carrie.suze

Agree with you about Charles, for one he wasn't fawning all over her, they just seemed natural together, and I think Matthew would approve too.

Welcome to the forum, I'm a relative newbie too, I can see from your pic you're a Sherlock fan too, I'm thinking Benedict Cumberbatch would fit right in at Downton, now there's a good match for Mary, just wishful thinking though.

northboundtrain

Thank you! I will have to drop by there.


Thanks! Yes, I love Sherlock. And I agree that BC and MD would be awesome together. Maybe in a film some day in the future.

sourburst

Gah 15 minutes to go.

Wes&FredFan

5 minutes !

Fervently hoping for some Anna/Bates loving moments tonight ... and to see Green literally kicked to the curb! Want some more funny Violet sayings, and some more crazy Crawley shananigans .

sourburst

Yes I want some too.

OMG it' starting.

Humdinger

Everyone had such exciting theories on how they'd off Green, but that was just a bust IMO. Like what was the point of getting all those people involved if that's gonna be how it ends? And Mary asking Blake about "what would you do if..." ugh ugh. And with the CS being set the next summer, I don't think it'll come up again. At least Daisy got some sense talked into her.

I was really surprised that Jack was going along with the marriage idea at first. I'll have to go back and watch it again b/c right now I'm not sure how I feel about how that was dealt with. But overall I liked the upstairs stuff.

And, of course, I have to cry because Thomas got 2 lines. wwaaaaahhh

SannraB

would you mind Spoiler me please? (Spoiler button). I am german and couldn't see the Episode. what about green and marys suitors? Thanx!

Andorra

SannraB
Du kannst du Episode übrigens ganz legal auf itunes Deutschland gucken. 2.99 €. Die DVD kriegst Du diese Woche allerdingsbei Amazon auch schon. Meine ist schon verschickt und sollte Mitte der Woche da sein. Freue mich schon!

What a very weird episode! I mean, I thought much of it was really lovely, but seriously the Green-dead?? Fellows can't be serious about that, can he?

Another time where Bates has been on a trip and someone died?! If I were Anna, I couldn't sleep under one roof with that man any more!

I must say for me personally it was a relief that Tom Branson's supposed "love interest" was actually a bit of an Edna 2 in my opinion. Nosy, too forward, belittling his life choices and insulting his family.

I don't even think he likes her very much and I liked it that this time he wasn't insecure, but he said he likes the family and I loved his remark that he doesn't look at "types" but at people!

And her reaction to Cora was a bit weird. I wonder what that was all about?

Anyway the main thing for me is: No, I don't think we look at the new Mrs Branson. Allen was saying the truth when he said Tom would need a long time to get over Sybil and that "a couple comes looking but he is not that interested".

That was a huge relief for me!

But now to the rest of the episode: What was that with Edith's Baby?? Did they resolve anything? Will they go to Switzerland? Will she stay? What??

puffball7

Initial thoughts.
Mary just seems to have a whole flock of vultures circling round her at the moment, she's besieged. I'm favouring Blake at the moment, but that's just me.

Edith, so she going to have the kid in Switzerland then? With just Rosamund and Violet knowing?

So Green got run over in Piccadilly? Isn't this, I don't know....... slightly anticlimactic?

Has Isobel found an admirer in Lord Merton (aka Larry's dad)?

Loved Violet's line to Edith about life just being a series of problems that need to be solved until we die! I love her one liners.

And Sarah Bunting, sigh (I'm going to try and ignore the fact that I just think she looks too old and not that great looking and just concentrate on her character) scratches head, I just don't know what to think about her and I got the impression Tom didn't know either. I had to laugh when he couldn't even remember her name when introducing her to Isobel! She had obviously made the effort to find out a bit about him though. She came across to me as being astoundingly judgmental and rather rude, is she usually in the habit of insulting relative strangers families? I was pleased that Tom said that he doesn't believe in types as she apparently does but in people. I think she was supposed to be feisty but it just came across as being cocky, I think I'm conflicted!

HarshBench

I don't think he liked her much. When they met in the village he looked a bit admiring or least curious for a second, but after that she kept stepping in it. She was like Edna, sort of. Very presumptuous, condescending and, as you said, judgmental. Plus she is rather charmless and just looks hard. He didn't appreciate her calling him a class traitor to his face or talking smack about his in-laws.

And they played the S/T theme music when they talked about her! Tom is not over her and it will take someone special to win his heart again. I don't think she's the one.

northboundtrain

My thoughts...

* I'm still on board the Mary/Charles train, but I have to admit I was disappointed that he's already pledging to fight for her. It just seems like such a quick turnaround and a waste of what could have been a nice slow-burn attraction.

Plus, one of the reasons I liked him was because, unlike Tony and Evelyn, he wasn't falling all over her. That made him stand out far more to me, and while I understand that the show wanted the cliffhanger ending of "which man will Mary choose?", I think that could have been achieved without having Charles basically pledge his love (practically out of nowhere) by the end of the episode. All that was needed, really, was to show that Mary and Charles were unexpectedly happy to see each other again at the bazaar and then unexpectedly sorry to say goodbye at the end. Just a lingering look between them, as if they were both realizing something but couldn't quite say it out loud.

That would have been enough to set up the triangle, because it would clearly illustrate Mary's ultimate choice between the promise of marriage to Tony and the possibility of an unexpected romance with Charles.

