Past regret, future aspirations, and fate punctuated the dramatic plot of episode six of Downton Abbey season two last night on Masterpiece Classic.
The end of World War I should bring peace and normalcy back to the residents of Downton, but the Lord of the manor Robert Crawley struggles to find logic in all the change and senseless loss, while his daughter Lady Sybil is determined that her life will never go back to the empty and unproductive existence of a debutant. An interesting development in Matthew’s health changes his prospects in many eyes, and a fatal sickness will level the playing field for Lady Mary. Here is a brief recap from PBS.
Recap of Episode 6 (spoilers)
1919 sees the last of the recovering officers depart Downton, the house is reverted to its former state — but not so its residents. The future looms large for a lost and melancholy Robert, an uneasy Bates, a determined Sybil, a cunning, ambitious Thomas and a desperate Ethel.
A stunning revelation deeply affects Robert and Cora and incites Richard to tighten his grip on Mary. But Mary has accepted her fate with detachment. Violet, however, will do no such thing, and even Carson reaches his limit.
Sybil discovers unlikely, however unenthusiastic, allies. A wedding is planned but fate cruelly intervenes. In its wake lay guilt, grief and, among the servants, fresh horrors.
Favorite Moments:
“Do you ever wonder what it was all for?”
Lord Grantham is very introspective and melancholy to new housemaid Jane, who he seems to be reaching out to. He mentions thirty men killed in the war on his estate alone, coupled with his continued friction with his wife Cora and his three grown daughter’s machinations, and you have one Earl in a midlife crisis. Lord Grantham is very kind hearted, but he does have a temper which we see ignited several times in this episode.
“All this unbridled joy has given me an appetite.” Dowager Countess Violet
As the family all run into the drawing room to witness Cousin Matthew’s miraculous recovery of the use of his legs, and um, well as granny so delicately put it, a happy family life, one wonders out loud how this turn of events will change his value to those in the family who are in favor of Lady Mary still marrying him? Of course the Dowager Countess delivers the best, and most sensible, line to close the ridiculous reactions by all of her family. Unbridled joy indeed! And these are Englishmen? They certainly are not acting like it.
“The truth is, Ethel’s made her choice and now she’s stuck with it.” Lady Mary
“That’s seems a little hard.” Lavinia
“Does it? Aren’t all of us stuck with the choices we make?” Lady Mary
Lady Mary is rather peeved throughout this entire episode. I feel her anger and frustration seeping through her cold reserve in her cynicism. Her caustic remarks are rampant throughout. This ironic statement strikes a sharp cord with her mother Cora and sister, Lady Sybil. Her mother sees that she is striking out in reaction to her own situation. She made the choice to ruin herself by being ‘pamuked’ when she slept with that hunky Turkish diplomat and now she must lie in it. On the other hand, her sister Lady Sybil is about to make a decision with Branson that she will be stuck with. The different reactions by both ladies to Lady Mary’s cold statement tells all.
“Don’t worry. You time will come.” Dowager Countess Violet
“Will it? Or am I just to be the maiden aunt. Isn’t this what they do? Arrange presents for their prettier relations?” Lady Edith
“Don’t be defeatist dear, it’s very middle class.” Dowager Countess Violet
More praise and sympathy for poor Edith. As the lorry pulled away with the last of the hospital equipment in the opening scene, and with it, her job at being useful, I felt a pang of angst for the middle Crawley daughter who just can’t find her place in the world. She seems to always be at everyone’s beck and call, even driving cars and carrying luggage. Now she is responsible for unpacking Matthew and Lavinia’s wedding gifts? Ugh. I am all for Team Edith this season, so, my unsolicited advice to her is to not hang back and wait for people to need you. Go out and find your own happiness Edith. Don’t expect it to come to you, or you will end up that maiden aunt that you are so fearful of becoming.
