Ok, here we go—the last episode of Series 1! This episode is
more plot-heavy than costume-y—I couldn’t believe it when I saw it only clocked
in at an hour—but, all the better to draw significance from!
The finale opens on the staff, scurrying about to finish
preparing for the Crawleys’ return from the London season. This is a very canny
move on Fellowes’ part: the production saves a bundle by having the family’s
London house, Sybil’s debut, and a whole lot of London footage happen
off-screen, plus it advances the story by several months (the Season ran from
Christmas or the New Year to June, give or take a few weeks on both sides). If
he’d had an American-style season of 13 or 14 episodes to work with, he could
have devoted a few of them to the goings-on in the Great Cesspool, but with
only 6 and plenty of other plotlines humming along, he’d only have been able to
cover London in one episode or less and it wouldn’t have felt like enough. So
in the space of three minutes, we learn that William’s mother has died but he
was with her at the end, Archduke Franz Ferdinand has been assassinated
recently enough that the town is still talking about it, which would place
us somewhere in June of 1914, Mary’s staying in London with Aunt Rosamund for a
while, and Sybil’s coming-out (no, no, not that
kind of coming out, her acknowledgement by society as an adult and her entrance
on the marriage market) was a great success. Oh, and Edith was very helpful!
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| Not the same scene, but roughly the same shot as the opening one. |
Everyone’s dressed in outfits we’ve seen before: Cora in that
magnificent brown coat and dress, Edith and Sybil in their blouse-and-skirt
combos (there are matching jackets, which we don’t see but for a moment).
Edith’s is the green she wore on her sad church date with Matthew; Sybil’s is
the blue she wore to the rally/riot (guess they got the blood out). Of note,
however, are Mrs. Hughes’ Stripes of Authority as she starts in about the
garden party within minutes of poor Cora walking through the door, and, if you
look closely, you can see O’Brien and Anna (who would have been taken along to
help all the girls—you don’t get your own dedicated ladies’ maid until you’re
married), wearing their own clothing rather than uniforms. All the ladies are
also wearing hats, which were de rigeur
for traveling. Cora has secured hers to her head with a length of white net,
which makes her look a little old-fashioned next to her daughters. In Cora’s
day, hats were so big and wide-brimmed they would have been in danger of flying
off in a car, so you had to tie them down with veils that also shielded your
face (closed cars weren’t very common then, and roads were dusty). The fashion
in 1914 is for smaller hats that can be pinned securely to one’s hair, so Edith
and Sybil don’t need veils and look a little sleeker.
Servant Scene. Mrs. Patmore’s sight is even worse than
before, and no one knows what to do about NinjaBates.
Oooh, we get to see a quick shot of London, and meet Aunt
Rosamund! Mary’s walking with her in the park, wearing the white walking suit
she had on in the last episode. . Rosamund is Lady Violet’s daughter,
of course, and you can definitely tell. She’s almost as starchy as her mother,
making quips about what a Christmas cake Mary is,
and she looks very upright and uptight in a military-inspired jacket and hat.
She doesn’t seem too pleased about Matthew’s proposal to Mary, but she doesn’t
elaborate.
Servant Scene. O’Brien gets a letter that sends her and
Thomas rushing out for a smoke and a gossip. NinjAnna reassures her twin that
he’s probably out of the woods on the whole getting-canned thing. He’s a karma
ninja! She’s also made William a black armband to wear for this mother. This
was a form of mourning for men; since their clothing was dark all the time
anyway, the armband let you know someone close to them had died. Weird
continuity issue: when NinjAnna is talking to NinjaBates, she’s holding
knitting needles; when she passes the armband to William, it’s clearly black
cotton and not knitted. Unless she had it right to hand and just dropped the
needles in her lap or something to pass it over to him, that’s an awfully quick
change.
Robert runs into Dr. Clarkson coming downstairs and rushes up
when he hears Cora sent for him. Remember how I said I thought the Dowager
Countess’ knees were going to give way when Cora tells her about the Pamuk
Affair? Well, good things come to those who wait, because Robert sits down hard
on the bed when Cora tells him she’s pregnant. And then she refuses to go into
detail about “what [they’ve] done differently”, suggesting that he get it out
of the doctor by plying him with drink. Ugh. Poor Dr. Clarkson.
