Downton Abbey -- Season 3 on PBS

[Scrufflet]

I believe there is only one episode left, unfortunately. Having two hours tonight was great. Is it my imagination or is Lady Edith getting more attractive (noticed it first when she was meeting the magazine editor for the first time)? The biggest surprise for me tonight was Thomas giving Bates a cryptic message for O'Brien (about the soap). I'm surprised he'd kept that to himself once he figured out O'Brien was sticking the proverbial knife in him via Jimmy.

Lady Edith IS getting more attractive! After this ends, O'Brien should get a gig on Y & R; she'd run rings around everyone!

[Artemis@BC]

I believe there is only one episode left, unfortunately.

Yes, 1 more episode, but it's a 90 minute one. Last night was the end of the regular season 3. Next week it's the "special episode" that aired at Christmas time in the UK, though in Downtonland it doesn't take place at Christmas. (Summer in the Highlands in fact! I don't think I'm spoiling anything there.)

Thomas, you are not foul because you're gay.

However, the blackmail, petty theft, attempts to sabotage Bates, essentially wounding yourself to get out of the war after trying to get into a cushy non-combat position first, foray into black marketeering, and scheme to 'rescue' Isis after stealing her in the first place might make you want to reconsider other aspects of your life. (To say nothing of the way he treated William before the war, using Daisy to do it....yeah, I would say that being gay is about the one thing about you NOT foul.)

This. I was thinking all along as this story was playing out how much I hated the fact that it was Thomas's homosexuality that was getting him thrown out, after all the heinous things he's done over the years.

I knew it would be Bates who fixed things, though. Going through his own injustice, he would have hated to see anyone suffer that way, even the hated Thomas. I love having Bates back at Downton, he really is a moral compass.

What was Robert's line? Something about "My goodness if I'd thrown a fit every time some boy at Eton tried to kiss me ..."

I too think Edith is becoming more attractive, but I think it's because her personality is more attractive. She still can't catch a break romantically (a wife in an asylum? really?) but at least she has the ego boost of having someone who's interested in her. I'm sure things will develop there ...

[znachki]

The biggest surprise for me tonight was Thomas giving Bates a cryptic message for O'Brien (about the soap). I'm surprised he'd kept that to himself once he figured out O'Brien was sticking the proverbial knife in him via Jimmy.

I don't think that at that point he'd really figured out that it was her. But he had kind of given up on everything. I see it this way, that for once he really thought that he had something, and Jimmy didn't help (or wasn't helped by O'Brien) by not saying something earlier.

Also, I think it was much more effective for Bates to bring up the soap. O'Brien could have no way of knowing exactly how much Bates knew. Since Bates would seem a disinterested party, anything he told Grantham or Carson would be taken at face value and not seen as a vendetta.

As for Edith - of course the guy she's attracted to, and that is attracted to her has a wife. Can't let her have one good thing now, can we? Kudos to her though for checking him out, and for confronting him with it.

[zaphyre14]

I thought Robert's attitude toward Thomas' homosexuality was refresshing and unexpected, considering how stuffy he is about Edith's "fallen woman" contaminating pressence. Evidence of the mighty Double Standard of the day, true, but still pretty liberal of him. And yay for Bates for doing the dirty work to get O'Brien to flip sides yet again.

[skatingfan5]

I thought Robert's attitude toward Thomas' homosexuality was refresshing and unexpected, considering how stuffy he is about Edith's "fallen woman" contaminating pressence.

I know you meant Ethel. Poor Edith hasn't even had a chance of being a "fallen woman" yet ... although there was that moment in the barn with the tenant farmer (I've forgotten his name).

ETA: I'm glad that Ethel got at least a bit of a "semi-happy ending." I knew that Mrs. Bryant had a soft-spot for Ethel's plight and wanted her to have some contact with her child.

Evidence of the mighty Double Standard of the day, true, but still pretty liberal of him. And yay for Bates for doing the dirty work to get O'Brien to flip sides yet again.