“Well Mrs. Bates. You’ve had your way with me.” Mr. Bates
“*Giggle*.” Mrs. Bates
We wanted to write about Anna and Bates finally getting married, but we are too nauseous over their one night of connubial bliss, (too much really English white skin and giggling in bed), that we decided to abstain from comment to save our readers the embarrassment too!
“The aristocracy has not survived by its intransigence. We must work with what we’ve got to minimize the scandal.” Dowager Countess Violet
Thank goodness granny chips in a grand one liner at the end of the episode to save the day after Lord Grantham gives his blessing for Lady Sybil to marry Branson the chauffeur. Yes, the aristocracy is stubborn. That is how they survived.
My Review:
In this packed two hour episode, some older plot lines were resolved and new ones introduced. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes certainly pulled out all the melodramatic stops. As emotions ran from regret, guilt, anger, envy, grief, desire and fear, I wondered what else could possibly have been squeezed into this once classy and well-written corset drama that has now slipped into “so middle-class” territory as granny would say.
Granted, all this highly charged, multiple plot line, melodramatic tosh is intensely entertaining, but I am seriously craving a return to the more sophisticated narrative and character development of season one. I am most disappointed in the trite and sappy character that poor actor Dan Stevens is trying to add some dignity to. Some of the things that come out of Matthew Crawley’s mouth are so, so, silly, that I am embarrassed for him. We were impressed, however, that O’Brien’s bangs and Lady Mary’s eyebrows suffered no harm during this week’s series of incredibly wild events. We hope that next week’s two hour Christmas special will bring all the other lacking elements to right.
Please join us next Sunday for episode 7 of Downton Abbey and live tweet with me as co-moderator of the PBS Twitter Party during the episode on February 19, 2012 at 9:00pm ET and PT. Just use hashtag #DowntonPBS at Twitter or on your favorite Twitter aggregator like Tweetdeck or Tweetgrid.
Episode 7 of the second season airs next Sunday, February 19th at 9:00pm ET & PT (check local listings) on Masterpiece Classic PBS. I will be live Tweeting the entire season, so please join us.
Images courtesy © Carnival Film & Television Limited 2011 for MASTERPIECE
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Did you mean to say that Episode 7 will be played on Sunday Feb 19th? I won’t miss it for anything. Thanks for the recap. It made me think of some of the ways that I’ve perceived characters and the happenings. What will Episode 7 reveal and what will it hide and what cliff hanger will we be left to wonder about? I am so going to miss this series after this next Sunday. Last year it took me a long time to stop wondering what would happen in this season that we had to wait a year for, as I assume will be the case in the wait for season 3.
Yes episode 7. Thanks Karen for watching my back.
There seems to be a consensus here. It felt rushed to me.
Though Robert was clearly struggling and it was clear what was coming I felt no connection between Jane and Robert. Everything was pretty predictable and thankfully Jane will not be providing the new heir!! The emotions felt flat to me except for the dancing scene. But really. In the grand hallway? Did they consider that private?
I really thought the Earl was going to get caught as well. I was glad it didn’t get by Mrs Hughes.
Despite some disappointment I watched it twice and still loving the entertainment
I totally thought that the final scene between Jane and Robert was where they were going to get busted. I was pretty shocked that they never got discovered.
By the way, what is the concept of a “man of business”? Was Robert giving Jane money for her son? Or was it something else?
I didn’t mind the dancing scene in the hallway. If that’s where the Victrola was, that’s where it had to be. What makes my heart catch every time I watch that Mary/Matthew dance scene (and I confess, I’ve been watching that scene for weeks on YouTube) is where Mary first sees Matthew downstairs alone, and she falls back a step against the pillar. Oh! My heart!
Recent plot developments are quite soap-opera-esque: Matthew’s regaining his use of his legs, the sudden re-emergences of the heir assumed drowned on the Titanic. It’s all highly entertaining, but the first season had more subtle and classy plot development.
I am losing interest in the series because it is beginning to have the flavor of a soap opera and for me, that’s pretty boring.
Yes, I confess I’m losing a bit of interest, too. The soap-opera-y-ness here in Season 2 is really rather extreme. Season 1 was so good! What happened?
