Ok, just now finished episode 5. Funny how everything makes more sense now. And now I know what happened to the letter opener – what a relief. I haven’t slept in days. That was a great scene. Game, set, match to Violet, as the doctor said.
So what do people (who didn’t watch ahead accidentally) think has happened to Edith’s man? Seems likely that an actual tragedy or misadventure has befallen him, rather than just that he got to sleep with her and is now avoiding her because he’s a cad…
Well, actually, what happens is … a secret.
Har har
I thought Robert was taken aback when he first saw the bandleader, but he recovered nicely. And did anyone else think it was a little weird for the male bandleader to sing, “I’m Just Wild About Harry”?
And I’m sympathetic to Molesley’s situation, but given what we’ve learned about all of the estates closing, surely fewer butlers and other servants are needed than in decades past. So his options are limited. He should consider getting out of service.
Good episode.
Sorry Anna’s and Bates’s night out was such a flop. I laughed when she was talking, back in their cottage, about the shadows still around them… as they sat in the light of a single lamp, surrounded by shadows! Mmm, anvilicious.
Funny to see Mrs. Patmore thinking impure thoughts about Rudolph Valentino.
Told ya so about Lloyd George and the two men from HMG.
The song “I’m Just Wild About Harry” would’ve only been a year old at the time, and had an interesting racial dimension to it: I'm Just Wild About Harry - Wikipedia
We should have seen Isobel grind out an apology to Lady Violet for having assumed she would never, ever ask Peg back to work as a gardener. She really crossed the line as a self-important, nib-nosey do-gooder this time 'round.
And I could see Rose was going to end up in the band leader’s arms again.
If Edith adds another kid to the nursery, it could be Downton Babby.
Watched it again and it appears Edith is contemplating an abortion or a trip to America. When her father comes in while she’s crying she says she just wants to know so she can plan ahead.
Re the black bandleader: I thought everyone, Robert included, was more shocked that he was a musician talking and interacting with the guests than that he was black. In the past, they would have had a string quartet up In the rafters somewhere out of sight. After all, they were going to make Nellie Melba eat on a tray in her room because she appeared on stage in the THEE-uh-tuh.
I thought that was weirdly homoerotic too. The first time I saw this episode I has half expecting to find him making out with Thomas. As to Molesley getting out of service; what do you suggest he do? He doesn’t seem to have any transferable job skills (though hotels or restaurants would probably be options).
Not by this date. That specific prohibition had been repealed by the 1907 Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act.
I was sure this was a joke until I googled it.
I guess there’s no doubt about what the Act does – just like it says on the tin. And (without getting overtly political) a nice contrast to recent American law-naming, which has gotten Orwellian in calling things the opposite of what they intend.
You weren’t the only one. Maybe he’s bisexual and there will be a love triangle with him, Rose, and Thomas.
Good episode. The characters had some real development. Carson was not just the stately old butler, solid as the Abbey, but showed how petty, snobbish and mean he can be. Bates is reacting selfishly to his wife’s rape, not as the saintly innocent. And Mrs. Crowley is out-maneuvered by Violet - delicious, because Violet is completely in the wrong (of course) and still winds up on top.
Holy rabbit test, Batman - Edith is preggers! And by a still-married man! I suppose she is off to visit her other grandmother in America, and then her boyfriend will turn up as Gauleiter of the nascent Nazi party or something. Or, as mentioned, marry her off to Tom in a marriage of convenience, and then Tom and her boyfriend can fight a saber duel, Tom gets killed, and we can have another murder trial.
And that speech from Alfred about how well he has been treated was very, very touching. I hope they don’t write him out of the series, because the interaction between him and Daisy is too interesting.
