heh… I feel much the same - BUT - one thing they keep getting right, and I think I even noticed in Season 3 (right when I was SUPER mad at the downturn in writing/storytelling): the show still has moments of greatness in cinematography (or maybe art direction, or maybe direction of photography. A few times in Season 3 when all hell at broken loose and I kept asking my wife "why are we still watching this drivel" I had to pause the show because it was literally a moving painting. Once scene I remember - and only for it's visual appeal. It was just a beautiful shot. The Dowager was sitting in a chair near a window. The way the light fell across her and her costume was nothing short of a masterpiece. I should have pulled a screen grab. I have continued to watch, and just finished the most recent season. I think I keep watching because there are still some great visuals, interesting set, and some humor I enjoy. I gave up on the characters. Some of their actions are so contradictory to their nature that the show is just too jarring to believe.
To be fair, when your "set" is a legit Edwardian manor house you bloody well better be able to make it look pretty. It's funny - this is the second comment I've read today in which "great cinematography" is used as an excuse for shitty storytelling. Ya know how much easier cinematography has gotten in the past 20 years? Shit, HD hasn't been available for more than 12; when we wanted our short film to look good we had to shoot it on 35. Now? Now my phone shoots 4k at ISO1600. We've shot available light using LA streetlights on an Epic and you can handhold those things like a Hassy. It bloody well better look good. You can put a full-blown cinema package on a selfie stick these days.
oh - don't misunderstand - I can separate the two and make no intention of excusing the bad storytelling (or shallow characters or inconsistencies or, or, or)…
I was merely owning up to enjoying a periodic moment of beauty in a show that has turned into shite."great cinematography" is used as an excuse for shitty storytelling
Have a look at some of the longer sequences in Upstairs Downstairs, the series to which Downton owes its existence and many of its storylines, for long takes which don't announce themselves.