Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may be the only viewer who isn't crazy about Mr Bates.

I've never liked him either. And the scenes with Anna crying are getting old. She's been crying for something like 4 straight seasons.

I'm with you, and yet she was nominated for a Golden Globe so clearly someone likes her doing all that crying.

Anyone else think Lady Mary will hit the roof when she finds out her pigman is going?

Maybe Cora has torticollis, the actress I mean.

Anonymous wrote:^^forgot to say…I'm thinking maybe Anna has a complication from the surgery and dies and sends Mr. Bates into a crazed rage?

I don't think there are enough episodes left to deal with Bates in a crazed rage, although if he killed off everyone in the house they could do a spin off called Hauntin' Abbey.

This episode was another snooze fest for me. Hopefully they're building to something good.

Anonymous wrote:Ok so regarding episode 2:

I think getting the Drews off the land leaves a house vacant for Daisy's FIL, which will then be able to set up a romance with our dear cook Mrs. Patmore, who is so sweet.

Maybe the Drews go to the FIL's house (they swap houses). You know, they make Mrs. Drew out to be unsympathetic but wow this is soooo sh*tty what they have done to her. Very Gatsby-esque of the Grantham family.

I agree with PP that the Carson/Patmore/Hughes sex talk etc. is unrealistic but it was still fun and cute.

I don't think Mary has a clue about Edith--she would have relayed a different vibe when talking to Anna about it. In all her discourse she seems confused as to turns of events but not interested enough to stop and think a moment. Agree with PP who says, blind to Edith.

That doctor is not gay. But maybe the other former suitor of Isobel is.

Again we see Lady Grantham with that weird head cock and upward eyes look--toward Daisy--that was just wrong. And she even had that weird head turn when fuzzed out in the background during other characters' heated conversation about the hospital.

I know they are trying to make Thomas a more sympathetic character, but if you all recall what a horrible bad-a$$ he was in the first season, it's one of those things I don't like about TV--that total remake of a character to keep him in the show. They tried to explain it away with poor Thomas, he's gay and lonely and on drugs, and now recovered. Now (that new maid, the older lady) who Thomas was just blackmailing a while back has this soft spot for him. It is just unrealistic.

No, I don't think it's wrong for her character. Remember, she was brought up in the previous Edwardian times where women where supposed to say nice things and be positive and soothing. So her mannerisms and speech are appropriate for her character.

Anonymous wrote:I may be the only viewer who isn't crazy about Mr Bates.

I've never liked him either. And the scenes with Anna crying are getting old. She's been crying for something like 4 straight seasons.

^^forgot to say…I'm thinking maybe Anna has a complication from the surgery and dies and sends Mr. Bates into a crazed rage?

Ok so regarding episode 2:

I think getting the Drews off the land leaves a house vacant for Daisy's FIL, which will then be able to set up a romance with our dear cook Mrs. Patmore, who is so sweet.

Maybe the Drews go to the FIL's house (they swap houses). You know, they make Mrs. Drew out to be unsympathetic but wow this is soooo sh*tty what they have done to her. Very Gatsby-esque of the Grantham family.

I agree with PP that the Carson/Patmore/Hughes sex talk etc. is unrealistic but it was still fun and cute.

I don't think Mary has a clue about Edith--she would have relayed a different vibe when talking to Anna about it. In all her discourse she seems confused as to turns of events but not interested enough to stop and think a moment. Agree with PP who says, blind to Edith.

That doctor is not gay. But maybe the other former suitor of Isobel is.

Again we see Lady Grantham with that weird head cock and upward eyes look--toward Daisy--that was just wrong. And she even had that weird head turn when fuzzed out in the background during other characters' heated conversation about the hospital.

I know they are trying to make Thomas a more sympathetic character, but if you all recall what a horrible bad-a$$ he was in the first season, it's one of those things I don't like about TV--that total remake of a character to keep him in the show. They tried to explain it away with poor Thomas, he's gay and lonely and on drugs, and now recovered. Now (that new maid, the older lady) who Thomas was just blackmailing a while back has this soft spot for him. It is just unrealistic.

Anonymous wrote:I think Mary has figured out about Marigold by now & I predict she will disclose this in the final episode. I, too, hope Isobel & Dr. Clarkson get together before the show ends.