I’m hoping Season 3 returns with better writing…
You are a keen observer, great analyst and my Valentine…I agree with everything you said! It’s quite an odd feeling watching this thing unravel. I keep thinking that Julian might have the Spanish flu, or is in a hurry to adapt another period piece. Whatever is going on, I’ll take this nonsense any day over regular TV!!
Julian Fellowes’s four part series about the Titatnic airs here in England very soon. We are already seeing the trailers (with Maria Doyle Kennedy aka Vera Bates in a leading role.) I will not make any spoilers by telling you what happens to the ship at the end !
I mean TITANIC. Sorry.
That last episode was a bit much. I kept thinking that I was missing something because it was disjointed in the beginning. Then I though it was the season finale, because it was like twice as long. It was all very confusing.
What on earth has happened to this show? Really, Lavinia looks the picture of health one moment and the next, she’s conveniently spasmed to death?
Lord Grantham’s adultery was totally unbelievable, but obviously thrown in to make him sympathetic to his youngest daughter and her romance with the chauffeur.
Why is Matthew Crawley so impossible? And why did his eyes, in one scene, the color as light sabers?
And I could have done without Bates’ interlude in bed with his wife. I mean, they couldn’t simply show the newlyweds walking into the room and holding hands, and the cutting away?
It was like a November sweeps episode, yet I have to admit that I enjoyed it.
Oh, and your recaps are golden!
^ I should proofread next time.
Re: Matthew’s eyes: they looked not quite human in one scene. That is all I was getting at.
Cheers.
Yes. Matthew’s eyes. They were so … odd. I think someone else mentioned that he looked vampire-ish, and that’s EXACTLY what I thought when I saw Matthew in his makeup-enhanced grief-stricken state. He looked like a vampire.
Tacky and middle class indeed. Without the expected English dignity and subtlety, the new episode suffered. You are absolutely right about he funeral scene; I’ve never seen Matthew look so bad with that pale make-up and horrid pink around the eyes. More than miserable. Artificial. And that brief grappling scene between Robert and Jane? I found it even worse than Bates and Anna’s wedding night. Something’s wrong. I find that I am looking forward to the new episode for different reasons now…
It is total soap opera, especially this season, but I love it anyway. :)
Thought episode 6 was an enormous disappointment. Julian Fellowes really went silly, silly, silly. Still love the series but am hoping there will be a recovery from this slipping into the ridiculous.
I agree with all of the above. The writing has been steadily declining this season. There was so much more to the stories and the characters in the first season. Seeing the newlywed Bates in bed was unsettling to say the least, especially with Mr. Bates saying, “Now that you’ve had your way with me.” ugh. And that same sentiment goes for Robert and Jane.
I had to laugh out loud about the vampire picture!! So true and funny! Let’s hope the finale next week helps redeem this season.
This season has been rather heavy handed, but despite the soap opera storylines, I still love this show. My only real complaint is that Lady Mary needs better dresses. Last season her wardrobe was so much better.
["Low blow Lady Mary. We know you are cold, selfish and unfeeling, but this is even below you. We fear that your lovely fiancé’s ways bring out the worst in you."]
This ugly side of Lady Mary has been known to come out LONG before she met Sir Richard.
The scene featuring Matthew being able to regain use of his legs is a joke. I dislike how he used Lavinia as rebound from Mary’s original rejection of him. I realize that many may not share my feelings, but I felt sorry for Thomas. I get so sick and tired of the show portraying those working-class characters who want to get ahead without the “noble” Crawleys’ help being punished.
["Without the expected English dignity and subtlety, the new episode suffered."]
The English are no more dignified than any other nationality.
Poor Lavinia. Julian Fellowes really misused her character, didn’t he?
Bates and Anna . . . oh dear God.
Is it just me or is Daisy’s melancholy over her brief marriage to William bordering on the selfish there? It’s all very fine and well for her to refuse claiming that widow’s pension from the Army but not responding to her father-in-law’s requests to visit him and share some memories of William?
