# Downton Abbey S3 - spoiler-free until broadcast in the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791 "2013-01-02T01:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/181 "2013-01-15T16:16:43Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Thank you for this. I do believe I may have solved the mystery!Would taking arsenic for a period of time cause a glow? Maybe because it collects in the hair? As in a famous mystery story from around the same period, which I won’t name because that would be more of a spoiler, could Vera have planned to murder _Bates_ all along? She took arsenic in small doses over time to develop an immunity, then baked it into her pie, intending to serve both of them and have only Bates die, herself seeming innocent because she ate the pie too. Then Bates didn’t partake, but Vera did, and somehow miscalculated and overdosed herself? I could definitely see Downton going this classic British mystery route. Iocane powder!! It comes from Australia. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/182 "2013-01-15T16:36:26Z")
That’d be a brilliant solution, but is it reasonable for Anna or Bates or a judge or a lawyer to be able to figure it out? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/183 "2013-01-15T17:43:27Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > …Still not sure why they keep Thomas around, except for the ratings… Agreed. In the real world, he would’ve been long gone, never ever to return, after being caught stealing wine. Even now, there are witnesses to his recent naughtiness in advising the Very Tall New Footman on how to remove a stain (i.e. badly damage) Matthew’s dinner jacket, and making Mosley his patsy in falsely suggesting that O’Brien would soon be leaving Downton Abbey. Carson already dislikes and distrusts Thomas. O’Brien could easily get him fired… but that wouldn’t be as entertaining as seeing him remain on staff but on the receiving end of her dirty tricks. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/184 "2013-01-15T18:10:07Z")
I don’t think you can build immunity to arsenic. Doesn’t it just build up in the system until you reach a toxic level? Although, it’s entirely possible that she was misinformed and that’s what she _thought_ she was doing. . . ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/185 "2013-01-15T18:24:29Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > …"Things you could brought to my attention YESTERDAY…Now she’s a jilted woman, tarnished, aging, in a country bereft of men fitting her station and snobbery, much less ones she likes who conveniently live near her family. Left at the altar by a man twice her age? That’s beyond humiliating. At least if he said something before the ceremony they could pass it off as _Edith_ breaking the engagment. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Even now, there are witnesses to his recent naughtiness in advising the Very Tall New Footman on how to remove a stain (i.e. badly damage) Matthew’s dinner jacket, and making Mosley his patsy in falsely suggesting that O’Brien would soon be leaving Downton Abbey… Thomas admited to giving Alfred advice, but there weren’t any witnesses when he actually showed him what chemical to use so he has plausible denibility there (plus Carson was unsure about Alfred’s skills to begin with, and definatly not happy over how O’Brien got her nephew hired). And Mosley already has a reputation as a drunk, plus O’Brien’s the only person he told about Thomas and she has other plans for Thomas (as opposed to having Mosley rat him out to Carson). O’Brien played several pranks on Ethel that both Mrs Hughes and Lady Grantham are aware of. Thomas is in the same position as O’Brien; he answers directly to his master, not Carson. Nobody downstairs really has any contol over him, and Lord Grantham is just as blind & ignorant about Thomas as his wife is about O’Brien. And O’Brien’s done far, _far_ worse things than Thomas. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/186 "2013-01-15T18:32:24Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Nobody downstairs really has any contol over him, and Lord Grantham is just as blind & ignorant about Thomas as his wife is about O’Brien. And O’Brien’s done far, _far_ worse things than Thomas. As evidenced by the fact that he asks, “Are you not popular downstairs, Thomas?” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/187 "2013-01-15T19:20:22Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > It’s Edith. Why do people keep spelling it with a y? 😕 Because, for some reason, that’s how I thought it was spelled. ---
**Author:** ![raindrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@raindrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindrop)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/188 "2013-01-15T20:15:37Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I don’t think you can . . . I’m guessing this was in reply to something in the last couple of spoiler boxes? So now it didn’t help that I opted NOT to click on the spoiler boxes? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/189 "2013-01-15T20:57:52Z")
> [@raindrop](#): > > I’m guessing this was in reply to something in the last couple of spoiler boxes? So now it didn’t help that I opted NOT to click on the spoiler boxes? :dubious: I refuse to participate in boxing guesses. That’s just ridiculous. Nobody is giving actual answers here. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/190 "2013-01-15T21:17:29Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I refuse to participate in boxing guesses. That’s just ridiculous. Nobody is giving actual answers here. [Shouldn’t spoiler boxes be restricted to [actual] “spoilers”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617660) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/191 "2013-01-15T21:51:43Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I don’t think you can build immunity to arsenic. Doesn’t it just build up in the system until you reach a toxic level? Although, it’s entirely possible that she was misinformed and that’s what she _thought_ she was doing. . . According to [The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2757/what-poisons-can-i-safely-take-to-build-immunity-to-toxic-substances), you can build a tolerance (not an immunity) to arsenic, and, as mentioned in a spoiler box above, arsenic tolerance is a well-known device in British mysteries dating from the time period of Downton Abbey. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/192 "2013-01-15T22:05:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > [Shouldn’t spoiler boxes be restricted to [actual] “spoilers”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617660) I reckon all us goofballs think alike. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/193 "2013-01-15T22:08:00Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > [Shouldn’t spoiler boxes be restricted to [actual] “spoilers”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617660) OK, sorry. I thought anyone who didn’t want to have a guess spoiled wouldn’t want to see my joke based on a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/194 "2013-01-15T23:25:50Z")
Lord Fellows is just giving general “here’s the situation” pointers to the cast just before saying “Action!” rather than writing the show this season, isn’t he? Does anybody think that Mary is _supposed_ to be portrayed as unlikable? She has a choice of using her husband’s one time only-will never happen again-out of the sky huge inheritance (again, there isn’t going to be any more) to prop up a white elephant that has twice very nearly been lost to financial catastrophe in her father’s lifetime. The first time it was saved by Robert’s marriage to the American, the second time if it’s saved it will be to the Legacy of Lavinia, but both times have proven irrefutably that the palace is not and cannot be supported without massive quantities of _outside_ money, and even that is only a temporary fix. Or, she can sell it and live in a sprawling mansion that, apparently, can be easily supported by the family’s revenues into near perpetuity. Let’s go with the palace. And what would Lavinia’s dad have left? The equivalent of $100 million in today’s USD? Because in any era it would take the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars in today’s currency to sustain that beautiful monstrosity. Also, if Robert can break the unbreakable entail to sell the palace, I wonder why he couldn’t break it to leave a larger inheritance to his daughters. I also wondered how Cora’s father would _ever_ let that one slide since he could easily have stopped it as he was under no compulsion at all to add to the Crawley fortunes and could have clearly stated “This money is earmarked for my daughter and her children, not for House Crawley” with her dowry. Plus Violet doesn’t live at Downton but in a mansionette presumably nearby owned by the family as part of the village. Why would she have to move? Clearly they can divorce the village from the palace- they said as much. Lots of loopholes. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/195 "2013-01-15T23:30:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Because in any era it would take the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars in today’s currency to sustain that beautiful monstrosity. In the documentary, didn’t they say upkeep was about a million a year? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/196 "2013-01-15T23:31:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Also, if Robert can break the unbreakable entail to sell the palace, I wonder why he couldn’t break it to leave a larger inheritance to his daughters. This was a major plot point in the first season. Robert refused to separate the title from the estate. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/197 "2013-01-16T00:42:01Z")
I think Cora’s dad was already dead at the time of her marriage, and the very young Cora was bullied into signing a sort of pre-nup, tying whatever money she had into the original (entailed) estate. ---
**Author:** ![raindrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@raindrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindrop)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/198 "2013-01-16T00:56:54Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I refuse to participate in boxing guesses. That’s just ridiculous. Nobody is giving actual answers here. Yes, I see your point. Except, since I hadn’t clicked on the spoiler box there was no way to know if your reply was revealing a real spoiler or not. But besides that, in my view, if I decide to opt out of clicking a spoiler box, you don’t get to take away my option just because you think the spoiler box contents aren’t valid spoiler box contents. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/199 "2013-01-16T01:20:46Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > I think Cora’s dad was already dead at the time of her marriage, and the very young Cora was bullied into signing a sort of pre-nup, tying whatever money she had into the original (entailed) estate. [QUOTE=Martha Levinson] Because your grampa tied the money down; he felt that the Crawley family had had quite enough. [/QUOTE] Mr Levinson was alive when Cora got married (or at least engaged) and was aware where her dowry was going. Now it’s possible he did die before the details of the marriage settlement & entail were worked out, but he knew Cora’s money was going to be tied up in the estate. Besides it would’ve gone to Cora’s heirs, if only she bore a son. It doesn’t look like it ever occured to anyone that would’ve been a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/200 "2013-01-16T03:15:45Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > I think Cora’s dad was already dead at the time of her marriage, and the very young Cora was bullied into signing a sort of pre-nup, tying whatever money she had into the original (entailed) estate. I see it more as, “Oh, but Daddy! I love him! And he loves me! If I can help save his estate with my inheritance, I really should! Why wouldn’t I? Please, Daddy!” And Daddy couldn’t say no to his little girl. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791.md?page=11)