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| Source. But he's pleased, because now he gets to write letters, and he can do joined-up writing now! |
“Guy Fawkes and his assistant” are smirking outside with
their cigarettes and a letter from “one ladies’ maid to another (that means
something, you know!)”. So they got some dirt on Bates.
Oh, god, Robert does
actually give Dr. Clarkson some whiskey and make him explain why Cora’s
pregnant! It’s biblical! Except he keeps cutting him off
when Doc mentions icky girl things like menstruation and menopause. Robert
claims he knows quite enough about the latter; oh my god, what do you think
Lady Violet was like while she went through it? I bet she was Malory Archer
meets Miranda Priestly. I would watch the hell
out of a flashback episode or two about that!
Anyway, Mrs. Hughes comes in and breaks up the party because
she needs to discuss Mrs. Patmore. Robert looks relieved. Even servants’
business (normally handled by Cora) is better than talking about a “last surge
of fertility”, and it’ll take his mind off the nagging question of the sex of
the baby. No way to tell back then!
Servant scene. Guy Fawkes And His Assistant (I’m going to
call them that from now on when I refer to them as a pair, and O’Brien is clearly Guy Fawkes) take Carson the
letter. We still don’t know what it says, but it’s clearly disturbing.
London. Wet, gray, “quite enjoyable”, according to Carson.
Mary is sitting by the window, brooding, in the blue silk blouse she wore at
breakfast in the pilot and again in Episode 4 when her father wanted her to
marry Matthew. Evelyn Napier comes to call, and she perks right up when she
hears his engagement is off. But no, he’s come to talk about the Pamuk Affair,
because people are saying he’s responsible for spreading the story, but he’s
not. It seems she wears this blouse whenever there’s a marriage that she either
wants but can’t have (she was wearing this when they got the news about Patrick
Crawley dying on the Titanic, and now
Evelyn isn’t here to talk marriage, as she hopes). Then Evelyn tells Mary it
was Edith who tipped off the Turkish Ambassador. Heads will roll when she gets
back to the country!
Servant Scene. Carson and Mrs. Hughes serve as audience
surrogates so we can catch our breaths and think about whether Mary will marry
Matthew and what will happen if the new baby’s a boy.
The Dower House. The Dowager is wearing the same peacock blue
dress she had on when she was having tea with Cora and left to go see the
Adrenaline Caper. Cora is wearing the dress she usually wears with that
fabulous brown coat. It’s a very dark purple, almost brown, and very fancy,
with lots of detail. It might have been the same dress she was wearing at that
tea, too. They seem to dress in repeats like this when they’re allied and
working together congenially and in harmony.
Cora commiserates with Violet about her lady’s maid, Simmons, who seems to be looking to jump ship. Can you imagine what working for her would be like?
“Gentle as a lamb”, I don’t think so! Neither does Cora, from the look she
gives her mother-in-law over tea.
Matthew and Robert are walking and talking. Somehow in the
space of about two minutes they go from how Matthew’s going to be unseated as
an earl to whether Mary’s responded to Matthew’s proposal to the name of
Matthew and Isobel’s cook. Way to pack in the exposition, Fellowes. Robert is
in his walking suit (no plus-fours this time, thankfully), and Matthew’s in
another dark city suit, looking like an outside again as his position as heir
weakens. He does have a cloth cap that matches Robert’s though, so he’s not
entirely out yet.
Servant Scene. Hustle and bustle in the kitchens. Daisy tries
to help Mrs. Patmore, who shakes it off but then burns herself—again!—and Mrs. Hughes
and her Stripes of Authority make her sit down and rest. Daisy tries to talk
William up a little, but Thomas interrupts with some nasty comments. Wow,
Thomas, slagging on someone’s dead mother
is a step too far, even for you.
Matthew, brooding. Isobel, snarking by the window. In mauve
and lavender, a kind of mourning, since the life she was just getting used to
might be taken away from her. It’s sad, because the soft pastel she’s wearing
makes her seem very much at home in that room full of light colors. Remember
how jarring and middle-class she looked like back in the first few episodes?
She looks pretty aristocratic now.