Honestly,her attitude is a bit too much-alright,so she didn’t really love him but what harm was there in giving the poor man a moment of happiness at the end? If you ask me,Daisy is overly concerned with her own emotions to consider the feelings of others in this matter,especially William’s father who didn’t reproach her at all when they ran into each other after Lavinia’s funeral.
*Whew* sorry for the rant but I just had to get that out of my system!
I could do without Daisy constantly going on about how she never wanted to marry William. That story line has gotten a bit tiresome as well.
I knew Matthew would regain his ability to walk! Predictable but satisfying. Yes the series has turned into what has been likened to the Dynasty or even Dallas shows of the 80s. Thankfully Matthew didn’t wake up and realize it was all just a dream. I am thinking they are going to throw Edith at Matthew. Why not — she liked him before, and to not sound too MrsBennet, but they do have another daughter to have well settled! As much as they are making Sir Richard into such a grand, evil, manipulator, I like him. I really do. Mary has done nothing to encourage him, or gain his trust… So I kinda see why he is taking steps to ensure he knows what she is up to. If she just threw him a kindness, I think he would give her the world — he all ready professed that he wanted to make her happy– but wasn’t going to put up with being crossed. She has made her bed and just needs to get on with it. Matthew believes he and Mary together are cursed… Why battle that sentiment?! Eeeesh. OH Lady Sybil, the world is such a big place– I still think this is a terrible mistake. Couldn’t they have sent her to America to meet some worldly,dashing men (closer to her own kind) who might give her the excitement she is searching for??They can still kill Branson off. And Lord Grantham– what a hypocrit?! Every time I saw Jane before that first kiss just foreshadowed where they were sending us. Ugh. Not believable at all. Shallow of me, yes, but she wasn’t pretty enough to encourage a dalliance– puleez?! He’s married to the beautiful Elizabeth McGovern. Thankfully he came to his senses before they really slipped into a Dynasty soap opera and created another “heir.”. And poor little Charley.doomed to the life of poverty and stigma. Didn’t Ethel ever read about King Solomon in the bible??? But I still love the show. Even more so if they would kill Branson off. I loved Granny plotting how to spin Branson and Sybil’s marriage.
Things I don’t understand – Daisy’s weird response to her father-in-law wanting to talk with her. Matthew’s white make-up (I think I saw fangs) in part of this show. Where did the “lost heir” go to after he left Downton?
I hope someone helps that former maid with her son. The scene with the grandparents was excruciating — you left that part out Laurel Ann — perhaps becuase it WAS too sad, but realistic, unlike the other parts.
One final gothic touch – the two men who take Bates away were clearly hired because they look like evil trolls. Very weird.
I’m not a huge Julian Fellowes fan and think the good acting and clothes have covered up a multitude of his implausible plot lines and bad writing. There is a point, however, when even these great actors and clothes cannot overcome Fellowes’ turgid mind.
I’m happy to see that we are all on the same page! It looks like they are going more for a “shock and awe” tactic this season. We don’t need melodrama and thrills just give us good ol’ British actors in elegant costumes…
One more thing. I agree… Too much English white skin. The morning after for The Bates was bleck! Totally unnecessary. Avert your eyes. Some things I just don’t need to see. Does anyone else think that Sir Richard had Vera killed or poisoned her himself?? That’s one way to get Mary out of marrying him… And saving Bates from the noose. Then again I don’t mind Mary marrying Sir Richard. Or having Bates swing. He’s such a martyr. (Ducking now behind my couch as I wait for your tomatoes.)
Do you remember that actor who plays Bates played a similar martyr character in the miniseries North & South (w/my “dream”: guy Richard Armitage). Bates’ and Anna’s story line is so over the top.
I have to giggle that you all agree with me that the bed scene was oddly unappealing!
