Downton Abbey: 4x01
Yeah, I watched it. These are my thoughts in rough chronological order:
Okay, so I wasn’t a huge Matthew-stan (I didn’t dislike the bloke, but he was far from my favourite) but I’m glad that they skipped ahead six months after the car accident. After Sybil’s death, I really don’t think I could have borne the immediate emotional fallout of the car accident. Mary and Isabel’s flat, desolate expressions were quite enough for me.
So that’s it for O’Brian? We’re not going to get any closure on the whole soap fiasco? She gets to go travelling the world with a new mistress? Talk about a Karma Houdini!
Mary asking for the black shawl reminded me of her attitude in season 1 when she had to wear black after Patrick’s death. “I hate black.”
After so many years (including her stint as Braid-Face on Robin Hood) Joanne Froggatt must be so happy to have a decent hairstyle at last.
Did Thomas just show legitimate affection for baby Sybil? And define his relationship with the older Sybil as a friendship? Excuse me, there’s something in my eye. (Yeah, I’m still way more cut up about Sybil than Matthew. Sorry.)
Robert is still a dolt. I guess that’s the one thing that will never change at Downton.
Is it normal for Mrs Hughes to be wandering around in Robert and Cora’s bedroom at night while His Lordship is in his dressing gown? I’m going to assume so since this show is always going on about its historical accuracy, but that seemed a bit off to me.
Aww, Bates and Anna are so cute. Enjoy it while it lasts guys, because I doubt it’ll last long.
Best scene was Mary and Edith on the stairs. It feels like for the first time in her life, Edith has the monopoly on the hope and happiness that she always felt belonged solely to her sister. But of course, now that she has it, she can’t enjoy it. And it was an interesting choice to have Mary on a higher step, forcing Edith to look up at her - for a second there Edith almost looked afraid of her. Or at least afraid of her grief.
That said, I really have no idea what to make of this whole Edith/Gregson thing. It’s like Sybil/Branson all over again, in which I can’t fathom what the two participants in the romance actually talk about or even have in common. At least in that case I could enjoy them both as separate characters, but here Edith is bouncing off a blank slate. I know absolutely nothing about Gregson. I don’t know what Edith sees in him or why she’s considering moving to Germany with him. And sorry to trot out the whole “why do all female characters to be a love interest?” complaint (which I’m getting thoroughly sick and tired of), but in this case it honestly feels as though Edith’s storyline would be more rewarding and interesting if she embraces the spinster single lifestyle and discovers that modernity allows for her to find fulfilment without the input of a man. In this case, she really doesn’t even seem all that into Gregson.
Dang it, I teared up again when Violet went to see Isabel and told her “it’s the job of grandmothers to interfere.” They are probably my absolute favourite example of Frenemies I’ve ever seen.
You know that Julian Fellowes might just be scrimping for ideas when there’s focus on Mosely and a one-shot guest-star from a season one episode.
It felt out of character for Mrs Hughes to be reading Carson’s letters. He was right to be angry.
I like that the footmen are being more bitchy with each other than the maids, especially after the inauspicious beginning to Ivy/Daisy. That said, I have no interest whatsoever in any of these romantic entanglements.
The one thing I really wanted to see post-Matthew’s death was Tom reaching out to Mary. It’s always great when your wishes are answered, and I can foresee a very strong bond forming between them. He knew that she would be galvanised back into life with talk of business, knowing her better than her own father in this instance. More of this please!
On the other hand…Cora. I hate it how Fellowes always makes her as dumb as she needs to be in order to make the plot work. She falls for Thomas’s lies, which at least turn out well for her, but she falls for Edna’s as well…which is a whole lot of unnecessary drama just waiting to happen. Add to that, she got no screen-time with Mary whatsoever, but then the complete lack of decent mother/daughter interaction has been a staple part of this show from the beginning (and I’m not just talking about Mary either; Cora hardly ever spoke with Edith or Sybil either). If I had jumped into this show halfway through, I probably would have assumed she was a benevolent but uninterested stepmother. As much as I loved the scene between Violet and Mary in her bedroom, in which she’s given the choice between life and death, I can’t help but feel that perhaps those words should have gone to Cora.
Hi Dame Harriet Walter! And bye Dame Harriet Walter! Nice to see you, however briefly.
Where can I get Edith’s dress and how much will it cost me?
Interesting that Thomas stands up for Branson. It could have just been a kneejerk reaction to everyone else doing it, but…huh.
I REALLY wish Mrs Patmore would stop interfering in Daisy’s life. She’s done it once before and left her raked with guilt over marrying a man she didn’t love, and though her heart was in the right place by sending Daisy a valentine, all it’s done is made her look pitiable. Still, at least Daisy proved her maturity by being grateful about it (though I’m pretty sure she was holding back tears).
So Thomas just took a shot in the dark at Nanny West out of sheer pettiness and ended up saving Baby Sybil from a childhood of verbal abuse? Wow. I’m not sure there’s a trope for this, but her vindictiveness towards Sybil really came out of left-field, didn’t it? I was kind of looking forward to Thomas having a new nemesis.
Mary entering a room of men in violet (that just HAS to be a reference to her grandmother’s steel) and seating herself down among them was a perfect visual image to take out the episode.
So despite the huge audience backlash to Matthew’s death (have you seen the Graham Norton segment on it? Watch it here, it’s hilarious) I actually think that it has reinvigorated Mary’s storylines. Yes, it’s an ensemble cast, but let’s be honest - Mary is very much the protagonist, and this development puts her in a position of authority and control over the estate that she otherwise wouldn’t have had. And out of everything that could have happened in the wake of Matthew’s death, it was Tom reaching out to Mary that I most wanted to see. There’s a nice reflection in the fact that it’s Tom (and Carson) who draw Mary out of her depression whilst Mrs Hughes helps Isabel with hers - they’re not necessarily the characters I would have anticipated for that role, but it fits them both very nicely. And who could have foreseen a partnership (strictly platonically of course) between Tom and Mary back in season one? There’s still a lot of potential to be mined here, and it never would have happened without the double-tragedy.