RE: Mrs. Hughes/Mrs. Patmore/Carson, I found all those sex conversations completely unbelievable for the era. Would Mrs. Hughes really ask Mrs. Patmore to talk to Carson about their married sex life? WouldMrs. Patmore, an unmarried woman, actually broach this topic with a male in those days? I just do not think that would have happened in that time.

And they shouldn't have killed-off Matthew. I know the actor wanted to leave the show, but they could have phased him in and out of the storyline somehow. To me, that just did the show in. Too much of the storyline depended on Matthew.

What didn't make sense was Mrs. Hughes first apparently delaying setting a date and then asking Mr. Carson to call her by her first name and then not being sure she should marry him because of what his sexual expectations might be. It would have been more realistic if she didn't ask him to refer to her by her first name until she knew they would actually marry. That part of it seemed off to me.

I think Mary has figured out about Marigold by now & I predict she will disclose this in the final episode. I, too, hope Isobel & Dr. Clarkson get together before the show ends.

RE: Mrs. Hughes/Mrs. Patmore/Carson, I found all those sex conversations completely unbelievable for the era. Would Mrs. Hughes really ask Mrs. Patmore to talk to Carson about their married sex life? WouldMrs. Patmore, an unmarried woman, actually broach this topic with a male in those days? I just do not think that would have happened in that time.

And they shouldn't have killed-off Matthew. I know the actor wanted to leave the show, but they could have phased him in and out of the storyline somehow. To me, that just did the show in. Too much of the storyline depended on Matthew.

Anonymous wrote:I think the doctor is a confirmed bachelor, not the marrying kind. Maybe they'll pair him off with Thomas the valet.

Noooooooooooooooooo. Let a Thomas find another. Dr Clarkson is pining over Isobel Crawley.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I seemed to recall a scene on a train with Edith and Mary leaving the kids at home, and Mary sort of did a double take(not as obvious as Robert's was) saying out loud, "well it's not like you're her mother for heaven's sake" when Edith mentioned how hard it was to leave.

I remember that as Mary being clueless and disdainful. Not at all a lightbulb moment for her. I think it was meant to demonstrate how blind she is to Edith.

Exactly how I remember it. It was the perfect opportunity for Mary to get a clue, but the idea of Edith as a mother was so ridiculous to her. She has no idea. I really think they might make that a huge centerpiece of this season - Edith proudly "coming out" as Marigold's mother and Mary being in complete shock (and awe).

Anonymous wrote:I seemed to recall a scene on a train with Edith and Mary leaving the kids at home, and Mary sort of did a double take(not as obvious as Robert's was) saying out loud, "well it's not like you're her mother for heaven's sake" when Edith mentioned how hard it was to leave.

I remember that as Mary being clueless and disdainful. Not at all a lightbulb moment for her. I think it was meant to demonstrate how blind she is to Edith.

I seemed to recall a scene on a train with Edith and Mary leaving the kids at home, and Mary sort of did a double take(not as obvious as Robert's was) saying out loud, "well it's not like you're her mother for heaven's sake" when Edith mentioned how hard it was to leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to see Edith have it out with Mary, spill the beans to everyone about Marigold, and then go live the life of a badass career woman a la Peggy Olson in Mad Men. Cigarette and pornographic painting optional.

I would like to see Edith tell Mary about Marigold too. I think Mary would have a lot more respect for Edith, considering she thinks of her as the most boring person alive. Mary has no idea what's been going on in Edith's life over the past few years. Not only would she be shocked were she to find out, but I think she'd look at Edith with brand new eyes. After all, Mary's certainly no saint.

I don't think it would change the character they've portrayed for Mary. Edith's boyfriend goes missing and he turns up dead. Mary was still a heartless bitch. You would think someone who lost her husband would have more empathy, but it's really an issue of the shallowness of the writing. Pretty much all the characters on Downton are more like caricatures b/c there's been a lack of good dialogue and plot since season 1.

I see your point, but I do think that it would be good for the characters of Edith and Mary if Mary knew about the baby. Ironically because that isn't usually what a child like this will do, I think the situation would give Mary more respect for Edith. Does Mary even suspect? It's been so long and convoluted I don't even remember.

Anonymous wrote:I think the doctor is a confirmed bachelor, not the marrying kind. Maybe they'll pair him off with Thomas the valet.

He's already hit on Isobel and been rebuffed.