I originally started watching Season 5 as it was airing on PBS, which was a first for me. The first 4 seasons for me came by way of the DVD sets as they were released. Since I was all caught up, I figured that watching it on PBS would be the way to go. I struggled to get through the first episode and barely made it through the second before calling it quits. I thought that the series had run its course for me and that I was done with it. But I always had it in the back of my mind that I would eventually check this out on DVD and now I realized why I thought I was done with it. It had to do with the fact that I was missing a huge chunk of information on PBS because there was no Close-Captioning. The actors that portray the characters have very heavy British accents at times, which makes it hard to understand. Throw in the fact that sometimes they are barely audible, you end up missing out on a lot of stuff.

Having just watched this season on DVD, I didn't realize just how much stuff was escaping me. Now with all that information back in my pocket, I'm back to being a fan of the series. Solid season that had a lot of good, fun stuff. I notice more and more now that I view Isobel Crawley and Violet Crawley as Lucy and Ethel in a way. With Maggie Smith bon mots and Penelope Wilton facial reactions, you can't help but be amused. I also found the Mr. Spratt and Mrs. Denker story line to be hilarious as well. The Anna/Mr. Bates arc regarding the murder of Mr. Green was also good. Sad to see that Tom is leaving and moving to America. Not sure how this move will affect the Sixth Season. Anyway, I highly recommend this as a Rent. Props to Mr. Carson for finally asking Mrs. Hughes hand in marriage. It was a fantastic scene and long overdue.