Downton Abbey (1/28) (spoiler alert!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Mrs. Bunting was raised in a barn. She has no manners at all. I can't believe that everyone keeps asking her back, and not getting upset at how she goads Lord G. I mean, she's not just attacking Lord G, she's attacking everyone--Cora, the Dowager, everyone--everyone should be pissed off, not just Lord G.

This. I can't stand her. Why wouldn't she apologize to the rest of the dinner party? I hope Tom grows a pair. I would hate from him to run off, but it looks like that is coming.

I think they are going to say that Anna killed Green and it's going to come down to Mary having to say why she sent a letter to the looser that she tried breaking things off with.

I absolutely love the Dowager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Blake meant she should sleep with Tony first, i.e., break-up sex. I believe he knows Mary slept with Tony, or at least deeply suspects it.

But wouldn't she have understood that kind of cheeky joke? They made a point of clarifying she didn't know what he meant.

She believes her secret is safer than it is.

[Anonymous]

What I want to know is why Blake was at a dress show. Isn't it usually a gay man who takes women to fashion shows? Maybe Blake is blackmailing lady Mary into being his beard or he will tell everyone about her slutty antics with Tony Gillingham

And whoever killed the valet, please off Bunting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what Blake was getting at when he told Mary there was a way to soften the blow to Gillingham (that she didn't want to marry him)? Mary didn't seem to get it, either, so I"m not sure if the audience was supposed to. The only thing I could think he meant was that she should tell G she's marrying him (Blake), but I don't see how that would help.

If Mary does end up with Blake, does she have to tell him about her sleeping with G? What about poor Mr. Pamuk? That seemed like such a big deal with Matthew, but it doesn't seem to have hardly come up in Gillingham v. Blake.

Agree that Barrow is trying to cure his homosexuality. The brochure that the other maid found had the word "Choose" in bold on the ad. I assume it's along the lines of "Choose your sexuality." Sad. Although I like that their giving Barrow a story line beyond being a jerk.

How has no one else, esp the wife, figured out the Marigold is Edith's child? I mean, the secrecy about her placement with the other family, and Edith's obsession with the kid. It seems like it wouldn't take much of a leap.

Q about Cora -- she said her dad was Jewish. I don't know if this was ever explained, but I'm curious (having some sense that her being Jewish was probably a very big deal back then, but not really understanding exactly how it would matter): did Cora's dad convert to some Christian faith, or did her mom convert to Judiasm and Cora was raised Jewish? Or was she raised both? Would it had been possible to marry Robert if either of the latter two were the case? Or could she have been raised Jewish and then converted when she got married to Robert. The way she said "my father was Jewish" made it sound like she was not, but I was curious. Also, her brother's being Jewish never came up when he visited and was being hit on by some of the English upper class, so that made me also wonder if maybe Cora's dad converted or, at the very least, the kids were not raised Jewish.

I couldn't figure out what Blake meant either. And she seemed puzzled through to the end.

How did I miss Cora saying her father's Jewish? When does it happen?

Yes, Cora's mom and dad are Jewish. That was not unheard of amongst "The Buccaneers" and the New York 100. Names like the American Rothschilds did have their wealthy American daughters marry back into English lineage to add prestige to their American family and help the English family save their estate. Edith Wharton discussed this a lot in her novels. In some situations where the girl's family was fabulously wealthy in NYC but considered "too new" to be of the New York 100, often the girl's best chances were to go to the "Season" in London where an impoverished Duke might pick her up in order to save his estate, as we see here with Lord Grantham relying on Cora's money and investing it unwisely, and also in Wharton's "The Buccaneers" where girls thought they were marrying for love and realized that they were only valued by the English family for the money they brought by contract back to England. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lev-raphael/downton-abbey-edith-whart_b_6546214.html

[Anonymous]

There weren't American Rothchilds. The family primarily live in England, France, and Austria.

[Anonymous]

Only Cora's dad was Jewish. She was raised Episcopalian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only Cora's dad was Jewish. She was raised Episcopalian.

If her mother had been Jewish then Cora and the girls would be too. We would definitely know if the girls were supposed to be Jewish. So it has to be just Cora's dad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the Dowager Countess was explaining that she was going to "run off" with the Russian, she said "Lord Grantham [her husband?] subtly gave her a picture of the two children" and that made her change her mind. Whose two children? Her own? (that would be today's Lord Grantham and the Aunt) or did the Prince have two children and her husband was reminding her that she would be breaking up the Prince's marriage?

