However, there are two routes you can take to watch the bulk of the best that Masterpiece has to offer. Thankfully, now, it’s just Masterpiece.īut like so much in the streaming world, just because we once saw these shows on PBS doesn’t mean you can find them there today (RIP forever the OG Anne of Green Gables miniseries). Those have, over the years, mostly been part of Masterpiece Theater, Masterpiece Classic, Masterpiece Mystery, and Masterpiece Contemporary. Yes, PBS has given us many treasures over the last 50 (yes, 50! years!) like Frontline, NOVA, Sesame Street, The Joy of Painting and Arthur, but it’s also full of great UK period pieces and crime series. Lord Grantham and a doctor decide not to treat what turns out to be eclampsia, and after delivering her daughter, Sybil begins having seizures in the night and dies in front of her family.When most of us think of PBS series, our minds go to what is actually under the Masterpiece banner. In the end, her fate is still decided by two men. What is most horrifying about this episode is the confirmation that it ultimately didn’t matter how much or even how gently Sybil defied gender expectations. In Season 1, she wears pants! In Season 2, she runs away to elope with the chauffeur, Tom Branson ( Allen Leech), insistent on marrying for love! Mary’s youngest sister, Sybil ( Jessica Brown Findlay), meanwhile, seemed much freer from the inherent gender issues of the aristocracy. The main conflict of the first season is in the frustrating law prohibiting Mary from inheriting the estate due to her gender. But we absolutely cannot dismiss this harrowing episode from Season 3.ĭownton Abbey always had a lot to say about gender. On paper, “Sybil dies during childbirth” might sound like a mean-spirited twist meant to keep the audience talking about the show the next day.

The need of any long-running series to keep its viewers hooked can result in an unfortunate lean on melodrama.

Watch downton abbey season 1 free