O'Brien looked as though she had just swallowed bitter poison after having to retract her advice to Jimmy. And having Jimmy be promoted to head footman (after all her conniving to secure that position for Edward) was a real case of being hoist with her own petard.

[znachki]

I thought Robert's attitude toward Thomas' homosexuality was refresshing and unexpected, considering how stuffy he is about Edith's "fallen woman" contaminating pressence. Evidence of the mighty Double Standard of the day, true, but still pretty liberal of him. And yay for Bates for doing the dirty work to get O'Brien to flip sides yet again.

I've always felt that the Brit's had a much more relaxed take on homosexuality that the Americans (at least the upper classes). I've always figured that the British Public school tradition was part of that. There is certainly a lot that has been written that makes it fairly clear that what Grantham said is true. Of course, throwing a bunch of boys together like that, it's going to happen.

In other news.... waiting impatiently for the Downton Abbey Facebook Recap...

[Artemis@BC]

O'Brien looked as though she had just swallowed bitter poison after having to retract her advice to Jimmy. And having Jimmy be promoted to head footman (after all her conniving to secure that position for Edward) was a real case of being hoist with her own petard.

I know you meant Albert.

To me she looked terrified more than bitter. It really is a terrible secret, more so than anyone else's either upstairs or down.

I don't actually remember her confiding in Thomas about what she'd done with "her ladyship's soap," but I guess it makes sense that she would, given how close they used to be, and how guilty she felt afterward. More fool here, though -- she more than anyone knew what Thomas was capable of.

In other news.... waiting impatiently for the Downton Abbey Facebook Recap...

Me too! They might be taking longer though since there are 2 episodes to do (they appear to be on the PBS schedule).

[cygnus]

I know you meant Albert.

Actually, I know YOU really mean Alfred!

[skatingfan5]

I know you meant Albert.

Actually, I know YOU really mean Alfred!

Oops! Yes, I did mean Alfred. I must have had Edward in my head as the name of a footman, from all those seasons watching the original Upstairs/Downstairs. U/D also had a Daisy, but she was a housemaid, not in the kitchen like Downton's Daisy (who is miles ahead of poor Ruby, the U/D kitchen maid). Mrs. Hughes = Mrs. Bridges; Carson = Hudson, Anna = Rose (who was the anti-O'Brien, although having the same position). Lavinia, of course, followed the fate of poor Hazel. Following this set of equivalents, I suppose Sarah was a combination of Ethel and Sybil, since she had a child out of wedlock after an affair with her employer's son (James/Jimmy) and then was married off to Thomas the chauffeur. Lots of room for mixing up names between those two sets of characters.

To me she looked terrified more than bitter. It really is a terrible secret, more so than anyone else's either upstairs or down.

Yes, she definitely was shaken and looked like she was in extremis. I said bitter poison -- it was nasty going down but she has no way of knowing if it was a lethal dose (i.e. Bates knew everything) -- or how quickly (or delayed) it might take full effect.

[my little pony]

what type of gyn surgery would have been available to mary to help her get pregnant?

[JasperBoy]

what type of gyn surgery would have been available to mary to help her get pregnant?

I can't answer that, but I can say that my grandmother had gyn surgery in 1913 that enabled her to conceive my mother, born 1914. I think that was to repair damage caused from the birth of her first child, a large baby. Not likely to be Lady Mary's case.

[IceAlisa]

I've been wondering the same about the procedure. It would have to be minor and performed vaginally. Isn't Yazmeen an ob/gyn? We should ask her.

[Lara]

I've been wondering the same about the procedure. It would have to be minor and performed vaginally. Isn't Yazmeen an ob/gyn? We should ask her.

It's been a few months since I saw it (was watching Grammys last night) but I didn't have a clue either what the procedure or condition for that matter was - they gave very little detail IIRC?

[Coco]

I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to have Matthew (or was it the Dowager) tell flapper cousin that married men always have difficult marriages when they want the company of a younger woman, and then Edith's very own editor flirts with her and tells her about his tragic marriage. Hmmmm....

