Downton Abbey: 4x07
You know the drill...
So, I'm not going to keep harping on the rape storyline for much longer, just let me a) provide a link to this post on the subject, and b) point out something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet: Greene is back in the house and therefore every woman under its roof is in danger from him. The reason he hasn't been outed as a sexual predator is because Anna is afraid to speak out. But her fear is not rooted in shame or fear for her own safety, it's because - according to the narrative - she's terrified that her husband will murder Greene and thus be hanged for it.
Which means that the reason all the women of the house (including Anna) are in danger is because Bates must be pandered to. At this point Bates's behaviour and attitude isn't helping Anna, it's actively making her situation worse, because she doesn't believe that he's capable of doing what she needs and wants in these circumstances. In short, a rapist is walking free because Bates can't be trusted.
It sort of reminds me of an episode of Lewis in which a young girl is raped and (long story short) her biological father ends up murdering the rapist. The girl's adopted father becomes so infuriated that he attacks the bio!father whilst the daughter begs him to stop, telling him: "you said you would protect me, and I need you to protect me from this." (That is, his brutal attack on her father). Transferring that scenario to Downton Abbey gives us a husband who is apparently willing to rank his own desire for vengeance higher than his wife's opportunity to let justice take its course.
It's murky waters, sure. If Bates wasn't a factor, perhaps Anna still would have remained quiet out of fear of Greene and her reputation. If Bates finds out that Greene attacked his wife, perhaps he'll surprise us all by urging Anna to report it to the authorities instead of going straight for a murder weapon. Time will tell. There are some things I appreciate about the way this storyline has been handled: the very clear insistence from various characters that Anna is not to blame, Bates's awareness that he can't possibly leave Anna at this time, Mary's finagling to ensure that he can remain at Downton and offering her support to Anna, but I'm still not convinced that it was a good idea.
In other news, I love that Mary's haughtiness is almost directly proportional to the amount of purple she's wearing. Seriously, her newfound appreciation for the colour purple is wonderful, and I refuse to believe it's not a deliberate costuming choice in the attempt to align her personality closer to Violet's. Because VIOLET, geddit?
That said, I'm frustrated that Fellowes keeps throwing potential love interests at her. She's juggling three at the moment, and although I'll release the dogs on anyone that accuses her of being a Mary Sue, I think there was plenty of potential here for her to have a large role in this season that has nothing to do with finding a Matthew replacement. The same goes for Tom, who meets what I assume is his new love interest at the political rally.
Seriously, why does drama always have to be derived from romance? Why can't Mary and Tom simply be focusing on updating Downton and raising their children? Why can't Edith have been given a feminism activism storyline instead of this missing suitor/abortion drama? Why is Daisy embroiled in a boring love triangle centred on a complete dullard instead of inheriting the farm from William's father? Remember when the first season had an ENTIRE subplot about how Gwen wanted to be a secretary and Sybil was helping her find a job? And if nothing else, cutting down on these romantic shenanigans could have left more time over to explore Jack/Rose, the one romantic relationship I could be interested in if it had any substance to it at all.
Okay, I shouldn't complain too much, as Fellowes is still doing well with creating Violet/Isabel and Mrs Hughes/Mrs Patmore subplots. Isabel nursing Violet was genuinely touching, especially given the Dowager's unexpected vulnerability in her illness (though I was surprised at some of the remarks Doctor Clarkson's was making about Isabel - wasn't he trying to propose to her a while ago?) and subsequent attempt to be friendly afterwards. And Mrs Hughes is back on top, first in scolding Daisy for being a snot to Ivy, and then in her truly badass confrontation with Greene.
But halfway through...it happened. Three consecutive scenes that got increasingly ridiculous: Rose and Jack out in a rowboat together, Rosamund and Edith discussing her abortion, and Blake and Mary rushing to save the lives of a bunch of pigs. I don't know exactly what happened here, and it's not like these scenes were necessarily bad in themselves, but something about them coming one after the other, and in the contrast of the level of melodrama that the actors were going for - it all just completely threw me out of the moment and tipped the show into Narm. I can't explain it, only that particular sequence of events just didn't work for me.
Though I will say that I liked that Mary has proven herself to be ready and willing to get her hands (and face and dress) dirty for the sake of Downton.
It's always nice to see Samantha Bond, and it was quite touching in the way she decided to accompany Edith to the clinic, but this entire abortion subplot has come right the f*ck out of nowhere and Fellowes doesn't even seem to be remotely interested in it. That it was intercut with scenes of Mary running around after pigs and Isabel tending to a disgruntled Violet was a jarring tonal shift. Much like Anna's rape, I'm afraid that the only reason it's happening is because...you know - abortion! That's like, an important topic, right? Lots of controversy to be mined from that! If that's the case, he could have at least committed more than five minutes to it. I'm not even a huge Edith stan, but at this point I want him to cut her some slack.
Is it just me or is Thomas not in this show anymore? I don't think he's been given anything to do since the premiere except goad Baxter into getting information that we already know is entirely irrelevant to his interests. Seriously, if he discovers that he went to America instead of Bates because Anna has been raped, what's he going to do about it? (Of course, if he ends up taking Greene down, I'll be delighted).
The brief Violet/Rose scene as they passed each other in the hall made me realize that way back when Rose was introduced I was rather looking forward to the two of them butting heads. I had been warming up to Rose in the past few episodes, but now I find that once again the most interesting thing about her is her wardrobe. I think it's because she seems so separated from the rest of the cast. She's always off doing her own thing in storylines that don't really seem relevant. How does she feel about Mary and Edith? How do they feel about her?
I wonder if perhaps she should have been woven into Anna's storyline. During the Christmas Special the two of them struck up a rapport, and imagine what could have gone down if it had been Rose and not Mrs Hughes who had discovered Anna hiding downstairs post-rape. Rose could have been furious on her behalf and insistent on telling the authorities, with Anna begging her to keep it all quiet. Seeing this rather frivolous young woman thrown into such a dire situation could have provided more insight into who she is and how she thinks, and now that Greene is back in the house, her desire to use her influence amongst the upstairs folk to do something about him without compromising Anna's secret could have been an interesting moral quandary to explore.
As truly horrible as it was to see Greene return to the household, there was some beautiful silent acting going on in that scene. Mrs Hughes's death-stare and her slow deliberate departure from the room was just... I had chills.
It was nice to see Cora being a mother for a change when it came to comforting Edith. And it's not that I think Cora is a bad mother by any means, just that we almost never see her interact with her daughters on-screen.
There were a couple of nice call-backs here and there; Edith in saying that "Sybil could have pulled it off" when it came to raising a baby out of wedlock, and Mary telling Anna: "you've helped me in the past, God knows", no doubt referencing Mr Pamuk.
And whatever else he does, never let it be said that Fellowes can't throw in a good line. For me the best line of the episode was either Mrs Hughes saying (to Carson's remark that she was a plotter): "it's a skill every woman must learn," or Mary telling her father: "I've been married, I know everything." Or perhaps Mr Clarkson's "you'll be rewarded in heaven" and Violet response: "the sooner the better."
Robert loves Isis the most. Not even remotely surprised.
Next week is the final episode, right? Despite all my grumbling, I'm looking forward to it.