But on the positive side: Charles/George was cute, I enjoyed Tony witnessing Mary/Charles' rapport, and I liked the little "look" Mary gave Charles when he said he'd fight for her. Up until then she'd been doing the standard "please don't be boring and fall for me like all these other guys are doing" speech and she apparently assumed that was that. But she seemed truly caught off guard by his reaction...or perhaps by her reaction to his reaction.

* Another Mary-reaction I loved was how MD played it when she realized that Green was rapist. It was as if the wind had been knocked out of her. I got a chill and I already knew it was him! MD is just amazing.

* I always like when Violet is used for more than just the fun quips, so I appreciated her involvement with Edith's story.

* I'm relieved by the resolution of the downstairs love triangle. At least everyone made the right decision: Ivy didn't agree to Alfred's proposal just because she'd been hurt by Jimmy, Alfred took the rejection well and said his goodbyes, and -- most importantly -- Daisy summoned the courage to wish him well. I was a bit worried at the end that Alfred would suddenly declare his love for her in the wake of Ivy's rejection, so I'm glad those fears were unfounded. And that really was a lovely scene with Daisy and Mrs. Patmore. A great example of the kind of thing this show does best.

* I was disappointed at the lack of Thomas/Jimmy interaction. Oh well...there's always the Christmas special I guess.

* I'm not super invested or interested in Tom/schoolteacher, and Tom didn't seem all that enamored either.

* So it's looking like Bates killed Green. I'm not really happy about either of the possible conclusions to this...if he didn't do it but everyone suspects him then it's just a Vera redux (ugh). If he did do it, it seems an awful thing to do to Anna, to make her spend the rest of her life worrying about someone finding out and Bates going to the gallows. Did she really need the extra stress?

The only way I can spin it is if Bates really believed that Anna's life would be in danger or that she'd never be able to emotionally move on as long as Green was alive. But even that's a stretch.

Oh well. I just hope whatever happens isn't dragged out.

* I swear this isn't motivated by my Mary/Charles shipping...but...did anyone else get a weird feeling about Tony suspiciously questioning Mary about Green's death? And then the camera showed him watching her run to Anna. Maybe it's nothing, but my initial thought was that if he figures out that Mary knows something...well, would he use that information to his advantage?

* I hope that that's the end of the Thomas/Baxter alliance. Baxter's no O'Brien, so it wasn't really fun to watch.

All in all, it was a pretty solid episode, and it left me looking forward to the Christmas special.

northboundtrain

At first I thought it was supposed to show that the teacher (I've forgotten her name) is not interested in showing Cora the respect many might feel she should...times are changing, she's a socialist, and not at all enthralled by "her betters."

But then when Tom said whatever that was about Cora being a "beast of burden" I thought the point was that the teacher didn't actually recognize Cora at first because she wouldn't think a countess would be out there working in the first place. So, then, a moment where the teacher realizes she shouldn't make assumptions or something.

So...I'm not sure, LOL! I need to do a re-watch to figure out what they were going for.

baileycat

I LOOOOOOOVED this episode!

Tom and Sarah are so on. He really does like her doesn't he? Why else introduce Cora to her. He's already introducing his inlaws to her! Now I understand what Elizabeth was referring to when she spoke about a working girl being introduced into the family. He took that step just to test the waters. And all was fine!

And Isobel approves! That's a ringing endorsement if ever I've seen one. If she felt something was amiss with her she'd say so or let Tom know to steer clear but infact she's done just the opposite. She's made him aware that Sarah has a good head on her shoulders and that's quite pleasing. Tom agrees with her too!

Sarah was of course doubtful of his family relations. Perhaps she's had a bad experience with the aristocratic attitude of some in the past. Its typical to be skeptical and judgmental especially if she doesn't know them personally like Tom does. And Tom goes out of his way to prove to her via Cora that the Crawleys are a good and decent family who don't put on airs. That says alot. If he despised her he never would have introduced her in the first place.

As for not knowing her name. She never told him her name at the rally. But being the land agent of the most well known family in the area of course she found out his pretty easily. So forgetting her name isn't correct, if she never told him to begin with.

There were TWO lingering looks from Tom to Sarah in this episode. Both of her walking or driving away. Proof that's he's definitely thinking about what it might be like to pursue her. He opened up to her and he didn't have to but he did. I see a nice gradual progression into the next season. Now that we know Sarah's a local teacher we're bound to see more of her and Tom's interest in her grows. I really look forward to seeing it all unfold.

As for the rest. Baxter and Moseley. So cute! More of that please!

Sad to see Rose is not as mature as I was hoping she'd be. Looks like she's got some serious growing up to do still. Mary did the right thing to intervene in the engagement.

The mysterious death of Green is curious. Obviously Bates got one of his friends from inside the prison to dispatch someone to do the dirty work. I don't know how but I reckon we'll find out in the CS or beyond. It has to come to light somehow.

I'm still on the Charles and Mary ship. He's a good man and he's not going anywhere.

ediedoyle

Did everyone hear the lovely news tonight that the CS will be 2 hours long...

I haven't seen episode 8 yet but omg I heard that Charles gets to hold the baby. *thud*
Cannot wait until I get free time tomorrow for a date with my telly.

Wes&FredFan

I'm thinking Bates was owed a favor by somebody in prison and he paid a visit to the prison, mentioned his problem (re: Anna's rape), and that was it. Right on, Bates!

I'm not sorry Green is dead though. Frankly, I'm glad.

Violet was funny .