Well, I didn't like her last season and I like her less this season, so I'm not that bothered. Isobel bothers the crap out of me, though. I was rooting for her a bit last season but she is so self-righteous now, she drives me nuts.

Seriously, what is with Cora? I liked her so much last season, and she's some brittle shell of a character. I get that it's soapy, but aren't the characters supposed to be compelling?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

I can't speak to the authenticity of this but it did make me think about how different we view paralysis these days. It still would be awful but the world is now more accommodating to people in wheel chairs and we wouldn't think of it as a barrier to having children. Plus having children in and of itself wouldn't be quite as important as it was then. I am grateful for this difference!

Paralysis has never been a barrier to having children.

But isn't it sometimes? Isn't there more than one type of spinal cord injury? Although I thought that the functions required to be "properly married" weren't controlled just by the spinal cord but by the parasympathetic system or something, and couldn't that be damaged by a head injury?

Certainly, there are many injuries that could cause a man not to be -- ahem -- properly married. But a spinal cord injury is not necessarily one of them. And the leap from Dr. Clarkson patting Matthew on the back and announcing he had "transected his spinal cord" to Matthew then announcing to everyone in sight he could not be a father was a little much to take. Furthermore, in a week's time, even if Matthew IS paralyzed, he may look down in the morning and notice that, in fact, it is possible for him to -- ahem -- be properly married. Because, you know, testosterone is testosterone.

About Cora, in this season she's having moments of being stern and rude, whereas she was really soft/sweet last season. I hope she doesn't continue on this way (i.e., she does retain some of her older self), or she will become unlikable (to me). Otherwise, I'm an avid fan (lovely scenery, costumes, characters, and a storyline that I still enjoy following ...)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

I can't speak to the authenticity of this but it did make me think about how different we view paralysis these days. It still would be awful but the world is now more accommodating to people in wheel chairs and we wouldn't think of it as a barrier to having children. Plus having children in and of itself wouldn't be quite as important as it was then. I am grateful for this difference!

Paralysis has never been a barrier to having children.

But isn't it sometimes? Isn't there more than one type of spinal cord injury? Although I thought that the functions required to be "properly married" weren't controlled just by the spinal cord but by the parasympathetic system or something, and couldn't that be damaged by a head injury?

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? Bored with the show? There have been TEN episodes. That's half of one normal season in the U.S. You must have the attention span of a gnat.

Boredom does not necessarily arise just from a short attention span. The level of campiness and bad writing has tripled in this show since the well-done first season, which makes me bored with it. And annoyed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

I can't speak to the authenticity of this but it did make me think about how different we view paralysis these days. It still would be awful but the world is now more accommodating to people in wheel chairs and we wouldn't think of it as a barrier to having children. Plus having children in and of itself wouldn't be quite as important as it was then. I am grateful for this difference!

Paralysis has never been a barrier to having children.

Seriously? Bored with the show? There have been TEN episodes. That's half of one normal season in the U.S. You must have the attention span of a gnat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

I can't speak to the authenticity of this but it did make me think about how different we view paralysis these days. It still would be awful but the world is now more accommodating to people in wheel chairs and we wouldn't think of it as a barrier to having children. Plus having children in and of itself wouldn't be quite as important as it was then. I am grateful for this difference!

Omg I'm going to start following Patton Oswalt on Twitter right now!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

I certainly hope so! My Mr. Anonymous and I would like some happier resolutions pronto!

Anonymous wrote:Oh calm down.

Is anyone else a little bored with the show?

Yes. Mr. Anonymous and I are watching it mainly for laughs at this point. The scene with the village doctor patting Matthew on the back and announcing he has a "transected spinal cord"...jump from that to tell Matthew he may have permanent spinal damage to Matthew announcing to every woman in sight that he is no longer capable of sexual performance [sorry, but Julian Fellowes owes an apology to paralyzed men everywhere who father children every day]. I just sat there laughing. This is really turning into quite a high comedy. I fully expect Matthew to be walking next week, with full sexual prowess restored of course.

Anonymous wrote:I'm on Cora's side. Isabel is way, way too pushy and shows no respect for the fact that her convalescent hospital is actually someone's home.

The one character I could do without is Thomas. I know, we're supposed to dislike him. But he's just so flat. There's no nuance or intrigue there at all... just pure venal evil. I keep waiting for him to get a little backstory that might make him a smidge sympathetic or interesting, and *pfft* nothing. Like the early Mrs. Patmore (before she got nice)... she was such a nasty old bat at first, but she was at least a little funny, and I felt sorry for her with her workload, and then her eyesight... now that's how you make a mean character worth the screentime.

I think there are glimmers of backstory. Remember when he was talking to that depressed patient (who later killed himself) about his own difficulties with being "different" (gay)...

I'm on Cora's side. Isabel is way, way too pushy and shows no respect for the fact that her convalescent hospital is actually someone's home.

The one character I could do without is Thomas. I know, we're supposed to dislike him. But he's just so flat. There's no nuance or intrigue there at all... just pure venal evil. I keep waiting for him to get a little backstory that might make him a smidge sympathetic or interesting, and *pfft* nothing. Like the early Mrs. Patmore (before she got nice)... she was such a nasty old bat at first, but she was at least a little funny, and I felt sorry for her with her workload, and then her eyesight... now that's how you make a mean character worth the screentime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hee! Funny. Cora has become one of my least favorite characters lately. She was downright rude to Cousin Isabelle.

Agree. Can't stand her now. She seems to have changed since season 1.

IDK, I thought Cousin Isabelle was overstepping her boundaries and that's why Cora responded to her so coldly.

Agree -- Isabelle meant well as far as the soldiers, but was presumptuous and howed no consideration at all for Cora. What did disturb me about Cora this past week, though, was that she has become so focused on the convalescing soldiers that she hardly noticed Robert --she totally blew him off about the weekend that they were supposed to visit friends. What is this all about? Does she not realize what a gem Robert is. Cora, Cora, Cora, I've seen women like you, so caught up in home, family, work . . . they don't even notice when the wanna-be trophy wives move in on their men.