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

"This is the new dawn, the new age of government. No one wants to start it with a murder of a bunch of young girls."

Really, Branson, you're so naïve. This is the Communists you're talking about. The murder of a "bunch of young girls" is just the perfect way to start a whole era of atrocities.

I lol'd when it turned out that he was turned down by the Army, and his grand plan of speaking out against it was foiled. And thank God for Anna and Mr. Carson, who managed to stop him before he caused more embarrassment.

All in all, a great episode. Loved how Robert put Isobel in her place. He definitely is his mother's son.

Nice to see O'Brien showing some remorse for what she's done to Cora, even though it's in a rather strange way.

I really don't know what to think about Lady Edith and her character development...

The scene with the ping pong ball made me laugh. Poor Robert...

And the preview! WTF, Lady Sibyl, you can't be seriously considering eloping with that dirty bolshevik!

 

Late, not as thought through as last weeks, but I thought I would post my thoughts anyway.

Episode three, and I felt a little bit like I was watching series one again. The cast and I were back under Downton's roof. Indeed, we barely left save for Violet's brief dirt-digging expedition to London. It looks like next week spreads things out again, which is perhaps a shame, but for now I was in heaven. This was easily the best episode of the series so far.

Edith. What's Fellowes doing with her? One minute she's canoodling on a farm, the next she's a vain and villainous bitch, and the next she's doing great work helping the wounded soldiers. Was her odd behaviour over the last few weeks just a symptom of indirection? If Mary suffers herself in silence, does Edith by 'lashing out'? I don't know. I don't know what to feel about her. She's... odd.

Mary. Again... who by comparison looks (if such a thing were possible) even more lost. She can't in good conscience drown Lavinia, but what can she do? When will she ever take a situation by the horns? She should take a leaf out of Violet's book. By her own admission Violet acts, taking one page at a time, and as a consequence gets her way. Mary tries to read the whole ruddy book. Lavinia's been outed as more than just a wet-blanket, but she must still be removed from the picture. The glances across the dinner table between Mary, Matthew and Lavinia are epic. The only time Mary came truly alive was when she broke the news about Mr. Bates to Anna.

Mary looks beautiful with those curls. Even half curls. As does Anna. Oh. Anna. OhAnna. The scene in the Red Lion with Mr. Bates was so wonderful ("I would love you however, whenever, whatever.") but also wonderfully understated. It played second fiddle to the main theme, and developments, of the episode. Still, that only demonstrates what tremendous depth the show has. Such a strong storyline can sit on the back burner for almost two episodes and still be utterly heart-breaking. Love that Mr. Bates commented on Anna's hair.

I do wonder why Vera hasn't blubbed to the press, though... if Mr. Bates pushes the divorce through, why shouldn't she still cry about Mr. Pamuk?

Violet's expression at the suggestion of putting beds in the Great Hall was classic. Her eyes almost popped out! I noticed that Rosamund is good at that, too. When they were chatting with Lavinia in London more was said between mother and daughter with expressions than with words. Marmaduke must surely come into serious play soon?

I simply MUST see a servants ball. Carson dancing with Violet would be a wonderful sight. Maybe they dropped it in so that we'd hope it would come true... and then it does! Poor Carson though, his world continues to fall apart. Dinners with no footmen, Thomas coming through the front door... the end of the world really is nigh! "So we just make it up as we go along?"

Speaking of the end of the world... or 'a world', the dialogue free scenes with Lord Grantham and Cora leading up to the entry of the wounded were magnificent. Finally, we got a true sense of social history from series two. A different sort to that seen in the first series, but one could really feel these were 'last looks' of a pre-war Lord and Lady before their home changed forever. Suddenly, the trivialities of the entail (that seemed so vital a few years ago) were shown to be of secondary concern. Lord Grantham acknowledged as much in the last scene of the episode. A much as we all want things to go back to the way they were - even when our own lives are wrought with great upheaval - they, and things, do not. Experiences linger in the memory, and people change. You can never, truly, go back.

This leads me to the best scene (for me) of the series so far... the ping-pong ball and Lord Grantham. Only a vignette, and with comedy music, but a real turning point for him and by extension for Downton. If there's a better microcosm of series two to come, I'd be surprised.

- Branson. I can only admit to being completely wrong about him. I thought he was trying to win the h

 

I'm very interested in Jello's opinion of this episode...

 

Attended the Downton Abbey event at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature this evening (Julian Fellowes, Jessica Fellowes, Gareth Neame and Dan Stevens). Ostensibly they were there to talk about the book of the show, but really it boiled down to discussion of the show and the show only. Really good. Afterwards they went into one of the book tents to sign copies of the book. I didn't purchase a copy, as I'd spent my allowance on Jarvis Cocker yesterday evening. Great to see Julian Fellowes, but obviously the main draw was one of the cast. Hard to get good photos in the scrum.

