MovieChat Forums > Cranford (2008) Discussion > Anyone Wish They Hadn't Watch 'Return'

Anyone Wish They Hadn't Watch 'Return'

posted 13 years ago by Hezzer_Wezzer
21 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS

Over the summer, I watched the Cranford series from Netflix, though Return to Cranford wasn't yet available. It is now and I watched it last week. I must say that I wished I hadn't.

I was made miserable by all the depressing occurences. Frankly, the whole thing was a downer and I felt that at times I was even a little bored.

Harry and the evils he faces at school . . . his family disappearing . . . the train wreck. Is it weird that I'm very upset with Harry being so careless *again* with Bessie? Does he have a death-wish for that cow or what?!

The situation he caused was awful and resulted in death and injury to many . . . though I don't feel at all bad for Edward. I hated that guy!

And the thing I hated the most was that Martha died with her baby. I just love Claudie Blakely since watching Larkrise to Candleford. It really broke my heart to see her lying there on the bed with her poor little baby swaddled in the crook of her arm.

Anyway, in short . . . I was satisfied with how things were wrapped up - before Return to Cranford came out. I would have preferred to leave everything that way and not know what came after. I wish I could go back and unwatch it. My husband said the same thing.

[–] daydreamer021979 10 years ago

I only know of this show because of Tom Hiddleston and he is only in the second series so of course I watched it all. I would sit through anything with him in it no matter how depressing. Yes this is kind of a sad series what with all the deaths in it, but it is very realistic to the time period and I have seen far bleaker things before. At least this show wasn't mean-spirited about it as some things I've seen which have bad things happen just to be darker and edgier.

I Am Who I Am.
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[–] whoanelly (1558) 3 years ago

Re “sad kind of series”

Thank you! There are always sad deaths in Elizabeth Gaskell because that is what it was like in the 19th century. As the wife of a clergyman, Gaskell was privy to a lot of sad stories, which inspired her writing.

I think some viewers didn’t realize that the first Cranford series included a number of short stories by Gaskell (unrelated to Cranford, but woven into the Cranford story lines). The second Cranford did the same thing, weaving in more short stories by Gaskell, so they would naturally include characters not seen in the first series.

Spoilers:
Wives and Daughters has multiple deaths
North & South has multiple deaths
Cranford and the short stories woven in also have multiple deaths.

[–] vikki-lewis 10 years ago

I didn't enjoy it as much as the first 5 episodes.

The thing that mostly annoyed me was the camera lense they used to film it. It seemed slightly blurred and too light, almost to make it look like the cast was standing infront of a sunset the entire time. Lark Rise to Candleford did the same thing when they filmed their second series.

[–] annezuchowicz63 8 years ago

I didn't much care for Return to Cranford, either. I preferred the original series. An introduction of too many new characters and missing ones with little explanation. I would have liked it if they hadn't jumped too far ahead with the story and just gently eased us back in to the lives of the characters. It was like being slapped in the face with a Monty Pythonesque cold fish.