L i N d $ @ y

Enora

Thanks for the thread Lindsay.
I prefer him in all her suitors! God how many she has!

So add me please.

Humdinger

TFTNT!

I think I like him the best too, but if I have one complaint I wish he'd waited to tell Mary how he felt. I would've liked some more onscreen build up first.

WildRose

TFTNT

Okay, can you add me please? I'n def boarding this ship

I do have one tiny complaint though. I wish the DA wardrobe/hair&make up peeps would give Mr. Black better hair style I mean if they took Nappier's hair style and put it on Mr. B all be good in the world

northboundtrain

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!

I was waiting to see if someone would start a thread!

Could I be added?

Countess.

Oh do please add me! He's my favourite.

northboundtrain

I'm still trying to make peace with the fact that he's already thrown his hat into the ring -- as I said in the episode thread, I wanted him to wait a bit longer, LOL! I wanted a slow-burn to differentiate him a bit more from Tony and Evelyn.

That being said, after giving it more thought I can kind of see why it may have happened so quickly. I believe it was Evelyn who defended Charles (I can't remember to whom he was speaking) by saying that Charles just wants the aristocracy to fight, but that too many of them are just rolling over...which was why he appeared so jaded upon his arrival at Downton.

Well, in Mary he's finally seeing someone who is willing to fight. I get the feeling that he's a very passionate guy, so seeing someone fight like he wanted has probably stirred those passions up quite a bit.

Plus, they did go through a pretty intense experience together, just the two of them. And he sees Evelyn and Tony circling. So those may have been other reasons why he felt he needed to make up an excuse to see her so he could declare his intentions.

I just can't wait for the Christmas special.

L i N d $ @ y

I've added those who asked. Great to see many supporters for this pair.

I do still have issues with them, like how fast it's all going right now. I mean, one pig poo moment doesn't equal "we'll be together forever" but I'm relieved that he hasn't proposed... yet. And it's also weird that he's friends with Tony, that doesn't help AT ALL.




x

Enora

The fact he's friend with Gillingham makes the whole SL a bit weird and even more when we know that it's Napier who introduced him to Mary!
But I enjoyed the "pig moment" because it was great to see Mary a bit more present, I mean she ran with a water's bucket and had fun after in laughing with Blake.

Humdinger

ITA it went too fast. Yes, Blake stayed at Downton for a few more weeks after the pig incident, but we didn't see it and having Blake flat out state that he's romantically interested in Mary takes out the suspense. The pigs could've just forged a friendship and they could've met again during the season b/c I assume Blake lives in London and he could develop romantic feelings then. You could argue that Blake is a practical guy and just wanted to get a foot in before yet another man courts Mary, but narrative wise I wished it had been drawn out further.

I don't think they're real friends, they were just in the same regiment. Blake made a funny face when that got brought up which made me think he doesn't really like Tony, but if next season is going to have a love triangle having the two guys hate each other would be typical. I'd like to see them dislike each other for a reason that isn't just based on them being romantic rivals so I'm curious to see if that develops or I'm just totally wrong about that hunch.

ediedoyle

LOL!! Nooo, that hair is Julian Ovenden's trademark. They should definitely sharpen his wardrobe though. His trousers and jacket are always a little too big/floppy. Or maybe he's supposed to look less polished than the others?

L i N d $ @ y

Yeah, the fact that Napier introduced Mary to Blake doesn't help at all too.

This is my problem with all of Mary's suitors, it didn't take it's time. Everything happened so fast.

Correct. I think they're more acquaintance than friends which is still weird for me. We can just go with them not knowing each other. I definitely do NOT want a love triangle but where this is all headed is making me think this is what S5 will be.

WildRose

Good point

I hope that once Mary would make up her mind and if/when she decides to make it 'official' with Mr. B he would have a bit of a make over and would add more tailored suits to his wardrobe and would keep a more polished look.

Tom was dressed in oversized clothes way back in S1 and... look at him now

northboundtrain

That's what I'm thinking. He has to be aware that Tony and Evelyn are both in love with her. And he's been so straight-forward about everything else (saying exactly what he thinks even if it ruffles feathers) so it does make sense to me that he'd treat this in the same way.

Aside from my initial disappointment that Charles' hate-turns-to-love transition was rushed, one thing that makes me confident about this pairing's chances for success is that Mary and Charles have the common goal of fighting for Downton (as evidenced by the pig scene). They both want it to work and are willing to work hard in this fight, and I think that means they currently share far more than Mary shares with Tony or Evelyn.

In Charles, it seems like Mary could have the partner she had in Matthew.

And then of course there was Charles holding George. Could that really have been a red herring? Or was it meant to be significant that he's the only one of the three we saw taking an interest not just in Mary but in her little boy? Of course, I'm going with the latter.

L i N d $ @ y

I agree with this too. At least we see him very passionate about running things and actually tried his best to save the pigs himself. And of course, it's always a plus when men are good with kids.