Downton Abbey

The one thing I’m interested to see is the fate of Downton post-Thomas. He had already modernized the estates and turned them profitable, but that is an ongoing project. We already know Lord Grantham is an absolute nebbish when it comes to finances, and I can see the nobles marginalizing “the chauffer” to the point where he can’t get the resources to properly manage the estates any more.

Well, you’re actually somewhat right. I intentionally didn’t keep up with any of the off-season news, so went into this blind. I think this short summary is fairly spoiler-light.

The first episode starts off with the Abbey at night, which is quite a contrast to start of the previous seasons where you see the glory of Highclere Castle in the day, and betrays some of the dark mood in throughout the episode. I think I lied, I think I did hear someplace that the actress playing O’Brien not coming back, and this is also handled in the first minute or so quite plainly (also doing something you can totally see her character doing).

Now, it’s been six long months (the episode centers around Valentine’s Day, 1922) since Matthew played chicken with a truck and lost, and as we suspected, Mary is quite a forlorn, all-black closeted blank widow, unable to care much about herself and to some large extent, baby George (and yes, she’s really good at being that way, at times being even more bitchy and cold than the beginning of the first season). Lord Grantham, predictably, wants to swaddle and protect her from everything as much as possible, while nearly everyone else wants her to snap the hell out of it and go about various ways of doing so.

It kind of goes like that for about 50 minutes, though there are of course various subplots with the staff, the nanny, another returning character, and what’s-her-face from Scotland.

However, I felt like it picked up nicely in the last 10 minutes or so and by the end of it, I felt like this was Downton Abbey again and could put that hideous Christmas special behind me. Well, almost. Here’s to the new season!

— Alan

What, no Season 4 thread? Big doin’s this season so far, particularly concerning Mr. Bates and Anna.

I’ve been watching it. It’s really grabbed me with the last few episodes. Mr. Bates is actually a bit sinister now.

It’s a soap opera but a well done soap opera, and I love the historical aspect of it. And if you like romance, there sure are a lot of potential romances blooming right now.

I enjoy the series. I wouldn’t mind seeing them go another 5-6 years and taking it up until the end of WWII when England went heavily into socialism and the great manors mostly disappeared.

While I the show isn’t as strong as the first couple of seasons I still enjoy the acting, sets/visuals, and overall quality production. Just being different from most of the other mostly modern day settings on shows makes it still worthwhile.

My wife casually mentioned that

spoiler

Lady Edith was pregnant, I assume by that married dude

and I just laughed and laughed. Can’t those poor folks just have an easy life for a little while?

Yeah, she just can’t catch a break, can she?

Re: the Bates/Green/Anna thing, I sure hope they don’t leave it all as vague as they did last night. They were obviously making it look like it had gone down a certain way and by a certain person, but I hope we get a more definitive reveal in the American Season Finale (AKA the British Christmas Special).

I think it’s pretty clear Bates murdered Green and did so without anyone suspecting. No way any of that was a coincidence. You may recall Bates showed he was a hard man in prison, and that he’s capable of doing stuff without getting caught.

Well, I hope they don’t leave it how they did without a little more on the subject. It’s kind of unsatisfying: how was it done on a crowded sidewalk with no one noticing that the guy was shoved? It’s weak sauce to not give a better explanation (including how Bates made it all the way from Yorkshire to London and back in one day on 1922 roads/rails).

I think they’re counting us not knowing how far it was from Downton to London or how slow the transport. I certainly didn’t blink at that - I just assumed that when Bates said he was going to York, he was presenting a cover story, and didn’t know that it was implausible given the time frame.

So now we know that Bates traveled from York to London’s King’s Cross Station on the fateful (and very long) day. Hope he took an express train.

I’m not entirely convinced he murdered him. I think he may have confronted him and it’s possible Green was fleeing from Bates and ran in front of the bus.

It does reopen the possibility that Bates may have murdered his wife. I could see the writers spinning a darker Bates into future stories.

This was an odd season. It seemed over too fast. No real cliffhangers and not a lot of plot advancement. Edith had her kid and that’s going to be a storyline next season. Mary has battling beaus. Tom has a potential girlfriend. No real earthshaking developments in Downton, though.