Yes, I did remember him from North & South. One of my favorite guilty pleasures– recognizing various British actors in other of my favorite movies and shows. It annoys my MrB as the show will come on, and like Turret’s Syndrome, I blurt out, “Edward Ferris” or “MrBennet from Lost in Austen” etc etc etc.
Hadn’t thought of the sir richard angle but that would resolve some things nicely!
LOL! “Too much English white skin” – I have to admit that I thought the same thing. :)
Is there a place listing the cast members with Twitter accounts? Here are the ones I found so far
@allenleech
@amynutts
@brendancoyle
@carmichelle
@charlie_cox
@clarecalbraith
@danpirrie
@elizabethmcgov
@hughbon
@jrmustardflower
@lesley_nicol
@maclaineshirley
@mariadkennedy
@mrtrevorwhite
@sjbond61
@sophiemcshera
@thatdanstevens
I think it’s actually @brendancoyle99
Loved your recap, as usual. And maybe in season three we are going to find out that they really all are vampires after all.
Episode 6 was a huge disappointment. It was just silly, silly, silly. I love the series but Julian Fellowes needs to do something to redeem himself from this slippage into the ridiculous.
This double episode has been my absolute favorite so far. SO much going on! And OMG when Matthew jumped out of the chair I actually gasped out loud – I was so excited!!
I think I’m in the minority here when I say that I love Branson and Sybil!! They’re adorable together, and every scene they have together makes me delightfully giddy.
I agree with the consensus: too disjointed, too predictable, too much soap opera and not enough character development. It’s been six years since Matthew and Mary met. That’s a lot of longing and pining looks. Please give Daisy some lines! Yes, we understand she didn’t want to marry William. She’s a talented actress. Give her something to do. Emotionally, I dropped out with Patrick, the Titanic survivor, emerging and then disappearing. Also, please do something with Edith’s character. She must be very frustrated with the slim pickings she’s been given. One more thing, the Bates story line is ridiculous.
After watching Downton Abbey, Season 2, Episode 7, I have no interest in ever watching anything else written by Mr. Fellowes. Season 2 has turned into such a disappointment and Episode 7 was absolute garbage. Masterpiece Theatre always seemed an oasis in the midst of television rubbish, that I’m utterly shocked at the tripe nonsense that filled this episode. Rebecca Eaton should fire Julian Fellowes and apologize to Masterpiece viewers. Obviously Downton Abbey won’t be winning any more awards.
Rebecca Eaton doesn’t have that kind of power given that Masterpiece are only a very junior partner in the production. Most of the funding for Downton Abbey comes from the UK broadcaster ITV who put up around 75% of the money with Carnival Films contributing 15%, the rest comes from PBS.
The intellectual property rights to the series belong to Carnival Films who recently threatened PBS with legal action after they launched an unauthorized range of Downton Abbey jewelry: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/9034447/Downton-Abbey-jewellery-line-sparks-legal-row-with-US-network.html
Furthermore, Julian Fellowes is the show’s creator and one of the Executive Producers so Rebecca has no authority over him.
In any case this is the highest rating program on Masterpiece Theatre in a long time so she’s unlikely to see anything wrong with it.
If PBS start another row with Carnival then they and their parent company NBC Universal might just decide to look for another US broadcaster.
Yes there was a lot going on but I enjoyed every bit of it. Thomas and O’Brien certainly change from week to week. I loved Thomas’ freak out in the storage shed. Matthew ‘s bruised spine healed but he doesn’t know how to use it – whine, whine. I hope he isn’t turning into Ashley Wilkes. I wish poor Edith would get a moment of happiness.
Discuss: WHO KILLED VERA BATES?
Oddly enough, I think that Bates killed Vera. I don’t think he meant to, but I think he did. It would follow with his character that he wouldn’t admit anything to Anna as to whether he did or did not kill Vera; Bates has over-admitted to his faults all throughout the entire series, so to me it figures that in this one big crime that he actually did, he wouldn’t admit to it. In my opinion, at least!
My other suspect is Sir Richard, or one of his henchmen. In an effort to save Lady Mary’s reputation, he had Vera bumped off.
