How M/M via DS Non-Ironically Ruined My Life Meme: When You Wish Upon a Star ...
"Are you at all political?"
[Downton Abbey S3 Spoilers Ahead]
Day 7 - Your hopes and dreams for Matthew and Mary's S3 relationship, prior to S3 airing.
Well, first of all, I know I am fangirling all over eolivet these days, but she nailed today's meme topic and on the off-chance you have not stopped by her page first, you should check out her post . What a vision she had for Mary and Matthew. (The lovely pat_san and I have begun a "campaign" for her to write her version of how S3 should have gone.)
Speaking of campaigning ...
When thinking about my own hopes for S3, I had to pause a bit to think back to what I had in mind because with all the anxiety and commotion surrounding Dan Stevens' departure, I somewhat lost track of what I actually wanted for Mary and Matthew -- except that they would, you know, live. But luckily, I found an old list from a comment I left off someone's blog which helped jog my memory.
And one thing I wanted was for Julian Fellowes to revisit the idea of Matthew having larger career/political ambitions (which was suggested in 1x07, when Mary told Rosamund, "he might be Lord Chancellor one day," and was never raised again). Of course he would not be Lord Chancellor as the future Earl, but I actually think politics or at least some executive government post of some responsibility would have been a good fit for Matthew. And I think this is where, for me, the idea of them as a "power couple" took off; I saw Downton as more of a home base for them, but I actually wanted, and expected, that Mary and Matthew would spend some time away from Downton (in London for example). (And knowing from 2x01 that Mary does enjoy London, her conversation with Matthew in 3x01 about "kicking against the traces" in terms of not leaving the countryside, let alone Downton, took me a little by surprise.) ... I suppose I see now that having them away from Downton at least part of the time undercuts their raison d'etre in the Downton universe, but I felt that it was something I wanted to see for them as a couple.
I also saw this as an opportunity to finally have the scandal come out because I suspected Carlisle would not publish merely because he learned of Mary's engagement to Matthew. (Frankly, I think by the very end he was in some ways as glad to be out of it as she was, even if he would never admit it.) I could, however, envision his using the scandal to try to discredit Matthew as a public figure (or an aspiring public figure) -- and perhaps the idea of driving a wedge between the two of them would be icing on the cake (in Carlisle's mind) ... except that would never happen.
Other items on my wishlist? I did want pregnancy, the pressure to conceive or difficulty conceiving to come up in some fashion (but not rushed and patched up with a mysterious medical procedure). I wanted a resolution to the fake!Patrick/P. Gordon subplot of S2 (one of the more unsatisfying soapy elements of last season). In an ideal S3 universe, perhaps there even would have been some discussion of breaking the entail (and Matthew working to accomplish this). And of course, more modestly, I hoped Matthew would be more involved in Bates' appeal and in estate matters (when at Downton).
In terms of the dynamics of Mary and Matthew's marriage, I wanted Fellowes to show the television world that the dramatic tension of a series does not have to vanish simply because the "will they/won't they" storyline ends happily. I wanted a real exploration of marriage for two people who had overcome so much just to be together but had no practice or experience at actually being together. In a way, I wanted Fellowes to demystify the epic fairytale he gave us in S1 and S2; I wanted to see the day-to-day workings of a relationship, but one that was still punctuated by poignant, iconic moments of love, romance and sensuality. I suppose in a sense you could say he accomplished this, but not in a way that satisfied. Almost none of the tension between them in S3 was organic and no conflict lasted long enough to derive anything meaningful from it. At the same time, the depth and significance of their love seemed sadly diminished somehow (due, in my opinion, to a combination of writing and acting choices).
When I geared up to write this installment, it occurred to me that it was easier for me to identify what I did not want in S3 ... and unfortunately, many of my early fears about what the series held in store came true. I knew I did not want a resurrection of Matthew's guilt or inner conflict concerning Lavinia. Check. Though I did not expect (or want) plain sailing, I knew I did not want any plot that involved divided loyalties between Mary and Matthew. Check. I certainly knew I did not want Matthew to die. Check. So S3, especially (and appropriately!) the CS 2012, was for me the equivalent of finding a stocking full of switches and coal.