Edit: Also, the Giamatti appearance was welcome, but odd. Is he going to be worked in next season? He’s interested in a character who isn’t a regular and he is going on a European tour. I’m not getting why through brought him on the show. It seems like his storyline wrapped up and is over.

For me, the fewer big events and plot machinations, the better. I just like getting a bit immersed in that time and place, enjoying the environments, characters and customs. I love that the Earl has someone help him get his robe on in a room that is just for dressing, after which he walks about 20 steps into another room, takes off that robe, and gets into bed.

I like the coming and going of characters, though its sometimes seemingly without dramatic purpose. The more they delve into soap opera antics (which is not uncommon), the more I’m feeling like someone dunked some ice in the warm brandy that is Downton Abbey.

So, this season was a bit hit and miss for me, but overall still satisfying. After last season, no big character deaths was a nice change. The Anna storyline was tough to watch. Unlike what seems to be a common refrain on the interwebs, I really like Bates. I like how he’s a bit opaque, a bit dangerous, with a stubborn sense of honor and rightness. I am hoping they don’t transition him into some sort of villain (i.e. he killed his wife after all!)

Looking forward to next season.

Me too, and I also think Bates is badass. Also, Alfred was a moron about the adorable and spunky Daisy until it was too late. He should be so lucky. That is all.

They sure had a lot of scenes where he seemed to be glowering at people. It didn’t quite reach the “should I kill Mrs. Hughes to keep her quiet?” level, but they had him looking ominous.

Also, I didn’t quite get why Tom was so nervous about showing his love interest the balcony until Barrow did his little bit of character assassination with Lord Grantham. It’s not clear whether it worked or not. Tom’s not much of a socialist these days, insisting that Barrow sit in the front.

I got the impression that they wanted to do an episode demonstrating the differences between American and English culture, and felt that Shirley McClaine was too much of an oddity in her own right to use her as the vehicle. So we got Giamatti and his valet, with Giamatti making missteps upstairs (“why on earth did you say I was Harold Levinson?”) and the valet doing the same downstairs (“what did I do wrong, Mr. Carson?”).

Honestly, I think they’ve depicted both Alfred and Daisy as being a bit stupid and not fully adult. I like Daisy, but she acts like a teenager.

I confess that part of my thing for Daisy is her big sad eyes and heart-shaped face. I once had a GF with similar features.

Yes, and if it comes into the open, I bet that’s how he’ll spin it. I also bet the show won’t resolve the ambiguity :)

Bates is, as you say, somewhat sinister. He’s deliberate, methodical, physically intimidating, an accomplished pickpocket, probably a killer, and I’m guessing he forged that note for the doorman himself. To borrow a line from another show, he’s basically one lab accident away from becoming a supervillain.

This was an odd season. It seemed over too fast. No real cliffhangers and not a lot of plot advancement. Edith had her kid and that’s going to be a storyline next season. Mary has battling beaus. Tom has a potential girlfriend. No real earthshaking developments in Downton, though.

Edit: Also, the Giamatti appearance was welcome, but odd. Is he going to be worked in next season? He’s interested in a character who isn’t a regular and he is going on a European tour. I’m not getting why through brought him on the show. It seems like his storyline wrapped up and is over.

Yeah, not as many fireworks this season, but also much less fraught. “Restful,” as my mom used to say. I think Giamatti was in there largely for the American audience. Teapot Dome connection aside, he’s a vehicle to display a number of typically “American” characteristics and virtues that the English admire and that Americans like to see represented in foreign contexts: he’s successful but not overbearing, tasteful but not fussy, unconcerned with rigorous formality but fundamentally courteous, quick-witted but not arch. His story also lets us know that the marriage market for titles was still a concern among the English and American upper classes, but that it was passing: it’s mainly the old buffers and rich widows who are working that angle.

Even if Bates did actually push Green into the path of the truck or bus, I don’t think he killed his wife.

I agree with your analysis of his purpose but… the English admire these things? I’m not arguing against your premise, I just wasn’t aware of this.

I think so, yeah. I mean, I haven’t done a survey or anything, but those are some of the positive American stereotypes that I picked up from my folks and from when I was living there.