Her own children. She was already married to her husband when they both met the Russian prince.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone keeps encouraging Tom to bring the schoolteacher to dinner, and why he keeps agreeing. I get that Cora is irritated with Robert and trying to get under his skin, but why does Tom keep it up? And why does Rose keep pushing it?? I don't really think Tom enjoys the battles, he always looks uncomfortable when it starts (and they all know it will!). If he enjoys spending time with her, do it away from Downton. Of course, I'd prefer that he just ditch her entirely.

Lord Gillingham definitely got creepy. He's going to turn all stalker-ish on Mary, which is going to freak her out and send her running the other direction. Meanwhile, Charles Blake waits in the wings ... pretending to NOT be waiting, which will make her want to chase after him.

When they started up AGAIN that Ms. Bunting should be invited for dinner....DH and I just looked at each other. Really? How many times can they do the same story line? So, when Lord Grantham stood up and yelled that Ms. Bunting not come back for dinner ever again, I yelled out "FINALLY!" I'm sick of Ms. Bunting and I'm sick of that dumb story line of Ms. Bunting saying something at dinner that makes Lord Grantham mad.

[Anonymous]

^ ^ other then the Ms. Bunting thing, I liked the rest of this episode. The proposal to Ms. Crawley was so sweet, I hope she accepts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Blake meant she should sleep with Tony first, i.e., break-up sex. I believe he knows Mary slept with Tony, or at least deeply suspects it.

But wouldn't she have understood that kind of cheeky joke? They made a point of clarifying she didn't know what he meant.

She believes her secret is safer than it is.

I agree. I think Tony will kiss and tell (so to speak) if she won't marry him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why everyone keeps encouraging Tom to bring the schoolteacher to dinner, and why he keeps agreeing. I get that Cora is irritated with Robert and trying to get under his skin, but why does Tom keep it up? And why does Rose keep pushing it?? I don't really think Tom enjoys the battles, he always looks uncomfortable when it starts (and they all know it will!). If he enjoys spending time with her, do it away from Downton. Of course, I'd prefer that he just ditch her entirely.

Lord Gillingham definitely got creepy. He's going to turn all stalker-ish on Mary, which is going to freak her out and send her running the other direction. Meanwhile, Charles Blake waits in the wings ... pretending to NOT be waiting, which will make her want to chase after him.

When they started up AGAIN that Ms. Bunting should be invited for dinner....DH and I just looked at each other. Really? How many times can they do the same story line? So, when Lord Grantham stood up and yelled that Ms. Bunting not come back for dinner ever again, I yelled out "FINALLY!" I'm sick of Ms. Bunting and I'm sick of that dumb story line of Ms. Bunting saying something at dinner that makes Lord Grantham mad.

I'm pretty sure that Cora suggested that she be invited specifically because she knew that Ms. Bunting would piss off Lord Grantham. So the story line is too predictable even within their world.

And I agree with a pp -- it's crazy that Blake was at the dress show.

[Anonymous]

+1,000,000 on all the Miss Bunting detractors. Who does she think she is?

She acts like she's some great revolutionary, but all I see her doing is eating fancy meals at a grand estate and insulting her hosts. If she were really living her ideals, she would refuse to dine with people that she finds so repellant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, this nonsense with investigating the death of Green has to stop.
"We've had a plain clothed officer watching and observed Anna walking to Picadilly,,," That is so far-fetched that the police would STILL be spending this much time investigating this murder.

Right? Who gives a rat's ass? It would be more interesting if they dropped that bullshit, let Anna get pregnant, have Bates find Mary's diaphragm, and then have him suspect her of cheating and getting pregnant with another man's baby.

Oh good god no. Anna deserves better. I will be so pissed if she doesn't wind up happy and content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was yelling "no, no" when Lord Merton proposed to Mrs Crawley. She wants Dr Clark and he has to man up and come get from smarmy Lord Merton.

I will go down in flames rooting for Dr Clark and Mrs Crawley

+1 but Lord Merton is a nice catch too. I LOVE how these older women are having these men chase them! They're more interesting than the younger women's story lines.

Mrs. Bunting was raised in a barn. She has no manners at all. I can't believe that everyone keeps asking her back, and not getting upset at how she goads Lord G. I mean, she's not just attacking Lord G, she's attacking everyone--Cora, the Dowager, everyone--everyone should be pissed off, not just Lord G.

She just comes off so badly because she's invited in their house and attacking the host. Repeatedly, now. If it were on neutral ground AND if she had been provoked, ok. But to come in and provoke the host…so uncool. And even after Tom politely asked her not to. She is a discredit to her class.

That storyline is so ridiculous. I realize she's supposed to be this radical, but if that's the case, why is she going to dinner there at all? She's going to go to dinner at their house and then act like a snarky bitch? Come on. Who does that? No one. And certainly not a woman with no social power.