Enora

Yes I think they all have accepted how Thomas is and the fact that everybody even Robert acted for him with the police shows that he's important for them.
It's a bit hard to explain but i have the feeling that they all "love" Thomas the way he is even if he can be a little b****!

That's cool and more from Thomas/Rob who is an under-butler now and not a footman!

L i N d $ @ y

That's true. Even if they know that Thomas can be a bitch, they still want him to stay in Downton.

WildRose

Maybe it's just me but I think that after Thomas gave that 'When you're like me' speech to Carson he (Carson ) saw Thomas in a slightly different light even if he couldn't possibly grasp what Thomas went through and how Thomas felt about his own sexuality. I think Carson (and the wonderful Mrs H as well ) sensed that Thomas is not just the snooping 'bitchy' guy and maybe this is why they didn't make a bigger deal out of it or more than it already was.

ajblondie17

I love that Thomas fully accepts his sexuality. It's possible, of course, that at some point in his past he didn't, and obviously this still presents a lot of challenges for him, but I love that he owns who he is.

L i N d $ @ y

I agree with you both.

I think by now everyone of the staff know about Thomas' sexuality. I don't think anyone has treated him differently because of it or maybe they're just scared of him.

And yes, I like that he owns who he is. It speaks a lot about his character.

WildRose

Even if the downstairs stuff know about Thomas' sexuality I'm not sure they all understand what it meant for him but since in S4 most of them were dealing with other issues (Mrs. H dealt with Anna's case and then Daisy/Alfred/ Ivy had their own thing... ) so Thomas and his issues were not the main topic of discussion. I have to admit I sometimes felt I wanted to see more interaction between Jimmy and him other than just a few remarks here and there about meeting girls in the village and also I would have liked to see more from Thomas other than his snooping with Baxter which I'm assuming might change now that Baxter 'teamed up' with Mosely

It's important that Thomas owns his sexuality. I hope nothing too dramatic would happened in the future such as him being sent to prison for being gay...

L i N d $ @ y

I guess it's safe to say that his sexuality isn't an issue anymore as it is already confirmed last season that he is 'out' with everyone or that he never did hide his sexuality but was just careful with it because it was illegal. I do hope that the CS will at least give us hope on what to expect for Thomas in S5. This season was really lackluster for him.

Wes&FredFan

I liked that everybody came to his aid ... even Bates, who did what he could to help Thomas at the very least get a decent reference. I just wish we got a Thomas/Bates scene where Thomas acknowledges that Bates helped him out. I wanted to see a Thomas/Anna scene after the rape where he tries to talk to her. I was somewhat disappointed that he tried to get Anna in trouble with Cora/Robert by using Edna. While he's great at scheming, I hope we get some growth from him in S5. I don't want him always scheming and plotting, but actually realizing that some of the people downstairs are friends to him and not enemies/pawns.

WildRose

I think Anna always had somewhat of a soft spot for Thomas and was able to see there's more to him than just plotting and snooping. In my mind I can see Anna being there for Thomas and even offering to help him cope with his issues as much as she could esp after she's been through such an emotional roller costar with the rape SL.

ITA that we need to see more sides to Thomas and see him grow as he's facing certain obstacles along the way.

L i N d $ @ y

And especially with how things ended with Bates/Thomas in S3, I thought there was going to be some fallout in S4 but turns out there wasn't.

I think that would be a nice character development for Thomas in S5, if we see another different and more human side to him other than the scheming and plotting.

Enora

Hopefully we'll have more of Thomas next season with a good SL like that we could see who he really is.
I mean his others sides like you said, not only the plotting guy.

Oh and a love interest would be great too!

WildRose

At one point during the the S4 CS teaser we see Thomas standing there rather proudly in what looks like the main hall or the drawing room so I hope it means he's heading towards a more meaningful SL soon other than just being the one who keeps plotting all the time.

I'd love to see a new love interest for Thomas if only to see how Jimmy would react

Enora

I hope so too.

I don't ship Thomas/Jimmy but I would love seeing his reaction towards a new love interest.

L i N d $ @ y

THIS.

Today, Rob will be at WWHL with Allen, Laura & Lesley 11pm ET.

WildRose

I can't wait to watch that
I read on the Allen thread that while they were on WWHL someone mentioned a bed spread with Rob full size image printed on it