Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to change the subject but we do think Bates actually killed his wife, right?

No way. I don't think he did. Possibly she killed herself to frame him. Possibly someone else killed her and he is protecting that person.

I think they left that unclear but I think the assumption is that he did not, and what really happened is his wife killed herself and framed him to punish him or have one last jab at him.

I think there's definitely a question there, though. He seems somewhat shady, more so this season than before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to change the subject but we do think Bates actually killed his wife, right?

No way. I don't think he did. Possibly she killed herself to frame him. Possibly someone else killed her and he is protecting that person.

I think they left that unclear but I think the assumption is that he did not, and what really happened is his wife killed herself and framed him to punish him or have one last jab at him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to change the subject but we do think Bates actually killed his wife, right?

No way. I don't think he did. Possibly she killed herself to frame him. Possibly someone else killed her and he is protecting that person.

Anonymous wrote:Not to change the subject but we do think Bates actually killed his wife, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure that I'm done with Downton Abbey. I agree with the rest of you all that the writing has gotten incredibly lazy. First killing Matthew off on the day, Mary gives birth, then having O'Brien sneaking off out of nowhere, bringing Braithwaite back for tension with Tom and to be basically O'Brien v2.0 and Rose continuing to be Annoyingly Stupid Replacement Sybil were all bad enough. But the whole rape bullshit really turned me off. It's like they realized that happily married couples are boring but didn't want to do anything that would require too much effort on their part to shake the Bateses up.
And don't get me started on the snooze fest that's the love square between the Flower Kitchen Maids and the Interchangable Footmen.

Agree, but it's such an unfortunate miscalculation by Fellowes. After everything they went through-- and how long and drawn out that drama was-- I would have really enjoyed at least a season or two watching lots of touching small moments of ordinary happiness, like watching them getting dressed for work together in the morning, pillow talk about the staff and family, planning a family, maybe a visit to Anna's relatives and some interplay between Bates and her parents or sisters or something. It would have even been interesting to see them deal with the ordinary annoyances that crop in marriage after the intensity of first love evaporates, especially given how extraordinary their love must have seemed to them in the face of all those hurdles. That kind of story line would have been a nice contrast to more dramatic plot lines going on with other characters. It could serve as the stable earth under the feet of others' tumult.

It has nothing to do with any decision made by Fellowes. The actors playing Matthew and Sybil quit.

I was only referring to the Anna/Bates story line. Obviously under the circumstance, Matthew and Sybil had to be written out of the show. Given Matthew's position as the heir, they pretty much had to kill him off to explain his absence from Downton. I thought it was a bit much given that Sybil had just died. I wonder if Fellowes knew about Dan Stevens' departure when he killed off Sybil. Sybil's character had already moved to Ireland, so her death was unnecessary, although as I wrote upthread, I'm enjoying Tom's soul searching about his place in society so I think Sybil's death was worth setting that up. I read that Dan Stevens' wasn't willing to come back as occasional guest star. I wonder if the same was true for the Sybil actress.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who found Isabel's wallowing in grief just a little too much? I know, I know -- she's a widow, he was her only son and they seemed pretty close, but she needs to rally for Mary and the baby (BTW, does the baby have a name?). I did think Violet practically begging her to come to dinner was quite touching.

Also loved Violet's response when Mary tried to use her as her excuse for not dancing with Lord Gilliam (sp?) -- "My dear, if you don't want to dance with him, tell him that yourself." Way to make her own it, Vi!

Their interaction was a highlight of the episode. It was especially affecting because it showed a soft side of Violet and the respect she's developed for Isobel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who found Isabel's wallowing in grief just a little too much? I know, I know -- she's a widow, he was her only son and they seemed pretty close, but she needs to rally for Mary and the baby (BTW, does the baby have a name?). I did think Violet practically begging her to come to dinner was quite touching.

Also loved Violet's response when Mary tried to use her as her excuse for not dancing with Lord Gilliam (sp?) -- "My dear, if you don't want to dance with him, tell him that yourself." Way to make her own it, Vi!

Their interaction was a highlight of the episode. It was especially affecting because it showed a soft side of Violet and the respect she's developed for Isobel.

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who found Isabel's wallowing in grief just a little too much? I know, I know -- she's a widow, he was her only son and they seemed pretty close, but she needs to rally for Mary and the baby (BTW, does the baby have a name?). I did think Violet practically begging her to come to dinner was quite touching.

