His mellowness creeps me out and I didn’t like the way he told Daisy in the fourth episode of season 1 “Don’t be so nasty Daisy, it doesn’t suit you.”. Yeah, Daisy was being kind of a brat, talking about Mrs. Hughes behind her back, but the way Bates said it to her, like he was her frickin’ father or something. Just rubbed me the wrong way.
And the fact that he felt it necessary to admit to having been a drunk and a thief AND to think that he deserved to be fired AND that he somehow “took advantage of [Lord Grantham’s] kindness”? WTF?
Then his refusal to rat Thomas out for ANYTHING after Thomas a) tries to frame him, b) steals wine and Carson’s wallet. Yeah, I can understand feeling bad about getting somebody fired, but there’s a limit to how long Thomas’ treachery can continue! What, is he hoping to be nominated for sainthood in the future or something?
Then his limp mysteriously disappears and reappears.
And why did they name him Bates? If he has a son, the kid will be called “Young Master Bates”.
The actor used to be on a show called Lark Rise to Candleford, set in a rural village during the 1890s, and he was supposed to be the moral anchor of the show, but really he was a slightly intimidating figure who seemed to be on valium due to issues with barely contained rage.
Not only do I like him, I think he’s the only attractive/sexy man at Downton.
The OP’s criticisms would be appropriate for a modern man in a modern situation. In his time and place- a rigidly structured world- with his history, he was behaving completely appropriately.
Yes, I like both the character and the actor, and find the Bates/Anna romance plot the only one that has consistently held my interest, long after shorter arcs of the various daughters and their paramours pall.
I guess I could see how his imperturbability could come off as a little creepy, but Bates is just about the only thing about DA that rises above meh for me. Outstanding actor in an outstandingly nuanced role and, IMVHO, the glue that holds the series together.
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s part of having honor. Bates served in the military with Lord Grantham as his valet/batman and acquired a code above that of the ordinary workingman (but of course, as Tom Cruise said, “You don’t need to wear a patch on your arm to have honor”).
I’ve liked him from the beginning, but I’m partial to characters who are badly treated and rise above it.
Hijack: I’m hoping Ms. Mardle on Mr. Selfridge manages to behave like Bates in the second season. If you weren’t watching, she’s a 40-ish woman who gave her youth to a man married to an invalid. When the man’s wife finally died, he dumped Mardle for a younger woman. Mardle could make things difficult for him and that would be satisfying, but I’m hoping she pulls a Bates and lets it go.
I can’t think of Bates and his limp without picturing Steve Higgins’ version of the character–who has an iron foot–in “Downton Sixbey” (on Jimmy Fallon’s show).
Aside from that: I have no problem with the Bates character. But then I’m not particularly emotionally involved with that show (though I do watch it).
The Bates Anna relationship is unbelievable, Anna character is never defined enough to explain why she likes him and why she goes though so much trouble to be with him. I liked him in the beginning, but he isn’t an interesting enough character to be the center of the plots for entire episodes, which he is often.
IMHO there is no “why” to why people love each other. It often doesn’t make sense, even to the participants. She goes through so much because she loves him and because she has honor, too.
He is *often *the center of the plot for entire episodes? I hadn’t noticed. I actually wanted to see more of him (outside of jail, that is… that particular trope dragged on too long).
The supposed timeline of DA also bugs me. We’re what, a decade in and no one has particularly aged (or grown up) and there have been almost no promotions or changes in the staff. Tradition, continuity and knowing one’s place are all fine, but the entire cast has a case of the Lieutenant Sulus.
Non fiction doesn’t need to make sense, fiction does. He does have honor, but she was willing to throw hers away for her love for him, why? ‘She loves him that’s all you need to know’, great, that would be enough if this was a Disney movie.
I’m sorry, did you just say that Bates is often at the center of the plot on many episodes?
HAHAHA no. What show have you been watching and can I watch that one instead? He typically has only a few minutes of screen time per episode. In series 3 especially, he was seriously underused.
Bates and Anna are really the only reason I watch the show. I love their relationship (and I think Bates is the sexiest man on the show btw, so I’ve got no trouble understanding why Anna loves him.) I am completely bored by Mary’s continual romantic drama.
I like Bates fine. I hated the prison subplot so much that I thought about fast-forwarding through those scenes. It felt like a cheap soap-opera, which is what the show has turned into at this point anyway.