[znachki]

I've been wondering the same about the procedure. It would have to be minor and performed vaginally. Isn't Yazmeen an ob/gyn? We should ask her.

I was poking around online to see if I could find any kind of answer to that. Didn't see anything from the DA folks where I looked. But from medical sites it seems like it could've been for cysts or fibroids or tubes and the like, but of course what we consider minor now is different from then, so I could be way off base.

[Bostonfan]

Random thoughts:

Good Lord, did they have to cast the editor to look like a very slightly younger version of Sir Anthony? I swear I looked at him and thought it was his brother or cousin of Sir Anthony. Apparently Edith has a very specific type.

It felt like season finale episode because things got tidied up. Ethel is settled, so that story is wrapped up. Tom is settled with only some slight story acrobatics. My how far he's come. When he was watching his in-laws under the tent, he clearly made his decision to stay in the big house. And he was the voice of wisdom that got the Earl to grumpily see reason. Tom handled that encounter well. Of course he had to agree to play cricket, but he was good sport (literally). The bro hug at the end was a bit corny.

Anna and Bates are proof positive that a coat of paint can really transform a room. The people at HGTV would be so proud. Bates looked positively dapper. Again I say the spa services at the prison must be top-notch. I did laugh a little when he pointed out the Thomas would be his boss. HA! No good deed goes unpunished. By the way, where was he keeping score during the cricket match, a shed?

Mrs Hughes ROCKS! I love her more and more.

I still have no clue how cricket works. The Mosely joke could be seen coming from so far away, that it wasn't a surprise. I did like that his father made the joke that his son can't deliver on all his cricket talk.

I agree Edith looks better, but mainly because of her increased independence and confidence.

It was great seeing the Downton men wearing cricket clothes. It was jarring to see Carson out of uniform, but I bet it was a nice change of pace for the actors.

Thomas - seriously? Has he learned nothing? It strains credibility that someone as usually sneaky as Thomas would kiss a guy while he's sleeping. At least talk to the guy first and find out if he swings in your direction.

And Rose? I've read articles referring to her as Cousin Oliver - which I thought was funny and fitting. But watching the previews, I have some hope for her.

They're going to Scotland! It'll be nice to see the family outside of Downton.

[danceronice]

I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to have Matthew (or was it the Dowager) tell flapper cousin that married men always have difficult marriages when they want the company of a younger woman, and then Edith's very own editor flirts with her and tells her about his tragic marriage. Hmmmm....

I think the editor's being honest (another reflection of the laws of the day/values dissonance--he's trapped in a marriage with a lunatic and can't get out of it because a lunatic can't be responsible for their own behavior). But Matthew's talk with Rose cracked me up as a nice reminder that he is, after all, a solicitor and a little more acquainted with the world than his in-laws/distant cousins.

I still cannot comprehend: better than ANYONE ELSE, Thomas KNOWS that O'Brien is even more underhanded than he is (AFAWK, Thomas has never attempted to deliberately critically injure or even kill someone out of pettiness, even if O'Brien regretted it too late). He KNOWS she fights dirty. He KNOWS she's mad at him about blowing off helping her nephew. So why, WHY, does he believe a word she says?

[znachki]

It felt like season finale episode because things got tidied up.

That's because it was the finale in the UK. What we are getting next week is last years (2012) Christmas special.

[manleywoman]

I still cannot comprehend: better than ANYONE ELSE, Thomas KNOWS that O'Brien is even more underhanded than he is (AFAWK, Thomas has never attempted to deliberately critically injure or even kill someone out of pettiness, even if O'Brien regretted it too late). He KNOWS she fights dirty. He KNOWS she's mad at him about blowing off helping her nephew. So why, WHY, does he believe a word she says?

Because he wanted to believe it. He's in love with James. His heart took over for his head.

[my little pony]

I've been wondering the same about the procedure. It would have to be minor and performed vaginally. Isn't Yazmeen an ob/gyn? We should ask her.

my best guess is hymenectomy, it' not very invasive as far as surgeries inside your hoo ha go.