Also loved Violet's response when Mary tried to use her as her excuse for not dancing with Lord Gilliam (sp?) -- "My dear, if you don't want to dance with him, tell him that yourself." Way to make her own it, Vi!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure that I'm done with Downton Abbey. I agree with the rest of you all that the writing has gotten incredibly lazy. First killing Matthew off on the day, Mary gives birth, then having O'Brien sneaking off out of nowhere, bringing Braithwaite back for tension with Tom and to be basically O'Brien v2.0 and Rose continuing to be Annoyingly Stupid Replacement Sybil were all bad enough. But the whole rape bullshit really turned me off. It's like they realized that happily married couples are boring but didn't want to do anything that would require too much effort on their part to shake the Bateses up.
And don't get me started on the snooze fest that's the love square between the Flower Kitchen Maids and the Interchangable Footmen.

Agree, but it's such an unfortunate miscalculation by Fellowes. After everything they went through-- and how long and drawn out that drama was-- I would have really enjoyed at least a season or two watching lots of touching small moments of ordinary happiness, like watching them getting dressed for work together in the morning, pillow talk about the staff and family, planning a family, maybe a visit to Anna's relatives and some interplay between Bates and her parents or sisters or something. It would have even been interesting to see them deal with the ordinary annoyances that crop in marriage after the intensity of first love evaporates, especially given how extraordinary their love must have seemed to them in the face of all those hurdles. That kind of story line would have been a nice contrast to more dramatic plot lines going on with other characters. It could serve as the stable earth under the feet of others' tumult.

It has nothing to do with any decision made by Fellowes. The actors playing Matthew and Sybil quit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure that I'm done with Downton Abbey. I agree with the rest of you all that the writing has gotten incredibly lazy. First killing Matthew off on the day, Mary gives birth, then having O'Brien sneaking off out of nowhere, bringing Braithwaite back for tension with Tom and to be basically O'Brien v2.0 and Rose continuing to be Annoyingly Stupid Replacement Sybil were all bad enough. But the whole rape bullshit really turned me off. It's like they realized that happily married couples are boring but didn't want to do anything that would require too much effort on their part to shake the Bateses up.
And don't get me started on the snooze fest that's the love square between the Flower Kitchen Maids and the Interchangable Footmen.

Agree, but it's such an unfortunate miscalculation by Fellowes. After everything they went through-- and how long and drawn out that drama was-- I would have really enjoyed at least a season or two watching lots of touching small moments of ordinary happiness, like watching them getting dressed for work together in the morning, pillow talk about the staff and family, planning a family, maybe a visit to Anna's relatives and some interplay between Bates and her parents or sisters or something. It would have even been interesting to see them deal with the ordinary annoyances that crop in marriage after the intensity of first love evaporates, especially given how extraordinary their love must have seemed to them in the face of all those hurdles. That kind of story line would have been a nice contrast to more dramatic plot lines going on with other characters. It could serve as the stable earth under the feet of others' tumult.

It has nothing to do with any decision made by Fellowes. The actors playing Matthew and Sybil quit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure that I'm done with Downton Abbey. I agree with the rest of you all that the writing has gotten incredibly lazy. First killing Matthew off on the day, Mary gives birth, then having O'Brien sneaking off out of nowhere, bringing Braithwaite back for tension with Tom and to be basically O'Brien v2.0 and Rose continuing to be Annoyingly Stupid Replacement Sybil were all bad enough. But the whole rape bullshit really turned me off. It's like they realized that happily married couples are boring but didn't want to do anything that would require too much effort on their part to shake the Bateses up.
And don't get me started on the snooze fest that's the love square between the Flower Kitchen Maids and the Interchangable Footmen.

Agree, but it's such an unfortunate miscalculation by Fellowes. After everything they went through-- and how long and drawn out that drama was-- I would have really enjoyed at least a season or two watching lots of touching small moments of ordinary happiness, like watching them getting dressed for work together in the morning, pillow talk about the staff and family, planning a family, maybe a visit to Anna's relatives and some interplay between Bates and her parents or sisters or something. It would have even been interesting to see them deal with the ordinary annoyances that crop in marriage after the intensity of first love evaporates, especially given how extraordinary their love must have seemed to them in the face of all those hurdles. That kind of story line would have been a nice contrast to more dramatic plot lines going on with other characters. It could serve as the stable earth under the feet of others' tumult.