Downton Abbey is one of those rare shows that was able to surprise me. Not once, not twice, but almost constantly. The writer did a brilliant job of directing my expectations in one direction and then doubling back and surprising me. The story is a familiar one, another tale of that fantasy world that existed in the British Empire for about thirty or forty years where a rich family owned an Estate and a Staff of fifty were needed to run the House of that Estate. Downton Abbey is the story of The Lord of The Manner, his rich America…