Snobbery seems to be the theme, both the bad side and (so to speak) the good side. Carson’s snobbery towards Mosely, Violet’s snobbery towards Peg and Isobel, the two estate inspectors towards the Granthams, Tom’s discomfort in Downton Abbey, and yet the flip side of Alfred’s being grateful for the noblesse oblige of Carson and of the family, and Cora’s ability to slap the maître de down by simply appearing and speaking to Bates and Anna, and using her position to force him to treat them politely.
Great stuff. My wife and I haven’t enjoyed a soap opera this much since the end of Thirtysomething.
Regards,
Shodan
Perhaps Edith is considering fleeing to Germany to look for her guy?
Who is probably reconciled with his wife and expecting a baby with her, too! 
Notice how painfully uncomfortable they were with his gratitude speech? It was sincere, heartfelt, sweet and appropriate and I thought Lord Grantham was going to crawl under a table. Rose was shooting amused looks, as you would when someone makes an amusing faux pas. I guess we just don’t emote upstairs.
I didn’t get that vibe. They looked sort of condescending, like he was a puppy doing a cute little trick, but more along the lines of “isn’t it sweet how the lesser mortals respond when they are handled with kindness”. They were looking down their noses at him, but with approval.
It doesn’t make them any less snobs - more so, if anything, because it confirms that their attitudes towards the servant class are correct. It reminded me in a way of how some Southern people used to pride themselves on “being good with the colored folks” - they knew how to talk to their inferiors without offending them, so long as they kept their place and were properly grateful to the good white folks who took care of them.
Sure, they were thinking “the footman is going to go off and be a cook - how quaint, good little doggy”, but the basic humiliation of being forced into a servile role because you have no better options, as is the case with Mosely, doesn’t occur to them.
I thought that was the point of the Carson-Mosely interaction. Snobs need someone to look down on, and Carson has internalized the snobbery of the house. So he needs to humiliate Mosely to rub in that Mosely can be a footman, but he can’t ever be anything like an equal to anyone in the house. He is one of the lower classes - he needs to be properly grateful for any crumbs they throw him. He can’t have any dignity on his own - he has to rely only on the dignity of the house, and subordinate himself to it.
Mosely is so desperate for work that he is willing to serve the servants’ tea. IOW so desperate that he will serve the servants. The lowest of the low. “And don’t forget your gloves!” says Carson. So the dirty touch of the inferior don’t contaminate the food of his betters.
It’s really nasty, but it shows the ingrained snobbishness of Carson and the servant hierarchy. Alfred has moved up, so someone else has to be pushed in, and pushed down. Possibly Carson is trying to reinforce his pedigree after all the talk of his loves and days in the music hall. At least in his own mind.
Regards,
Shodan
Very possibly. I wonder if the fact that Moseley is local is influencing his decisions. He has to show the locals who’s really in charge when they apply for a job at Downton.
I was surprised, in fact, that Carson didn’t make him finish serving the servants’ tea before going off to get his gloves.
The reason is because servants won’t supposed to speak to the household members unless spoken to! The only one who’s allowed to do that was the butler. I’m really surprised at how many times a maid or footman addresses one of the Crawley/Granthams without first being spoken to. It just wasn’t done. So for Alfred to make that speech was very uppity of him.
Hadn’t Robert (or someone) started it by saying something like “I hear you’ll be leaving us soon” by way of congratulations? I agree they probably weren’t expecting Alfred to keep on talking. My take on it is that they were surprised, but mostly pleased to hear nice things – and that they are indeed snobs, because there was maybe a little bit of a “look, a talking dog!” element in their reaction as well.
Carson was probably the most disapproving, but I think he was secretly pleased to hear nice things about himself.
Overall, I thought the scene was intended to be sweet.
I thought the scene was very sweet, too. My point was that given the conventions of the time, Alfred was stepping way out of line to reply to Robert’s comment with anything beyond, “Yes, M’lord.” And it wasn’t snobbery, exactly, just well-established protocols rigidly adhered to by both sides of the green baize door. Yet another sign of the changing times. In fact, that theme is being hammered over and over.