SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!!

STOP..........NOT MATTHEW TOO.....

I HAVEN'T GOTTEN OVER THE PASSING OF SYBIL YET!

If your a fan of Downton Abbey then you too are sad.

Let's all say it together: Matthewwwwwwwwwwwww!! Yes, last night our dear Mr. Crawley, the unwitting heir to the Downton lordship who once served as our eyes into this ordered and buttoned-up world, was unceremoniously forced off this mortal coil. He was driving triumphantly home after meeting his new son in the hospital, his beloved wife Mary glowing beatifically, when some sort of truck surprised him and, boom, he was run off the road. In case there was any question as to whether or not Matthew might have pulled through, the camera focused in close on his open, lifeless eyes and a trickle of blood running down his cheek. Our Matthew has been cruelly snuffed out, though at least he went happy. It's everyone else who has to be miserable now.

Why Matthew? Why now, so soon after Sybil? Well, it was simply a matter of actors being actors. Both Jessica Brown Findlay and Dan Stevens wanted out, their careers taking off in big ways since Downton's mondo success, and they were only contracted for three seasons. Julian Fellowes has said in interviews that he would have liked to have kept both actors, and even asked them to just do a few episodes next season, but both were resolute. And because they're members of the family, rather than servants, writing them off meant killing them. And so kill them he did, both dying soon after the birth of a child, which is a rather obvious device. Sybil's baby is named Sybil and, one would guess, Matthew's baby will be Matthew. So really we haven't lost anyone! It's all a bit convenient, isn't it?