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[shino716]

Hello everyone - I'm a Downton addict who just joined yesterday, and I'm very happy to have found a place to indulge my addiction! I'm actually very new to LiveJournal and left a long post on my journal yesterday that I'm trying to figure out how to copy and paste into the Downton Community without typing it up all over again

Comments

[femme_slash_fan]

I know the 'I could ramble all day' feeling.

Welcome to the party. :)

Also, watch out for the hilarity that can happen here.

[shino716]

Thanks! :) I'm all in favor of hilarity.

[kellychambliss]

Another Mrs. Hughes fan here *waves* And Carson and Mrs Patmore, too, of course. I want a spin-off series for them. Love your description of Carson: grandiosity, vapors and all! Perfect.

My interest in the upstairs crowd focuses mainly on the Dowager Countess (huge Maggie Smith fan here). I have mixed feelings about the character and about how Violet is written, though. The one-liners are great, though in S2, delivering perfectly-paced zingers seemed to be all the Countess got to do (though in fairness, this may not be the writers' fault; maybe Smith didn't want to have demanding story lines).

I'm also interested in Isobel: she's such a fascinating type of early 20th-century woman, the sort who (both fairly and unfairly) gets dismissed as a "busybody" or "do-gooder" but who also represents an attractive and active proto-feminism. (I'm trying to get past the fact that she is played by Penelope Wilton; I've never been a fan.)

[theaterbrat]

What is it about Penelope that you don't like? I'm not trying to be judgemental, just curious. I honestly hadn't heard of her before Downton, her teeth kind of creep me out a little. Also, her neck is all saggy and it makes me never want to be old. ever.

[kellychambliss]

Oh, nothing serious. It's just that she often plays characters who are at least vaguely annoying, and on those few occasions that I've seen her give interviews, she seems a little...I don't know, too effusive? A little affected? Of course, she might be very different in person.

As to getting old, well, better that than the alternative! (And I bet it's not so bad, saggy necks and all /g/.)

[chelseagirl]

Doctor Who fans, on the other hand, keep thinking of her as Harriet Jones, MP from Flydale North (and later Prime Minister), which is full of all kinds of love. ;-)

So, I am warm and fuzzy towards her, but very much yes to being interested in her protofeminism and progressive notions! Recently rewatching s. 1, I noticed how uneven the rivalry between she and Violet was written -- at one moment, Isobel had all of moral right and common sense on her side, and at another, she came across as kind of foolish. I love them both, but identify with Isobel's attitudes and ideals.

[shino716]

Thanks - welcome to you too! :)

Re: Welcome from Another US Fan!

[shino716]

You and me both! I have no self-control with the spoilers - I just keep eating them up like popcorn!

Good to meet you - we Thomas fans have to stick together! :) I think his storyline is S3 will go a little deeper into his head, from what I've read.

[stillarium]

Just a short reply this time, I feel like we're chatting all over the place haha! :D

Heh, my favorite is Thomas too. So I might be partial, but in his case it's hard not to "woobifie" him or see him as Draco in Leatherpants.
I only like Mrs Hughes, she's not particularly in my top list. (I guess that would be Sybil, Branson, Mary, Anna (though lately not so much *yaaawn*),...) Mrs Patmore has really great lines though, and Violet too of course.

William, sweet as he was, just never struck me as an interesting character - nothing against Thomas Howes, it's just the way the character was written, too good, too unflawed. Definitely agreed, that was something that bothered me a bit over time. William just got so boring. He was sweet but so... straight-forward and unflawed as you said. In the beginning, I even thought that maybe there would be some more Thomas/William stories (be it confrontation or even love stories, I mean those two definitely had some argument going on between them / potential for a deeper story, be it rivalry or

[alex51324]

"Shove your shining teeth through the back of your skull" were the words he used. So, a death threat if taken literally.

[shino716]

Yes, my reasoning exactly. Since the writers have all but canonized Mr. Bates, they probably didn't intend for it to be read as a death threat, but as deliberate exaggeration to frighten the bully into leaving the nice boy alone. But, yeah, if you're talking about putting a hole in the back of someone's skull, you're talking about killing them. It also occurs to me that it could have been a threat of disfigurement, ruining his lovely smile for good - and I'm sure Thomas knows just how good-looking he is!

[shino716]

Also, just an aside about Bates - I think it would be so much more interesting if the show took the position that it might be reasonable to doubt his innocence. I've never discounted the possibility that he might have had something to do with Vera's death, but I know that it's more likely that he'll eventually be exonerated. Again, the only characters who have ever expressed any doubt were Carlisle (I think) and Lady Rosamund's conniving maid - the "bad" characters. And I know that Carson slaps Thomas down for referring to Bates as a convicted murderer at one point.