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Downton Abbey Series 4 Discussions





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This thread is for spoiler-free discussions of themes that span multiple episodes of Series 4.
(More episode pictures will be added as episodes are aired.)

What do you like/dislike about Series 4 of Downton Abbey?

*OP in progress*

L i N d $ @ y

Just to clarify, this is a general S4 discussion thread where we can talk about all the episodes (and not just a particular episode as is the case with the episode discussion threads). We also have one for the other series which can all be found on the Board Guide topped. FYI, also a general reminder that no character & ship bashings are allowed (as always). I'll start off...

What I didn't like:

A LOT. So far (not counting CS) but majority of the episodes this season are forgettable for me. I didn't like Edna coming back, we can do away with her. I didn't like Anna getting raped. The whole drama with Daisy/Alfred/Ivy didn't interest me at all. There were absolutely no real SL with Carson, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Patmore & Thomas this season. Lady Rose was a good addition to the cast but I didn't quite enjoy her storyline with Jack which I was hoping to. I was also hoping for more Edith/Mary scenes and we barely got any this season. I didn't like that Gregson is MIA and that Edith got pregnant. And of course, Mary's 3 suitors who are all a carnival for me.

What I liked:

The friendships of Violet/Isobel, Mary/Tom, Isobel/Tom, Mary/Anna, Carson/Hughes, Hughes/Patmore, Patmore/Daisy, George & Sybbie. I also did like that they were tackling estate management on Downton more properly and extensively now albeit some poor decisions made by Robert. Robert & Aunt Rosamund are also generally nice this season after being really stiff & proper in S3. My greatest surprise is actually Molesley who I've loved every minute of his time on-screen even if it's mostly for comedic purposes. Some of his scenes with Bates (after he lost his job at Downton) were my favorite dramatic moments from him.

Overall, I kind of feel lukewarm about this season. It has definitely been up & down for me but it still gives us that drama that I love given that the show has a very good crop of actors & actresses. Yes, some stories are still silly and glossed over and not what we hoped for or expected. I still enjoy them nonetheless and will continue to watch the show until it's end.

Andorra

I liked season 4 actually. I thought it was entertaining and there were some episodes 4.3 and 4.7 that I thought were extremely good.

It felt like a transitional season for me though, preparing us for the big finale in season 5. I'm very sure season 5 will be the last one, and I think all charachters had to get set up for this.

What I liked:
- Tom and Mary friendship
- Tom and Isobel
- Tom and Mrs Hughes
- Mrs Hughes the superwoman downstairs
- Violet and Isobel
- the pig story
- the whole estate business (I know some people thought it boring, but I loved it)
- all the parties and the dancing
- the drama with Anna and the drama with Edith's pregnancy
- Edith/Rosamund

What I didn't like
- the apearance of that ghastly teacher at the very end of the series. It will completely ruin the show for me if she is meant seriously and we'll be released into the hiatus with no competition in sight. I don't think I will watch season 5 then.
- the downstairs love quadrangle
- Thomas, Robert and Cora had no storyline for the whole season

baileycat

I enjoyed series 4!

Loved

- the babies!
- Tom and Mary's bonding (brotp)
- Tom and Isobel ( new mother/son relationship) She supports his ambitions that he was afraid were gone
- Charles Blake! Handsome and easy going
- Violet being Classic Violet
- Anna's strength after her awful attack. Joanne was brilliant
- Baxter! She's intrigueing with her mysterious past that Thomas is holding over her
- Moseley swallowing his pride and working for the family again. Not to mention finding love with Baxter! So cute!
- Alfred going for his dream of being a chef.
-Mrs Hughes being a kickass mofo! She rules everything! Fact
- Edith finally gettin' some! Too bad she got pregnant as a result.
- Mary as an independent estate manager. She's grown so much!
- Tom finding his footing and hopefully rediscovering his political passions again! Vote for Branson!!!
- last but not least Tom and Sarah meeting! I had waited all season and boy did it not disappoint. She's awesome! And the best part is she is someone I can see Sybil being friends with! She's independent and socially and politically aware with a great and respectable job in the community. She's the perfect match for Tom and Sybbie. So excited to see where this goes next season!

Didn't like

- Poor Edith and her unlucky streak with men continues.
- the fact that Cora and Robert were kind of pointless this season. Was expecting something dramatic to happen with him, but got nothing
- Tony turned out to be a dud. I expected more from him. But he just comes off as a desperate love sick creeper.
- Rose using Jack like that to get back at her mother. Clearly this girl needs to grow up some more.
- the love square was repetitive and boring. Bitter Daisy all the time wasn't fun at all to watch
- not enough of the babies! I wanted to see them more
- evil Edna blech! Glad she got the boot again.

