I think Mary's pretty bad, too, although at times she does show some signs of being not-completely-horrid. They are all conflicted and messed up.

All of these posts supporting the Mary/Matthew "love" story kind of surprise me. She is horrible. I find that story line the least compelling of the entire series. I really like Matthew's character, but Mary's I find completely one-dimensional, not likable, and not a good match for Matthew. They will probably end up together, but I just find her so not likable on so many levels, them getting together will do nothing for me. Otherwise, I really love this series!

Tiny spoiler alert:
Just saw this on a TV gossip website, tvline.com:

Question: I just watched the Downton Abbey season 2 premiere on PBS and I am hooked! I’m hoping for plenty more harmonious interaction between Mary and Matthew. —Ann

Ausiello: By “harmonious interaction” do you mean sex? Or maybe just a kiss? I can confirm that one of those two things will happen before the end of the season, but there will be grave — one might even say deadly — consequences.

Holy smokes, penguinsix! Of course! I knew he was sooo familiar. LOL, I'll never be able to look at him the same way again! Now all I will see is the goofy stockbroker from NH!

Edith is a selfish pill. When Carson got the vapors at dinner, she was more worried about the spilled soup on her dress than she was about him! And it's not just Mary who can't stand her -- even Lord G and Lady Cora don't like her.

Anonymous wrote:As I explained to my husband last night, Edith is the Jan Brady of Downton Abbey.

LOL!

Mary destroyed Edith's chance with one man she liked, which was bad. But what Edith did was to betray her family and to make it extremely unlikely that Mary would ever make a good marriage.

And now she's putting the moves on a man far below her who's also married.

As I explained to my husband last night, Edith is the Jan Brady of Downton Abbey.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that is the same farmer. Edith had talked about his health improving at the start of the episode.

I can't imagine Matthew with anyone but Mary!

Right. I think the farmer (even if played by the same actor, I just can't remember) was unrecognizable because of the bloating effects of his health condition when he appeared.

I want Edith to track down her previous beau (the older neighboring dude) and explain the misunderstanding Mary caused. Didn't they seem well-suited?

Yes! They seemed to really love each other. I will never forgive Mary for screwing that up for Edith. I don't think Edith's a witch at all, although it was pretty awful of her to rat out Mary to the Embassy. But poor Edith is always being put down and ridiculed by Mary. Edith is the least attractive of the three and the middle sister. I feel bad for her!

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody please explain who Miss Swire is and how she and Matthew hooked up? Also, does anybody else think that Matthew and Lady Sibyl are a better match than Matthew and Lady Mary? Remember when he rescued Sibyl at the political rally? Didn't you think that might blossom into a romance?

Sybil and Branson (the chauffeur) are an item (or going to be). There was a lot of chemistry there last season, and I'm just waiting for it to take off! He's cute, and so is she! (And now she can cook, so she can go off and make a decent wife to a working man).

Do you really care if Edith finds happiness, whether with the farmer or the older upper-crust neighbor? My God, she ratted out Lady Mary! What a witch!

OK, re Lady Mary and Sir Richard -- if he's the publisher of a tabloid, doesn't he know about the rumours about Mary and the Turkish emissary? Does he not care if Mary's reputation has been sullied?

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that is the same farmer. Edith had talked about his health improving at the start of the episode.

I can't imagine Matthew with anyone but Mary!

Right. I think the farmer (even if played by the same actor, I just can't remember) was unrecognizable because of the bloating effects of his health condition when he appeared.

I want Edith to track down her previous beau (the older neighboring dude) and explain the misunderstanding Mary caused. Didn't they seem well-suited?

what is it?

I think Lord Grantham made that quip because he knew that there IS a scandal under his roof, even if he is unaware of the particulars.

As far as Miss Swire, I suppose that will be A Big Thing in the next episode or so. That's what's interesting about Lady Mary/Sir Richard; We know Mary is tainted by scandal, but we don't yet know what's going on with Richard. Are we (and Mary) going to find out? Will it be before she accepts Richard's proposal? Will it change her mind about him and it is it something bad enough that Matthew would throw off Miss Swire?

Agree that Sir Richard's courtship (if you can call it that) of Lady Mary is a total snooze. This plotline would have been much more compelling if there had been at least a hint of love, attraction, sizzle -- something to make us think that Mary might plausibly choose Sir Richard over Matthew, rather than just settle for him.

Also, does Lord Grantham know about Lady Mary and the Turkish emissary? Is that why he said it was ironic that Lady Mary wanted to invite a scandal-monger -- Sir Richard -- into their home? Does he at least suspect that something happened? OTOH, when Carson told him that Bates had left in order to stop his wife from blabbing about the scandal and bringing shame on Downton Abby, Lord G asked him what the scandal would be. Carson demurred, but didn't it seem wierd that Lord G would press him on this? Does he suspect Lady M, but just not want to know for sure?

Lastly, what is Miss Swire's connection to Sir Richard?