Anyway, Molesley comes in (ugh) and brings Mrs. Bird (Byrd?
No, I checked the wikia), who seems very timid at first but then sort of snarks
at Matthew that she’s surprised that Lord Grantham even knows she exists.
Isobel snorts and Matthew doesn’t know what to do with that. She’s a piece of
work.
Cut to Bates laying out Robert’s clothes. Carson comes in to
discuss the letter that O’Brien got from her friend. Turns out she was a lady’s
maid to the wife of a colonel in Bates’ old regiment. Carson feels like Pontius
Pilate. Bates is stoic and humble.
London. It’s raining. Again. Rosamund and Mary descend the
stairs of Rosamund’s house. Rosamund gives terrible
advice about what Mary should do with Matthew, although to be fair to her, it
sounds kind of snobby but does seem as though she has Mary’s best interests at
heart. Mary would hate living in a
cottage as the wife of a country solicitor, even if she loves Matthew. Anyway, Mary’s in that awesome gray walking suit she wore in
Episode 2. Another time when she was trying to convince someone (Edith, in the
earlier case) that she doesn’t feel for Matthew what she appears to feel, but
this time, it’s the opposite. She’s sort of trying to convince herself, along
with Rosamund, that she really does care about him him. Her hat is smaller,
though, as if she’s less sure of herself, or maybe just less herself, since
it’s not as grand a statement as she usually likes to make with millinery.
Rosamund is in maroon, which is clearly the color for progressive and/or authoritative
women (see Isobel, Gwen, etc.). And, Gwen aside, apparently nosy, intrusive
women too. Rosamund makes an interesting prescient observation that of the
Sisters Three, Sybil might be okay
with living in a cottage, you know, like a normal person and not a lady…
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| In other news, I can do screenshots now! Hooray! |
Carson and Robert discuss the telephone (which Robert appears
to be having installed mostly because the “girls got used to it…in London”.
God, what a pushover), the brewing storm in Europe, and Bates’ alleged crimes
(stealing regimental silver). Nothing much to see here, but dig that library.
The ladies are sitting around. Sybil, in a blouse-and-skirt combo
that looks just like the one she wore in the last episode (the skirt is the same, but the blouse is green and pink instead of blue and lavender, and
it will turn up on Edith later and look much better on her), asks Mary, “what
[they] missed” in London. I’m always a little surprised when Sybil gets
enthusiastic about something other than Votes for Women, especially the
bourgeois pleasures of society, but I shouldn’t pigeonhole her. She’s only 18.
Mary responds languidly that Sybil would have been more popular. She’s very
relaxed in a gray cardigan over pearls and a white blouse and skirt.
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| Lady Mary's Eyebrows have their own Twitter account. Because of course they do. |
Granny
doesn’t think Mary should pay any attention to Rosamund, and I agree with her!
She’s in the formidable-looking mauve and purple walking outfit she had on when
she told Robert to get Mary and Matthew hitched in Episode 2 and then when she
visited Matthew to try and get the entail dissolved in Episode 4. Obviously her
go-to ensemble when she’s meddling in other people’s affairs, but always for
the good of her granddaughter.
They debate the merits of marrying Matthew
regardless of his position, and Edith, in her dark(horse?) dress and weird
Grecian head-scarf-wrap thing, provokes Mary, who snaps at her. Edith doesn’t
know that Mary’s been tipped off about the Pamuk Affair, but we do, which makes
the exchange all the more delicious. Cora shoos Edith out, but not before
Violet mentions Sir Anthony Strallan, which makes Edith grin. Cora and Lady V
discuss the perfidy of ladies’ maids (leaving to get married! How can they be so selfish?), and we learn
that Robert is always after Cora to dismiss O’Brien. Could it be that he
suspects her of something, or is he simply trying to economize by shedding some
staff? It would be unthinkable for a lady like Cora not to have a personal maid until about 1950, so I’m betting Robert
just doesn’t like her. It’s fun to see these weak spots in the characters
develop: Cora’s kind of blind to O’Brien’s many faults, and Robert, as we learn
later, is pretty terrible with money.
Servant Scene. Daisy wants to give Cora a baby gift. Awww.
