# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/161 "2013-01-14T17:49:41Z")
The cellmate, who doesn’t like Bates and is running something with the guards, planted something in Bates’ bed–definitely seemed like white paper rolled and wrapped in a piece of burlap (dope? hash? opium?). During their exercise (which I definitely a slight limp on Bates there) another prisoner warned Bates. He dug around and found the item as the guards popped in, he was able to jam the item into the mortar of the wall. Bates time in prison will be stressful and hellish since he will cosntantly have to watch his back. Is aresenic deadly poisonous to touch? My thought with the detail about Vera washing her hands so roughly was that she had intended to make the poison pie for Bates, and accidentally poisoned herself in the preparation. ---
**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 14, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/162 "2013-01-14T17:59:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Looks like she’s fallen on hard times and turned to prostitution, and wanted help for her child (who would be two or three years old by now, I guess). They offered to recognize the child and raise him, but without Ethel. The cover story they came up to tell him was that Ethel was a nurse, married their son, and died in the Flu Pandemic. Ethel decided to keep Charley and now regrets it. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I sort of remember that, but the tension around her seeking out Mrs. C makes me wonder if yet another ugly family secret is about to hit the light of day. Why did the girl retreat saying, “This was a mistake”? I think it’s the humiliation of having someone from her old life know just how far she’s fallen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/163 "2013-01-14T19:47:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I tell ya, it was the newspaper mogul who had her killed. Why would he do that? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/164 "2013-01-14T20:01:43Z")
> [@aktep](#): > > Doing so, he found “something” (contraband? weapon? I couldn’t tell) just before the co-conspiring guard came in to search his bed. He managed to hide it in the wall. I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of this incident. [Opium](https://twitter.com/brendancoyle99/status/290861397955452928). > [@Shodan](#): > > On a lighter note, what happened to Bates’ limp? I didn’t see any sign of it when he was walking in the circle in prison. I rather doubt he got hold of another Limp Corrector[sup]TM[/sup] in prison. Julian Fellowes & Brendan Coyle have said in interviews that since the limp is due to an old war injury, it can flare up and be pretty bad or could be better at times. (Which of course is really just an excuse in case he forgets to limp during a scene, but at least there’s an in-story reasoning.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/165 "2013-01-14T20:15:00Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > [Opium](https://twitter.com/brendancoyle99/status/290861397955452928). > > Julian Fellowes & Brendan Coyle have said in interviews that since the limp is due to an old war injury, it can flare up and be pretty bad or could be better at times. (Which of course is really just an excuse in case he forgets to limp during a scene, but at least there’s an in-story reasoning.) He needs to friend a guard himself and plant the same opium on his cellmate. Shouldn’t be hard for the wealthy folks who believe in him to slip a guard a pound or 2(hundred). ---
**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 14, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/166 "2013-01-14T20:18:05Z")
Good to know, on both counts - thanks. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/167 "2013-01-14T20:43:12Z")
Since this wedding was to have happened so quickly, why was there no Martha Levinson? She claimed to not know how long she would stay, and since another granddaughter is getting married, I don’t understand why she is gone with no mention. Very odd. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/168 "2013-01-14T20:43:37Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Why would he do that? Wasn’t she getting ready to blow the whistle on some of his nefarious activities? I can’t remember back that far. ---
**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 14, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/169 "2013-01-14T20:50:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Why did the girl retreat saying, “This was a mistake”? Twice! > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Wasn’t she getting ready to blow the whistle on some of his nefarious activities? I can’t remember back that far. She was trying to get the Pamuk story published, I think. ---
**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 14, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/170 "2013-01-14T22:22:43Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > And if there’s significance to Mrs. Bartlett telling Anna that Vera scrubbed her fingers until they were raw, when she made that pie crust. Looks like Vera put the arsenic in the pie, to poison Bates, but then why would she eat it herself? That was my thought. She was going to poison Bates, but then he didn’t come back that evening or something and she ate it herself? I don’t know, but if the arsenic was baked in the pie, they can hardly think baked it. ---
**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, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/171 "2013-01-15T00:39:14Z")
Here’s what wiki says about Vera and Richard: > [@](#): > > Bates is taken aback when Vera promises to expose old secrets about Mary and Pamuk’s death, as he as paid her to divorce him and thought she was satisfied. When Mary discovers this, she confesses everything to Richard Carlisle and asks him to help, since she accepts his offer of marriage. He accepts and expresses his pleasure that she is now in his debt. She returns to Downton, and he succeeds in binding Vera to an exclusive contract with binding confidentiality obligations, thereby silencing her. He announces his engagement to Mary in the newspaper without informing her. Carlisle tricks Vera into signing a contract, preventing her from selling the story to anyone else, but on finding out, she warns that she will still bring ruin to Bates. I’d forgotten all of that. I’d be surprised if Richard was involved. With his engagement to Mary called off, he has no reason to protect her reputation. How did Vera find out about Mary and Pamuk in the first place? ---
