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" In which we parse the various viewings and opinions of the many recappers across the Internet. Season 3, Episode 1 Vulture: &amp;quot;Some of us have not seen a single minute of this [third] chapter in the Crawley family saga, having waited patiently for last night&amp;#039;s official, PBS-sanctioned premiere, while others have already consumed all nine-plus hours of fresh Downton drama via their oh-so-entitled access to British television or some shady form of online video.&amp;quot;  So the real class warfare story of Downton Abbey is the one between those watching the show on public access and those watching on pay cable. E! Online: &amp;quot;Praise the TV Gods! Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Matthew (Dan Stevens) are finally married! After two seasons of will-they-wont-they drama \u2014 including a World War \u2014 those two crazy kids finally make it official. But of course it wouldn&amp;#039;t be Downton if there weren&amp;#039;t a few pre-wedding jitters. This time their arguments are about money.&amp;quot;  This time? Isn&amp;#039;t the whole show centered on the relationship between the haves and have-nots of the British aristocracy? LA Times: &amp;quot;In quick succession, we learn that Lord Grantham has lost Cora&amp;#039;s fortune in some botched Canadian railroad investments and that \u2013 wouldn&amp;#039;t you know it? \u2013 Dear Cousin Matthew, the world&amp;#039;s most accomplished accidental heir, may just be in line to inherit a vast sum of money from Reggie Swire, father of poor, dead Lavinia. Despite his talent for stumbling into great wealth, Matthew also expresses his hopes to live a simpler life once he and Mary are married. He&amp;#039;s just a middle-class lad after all.&amp;quot; Oh. So basically, the complicated financial drama that plagued the first two seasons, about whether or not the Granthams will be able to keep Downton Abbey, is solved, and then quickly made more complicated and dramatic twenty minutes later. Thanks, Canada. Wall Street Journal: &amp;quot;The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) goes shot-for-shot with Cora&amp;#039;s mother, Martha, played by the iconic Shirley MacLaine. Martha finally tells her British in-laws that the family money isn&amp;#039;t hers to give, but she&amp;#039;ll help them downsize to an affordable lifestyle.&amp;quot; Which will probably never happen, since the show is named after the estate. Unless we&amp;#039;re in for a complete cast overhaul. Or a title change to something like: Middlesex Manor.  Vanity Fair: &amp;quot;&amp;#039;Can&amp;#039;t we just find a six-floor walkup? Over a quaint fish-&amp;#039;n&amp;#039;-chips shop or something equally fragrant?,&amp;#039; he pleads to his bride.&amp;quot; Or maybe London Flat? Entertainment Weekly: All is not lost yet \u2014 especially since we get to see Matthew in bed with Mary. Hallelujah. And TV once again reminds us that love conquers all.  Slate: &amp;quot;Let&amp;#039;s make a pact to ignore Bates and that whole dispiriting attempt to weld an unconvincing procedural onto a bubbly soap opera. Whenever the limping valet is on screen, I spend the time wondering what fabric those stylish prison uniforms are made from.&amp;quot;  Happy to.  Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a17826/recap-of-recaps-downtown-abbey-premiere-14950157/?src=rss>