There’s talk of war. William is patriotic; Thomas is self-serving. Robert sends
for Mrs. Patmore and NinjAnna.
Upstairs, Mrs. P acts like she’s never been topside before. I
know she’s nervous about being sacked, but she must meet with Cora somewhere to
go over the menus and meal plans. Maybe Cora receives her in the drawing room
or something; she certainly doesn’t go down to the kitchens unless she
absolutely has to (remember when O’Brien said she shouldn’t be held responsible
for things she said in places the Quality wouldn’t be?). Once Robert can get a
word in between his cook’s wibblings, he informs her that he’s made her an
appointment with an eye specialist in London, and he’s sending her and NinjAnna up
there to stay with Rosamund (you always go “up” to London, even if you live
north of it). Mrs. Bird will come up from Crawley house and Matthew and Isobel
will eat at the Abbey every evening (presumably either Isobel or the
kitchenmaid can manage toast and eggs and sandwiches). Anna is perfectly happy
to go on her adventure, especially since she has a few things she’d like to
look into…
Poor Mrs. Patmore is so overcome she has to sit in her lord’s
presence.
After that heartwarming scene, we cut to Mary and Matthew
arguing. Matthew’s convinced that Mary’s stalling because she’s waiting to see
whether her new sibling will unseat him as heir. Mary is hedging and doesn’t
understand why Matthew has to make everything so black and white. He’s in
black, she’s in white. So I think she might be right, hon. But there are
touches of black in Mary’s outfit (hatband, gloves), and white in Matthew’s
(shirt). Something something yin and yang…no, I can’t bring myself to apply
that particular cliché. But wait, her blouse is the same color as Dan Stevens’
dreamy blue eyes! Maybe those crazy kids will figure out all out after all!
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| They're also shot so they look like they're standing about 15 feet apart. |
Robert and Bates are discussing NinjaBates’ crime. NinjaBates refuses
to give details about the incident (totally ninja), even though Robert thinks there are some
weird bits, like the judge’s leniency. I like these scenes because you can
see how Bates actually does his job, helping Robert with cufflinks and jackets
and brushing his clothes. Back down in the kitchens, NinjAnna refuses to accept NinjaBates’ story. Mrs. Bird and Mrs. Patmore snipe at each other. Molesley and NinjAnna
wisecrack to each other a little, and Molesley laughs for what’s probably the
first—and last—time in his life.
Matthew broods by the window while Isobel fumes that Mary’s
“taken orders from someone with false and greedy values.” Whoa there, Isobel!
Even Matthew thinks that’s a little much and orders her to stay away from the
Dowager Countess, who I daresay would hold her own against an outraged
middle-class mother, even an upper-middle class one.
Robert and Cora are hanging out before dinner, he in his
usual white tie and she in the drapey Grecian floral number she had on in
Episode 4. They’re discussing the Bates Affair, and Cora is all for
sending NinjaBates on his way. Boy, they really don’t like each other’s servants, do
they? Robert tells her that Carson thinks Guy Fawkes And His Assistant have
been muddying the waters, and when Cora snarks that she should just sack
O’Brien, Robert declares his support for it. Guess who’s at the doorway?
Awkwarrrrrd.
Cut to GFAHA having a smoke-n-bitch.
Guy Fawkes is convinced she’s going to be sacked. His Assistant tries to tell
her that with the war coming, it’ll be a good chance to reinvent oneself, but
he’s maddeningly obscure about his own plans, and Guy Fawkes looks as confused
as I feel once he skives off.
Mrs. Patmore is trying to get Daisy
to ensure the family will be grateful once she gets back—by poisoning the food?
No, Daisy, you’re so thick! I fear for the family, I really do.
Carson is dickering with the
telephone guy (I can’t imagine that there are enough technicians in
Yorkshire that he can make good on his threat to find someone else if the one
he’s got won’t give them two sets!), when Sir Anthony appears, asking for
Edith, who practically leaps into his arms. Edith, honey, cool your jets a
little. Sybil appears out of nowhere, for some reason, chats up the telephone guy, whose name is Mr. Borage, it sounds like, finds out he needs a secretary, and promises him Gwen will apply.
