Amph "What is a weekend?" The Downton Abbey Adoration Thread (unhighlighted spoilers after UK eps. air)

I suspect it's as anachronistic as an aristocrat paying for his cook's healthcare instead of just throwing her blind ass out.

 

It's anachronistic, but entertainingly so and doesn't spoil anything. That's a careful balance. I can buy Mrs. Hughes' opinion, though. Even in that period I suspect there would've been some people with attitudes we would see as modern. Of everyone in the cast, Mrs. Hughes strikes me as that sort. She tries to understand everyone rather than judge them.

I'm not sure we should assume that in real life Lord Grantham would've sacked Mrs. Patmore. There was a great sense of responsibility towards the employees of the house and estate. I believed that Robert would've helped. I think the bigger question with Mrs. Patmore's eyes is how could they have been fixed so effectively in that period, and how come the glasses she wears now are so slimline?

 

Yeah, people might think the aristocrats are actual human beings capable of empathy and compassion, and we can't have that, right?

 

Julian Fellowes talked about how in his family, a family friend of his mother's was gay and she still asked him to be a godfather to one of her sons. He said that growing up he was around people who believed that how homosexuals were treated was wrong and the fact that it was a criminal offense was wrong. So I think he's taking attitudes that he's experienced from older people in his life about homosexuality and putting it in his show.

 

Rum, sodomy and the lash everybody. It's an accepted part of British culture. Just don't speak a word of it.

 

I have to say I love Lord Grantham's look to Carson after he surprise-promotes Alfred to first footman. The look that said "that's what you get for making me do my own dirty work"

 

Whilst Carson is the king of 'looks', Lord Grantham gave him some good competition there, I agree. It was a bit of a 'Look Off'.

 

Oh balls.

On behalf of the colonies, I apologise.

 

Great. Now I can dread American Doctor Who.

God, us Yanks are so creative.

 

Not Downton Abbey, too!

Well, Fellowes is writing it, so there is some hope.

 

Provided it's American to its core (just as Downton is English) and isn't a shallow attempt to shift English sensibilities across the Pond, then there is hope.

 

ive said this before mar but your reactionary zeal makes me sympathize with the tankie point of view

 

Men Behaving Badly, Red Dwarf ...

 

I, for one, am excited about The Gilded Age. It's not an American remake of Downton Abbey...just a period drama inspired by Downton. It'll be set in a great historical period that can be mined for a lot of the same things that people love Downton Abbey for.

 

I think a lot of the reactions towards Thomas and trying to help Thomas were perhaps more about saving face for Downton than pure sympathy for Thomas.

 

Not really. Carson was obviously concerned with saving face for Downton (possibly more concerned than any of the others) and also was the one to privately express the most disgust with homosexuality. Wanting to keep it quiet publicly doesn't explain the sympathetic opinions expressed privately and out of anyone's earshot. Lord Grantham didn't have anything to gain from telling Bates about all the boy-on-boy action happening at Eton when no one else was around.

 

Okay, random hypothetical question:

Imagine if Lord Grantham died before the Dowager Countess. The title of the Earl of Grantham would pass to Matthew and Mary would become the Countess of Grantham, right? But who would hold the title of the Dowager Countess of Grantham? Violet or Cora? Or both?

 

The Internet (well, here) says that the widow of an earl is officially known as "Dowager Countess of...", unless there is a surviving Dowager Countess in the family. In that eventuality, the junior countess would be "x, Countess of...". So I suppose that until her death Violet would remain the "Dowager Countess of Grantham" and Cora would become, "Cora, Countess of Grantham". When Violet dies (which of course, can nevar evar happen) Cora then assumes the title of "Dowager Countess of Grantham".

ITV's Christmas trailer! Sprinkled within are a few short short short clips from the Downton Abbey Christmas special.



My favourite...

Spoiler

Carson's 'reaction' to James' question about having some time off. Also Robert and Cora kissing.

 

Breaking Abbey: Breaking Bad reenacted by the men of Downton Abbey

 

So over the weekend the trailer for the Christmas special popped up on ITV's website. There are adverts before and after it, but it's worth a watch.

Here.

Spoiler

I think it's a beautiful trailer. Of course, the trailers always are. Love the choice of music (again!). It looks like Tom has fallen for a maid. I don't begrudge him new love. There's a shot of him crying in the company of Mrs. Hughes, so I can't imagine it's straightforward. Perhaps he feels like he's betraying Lady Sybil?

I love... the love. Lord and Lady Grantham in a passionate kiss. Matthew and Mary, too. Mr and Mrs Bates enjoying a picnic - then look on his face as he watches her dance. He's completely in love and it's a wonderful, wonderful feeling. I love Carson holding the baby (Mrs Hughes on standby, though ). Lady Edith is still pursuing the Robert Bathurst / Michael Palin / Mr Rochester cross... be careful, Edith. It looks like R*** and Anna become friends... be careful, Anna. R*** looks like trouble. Then there's the shocking sight of Thomas - black and blue.

Can't wait!

Also, I bought the Radio Times yesterday on my way back from London. Looking towards the Christmas special there was a humorous piece about the various characters and their respective 'stories so far'. Some of the entries made me chuckle:

The Dowager Countess: Sailing through three series like a stately galleon listing slightly to port, the Earl's mother's main function at Downton is to await awkward silences that she can fill with a cutting remark or a comment that shows her healthy disdain for her social inferiors, which of course is everyone.

Matthew Crawley: The country solicitor turned heir presumptive got off to a bad start, but proved himself to the family by going to war and then curing his paralysis through sheer force of poshness. His budding romance with Lady Mary was complicated by him already having a fiancée, but thankfully the influenza epidemic of 1919 intervened. Undaunted by the fact that sex with Lady Mary has hitherto proved fatal in 100% of cases, he agreed to be her husband.

Lady Mary: Very much the non-heir of Downton, Lady Mary got into trouble early on by taking Turkish diplomat Mr. Pamuk into her bed, an adventure that the foreign gentleman did not survive. The scandal was successfully hushed up, allowing Mary to pursue Matthew in hopes of forging an alliance that would save the estate and thus prevent her from having to change bedrooms.

Mr and Mrs Bates: It takes a special kind of woman to marry a man who is about to go to jail for killing his first wife, but Anna believed in his innocence even when viewers grew so tired of his plight they began to hope he might get stabbed in prison. After his release, the couple moved to a cottage in the village, and are now the happiest overworked servants in the world. And who knows? Maybe he did kill his first wife.

The Earl of Grantham: Initially preoccupied by a turn of events that began with the sinking of the Titanic and ended with an insufficiently grand cousin becoming heir to Downton, the Earl has since divided his time between going broke and disapproving of the 20th century.

 

Breaking Bad done by the Downton Abbey actors was hilarious, well done.

Hopefully we'll get a French version set in 1881 Paris or late 1780s which would be rather refreshing. Although something tells me neither Jello nor Mar would watch it even if their life depended on it.