The only problem with all of this is that apparently Vera died of arsenic poisoning, which takes a little more planning and premeditation to carry out. But, in my mind, it’s got to be either Bates or Sir Richard.
Thanks for the shout out. We were not harmed during the episode, but it was rather touch and go with Matthew calling us murderers and then getting thrown in Twitter jail (Twitmo, we’ve been told) for too much activity. But as you said, no harm done. We’re still perfect! ^^ @L_MarysEyebrows
Great review. We agree, it must be hard for the actors to create dignity and credence for some of the lines they’ve received during S2. But we still love it, which clearly means we love ourselves–Lady Mary’s Eyebrows.
Looking forward to next week’s episode and live tweeting!
I have been thoroughly entertained by Season 2 — I seem to be in the minority here. Yes, there were scenes I could have lived without, e.g., Anna and Bates having a roll, yes, way to much English flesh in view, and Robert’s almost mid-life crisis with Jane; that was really hard to watch without wincing. Lavinia’s death was so totally predictable, I was surprised she actually got written out. How is Lady Mary going to unload Sir Richard? Everyone knows she and Matthew will end up together, even though it looks like he will have to wear a hair shirt for some period of time to get over his guilt. One last comment about Molesley — when I saw him swigging down that wine, I said to my husband that Molesley is going to be drunk when all is said and done; my husband said, no, he is just being the sommelier, This is just another example of predictability, but this series is so much fun, and I will be sorry when this season ends next Sunday. I can’t wait to see what Season 3 will bring.
Why was it such a crime for Thomas to want a life other than being a servant? Yes, I understand that he is not a pleasant person. But why is he being villified for wanting to acquire a better life on his own?
And of course Daisy didn’t want to see William’s father. She had been bullied into marrying the guy under false pretenses and taking his pension, as his widow. The guilt must be crushing. And seeing William’s father would probably make her feel even more guilty.
Why kill off Branson? What has he done? At least he loves Sybil. She, on the other hand, seemed to be using him to escape the aristocratic lifestyle that she obviously detests.
As for Mary and Matthew, I gave up on them a long time ago. I didn’t care for Matthew using Lavinia as rebound from Mary’s rejection. And I got tired of Mary making goo-goo eyes at Matthew every chance she got. Their relationship has regressed into some adolescent-style love story, straight from a badly written romance novel.
The local paper dubbed this show Yorkshire 9010 and the nickname was quite fitting for this episode. I was gravely disappointed for all the reasons mentioned in I know the show never pretended to be anything ever than a soap opera to appeal to the masses who won’t watch high brow British drama out of prejudice, but this episode was way too much. the comments. There’s a reason why I don’t watch daytime television.
That being said, my dad, who can’t sit through a period drama/British show without subtitles or asking me 50 million questions, is hooked. He said this was the best episode ever, so as a soap opera for the masses, they have achieved their goal. I’m not sure I’ll watch Season 3 but luckily it airs in Britain first so I can read reviews and decide next year.
…once classy and well-written corset drama that has now slipped into “so middle-class” territory… Am I watching an American day-time soap opera? What happened? It has just about turned inot a farce. We now watch and make snarky comments as the story goes along. I read through today’s post (top twitter comments) and find we are all of a like mind. Matthew Cullen….
I agree I didn’t need to see Mr and Mrs Bates of the milky white skin but am somewhat puzzled by all the comments about Season 2 being so soap opera like compared to Season 1. As if the Turk dying in Mary’s bed and Mary, her mother( for god’s sake !) carrying the body down the hall with Anna wasn’t ? And Ethel writing the Turkish Embassy and Mary mentioning Ethel hiding from a bore who was going to propose? And O’Brien and the bar of soap causing Lady Cora to miscarry? I think people are being unduly harsh on Season 2. As for me I love it all.
Hi Rosemary, you are correct about the points you mention about the first season, but the second season has such a landslide of those kind of events that it is overwhelming and pushing into parody. I am the first to stay that it is all highly entertaining, but it has taken the show in a different direction in tone and credibility. We shall see what this Sunday’s season finale brings.