She’s wearing—what else?—the lavender dress she wore when she got the first
letter for Gwen’s job hunt. Well, that was an expeditious bit of plot
advancement. Carson, Edith, and Sybil/Gwen, all taken care of. Sir Anthony kind
of watches Sybil as she goes. Don’t get your hopes up there, Tony. Stick with
Any-Port-in-A-Storm Edith.
Moorfield Eye Hospital. Anna gets
Mrs. Patmore set up in her room. Poor Mrs. Patmore. She probably hasn’t been
all by herself for more than a few waking hours since she was a girl, and
now she’s stuck in this ward with a not-very-nice doctor, or whoever he is, and
Anna visiting only once a day.
Anna goes right to the
Military-Industrial Complex (or whatever it’s called) in her businesslike gray
pinstripe, and starts her inquiry into Bates’ checkered past. I love her
umbrella with the spiral gold handle (could it be hers, or a loaner from
Rosamund in Belgravia?), and the fact that the sergeant she talks to looks just
like Patton Oswalt (I love your #DowntonPBS tweets, Mr. Oswalt!).
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| Little girl on a big mission. |
The sergeant (seriously, that face!
Where did they get this guy?) brings
Anna a ledger, which he won’t read to her, about Bates’ military record. But he
does give her Bates’ mother’s address, and then swings off. I’m not thrilled
about Anna’s hat, but I love her circle brooch.
Mary, in her criss-cross Big X dress
from Episode 4, is literally lying in wait for Edith, who’s going down to
dinner in the dusty pink dress she
wore in Episode 4, only this time, she’s got another odd-looking headpiece, with
swinging beaded tassels. What is up
with her headgear? It gets weirder with every scene. My guess is that she knows
she isn’t the pretty sister, or the clever one, so she tries to liven herself
up any way she can. Mary confronts Edith about the Pamuk Affair, and Edith
doesn’t deny her part in it, then calls her big sister a slut for good measure.
In this scene, Mary’s the one who comes out of it looking, if not pure,
exactly, in her whitish dress, at least more sympathetic than Edith with her
slut-shaming and her swingy head-thing.
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| Notice also the cross, which is unusual--this family isn't particularly devout, but Edith is being awfully sanctimonious here. |
After dinner, the ladies are sitting
around in various gowns we’ve seen before. Cora and Lady Violet discuss their
search for a new ladies’ maid for the Dowager while Thomas is right near them,
but they don’t specify who the maid is for, so you know His Assistant will
take this (mis)information right down to Guy Fawkes. Edith mentions that Sir Anthony
wants to ask her something at the garden party to which he hopes she’ll say yes, and the look of
disgust and exasperation on Mary’s face is priceless.
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| Love. It. |
Downstairs, Thomas is going through
Carson’s pockets in the butler’s pantry. Molesley comes in looking for Carson,
confronts Thomas, and Molesley is such a weenie that he appears to buy Thomas’
story that he (Thomas) was just putting back Carson’s dropped wallet. Jeez,
Molesley. You’d lose your own head to a con man if it weren’t attached.
Robert and Matthew discuss the
proposal and Mary’s reluctance. Apparently a lot went on at Sybil’s ball—Evelyn
Napier’s marriage plans, Mary and Matthew—and it’s too bad we didn’t get to see
it.
Servant Scene. Daisy tries to keep
Mrs. Bird from eating with the rest of the Downton servants, probably partly so she
won’t taste whatever Daisy’s done to the food. Mrs. Bird and Molesley seem to
really want to join the crowd, though, because at Crawley House “there’s only
the four of [them]”, which intrigued me. We know about Mrs. Bird and Molesley,
plus the kitchenmaid Mrs. Bird mentioned when insulting Mrs. Patmore, so who’s
the fourth? My money’s on a housemaid, who would have had to clean and tidy the
whole house with no help (except for a couple of heavy or seasonal jobs), make
fires, possibly haul water up and down stairs if the house isn’t fully plumbed,
do laundry, maybe help in the kitchen sometimes, and dress Isobel, or at least
tend to her clothes and personal effects. Not quite a maid-of-all-work, since
she’d be spared any cooking, most kitchen prep, and whatever Molesley is expected
to do as butler (see to Matthew, polish silver and shoes, etc.), but still, a
pretty hard life.
