After the football...
DA is still on in the US, I hope! I know I'm too early, but I won't have a chance tomorrow.
I have to say I quite liked this eppy (number 6) and I did ramble and rant a bit. I apologise for any unpopular opinions I'm about to share. Feel free to rant back at me in the comments!
For the Bates/Anna girls:
Things start happily for the fangirls at the beginning of this eppy. Bates and Anna are getting married! And the Crawleys will allow them to stay on, living in a separate house. Miss O’Brien is worried this will break them up. I must admit to having a ‘what you talking about, Miss O’Brien’ moment when watching this. Bates agreed with me. “‘cause we’ve all been such pals up ‘til now.” Hee.
It all goes a bit pear shaped after that. And, unfortunately, I find it all a bit predictable. I think JF used a lot of cliched plot lines this season, and the demise of Vera Bates is one of them. We surely all guessed it. I also think JF uses and abuses Bates’s character this week to ensure his storyline holds water. Bates in this almost violent, depressed state is not what I’ve come to expect from him. In season one, at his lowest ebb, he sat in his room and cried man tears nobly. Now, he’s wishing his wife dead and growling like a junkyard dog. What do you think? (especially the fangirls) Do you think his character was hard done by in this eppy? Or do you think that’s simply his dark side coming out when he’s obviously run out of patience?
One of the interesting aspects of this revelation in his personality for me is that I now have no problem seeing him as a mean drunk as he was previously accused of.
(I thought I’d save my ‘who killed Vera’ for next week, considering a couple of things I was going to say on this subject could be spoilers for eppy 7.)
Anna never had much screen time, but she did get to deliver a couple of snappy one-liners that would give Violet a run for her money. Hooray!
For the Hughes/Carson girls:
I know a lot of fans were very upset after this eppy due to Carson’s behaviour regarding Elsie stealing the food/the whole Ethel thing. I’ve heard accusations, from Carson being completely ooc, to him being labelled a sexist pig.
After re-watching, I’m not in complete agreement with these assessments.
Carson makes Elsie tell Cora about the food. This is his first crime in the eyes of Elsie!fangirls. They cite that he did the exact same thing in season one with the other Cheerful Charlie, and claim he should have been more understanding.
I would point out, however, that the very scene before this one is the brill!Mrs Patmore telling Thomas that he should hook up with the black market. She explains that food is getting harder to obtain, and it was only a matter of time until there were shortages. So, there is the whole difference between Carson taking the potatoes then, and Elsie supplementing Ethel’s diet now. If Elsie were to be caught by someone else now, she could be accused of profiting from the food. To be up front with Cora (who I think Carson always realised would be understanding of Elsie’s crimes, considering her involvement in the soup kitchen) before getting caught out is the sensible thing to do. We also know that honesty is very important to Carson. Those potatoes of season one and his shame that his partner had thieved money in the past almost killed him; his inability to tolerate Thomas stems from the theft of the wine. So, for me, Carson is still in character.
Then there is his second crime. His inability to sympathise with Ethel and the way he blames her for the predicament she’s ended up in. Firstly, on this subject, I’ll say we have to remember the year. Women’s rights have come a long way since then, but still not far enough. Secondly, I think we all need to remember Ethel’s behaviour when she was at Downton. Let’s face it, she was hardly the wallflower when it came to men. She was coming onto every man left, right and centre (I still feel a little bit unclean when I remember her fawning over Lang and his sewing). I would also point out that there was no evidence that Ethel was raped by Major Bryant. She looked pretty willing when Mrs Hughes caught her. She went into the relationship hoping to snare herself a husband from a better class. Yes, I think Bryant took advantage of that fact, and knowingly used her for sex, but it doesn’t make her motives any less mercenary.
“Men will always be men.” Many people were also upset when he said that. And when he points out that Ethel could have simply said ‘no’. I’m going to completely go into bat for Carson here and point out this may make him naive, but not necessarily a chauvinist. To me, it sounds like he actually respects women more than men in these situations. I would say this points to him thinking women are the stronger sex. He may certainly have us up on a pedestal, but I don’t think that’s ooc either. He certainly has Mary up on a pedestal. And I actually adore him for saying that a woman merely has to say ‘no’ and a man would stop. For him, being a gentleman, he would stop if a woman said no. The only thing I find ooc in that is the fact that he’d lived a bohemian lifestyle for some time and surely he saw the seedier side of life. He should know that there are occasions when a woman says ‘no’ and a man doesn’t listen.
Sorry, end rant. What do you think? What was your take on those scenes?
I must admit I enjoyed angry!Elsie very very much. Her stalking down the hallway and snapping at Carson now and then is so fantastic. (And I only thought of four or five hate sex scenarios.)
Never fear, shippers! Carson and Elsie make up later. “Don’t tell me you’ll miss me, Mrs Hughes.” *sniff* I love this scene and I think it’s their way of making up after their argument. *sniff* I find the way they are so hesitant with each other just perfect, and the two actors in question played it to perfection. *sniff*
What else is happening downstairs?