ClaireK80

I liked season 4 a lot (maybe more than S3), even if I agree it felt like a transitional season. IMO most episodes were enjoyable, but some storylines had a very strong buildup (Edith and Anna) but ended in a rather anticlimatic way in episode 8; while other storylines (for example Grigg's and Edna's returns) seemed to go nowhere; and others (Rose and Jack) were interesting but slightly underdeveloped. So I have no big problems with the single episodes or storylines (save a very few) but the season as a whole could've been developed better.
Also, we haven't watched the CS yet, so maybe some of the things that don't make a lot of sense now will later.

What I liked:
- Mary taking an interest in the administration of Downton and all her scenes with Tom (I don't ship them but they're developing a nice friendship). Loved her scene with Carson in the premiere too.
- Anna's storyline (even if as I said the conclusion was a bit underwhelming)
- Mrs Hughes helping everybody throughout the whole season (Anna, Carson, Tom, Mrs Crawley). I loved loved loved it when she kicked Green's ass in episode 7
- Edith's scenes with Rosamund and the pregnancy storyline
- all the scenes between Carson, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore
- Violet and Isobel being awesome
- seeing a different side of Carson in the Grigg / Alice Neal storyline
- Tom and Isobel
- Baxter was a great addition - and I really enjoyed her with Molesley in episode 8!
- Alfred becoming a cook and his father/son relationship with Carson

What I didn't like:
- Edna
- the downstairs triangle was very boring (even if I liked the resolution of it in episode 8)
- Gillingham and Blake: can't say I didn't like them but I expected something more
- not crazy about Sarah Bunting either.

HarshBench

What I liked


-Mrs. Hughes.
-Rose and the Gardener (very sweet)
-Tom fixing a car. For reasons.
-Tom and Isobel
-The pig scene. In fact, the whole pig thing. It was light and amusing and it I found hearing everyone say "pigs" all the time hilarious. Especially "good luck with the pigs." They are all taking it soooo seriously and I get that but it still makes me laugh.
-Tom and Sybbie
-Joanne's acting in the rape storyline
-Laura's amazing acting in every scene with Rosamund. It was the first time the show made me cry since Sybil died.
-Edith and Rosamund
-Tom defending Edith at the table when Mary made that callous and nasty remark about Edith looking for Gregson.


What I Didn't Like:

-Edna
-How Anna's rape became all about Bates' need for revenge
-Thomas lack of a storyline other than the usual scheming.
-Mary still being a cow to Edith
-Cobert
-Edith getting pregnant her first time and then having her man immediately disappear on her while Mary gets three suitors in a highly improbable storyline, not to mention every bit of the money and the entire estate that in all fairness should have been distributed equally among the Crawley daughters in the first place, all of whom share the same amount of the Cobert DNA.

I get that Lavinia's money kept the estate in the family and therefore it belonged mainly to Matthew. But that's how JF chose to write it. It does not make it in any way just, right, fair or deserved by his pet character.

I don't buy JF's whole "Edith is unlucky" schtick. She is unlucky because he makes her so, in a way that seems almost masochistic. I think some girl named Edith must have tormented him

LOVED Laura's acting and I am interested in what will happen. And by having Rosamund yell at her and be a BAMF make it seem like Edith deserves this because of one mistake (IMO). Of course Rosamund was fabulous and supportive after that but I still absolutely hate it.

If JF wanted to do a pregnancy storyline, fine. But he could have at least let Edith and Gregson be lovers for a little while before he disappeared and she got knocked up. The first time? Ugh. Every time Fate lets a poison arrow fly it hits Edith.

Humdinger

What I liked:
-Mrs Hughes has to be at the top of everyone's list
-the eye candy on this show is at an all time high, A+ casting department!
-Mary having more stuff to do
-Molesley, Baxter, and Baxley
-JoFro's acting
-Alfred becoming a chef--about time we had another character get out of service
-Edith and Rosamond--they were the best part of Edith's SL
-episodes 6 and 7 were really good and had funny moments

What I didn't like:
-the vanishing editor. sucks for Edith that she got knocked up first time; but if he ever comes back and starts going on about German politics, I will laugh hysterically.
-the love square (thank God it's over...or is it?)
-Thomas's lack of SL. He got the nanny fired and that's it.
-Jack/Rose started off well, but it didn't really care for how it ended
-Green's death. Contrived, anti-climatic, etc. etc.

