century. The efforts of the first season were well-rewarded with a strong viewership and countless awards for both its writing and acting. Viewers hoped that the following seasons would be a little like the AMC show Mad Men in maintaining its historical accuracy along with strong storylines and character arcs.
But whatever its initial aspirations, subsequent seasons of Downton just could not reach the high bar set by the first season, with unbelievable plotlines and characters becoming more and more commonplace. Regardless, fans still clung to the show. Whatever the series’ shortcomings, the world of Downton is irresistibly charming. (Maybe it’s the clothes.)
The just-ended fourth season, though, takes the cake for implausible plot threads and shallow characterization.
To be fair, this season was going to be rocky from the beginning. For the past three seasons, the backbone of the story has been centered on the relationship between Lady Mary Crawley (daughter of the Earl of Grantham who is current owner of Downton) and Matthew Crawley, her very distant cousin and heir to Downton. However, at the very end of season three Matthew was killed in a car accident (an actor’s contract is as good as a Grim Reaper), leaving Mary, not to mention the show, in a bit of a lurch.
Writer and creator Julian Fellowes attempted to make up for Matthew’s noticeable absence by introducing three drab and hardly distinguishable suitors, with little success. (Even Mary herself seemed bored with them.) Outside of this tedious storyline, there were multiple instances during the season where Fellowes appeared to be taking plots from a basic soap opera’s playbook: an unexpected pregnancy, a mysterious disappearance, a juvenile love triangle downstairs, and a case involving blackmail.
Suffice it to say, the only storyline that seemed to matter this season was the fallout resulting from the rape of Mary’s maid Anna by a visiting valet. Regular viewers of the show were shocked at the initial event, which was no doubt Fellowes’ intent as Anna has remained a fan favorite since season one. (Equally appalling was Tom Branson’s rape that occurred in the same episode, but this [regretfully] did not receive due attention from Downton’s viewership.)
However, the handling of this storyline was mismanaged from the get-go. Rather than taking the opportunity to explore Anna’s perspective and personal development following what happened to her character, the plot instead centered on the potential actions of her husband who, we are lead to believe, would be so infuriated over what happened to his wife that he would inevitably murder the rapist (and thence be sent to prison, etc.) So Anna spends most of the season silent about what happened to her, while viewers are meant to be more concerned about her husband and whether he will attempt to seek his own closure.
Besides implausible storylines, even some of the strongest characters of Downton were horribly reduced. For instance, Thomas, the evil butler, had been outed last season (increasing viewer’s sympathies for this otherwise dastardly character) but this storyline was completely dropped, maybe even forgotten. Meanwhile, Tom Branson – the former fiery Irish rebel – was forced to re-tread old “adjustment to aristocracy” plotlines.
And then other characters were treated merely as backdrops. Cora, for instance, did nothing of significance this season except, as quipped by the Washington Post, tilt her head and give “a legal-in-Colorado smile” during any conversation. Even the Dowager Countess (played by the excellent Maggie Smith) was reduced to one-liners at the dinner table and not played to her full force. (Given Smith’s acting chops, this was a real pity.)
Still, there were glimpses of the old Downton in season four that sparkled through the (very) muddy plot. Part of what made Downton so rewarding in earlier seasons was its constant celebrations of loyalty, love, forgiveness, and hard work. Those themes still persisted in season four. One of the most poignant scenes of the season took place in the nursery where Lady Mary, Isobel Crawley, and Tom Branson (all grieving for the loss of a spouse or a son) reflected on their losses and experiences of love, commenting, “Aren’t we the lucky ones?” Additionally, the developing mother-daughter relationship between Mrs. Patmore and Daisy was also well done.
Overall, yes, season four was unremarkable. Yes, it appears that the series is near the end of its run. And yes, it is disappointing that, given the brilliance of its first season, Downton could have been great. But, given that it has clearly asserted itself as one, there’s no reason not to sit back in your armchair and enjoy the show exactly for what it is: a good ol’ fashioned soap opera with beautiful clothes.
Much to the consternation of many Buffalonians, the latter contender was reported to be working with investors in Toronto—giving rise to fears that Bon Jovi’s plans were to eventually move the football team there. (Bon Jovi later denied these reports.) However, western New Yorkers were relieved at the news that the Pegulas—favorites because of their deep ties to Western New York and commitment to the area—won the bid at $1.4 billion.