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EDITS: Damn pictures.

 

Okay, I'm normally not into blonde, blue-eyed men, but... dammit, Dan Stevens!

 

There was definitely a frisson of excitement from the female members of the audience when he took to the stage.

 

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Great episode. So many wonderful moments that made me laugh and clap and squee with happiness.

Cora. **** yeah Cora. First she takes Isobel down a peg (although I did feel a bit sorry for Isobel - yet Cora was completely right; her house, her rules), and then she completely destroys O'Brien's grand "revelation" about Mrs. Bird and Mrs. Patmore by helping them! I cheered for her so much.

Edith. Well, I never. She's being honest, she's being nice, she's not being irritating - would it be possible she's actually becoming a better person? Her scene with Mary was touching.

Sibyl. Please, please, please don't do anything stupid...

Ethel, you arrogant idiotic bitch, how glad I am to see you go. If you hate service so much, why work in it, hmm? Mrs. Hughes was perfectly right to sack her - and now she has the nerve to come begging for help when she got into trouble by her own careless and inexcusable behaviour?

Poor Mr. Moseley. He was so lost without work, and he seemed so happy to stand in for Mr. Bates when suddenly Mr. Bates returns and Mr. Moseley isn't needed any more... Oh, man.

Violet. "I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose." Bless you, Violet. She still has the best lines.

Mary. Now that was one classic scenario. A tragedy (albeit an imagined tragedy) must occur in order for the heroine to realise her true feelings for the hero. The scene during the concert (btw, Michelle Dockery has a pretty good singing voice) when Matthew suddenly walks in with William (I had a feeling they would ) was positively electrifying. That look on Mary's face - I kept yelling at my computer, "Kiss him, dammit! KISS HIM!!!" And now that he's safe and sound she goes back into the old mode.

And I have a very, VERY bad feeling about next week's episode!

 

Everton, where's your review of the last episode?

 

It's so totally coming. I didn't get the chance to see it again until yesterday, and I'm just on the way out this evening so it'll be tomorrow.

All I will say, is the last scene bothered me.

 

I was really, really miffed by the ending to last weeks episode... but this week rescued things a nicely. Gonna need to round up my thoughts on both episodes I think. Really brave decisions taken tonight.

 

Wow. What an episode.

I totally called at the beginning that William would die. It was a classic pattern. And I feel sorry for Daisy - she was pushed into an "engagement" with him pretty much against her will and now she was forced to marry him even though she felt it was dishonest. And already she was being accused by the priest of marrying a dying soldier for selfish reasons, even though she never wanted it in the first place!

But it was funny watching Violet pulling strings again. Especially the scene with the telephone. Maggie Smith is hilarious.

Vera Bates, you ****ing evil scheming bitch, there are no swearwords strong enough for you! Why don't you burst into flames and die.

I'm not sure if Lady Mary telling the story to Sir Richard was very wise... I mean, the way he managed to shut Vera Bates up was brilliant, but I have a sneaky feeling that he'll use it as a leverage against Lady Mary. Here's what I think she should do:

1. Hook up with Matthew again.
2. Tell Matthew the whole story - he knows her well and he'll believe her innocence (and will appreciate the honesty).
3. Announce the engagement and go out with the story, with Matthew backing her up.
4. Now no one can use it against her!

Matthew. Oh, Matthew. It was so heartbreaking seeing him lie in the hospital. But they don't know for sure that his spine is damaged beyond repair! It's just Major Clarkson's opinion, and frankly, I don't trust the man one bit. They should do an X-ray - I believe the X-rays were already used in medicine by that time. Maybe there's only something pressing against his spine, but they could probably do an operation. He can't stay on the wheelchair for the rest of his life, he just can't!

And now he sent Lavinia away! I know I should be happy, but I feel sorry for her, too. It's clear that she loves him. But now that Lady Mary spends time taking care of him should probably win him back... *hopeful* (I mean, she felt it when he was injured! It's a sign! They're meant for each other!)

 

Damn you, Jello. For a moment I thought "WTF? Ian McDiarmid was in the preview and I missed it??"

Then I realised what you meant.

 

I have purchased the first season of this series and will be watching the first episode imminently. Thoughts to come.

 

Episode 4... well... hmmm....

But episode 5! The best episode of series two so far. There were still things I found clunky, or off-putting (that will forever set series two below the mark series one set), but this was really good Downton Abbey. It balanced the more chockablock nature of series two with the serenity of series one. Brilliantly structured, too.

Before I go on, I must say that I HATED one thing in this episode. The scenes very early on when Daisy and Mary 'felt something'. That sort of scene may work well in other dramas, but in Downton Abbey? No.

