Lauren60

This was a cute exchange between Mary and Matthew in the first episode of season three. Matthew asks Mary if she's looking forward to the wedding and she says "What do you think?". Matthew then says "I'm looking forward to all sorts of things". He sizes up Mary as he says it. Whew....the chemistry between these two is so hot in this scene.

Has there ever been any discussion on the forum about how "experienced" Matthew was before his wedding night? When they return from honeymoon, Robert asks Matthew how it was and he says "My eyes have been opened." I thought it was kind of a strange response. Also kind of strange that a father-in-law would ask his new son-in-law that question.

In what way were his eyes opened? I can't imagine Matthew slept around before he got married but then again it's hard to believe he waited until he got married. I just don't know. Help!!


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L i N d $ @ y

It was really weird he said that to Robert, of all people. I figure Matthew may not have done the deed with Lavinia and that Mary was his "first". As for Mary, well we know what happened with Pamuk.

ina_am

I don't know either, but that thing he sad to Robert was funny

L i N d $ @ y

Matthew could have given a vague answer for it, after all that was his wife's father. His remark was really funny.

Also, I love how flirty they were in 3x01. I really love that ep.

ina_am

it was a great episode

Lauren60

A scene from season one. Matthew has been invited to Downton for a dinner party. He asks Mary if it is in aid of anything and she tells him no that it's just some dreary neighbors. That's when he says maybe he'll shine in comparison.

After Matthew says that, Violet calls out to Mary that they're leaving. While Matthew looks away for a second, Mary looks at him with affection. It was one of the first signs that Mary was starting to have feelings for Matthew. She says "Maybe you will." and walks away with a slight giggle. Very cute and just one example how Michelle Dockery can say so much with her facial expressions. (I just wish the gif set captured it.)

Sigh..season one...when I first fell in love with Downton.





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Me too. S1 gave me so many feels and I genuinely liked all the characters. Except for Sir Richard & Vera.

I like that ep from the flower show. I agree about Mary starting to really like Matthew here and I think he knows this.

ina_am

that was one of my fave scenes

L i N d $ @ y

The end of that ep though. But Edith's retort to Mary was brilliant: "Why was cousin Matthew in such a hurry to get away?" Mary's comeback was hurtful and forced Edith to write to the Turkish ambassador.

ina_am

that is true... some hard scenes between them

L i N d $ @ y

Awww that gif. I'm glad we had lots of wonderful moments between them while Matthew was still alive. Of course, we all prefer that he lived and watched George grow up.

ina_am

yes, and to see them all as a family

Lauren60

That last gif is from S2 when Mary introduces Matthew to Richard Carlisle. Matthew gives her that look and it makes her catch her breath.

Matthew shouldn't be looking at Mary like that since he's engaged to Lavinia and she's standing right next to him as he does it. Matthew was in such major denial to think he could marry Lavinia when he still had the hots for Mary.

What's very sad about it all is that Mary and Matthew wasted so much time. They could have had several more meaningful years together. But than again, they had to go through all that angst for dramatic purposes.

L i N d $ @ y

Yeah, it was obvious that Matthew was hiding behind Lavinia as he was still pining over Mary. And I can say the same for Mary with Sir Richard.

Did you all think they could have done away with the Lavinia/Sir Richard drama for Mary and instead have them both together in the middle of S2 instead or was all that drama needed?

Lauren60

I understand they wanted to keep Mary and Matthew apart for as long as they could for dramatic purposes. I could buy into Matthew getting engaged to Lavinia in an effort to get over the hurt he felt when Mary hesitated to accept his proposal. He was trying desparately to move on from Mary.

I could also buy into Mary wanting to get married for all the various reasons such as being "damaged" goods, her age and to save face especially with Matthew.

The real storyline stretch for me was after Lavinia died. Matthew's guilt over her death kept he and Mary apart. That was a bit too much as far as I'm concerned. Mary and Matthew should have come together much sooner after Lavinia's death. It didn't seem real plausible to me that Mary would still marry Richard knowing that Matthew was "available". Especially since Mary didn't love Richard and he had been quite abusive to her. I know she felt trapped but she should have kicked him to the curb and dealt with the repercussions. (It ends up Richard really did have feelings for Mary because as far as we know he never exposed her Pamuk secret. As he left Downton for the last time he told Mary that he had loved her and I believe it. Despite how things ended, he kept her secret.)

Granted we had to wait a long time but we're fortunate that Mary and Matthew got married at all. There have been many shows where the couple never makes it down the aisle. At least we were given that joyous first episode of season three.



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