Anyway, His Assistant tips off Guy Fawkes that Cora’s
advertising for a ladies’ maid (a little information is a dangerous thing!),
and then they all sit down for a nice bowl of…ugh, what’s in the soup? OH MY
GOD IT WAS SOAP! Surprisingly, Mrs.
Bird is tenderly sympathetic once Daisy explains, through her tears, that she
did it for Mrs. Patmore. Whew. For a second on the first watching, I was sure
we’d actually get to see someone getting her ears boxed (punched), which was a
common form of corporal punishment for servants and children back then, and no
joke, as it could burst your eardrum. And then Thomas makes a poop joke. So
all’s well.
Sybil catches up with the telephone guy because he never
responded to Gwen’s letter. She’s got Edith’s green-and-pink blouse on again
over her own blue skirt, and I don’t really know what to do with this costume.
Anyway, it turns out that Sybil didn’t mention that Gwen was a housemaid, but
this guy’s mother was a housemaid and he has a lot of respect for them, so he
gives her a typing test right then and there. Poor Robert not only can’t use
his library “because one of the housemaids is in there applying for another
job”, but he actually accepts this as
an excuse from Sybil and doesn’t even try to challenge her. This man has a
serious soft spot for his youngest daughter.
Anna’s having tea with Momma Bates. She’s a solid-looking
lady in an equally solid-looking and outdated blouse and skirt. Her clothing and living space is very dark, which is accurate for the time and place and her circumstances but also heightens the mood of mystery and wrongdoing. She tells Anna
that Bates is innocent but that his wife, Vera, is the culprit, and Bates took
the fall for her because he thought his Boer War-induced PTSD had ruined her
life. I can’t quite place her accent. Irish? Anyone?
Servant Scene. Carson blusters at his subordinates, who are
clustered around the new telephone, shoos them out of his pantry, and then,
adorably, practices picking it up and speaking into it a little later. Too bad
Mrs. Gordon the postmistress (telephone exchanges were run through the post
office back then) thinks he’s stupid, but he told her, didn’t he!
Dr. Clarkson is being escorted out by Thomas, who gets his
chance to move up and out by applying for the Territorial Hospitals. Of course,
this means he not only gets to shake off his servant career, but also ensures
he won’t be drafted. Too clever by half. But apparently Molesley has at least one
brain cell working, though, because Carson tells Robert that Molesley reported
Thomas attempting to steal Carson’s wallet. Oh my god, Robert, fire his ass!
What’s all this dithering about waiting for the garden party and Lady Grantham’s
condition? Do you think Cora cares if one thieving footman gets sacked?
Incidentally, the advisor for the production has gone on record saying there
aren’t nearly enough footmen for a
great house at the time; before the war, there would have been at least nine or
ten, but we only ever see Thomas and William, even in passing.
Mrs. Patmore’s back and rocking some badass shades! She
starts right up again with the snarking at Mrs. Bird, but when she discovers
the other cook is an ally against Mrs. Hughes, her Stripes of Authority, and
her iron grip on the store cupboard, she changes her tune so fast I’m surprised
she didn’t get whiplash.
The Dowager Countess is visiting Cora in her purple-and-lace
outfit, while Cora is in that nice pale dress with the pretty shoulder
embellishments from Episode 5. The same outfits the were wearing when Violet got the news of the Pamuk Affair and then, for Cora, when she came in peace to repair the breach it caused. Apparently Cora’s mother wrote to Lady V asking
to come over, but we won’t see Shirley MacLaine for another couple of seasons,
so clearly she headed that off at the pass. Then they talk about the maid
problem again, right in front of
O’Brien, who goes into the bathroom and seethes.
Anna goes in to talk to Robert, who, befitting a Julian
Fellowes nobleman, is totally open to listening to a random housemaid with
information about his valet. But instead, we cut to Cora in her bath, and the
horrible thing that happens next I don’t want to set down in writing. All I can
say is, at least O’Brien reconsidered and tried to stop it, but it was too
late.
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| Source. |
Bates and Robert commiserate about Cora’s miscarriage (there,
I said it *shudder*). Turns out it was a boy,
and Robert is totally devastated. Bates seems strangely unmoved by Robert’s
assurance that he won’t be fired after Robert learned what Anna found out.