This week was all about two things. Love & Business.

It was a really brave episode - particularly the fate of Matthew. Although Downton is very much an ensemble piece and so every character is important... some are more important than others. Matthew is important. So to put him in a wheelchair is a really brave move. A really brave move.

The place to start is with Matthew and Mary. Obviously. Mary is as aimless a character as I've ever seen in television. Dockery does her proud, of course - with those eyes betraying more emotion than the rest of her body put together - but she's needs to fall in love with an equally bereft individual to ever be happy. This is clear. Proper courtship - "I love you", "I want to spend time with you", letting someone know you care for them, actually making decisions - she can't do these things. And maybe, just maybe, Matthew can be that bereft individual. He is completely down, and will face a hard and perhaps unrewarding road to (only partial) recovery. Mary has - I believe - clocked this ("and if they should just want to be with you? On any terms?"). She messed Matthew about before the war, he now thinks he might just settle for her. One person unable to step up... the other forced off their pedestal. Right here, right now, Mary doesn't have to confront love and the awkwardness she feels about it. She just has to be there for him. Easy.

When Mary and Lavinia are talking in the bedroom, Lavinia tells Mary that Matthew believes it would be a crime for him to tie her down to a childless man. At this revelation Mary's body remained motionless, but her eyes went berserk. I think she'd settle for that. Settle for getting the man she loves in return for... certain sacrifices. Futility as cupid.

(btw, Lavinia... never have I seen such a wet blanket. How could Matthew ever have fallen for her? - Downton Abbey EU answer that, please.)

So Mary still can't deal with love, but she should still be able to talk 'business' with Sir Richard, right? Well no. She's been pushed into a corner there, too... and she's taken her family with her.

Sir Richard. Ooooo. He's playing both sides. He'll plainly run Vera's story (or threaten the Crawley's with it) when the time is right. My skin crawled when he said that thing to Mary about her being entitled to be in his debt.

When Mary asks Sir Richard to gag Vera, she mentions that their engagement can be easily dissolved. This was perhaps a card Mary was hoping to rely on further down the line. Still, when Sir Richard takes the unilateral step of announcing their engagement it's less a statement of love than it is a coup. He now has the Crawley family by the balls - their money and reputation in his pocket. If I didn't hate him so much, I'd say well played Sir. He's the emblem of change, isn't he? The shift of power from the aristocracy to those who are self-made.

Incidentally, Sir Richard's description of Mary... the "cold and careful Lady Mary Crawley". Delicious. He also says that he's paying Mary the compliment of being honest. Yeah, yeah. A "newspaper man", honest? Pull the other one.

One of the main criticisms of series two had been that events seem very compacted. Too many things going on. Well, I'm sure this will have occurred to everyone else but I only clocked it a few days ago. The episodes are spread out over years, and we watch weekly. I suspect the problem is a bit of an illusion.

My main worry with series two at the moment is

 

I agree with Everton on this issue!!!

 

I have watched two episodes so far. My likey-like list:

Like
-Lord Grantham
-Mary
-Mr. Bates
-Her Ladyship the Dowager Countess
-that third cousin's mother (forget her name)
-Mr. Carson
-that one girl Mrs. Patmore keeps yelling at
-the redheaded maid that just got cast as Ygritte in AGoT, season 2.

Dislike
-Thomas
-the Duke
-Grantham's wife's maid
-that third cousin (his eyes creep me out)

Not Sure About
-Grantham's wife (ugh, forget her name, too)

I'd look up the names I forgot but I don't want to run into any spoilers. As is, I'm just popping in this thread to reply without reading anything.

 

Added the names for you.

 

Ah Cora.

 

I'll post more about tonight's episode later, but for now I'll just say this:

**** you, Sir Richard.

 

I liked the latest episode, some new layers developing in the story. Not sure what to make of this guy claiming to be the true heir, weirdm also that he up and left in one episode, I assume he'll be back at some point.

 

Too ****ing right.

Anyway the preface to my notes for this episode would be...

"...too much happening. Some of it great."

Also VERA'S DEAD ****ING YEAH!!!!"

This is a particularly sophisticated preface.

 

At the risk of sounding repetitive:

I damn well agree with Everton on this issue!


Surely it's wrong to hate a fictional character this much?


And while I still love the show dearly, I'm beginning to think that Fellowes took a rather too big a bite and made the show way too complicated, more than necessary. There's simply TOO MUCH stuff happening, and a few twists feel unnecessary - in a "let's complicate things just because we can" sort of way...

Like making Carson choose between Downton and Lady Mary. Now that's just plain cruel. It's like Sophie's Choice. Carson's choice.