Daisy might claim she shouldn’t be William’s wife, and that she shouldn’t profit from living such a lie, but I will insist that she has taken something away from being Mrs Mason. To me, her marriage to William has made her grow from a silly girl into a strong woman. Granted this probably has little to do with her love for him, but more to do with the trauma of the marriage and her guilt over it, but I still think it’s happened. When she has her speech on not taking advantage of the war widow’s pensions etc, she speaks maturely and passionately, and not one person at the dining table dares answer her back. For once, even O’Brien and Thomas are silent.
Mrs Patmore continues to be my favourite. “I’m shocked,” says Thomas. “Oh, I doubt that very much.”
For once, I’m a little intrigued by what’s happening upstairs.
Okay, I’m about to out myself. Even though the Edith/Patrick plot is a completely trite, used about a million times in a million other things (from Oscar winning movies like The English Patient to trashy romance novels), I’m going to admit I adored it. It’s probably my favourite of the plots with the family all season.
Call me a romantic, but I absolutely adore the idea that no matter who Patrick was, he loved Edith. Call me a fool, but even though my head is saying he’s Patrick Gordon (he picked up a Canadian accent after a mere 6 years? wtf?), my heart would very much like him to be Patrick Crawley. Call me a masochist, but I love the idea of Edith falling for him even though he was Patrick Gordon.
Okay, I’m about to out myself about something else too. I like the Jane/Robert plot. I know! I know! Everyone hates it! But, I can’t help but thinking I can’t blame the girl. From her pov he’s an older, richer guy, a gentleman, he treats her with respect, he treats her like a human, he remembers what she told him etc. She hasn’t seen his little tantrums he’s been throwing. If it was you, you’d know you’d fall for him too, and don’t say you wouldn’t! /embarrassing admissions.
Richard and Mary get a lot of action upstairs this week. They ask Carson to come live with them in the unfortunately named Hacksby Park. (Is that how you spell it? Too lazy to google.) I love the contrast of Mary’s two suitors in relation to her relationship with Carson. Sir Richard is jealous, almost threatening, and just a little condescending: ‘I hope I won’t be taking on a rival.’ Matthew, on the other hand, obviously knows about her closeness with the butler and finds no impropriety in it: ‘Seeing he would open his veins for you...”
Violet’s still being epic. This week they give Dr Clarkson the week off from looking stupid, and instead allow Violet to pwn Isobel. Am I the only one who is very disappointed at where they took Isobel’s character this season?
Of course we have the dramatic ending! So tune in next week to find out just what Matthew was feeling? And who did kill Vera Bates?
I have to say I quite liked this eppy (number 6) and I did ramble and rant a bit. I apologise for any unpopular opinions I'm about to share. Feel free to rant back at me in the comments!
For the Bates/Anna girls:
Things start happily for the fangirls at the beginning of this eppy. Bates and Anna are getting married! And the Crawleys will allow them to stay on, living in a separate house. Miss O’Brien is worried this will break them up. I must admit to having a ‘what you talking about, Miss O’Brien’ moment when watching this. Bates agreed with me. “‘cause we’ve all been such pals up ‘til now.” Hee.
It all goes a bit pear shaped after that. And, unfortunately, I find it all a bit predictable. I think JF used a lot of cliched plot lines this season, and the demise of Vera Bates is one of them. We surely all guessed it. I also think JF uses and abuses Bates’s character this week to ensure his storyline holds water. Bates in this almost violent, depressed state is not what I’ve come to expect from him. In season one, at his lowest ebb, he sat in his room and cried man tears nobly. Now, he’s wishing his wife dead and growling like a junkyard dog. What do you think? (especially the fangirls) Do you think his character was hard done by in this eppy? Or do you think that’s simply his dark side coming out when he’s obviously run out of patience?
One of the interesting aspects of this revelation in his personality for me is that I now have no problem seeing him as a mean drunk as he was previously accused of.
(I thought I’d save my ‘who killed Vera’ for next week, considering a couple of things I was going to say on this subject could be spoilers for eppy 7.)
Anna never had much screen time, but she did get to deliver a couple of snappy one-liners that would give Violet a run for her money. Hooray!
For the Hughes/Carson girls:
I know a lot of fans were very upset after this eppy due to Carson’s behaviour regarding Elsie stealing the food/the whole Ethel thing. I’ve heard accusations, from Carson being completely ooc, to him being labelled a sexist pig.
After re-watching, I’m not in complete agreement with these assessments.
Carson makes Elsie tell Cora about the food. This is his first crime in the eyes of Elsie!fangirls. They cite that he did the exact same thing in season one with the other Cheerful Charlie, and claim he should have been more understanding.
