The Last Episode of Season Three Downton Abbey

If you have not yet watched it, just stop reading this now...

The other night, my wife and I finally got to through Downton Abbey. The last episode was rather bland, but over three seasons you start to grow attached to the characters and there's this underlying tension to this show that keeps you on edge waiting for the next disaster to strike.

At any rate, Mary has her baby and the show is about to end when her husband Matthew inexplicably is killed in a car accident driving from the hospital to retrieve the other family members. Ok, car accidents happen, death from car accidents happen, but coupled with the birth of a child? And not that long ago, Mary's sister died at child birth? And Matthews previous fiancee died of the flu, and Mary's love interest from season one dies in bed with Mary?

The previous deaths, while extreme, made some sense, but this came out of the blue for no reason at all. Well, there was a reason and it had nothing to do with pushing the story forward. The real reason is the actor did not sign up for another season so they had to find a way to write him out of the script.

Inexplicable, really.

First of all, why can't Downton Abbey, a show that's supposedly incredibly popular keep its actors? Second, there had to have been a better way to deal with the character. If they knew he was only going to be available for three seasons, why make him such a central piece to the story?

It was such an inexplicable ending to the season that it seemed the only reason could have been something to do with the actor. Obviously, I blame the writers or maybe PBS just cannot afford to pay their actors what they are worth to keep them on the show?

Needless to say I'm disappointed.