I do not believe that Robert’s unconsumated “affair” with the maid had anything to do with him reconsidering his daughter’s marriage to the Chauffer. I believe it was Lavinia’s death which made him reconsider losing his daughter and prompted him to soften his heart and change his mind. The Earl usually does end up doing the right thing.
I am not buying this great “love” between Robert and Jane either, there just isn’t any background for it to be love. LUST is more like it. I’m hoping that Jane does leave in the next episode (or is already gone) but I wonder if she will pop up again….maybe with a baby boy on her hip, claiming that Robert is the father and citing her quick departure and his letter of recommendation for her son (something which was not done for simple hired help) as proof on an affair.
Anyway, that would be a wicked plot twist…..Robert held his honor and did not have sex with the maid who now comes back to tourment him…remember this was back in the days before DNA!
Guess we will have to wait and see……
Rosemary, you were spot on with your examples of some equally melodramatic events in season 1 of Downton Abbey!
I think the difference lies in the slower speed with which things occurred in season 1, which allowed us to get to know the characters and pick up some important but subtle details, imperative to the storyline.
Even the episode which dealt with the arrival and departure of ‘P. Gordon” (my least favorite part in the whole series), was based, loosely, on a real-life family saga!
I am not ashamed to admit, I am loving it; all of it!
Rosemary, you are spot on with the examples you gave of some equally melodramatic events in season 1 of Downton Abbey!
I think that the difference lies in the slower speed with which things unfolded in the first season, allowing for us to get to know the characters and pick up on some of the subtle details, necessary to understand the story line.
Even the episode where ‘P.Gordon’ came and went (my least favorite part of the series), was based, loosely, on a true family saga!
I am not ashamed to say that I am loving it; and all of it!
Considering all of the “Reality” TRIPE offered on television I rather like Downton Abbey. Sure it may be a bit soapish and often predictable but it is surely fun to watch!
[...] Read my recap & review of Episode 6 of Downton Abbey [...]
The almost affair between Jane and Robert drove me crazy, especially with Cora deathly ill. I also did not like the Bates’ honeymoon scene. I suddenly thought I was watching a daytime soap. With that being said, I still love Downton.
I’m in the minority here, but I like Branson. I’ve enjoyed his chemistry with Sybil since Season 1.
I too like Branson. He is intelligent, self educated, and quite political. A good match for Sybil who wants more out of life, even if it means giving up the comfort of her aristocratic heritage. Sybil was already a novice activist regarding womens rights and Branson will educate her more fully to the larger world of politic she has never known. Sybil has a basic sense of fairness and equity that will be reinforced. I am not sure she is just using him to get away as some have suggested, but clearly Branson loved her first and wholeheartedly. Sybil came to the same place more slowly but her caution is understandable given the sacrifices entailed. That she thoughtfully came to the same place convinces me of her sincerity.
Not sure I like the stereotype of Irish, no doubt Catholic, reproduction, but grandchildren will be the bridge if Sybil is to return to Downton. And if so, Branson will conveniently die in the Irish rebellion.
Bates’ conviction is entirely circumstantial so he won’t get off unless there is a smoking gun. Murdoch/Carlisle makes sense as he threatened Vera if she ever tried to renege on their deal. How this might come out is a huge question mark.
I truly enjoy watching Downton Abbey. It’s a great way to end the weekend each Sunday evening. I will miss is it very much. Although it appears that some loose ends were tied, there remains many more. Certainly hope there is a DA Season 3!
Why does Branson have to die for Sybil to return to DA? It’s much more interesting if he returns with her to rattle the aristocrats’ cages. And I happen to believe she loves him. He is a statement of rebellion too, but it’s not one or the other.
I hope Sybil becomes a crusader for access to birth control. I really don’t want to engage in Irish stereotypes, but given how quickly she got pregnant I am betting she ends up pregnant again before she wants to.