I would point out, however, that the very scene before this one is the brill!Mrs Patmore telling Thomas that he should hook up with the black market. She explains that food is getting harder to obtain, and it was only a matter of time until there were shortages. So, there is the whole difference between Carson taking the potatoes then, and Elsie supplementing Ethel’s diet now. If Elsie were to be caught by someone else now, she could be accused of profiting from the food. To be up front with Cora (who I think Carson always realised would be understanding of Elsie’s crimes, considering her involvement in the soup kitchen) before getting caught out is the sensible thing to do. We also know that honesty is very important to Carson. Those potatoes of season one and his shame that his partner had thieved money in the past almost killed him; his inability to tolerate Thomas stems from the theft of the wine. So, for me, Carson is still in character.
Then there is his second crime. His inability to sympathise with Ethel and the way he blames her for the predicament she’s ended up in. Firstly, on this subject, I’ll say we have to remember the year. Women’s rights have come a long way since then, but still not far enough. Secondly, I think we all need to remember Ethel’s behaviour when she was at Downton. Let’s face it, she was hardly the wallflower when it came to men. She was coming onto every man left, right and centre (I still feel a little bit unclean when I remember her fawning over Lang and his sewing). I would also point out that there was no evidence that Ethel was raped by Major Bryant. She looked pretty willing when Mrs Hughes caught her. She went into the relationship hoping to snare herself a husband from a better class. Yes, I think Bryant took advantage of that fact, and knowingly used her for sex, but it doesn’t make her motives any less mercenary.
“Men will always be men.” Many people were also upset when he said that. And when he points out that Ethel could have simply said ‘no’. I’m going to completely go into bat for Carson here and point out this may make him naive, but not necessarily a chauvinist. To me, it sounds like he actually respects women more than men in these situations. I would say this points to him thinking women are the stronger sex. He may certainly have us up on a pedestal, but I don’t think that’s ooc either. He certainly has Mary up on a pedestal. And I actually adore him for saying that a woman merely has to say ‘no’ and a man would stop. For him, being a gentleman, he would stop if a woman said no. The only thing I find ooc in that is the fact that he’d lived a bohemian lifestyle for some time and surely he saw the seedier side of life. He should know that there are occasions when a woman says ‘no’ and a man doesn’t listen.
Sorry, end rant. What do you think? What was your take on those scenes?
I must admit I enjoyed angry!Elsie very very much. Her stalking down the hallway and snapping at Carson now and then is so fantastic. (And I only thought of four or five hate sex scenarios.)
Never fear, shippers! Carson and Elsie make up later. “Don’t tell me you’ll miss me, Mrs Hughes.” *sniff* I love this scene and I think it’s their way of making up after their argument. *sniff* I find the way they are so hesitant with each other just perfect, and the two actors in question played it to perfection. *sniff*
What else is happening downstairs?
Daisy might claim she shouldn’t be William’s wife, and that she shouldn’t profit from living such a lie, but I will insist that she has taken something away from being Mrs Mason. To me, her marriage to William has made her grow from a silly girl into a strong woman. Granted this probably has little to do with her love for him, but more to do with the trauma of the marriage and her guilt over it, but I still think it’s happened. When she has her speech on not taking advantage of the war widow’s pensions etc, she speaks maturely and passionately, and not one person at the dining table dares answer her back. For once, even O’Brien and Thomas are silent.
Mrs Patmore continues to be my favourite. “I’m shocked,” says Thomas. “Oh, I doubt that very much.”
For once, I’m a little intrigued by what’s happening upstairs.
Okay, I’m about to out myself. Even though the Edith/Patrick plot is a completely trite, used about a million times in a million other things (from Oscar winning movies like The English Patient to trashy romance novels), I’m going to admit I adored it. It’s probably my favourite of the plots with the family all season.
Call me a romantic, but I absolutely adore the idea that no matter who Patrick was, he loved Edith. Call me a fool, but even though my head is saying he’s Patrick Gordon (he picked up a Canadian accent after a mere 6 years? wtf?), my heart would very much like him to be Patrick Crawley. Call me a masochist, but I love the idea of Edith falling for him even though he was Patrick Gordon.
Okay, I’m about to out myself about something else too. I like the Jane/Robert plot. I know! I know! Everyone hates it! But, I can’t help but thinking I can’t blame the girl. From her pov he’s an older, richer guy, a gentleman, he treats her with respect, he treats her like a human, he remembers what she told him etc. She hasn’t seen his little tantrums he’s been throwing. If it was you, you’d know you’d fall for him too, and don’t say you wouldn’t! /embarrassing admissions.
Richard and Mary get a lot of action upstairs this week. They ask Carson to come live with them in the unfortunately named Hacksby Park. (Is that how you spell it? Too lazy to google.) I love the contrast of Mary’s two suitors in relation to her relationship with Carson. Sir Richard is jealous, almost threatening, and just a little condescending: ‘I hope I won’t be taking on a rival.’ Matthew, on the other hand, obviously knows about her closeness with the butler and finds no impropriety in it: ‘Seeing he would open his veins for you...”
Violet’s still being epic. This week they give Dr Clarkson the week off from looking stupid, and instead allow Violet to pwn Isobel. Am I the only one who is very disappointed at where they took Isobel’s character this season?
Of course we have the dramatic ending! So tune in next week to find out just what Matthew was feeling? And who did kill Vera Bates?