L i N d $ @ y

I will reply to some posts later but first...

I will reiterate again on my previous post. We are not allowed to bash characters & real life people anywhere on the threads, on the board and in general.

We have a rant thread here to voice out your frustrations about the show, storylines, characters, actors & the writer/creator of the show - again with a few reminders that are all on the opening post.

Other concerns/questions, please PM me. Thanks.

ClaireK80

Adding a couple of things:

I liked some minor characters a lot:
- the gardner who fell in love with Rose was very sweet - I found Rose's little "romance" with him more convincing than her relationship with Jack Ross
- Violet's psycho butler was one of the highlights of the season
- the old Duchess of Yeovil had some nice scenes with Tom

I generally like it when they show us how the estate is managed and the various activities etc. so I was ok with the pig storyline, but I would've liked to see some more of the problems they're facing instead of just the pigs.

Regarding Edith, I agree that her storyline was contrieved - her getting pregnant her first time, Gregson disappearing in Germany - but I liked it much more since she started having troubles than at the beginning when she was happy with Michael.

Andorra

I must agree here. I thought her romance with Michael Gregson at the beginning of the series was incredibly boring and as sadistic as that sounds, it was such a relief when she finally got her bit of drama!

I must say I liked much of the pregnancy storyline (her scenes with Rosamund, her scene with Robert, the abortion storyline). It just feels unresolved still, that makes it a bit unsatisfying. But I'm sure it will be part of the CS and we'll get the rest of the story then.

ajblondie17

Things I liked--
-Rose and the gardener (agreed that I liked that brief SL more than the Jack Ross one)
-Anna's acting
-Two words: Elsie Hughes
-Rosamund turning into a likable character
-Gregson during the poker episode
-Evelyn Napier came back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-The slower pace of the series
-Jazz music
-The babies
-Isobel and Tom

Things I didn't like--
-Edith being miserable again. Sure, Laura plays that very well, but I just want her to be HAPPY already.
-Mary pretty much forgetting about Evelyn the second his boss showed up
-Blake and Gillingham sparring over Mary

Things I would have liked more of--
-Babies
-Pigs
-Robert having something productive to do
-Evelyn Napier
-Tom Branson shirtless, for reasons

WildRose

Here, here!

L i N d $ @ y

I guess generally S4 is much better because no one died. Tbh, what happened to Anna hit me with the same effect like death so for me that was 'the death' in S4. This was one SL that I still welcomed because I wanted to see a good payoff. Disappointing. Green dying accidentally was anti-climactic and there was so many ways this could have gone over well and made use of our antagonist Thomas and protagonist Bates. And now it turned the focus on Bates which should really be all about Anna.

I forgot to mention that I also like Alfred pursuing what he loves even if it's recycled SL from Gwen in S1. It's nice when you don't get into a SL that much but it resolved very maturely anyway, as the case of what happened with the downstairs love triangle.

Also Blake & Gillingham conveniently knowing each other. I don't know if I like or don't like it. I just found it hilarious.

ediedoyle

Is Robert ever productive? lol He shouts a lot, and disapproves of Edith at breakfast, and then relents and declares his love for his family by bedtime. Although he did keep Tom out of prison once.

Overall I felt S4 had a different vibe because Matthew was not there...Honestly, I didn't know I missed him so much until I re-watched old episodes! He brought a specific kind of energy to the house and to Mary that's hard to explain. And I miss his brotherly love to Edith, Tom, even Rose as well as his relationship with the rest of the family.
But at the same time it was good to see the story take a slight turn. Mary finding out who she is and what she can do on her own.

My 2 favorite guests also returned, Aunt Rosamund and Evelyn. For that alone I would raise my glass.

puffball7

One thing I didn't expect to like about Series 4 was the Duchess of Yeovil character (played by Joanna David who I've always liked), I initially thought that she was either going to be a snob or a batty old dear, but in fact she was a sweet, gentle person who proved that she understood and appreciated better than anyone the stage of grieving that Tom was still at. I really liked her farewell scene with him when she said that, just like she did when her husband died, Tom will also eventually learn how to cope without Sybil by his side and that it doesn't matter how long it will take, and when he does he shouldn't think of it as a betrayal, as she'll always be a part of him. It's a shame we didn't have more of her.