# Downton Abbey S4 - spoiler-free until broadcast in the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844 "2013-03-02T19:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/401 "2014-02-08T14:39:18Z")
can somebody point me to the if DA were on FB link for the latest? can’t find it and I always find that funny 😛 ---
**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:** [February 8, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/402 "2014-02-08T18:24:30Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > can somebody point me to the if DA were on FB link for the latest? can’t find it and I always find that funny 😛 Here ya go. > [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Another [Downton Abbey on Facebook](http://happyplace.someecards.com/29059/downton-abbey-facebook-recap-season-4-episode-5/page/1). ---
**Author:** ![Bains\_Fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bains\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bains_Fan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/403 "2014-02-09T16:37:24Z")
> [@InsomniaMama](#): > > Sorry about the spoiler, everyone. Um, they get some pigs. I hope that doesn’t ruin the whole story arc for anyone. 🙂 It might be the climax of the season!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/404 "2014-02-10T01:41:04Z")
Wait, I think they were penguins or cows or albatross. I forget. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/405 "2014-02-10T05:20:26Z")
I looked it up. Charles was right about watering the pigs gradually, if they’re dehydrated. I was waiting for one of them to suggest fixing the trough so it doesn’t tip over again, but maybe that’s for the Pig Man to worry about. Loved the ending, when Bates saw the light. Literally – there was a light on his face. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/406 "2014-02-10T15:02:20Z")
thanks for the link, Thelma Lou!! - OMG, that is hysterical > [@Bains\_Fan](#): > > It might be the climax of the season!:smack: so, I’m not the only losing interest? ☹ > [@](#): > > Loved the ending, when Bates saw the light. Literally – there was a light on his face. dang, I should have stayed on - I gave up halfway through…and it was last week’s episode now that I think of it - so I didn’t see that. I really am losing interest. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/407 "2014-02-10T15:16:20Z")
It’s still got me hooked. The scene where Mary and the government guy are watering the pigs in their evening wear, and getting filthier and filthier, was very funny. I also liked the Dowager Countess’s illness, recovery and dutiful card-playing with Isobel. Here’s the Royal Navy warship and captain mentioned by Lord Gillingham and the government guy: > **[HMS Iron Duke (1912)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Iron_Duke_(1912))** > > HMS Iron Duke was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class, named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, and her keel laid in January 1912. Launched ten months later, she was commissioned into the Home Fleet in March 1914 as the fleet flagship. She was armed with a main battery of ten 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns and was capable of a top speed of 21.25 knots (39.36 km/h; 24.45 mph). > Iron Duke served as the flagshi... > **[Frederic Charles Dreyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Charles_Dreyer)** > > Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, GBE, KCB (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland. He retired with the rank of admiral in 1943, having served through two world wars and having already retired once. > Frederic Dreyer was born on 8 January 1878 in the Irish town of Parsonstown (now Birr) in King's County (now ... ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/408 "2014-02-10T15:17:08Z")
I loved the way Rosamund really came into her own in this episode. She gave Edith the kind of emotional support that Mary and Cora would have been incapable of. She was honest but steel-strong. When Edith said at the doctor’s office what she thought Rosamund “must be feeling,” the other woman said with appropriate candor, “I don’t know what I’m feeling.” And, let’s face it, you wouldn’t. So glad Edith didn’t go through with it. I hope Bates doesn’t kill Gillingham’s man and we have to watch him sit in jail again all next season. :rolleyes: But then I guess they’d hang him sooner rather than later. I loved it when Mary asked Anna if she was aloof, and Anna said, “Do you want me to answer honestly or as a lady’s maid would?” Of course Mary and Blake (?) are [del]doomed[/del] destined to be together. As are Tom Branson and the woman he sat next to at the lecture. Did y’all catch Mary’s fleeting reference to Thomas Barrow’s sexual preference when she was talking to Robert about the sea voyage? “All those deck stewards all over the place…” Robert: “What do you know of such things?” Mary: “I was married. I know everything.” I’m not panting at the screen every week, but still curious enough to keep watching. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/409 "2014-02-10T15:46:23Z")