Servant Scene. Everyone’s very upset, especially O’Brien.
Branson shows up—hi, Branson! Been keeping a low profile since knocking out one
of the ladies?—and then Thomas, who is disgusting.
He also has nothing to lose, since he’s on his way out, but wow, does he ever
deserve the walloping William gives him once he insults William’s mother again. Strangely, no one stops them for
a few minutes, long enough for dishes to go flying about and a few good punches
to land on both faces, until Branson pulls William up and Carson restrains
Thomas. I’m equally surprised that Thomas, at least, and maybe even William,
wasn’t sacked that minute, but I guess they needed all hands on deck for…
…the garden party! Good job picking the nicest day of the year
(which, as we’ll learn, was apparently August 4 that year). Thomas strides
around with trays of little sandwiches and gets his marching orders from Dr.
Clarkson. So that’s his Season 2 arc taken care of.
Daisy tries to make up with
William, who clearly has not a second to spare at that moment (although if
Thomas had a few minutes to chat up the good doctor, why is William in such a
rush?), although he promises that they’re friends now that she’s out from
“under an evil spell” (hee! Thomas is an evil spell!) and she gets all
gooey-eyed watching him trot off with more trays. Down in the kitchens, Mrs.
Patmore and Mrs. Bird are getting along like a house on fire when the phone
rings and only Branson is brave enough to answer it. He goes dashing up to the
party (remembering, at least to put his jacket on—can’t have him frightening
the ladies in his shirtsleeves!) and pulls Sybil away from a group of said
ladies. Nope. That wouldn’t have happened. Even Sybil wouldn’t have risked the
gossip that would have come of letting the chauffeur whisper in her ear, then
squealing and running off with him, even if she is only 18. She’s out now,
remember? She finds Gwen, tells her that the job at the telephone company is
hers, and they all squeal and jump in a big group hug. No, no, NO! Jesus, Fellowes.
We can forgive the occasional slip-up of
modern phrasing, especially if you’re letting the actors ad-lib sometimes, but
this is ridiculous. For one thing, servants were dirty. Between the actors’ shiny hair and excellent dentistry,
apparently some historians find the show “infuriating to watch”. (LINK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/8980024/Downton-Abbey-servants-are-far-too-clean-says-historian.html
) Think about it: they might—might—have
gotten to bathe a few times a week, but servants could only wash their uniforms
when they weren’t wearing them, and they only had two, anyway. When I worked as
a butler, I changed my undershirt every day, but I was only given two
button-downs by my employers, and they got pretty stinky after a week of
climbing stairs, fetching and carrying, polishing brass, and other cleaning. I
got a few of my own later, mostly so I wouldn’t smell bad most of the
time. And I had much less to do than
these housemaids, much less soot to deal with (remember that Downton Abbey
would have gone through a ton of coal a
day in winter) and much fewer layers of clothing to work in/sweat through.
And don’t get me started on the chauffeur, who basically marinated in grease and gas and
brake fluid and lived in or over the garage. Sybil wouldn’t have wanted to get too
close to any of them in that nice white dress or any other time, I assure you. Not to mention the impropriety of a male chauffeur making unnecessary physical contact with a lady and a female servant. Nope. Nopenopenope. So anyway, Mrs. Hughes comes and puts a stop to it (Gwen is lucky; a housemaid
could have been fired for that display), sends Gwen back to work and Sybil to
her mother so that Branson can’t whisper in her ear again. And quite right,
too. Mrs. Hughes would probably have been like a second mother to the girls in
some ways. Then she tells Branson to be careful because his feelings could cost
him his job and his happiness. He asks her what she means and she’s all like, please, child.
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| Why is the doctor still in wool when everyone else is in summer whites? He must be broiling. |
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| Pictured: a thing that did not happen, anywhere, at any time, ever. |
Mary is strolling with Strallan (stralling?) in her lovely
striped dress and totally, casually, effortlessly, ruins Edith’s chance at
happiness with Sir Anthony by making him think that she (Edith) is dreading his
marriage proposal. Sir Anthony takes is like a champ, and you can’t help but
feel Mary is somewhat justified—you ruin my prospects, dear sister, and I shall
ruin yours—but it’s still pretty cringe-y.