**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, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/172 "2013-01-15T00:51:46Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Matthew, for all I was in lust with him, is being an utter douche. Why wouldn’t he save his own estate? What am I missing? His refusal didn’t make any sense. Guilt. It’s a powerful thing. In his heart, Matthew feels like he murdered Lavinia by betraying her through his kiss with Mary. He wants desperately to absolve the guilt he feels. First he planned to punish himself by never having a relationship with Mary. Now that he has failed miserably in that attempt and married her, he sees a second route to absolution through an act of charity – he gives away all of “Lavinia’s” money and his sin will be wiped clean. Fortunately it looks like Mr. Swire’s letter has finally released him. There is a clear parallel here to _Mary’s_ guilt over Mr. Pamuk. She too felt she needed absolution, and tried staying away from Matthew as punishment for her actions. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/173 "2013-01-15T03:02:41Z")
I was horrified for poor Edith, which still surprises me because I hated her so much in S1. I do wish she had gone all Wedding Singer on him: “Things you could brought to my attention YESTERDAY.” He implies that he’s doing it because he loves her, but he embarrasses her and her family in front of everyone they know (except her other grandmother, apparently… and Bates). For the social class and mores of the time, she’s effectively ruined, whereas just about any other time would have been embarrassing, but a little less traumatizing. While I hate that it was like that, the truth is, what is left for her now? Under all the circumstances, it was a good match for her. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/174 "2013-01-15T03:50:57Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > How did Vera find out about Mary and Pamuk in the first place? IIRC, she got a job as a maid in another house (the Flintshires, I think?) who had known the Turkish ambassador, and heard about the scandal from another maid who worked there. Vera pretended she already knew the details, as she said that her husband works in the house where Pamuk died, so that the other maid actually told her what happened. ---
**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, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/175 "2013-01-15T04:13:17Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > …There is a clear parallel here to _Mary’s_ guilt over Mr. Pamuk. She too felt she needed absolution, and tried staying away from Matthew as punishment for her actions. Ooo, I hadn’t thought of that. Good catch. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/176 "2013-01-15T04:51:08Z")
That was a curious scene (in the first episode) with Lady Crawley offering wedding-night advice to Mary. Wasn’t she one of the people who helped remove Mr. Pamuk from Mary’s bedchamber? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/177 "2013-01-15T05:28:35Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, he’s just British. Of course, he was married before… You’re right. A gay man in that period would never get married. Oh, wait, he almost certainly would. I’m thinking he doesn’t want to go thru that stress again. ---
**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, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/178 "2013-01-15T05:41:24Z")
I felt sorry for Edyth. I thought it was pretty clear that Strallan got cold feet only after overhearing the Grandmother loudly condemning the marriage right before the ceremony. Maybe Edyth can hook up with the newly divorced dude. I like that they’re thawing out O’Brien. Still not sure why they keep Thomas around, except for the ratings. Agree that the subplot where Lavinia wrote to her father on her deathbed was ludicrous. So, let’s see. Your future father-in-law married a woman for the sole purpose of bailing out Downton Abbey. He loses it all. While I might bail out Downton because it was MY future, no way would I give one red penny to the man who was so stupid he put all his money into one venture. Once again, I felt like there were scenes left on the cutting room floor, mainly involving Mrs. Hughes learning the results of her biopsy. Vera’s neighbor’s story was odd. She said the last time she saw her, it was drizzling out, and Vera was “glowing” like she had a halo. That’s got to be a clue to something, but I don’t know what. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/179 "2013-01-15T05:44:11Z")
It’s Edith. Why do people keep spelling it with a y? 😕 ---
**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, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791/180 "2013-01-15T06:05:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Vera’s neighbor’s story was odd. She said the last time she saw her, it was drizzling out, and Vera was “glowing” like she had a halo. That’s got to be a clue to something, but I don’t know what. 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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s3-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/645791.md?page=10)