It was a little silly (and Daisy’s attitude is starting to get boring) but I kind of liked the side story about Carson and Mrs. Hughes trying to avoid having Alfred show up for a visit. It was light-hearted but rang true that it would be a headache for the senior staff to have young girls (though Daisy is not really that young any more) and handsome footmen around. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/410 "2014-02-10T15:59:48Z")
I thought this was the episode of the season. I do tend to like the melodrama where nothing much seems to happen otherwise (well, I guess aside from Edith going all “Papa don’t preach”) - its classic Downton at its best. Back to silly soap please, and no more of Bates in jail plots, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/411 "2014-02-10T16:18:17Z")
Gods, that pig scene was so predictable it was painful. Seriously, they throw mud at each afterward? That was cute the first 306,789,213 times it’s been done, but has lost luster the next 974,810,013 times… Ugh. That said, there were two really spectacular little acting moments for me this episode: [ol] [li]The look on Mary’s face after Evelyn remarks about Blake now being competition for her. I wish I could get a screencap of it - just absolutely perfect.[/li][li]The Dowager during the card game: “Goody goody.” She sold it just well enough for Isobel to believe it. Also perfect.[/li][/ol] ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/412 "2014-02-10T17:18:53Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > \*\*I thought this was the episode of the season. \*\*I do tend to like the melodrama where nothing much seems to happen otherwise (well, I guess aside from Edith going all “Papa don’t preach”) - its classic Downton at its best. Back to silly soap please, and no more of Bates in jail plots, etc. My bold. The _\_ episode of the season?? ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/413 "2014-02-10T17:37:59Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Did y’all catch Mary’s fleeting reference to Thomas Barrow’s sexual preference when she was talking to Robert about the sea voyage? “All those deck stewards all over the place…” Robert: “What do you know of such things?” Mary: “I was married. I know everything.” Don’t be vulgah! 😃 I hope we get to see the boys in America, but if Robert loses all the money again I’ll scream. Hughes and Patmore’s “We have the FLU” farce was priceless. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/414 "2014-02-10T18:51:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > My bold. > > The _\_ episode of the season?? Ooops sorry, I guess I was trying to be mysterious ;). The BEST episode of the season. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/415 "2014-02-10T19:10:59Z")
They really let the female characters shine last night. Isobel helping Violet, Rosamund helping Edith, Mrs. Hughes and her fury at the rapist – all so well done. But we need to kill off Brooding Bates and Jimmy the Chic. They’re tiresome as fuck. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/416 "2014-02-10T19:20:34Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > They really let the female characters shine last night. Isobel helping Violet, Rosamund helping Edith, Mrs. Hughes and her fury at the rapist – all so well done. But we need to kill off Brooding Bates and Jimmy the Chic. They’re tiresome as fuck. Agreed. And the Ivy/Daisy friction … somebody go get laid and get over it. On the other hand, Mary’s “I’ve been married – I know everything” was hilarious and the best line all season. And “goody goody”. I actually thought she was sincere. 🙂 ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/417 "2014-02-10T20:02:01Z")
I thought so too! But my wife didn’t. I suspect Fellowes has a word-processing macro so that every time Ivy says something nice to or about Albert, Daisy whirls on her and says “What do you care?” or words to the effect. Enough is enough. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/418 "2014-02-10T20:12:43Z")
The point of all of that is that now Ivy, having seen what a cad Jimmy is, has taken a shine to Albert. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/419 "2014-02-10T20:53:39Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The point of all of that is that now Ivy, having seen what a cad Jimmy is, has taken a shine to Albert. Which is kinda silly, since she has no way of knowing whether Albert wouldn’t be just as grabby as Jimmy. Just because Albert is shy around her in the kitchen doesn’t mean he’d behave like a gentleman if they were alone, in the dark, on a park bench. Keeping Albert away from the house was silly too. There’s no more conflict in a short visit than there was when he worked there, and while it was a distraction, it didn’t bring down the house. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844/420 "2014-02-10T22:00:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I thought so too! But my wife didn’t. > > I suspect Fellowes has a word-processing macro so that every time Ivy says something nice to or about Albert, Daisy whirls on her and says “What do you care?” or words to the effect. Enough is enough. Daisy needs to grow the hell up. I really did enjoy Violet and Isobel bonding, and Rosamund was perfection. I hope we keep seeing more of her. Rose could go back to wherever she came from and I wouldn’t miss her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s4-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/651844.md?page=22)