[Downton Abbey S3 Spoilers Ahead]
Day 7 - Your hopes and dreams for Matthew and Mary's S3 relationship, prior to S3 airing.
Well, first of all, I know I am fangirling all over eolivet these days, but she nailed today's meme topic and on the off-chance you have not stopped by her page first, you should check out her post . What a vision she had for Mary and Matthew. (The lovely pat_san and I have begun a "campaign" for her to write her version of how S3 should have gone.)
Speaking of campaigning ...
When thinking about my own hopes for S3, I had to pause a bit to think back to what I had in mind because with all the anxiety and commotion surrounding Dan Stevens' departure, I somewhat lost track of what I actually wanted for Mary and Matthew -- except that they would, you know, live. But luckily, I found an old list from a comment I left off someone's blog which helped jog my memory.
And one thing I wanted was for Julian Fellowes to revisit the idea of Matthew having larger career/political ambitions (which was suggested in 1x07, when Mary told Rosamund, "he might be Lord Chancellor one day," and was never raised again). Of course he would not be Lord Chancellor as the future Earl, but I actually think politics or at least some executive government post of some responsibility would have been a good fit for Matthew. And I think this is where, for me, the idea of them as a "power couple" took off; I saw Downton as more of a home base for them, but I actually wanted, and expected, that Mary and Matthew would spend some time away from Downton (in London for example). (And knowing from 2x01 that Mary does enjoy London, her conversation with Matthew in 3x01 about "kicking against the traces" in terms of not leaving the countryside, let alone Downton, took me a little by surprise.) ... I suppose I see now that having them away from Downton at least part of the time undercuts their raison d'etre in the Downton universe, but I felt that it was something I wanted to see for them as a couple.
I also saw this as an opportunity to finally have the scandal come out because I suspected Carlisle would not publish merely because he learned of Mary's engagement to Matthew. (Frankly, I think by the very end he was in some ways as glad to be out of it as she was, even if he would never admit it.) I could, however, envision his using the scandal to try to discredit Matthew as a public figure (or an aspiring public figure) -- and perhaps the idea of driving a wedge between the two of them would be icing on the cake (in Carlisle's mind) ... except that would never happen.
Other items on my wishlist? I did want pregnancy, the pressure to conceive or difficulty conceiving to come up in some fashion (but not rushed and patched up with a mysterious medical procedure). I wanted a resolution to the fake!Patrick/P. Gordon subplot of S2 (one of the more unsatisfying soapy elements of last season). In an ideal S3 universe, perhaps there even would have been some discussion of breaking the entail (and Matthew working to accomplish this). And of course, more modestly, I hoped Matthew would be more involved in Bates' appeal and in estate matters (when at Downton).
In terms of the dynamics of Mary and Matthew's marriage, I wanted Fellowes to show the television world that the dramatic tension of a series does not have to vanish simply because the "will they/won't they" storyline ends happily. I wanted a real exploration of marriage for two people who had overcome so much just to be together but had no practice or experience at actually being together. In a way, I wanted Fellowes to demystify the epic fairytale he gave us in S1 and S2; I wanted to see the day-to-day workings of a relationship, but one that was still punctuated by poignant, iconic moments of love, romance and sensuality. I suppose in a sense you could say he accomplished this, but not in a way that satisfied. Almost none of the tension between them in S3 was organic and no conflict lasted long enough to derive anything meaningful from it. At the same time, the depth and significance of their love seemed sadly diminished somehow (due, in my opinion, to a combination of writing and acting choices).
When I geared up to write this installment, it occurred to me that it was easier for me to identify what I did not want in S3 ... and unfortunately, many of my early fears about what the series held in store came true. I knew I did not want a resurrection of Matthew's guilt or inner conflict concerning Lavinia. Check. Though I did not expect (or want) plain sailing, I knew I did not want any plot that involved divided loyalties between Mary and Matthew. Check. I certainly knew I did not want Matthew to die. Check. So S3, especially (and appropriately!) the CS 2012, was for me the equivalent of finding a stocking full of switches and coal.