Carson and Mrs. Hughes are patting each other on the back for
a job well done (it’s all in the planning!) with the party when Thomas slithers
up and announces he’s quitting. Couldn’t have planned that any better either!
Poor Edith chases after Sir Anthony, who at least has the grace not to tell her why he’s leaving so soon, or take her to task about why he hasn’t proposed. She’s all confused and hurt, and then she catches sight of Mary looking awfully satisfied with herself, and the camera lingers on her pout turning into something altogether more aware and therefore more dangerous. At least she took Mary’s advice about her dress, if not the hat. The flat, wide, V-shaped collar suits her much better than that puffy thing she wore to the flower show.
O’Brien fusses over Cora, who’s rallied enough to sit in a
chaise lounge and preside over the party, although she still looks sad and
drawn. It’s obvious O’Brien feels pretty guilty, and that only intensifies when
the Dowager Countess catches her and asks her about the letters Cora’s been
receiving about a ladies’ maid. Finally
O’Brien realizes that she was never in danger of being fired (just to make sure
we all get it, Lady V specifically references the one she was discussing with
Cora who did hair in Paris, which O’Brien overheard right before the Bath of
Doom), and the full weight of what she’s done visibly descends on her, making
her heavy black dress all the more apt.
The Ninja Twins have another anguished conversation. Anna learns that Bates is estranged from his wife, which gives her something to think about as she gets back to work. Molesley sidles up to Bates and asks about Anna and if “she’s got someone special”. Bates puts him off. Way to go, Bates! I hope you’d do that even if you weren’t “keen on her” yourself. Molesley looks gratifyingly bummed, and we shift to Mrs. Patmore and Daisy, who’s back to her old ditzy self after her moment of clarity that got her out from under Thomas’ “evil spell”. Ices (ice cream), Daisy, not iced cakes!
The Ninja Twins have another anguished conversation. Anna learns that Bates is estranged from his wife, which gives her something to think about as she gets back to work. Molesley sidles up to Bates and asks about Anna and if “she’s got someone special”. Bates puts him off. Way to go, Bates! I hope you’d do that even if you weren’t “keen on her” yourself. Molesley looks gratifyingly bummed, and we shift to Mrs. Patmore and Daisy, who’s back to her old ditzy self after her moment of clarity that got her out from under Thomas’ “evil spell”. Ices (ice cream), Daisy, not iced cakes!
Mary and Matthew are having it out under what I think is the
same tree as their last argument. Of course Mary wants to marry him now, since
he’s the heir again, but Matthew isn’t having it. It’s pretty painful to watch.
I think it counts as a breakup talk, and I hate those. Mary breaks down
completely.
Lady V turns on Rosamund for meddling. Rosamund defends herself by saying she has to speak her mind, which is a lousy excuse. Nobody else does, after all! Rosamund is in black and white, which is apt, considering how she sees the world.
Carson comes over to comfort Mary. Aww.
Lady V turns on Rosamund for meddling. Rosamund defends herself by saying she has to speak her mind, which is a lousy excuse. Nobody else does, after all! Rosamund is in black and white, which is apt, considering how she sees the world.
Carson comes over to comfort Mary. Aww.
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| Seriously, no one is having fun at this party except Sybil, Gwen, and possibly Thomas. |
Violet and Isobel are discussing the foolishness of their
offspring; Violet assures Isobel that she told Mary to take Matthew when she
could, and Isobel confesses that she thinks Matthew, who’s stalking around the
party in high dudgeon, is making a mistake himself. I love Isobel’s modern
suit with its dramatic lapels. Lady V is in her summer whites from 1909,
because of course she is.
Robert is fussing over Cora when Carson gives him a telegraph
that makes him stop the music and announce that war has been declared with
Germany.
We get a catalog of everyone’s reaction shots (except Thomas and
William, for some reason), and Robert’s shocked face ends the season.
There you have it, folks! See you soon for Season 2!
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| The man in black, bearing down on the happy(ish) couple. |
There you have it, folks! See you soon for Season 2!
