I got a little teary when Isobel made her announcement and Violet was trying to hold it together. I’ve been there, at the cusp of losing a close friendship to a marriage and nothing I could do about it.
Then I teared up again when they put the dog in the bed and made up and held hands. Damnit it’s dusty in here!
Grantham pisses me off. He has been a royal pain in the ass most of the season, but this was the worst. He had the opportunity to let Isis go peacefully at the Vet’s office but he brings her home so he can be with her one more time. How selfish of the guy to let her suffer so he can feel better. Ugh.
I’m not convinced methods of euthanasia in the British 20’s were any better than going on her own.
She looked pretty peaceful in the bed… And Robert did say that it was unlikely she’d last through the night, so it’s not like he kept her alive much longer anyway. Not really seeing him being selfish here, sorry.
I didn’t like this ep.
The Dowager revealing to Mary how much she will miss Isobel was false to the character. She liked having Isobel below her to feel superior to an able women, and that was a lot of the dynamic for the friendship. Why on earth would she reveal this to Mary?
And Mary is just being a bitch - to her ex-fiancee, to Edith, to Edith’s child, and in general. Why on earth did anyone have to stage the kiss to get rid of her persistent ex? Just tell him, and quit playing “No/maybe/no/maybe”. And quit showing off to his former fiancee how much control she has over him - that’s creepy.
And I was kind of revolted by the Isis scene. Right after treating a human child - his own grand child, although he doesn’t know it, yet - as a triviality and an afterthought. But a dog is a big deal, to him and to Cora. It was supposed to be sentimental, but it was just creepy. Maybe because everyone is jerking Marigold around as if she were disposable and so was Mrs. Drew. And Sybil as well - Tom is asking her “maybe I will yank you away from the only home you’ve ever known and go somewhere where security is a thing of the past and neither of us know anybody - wouldn’t that be as much fun as dropping sticks off a bridge?”
The announcement of the engagement, followed by the scene of the Asshole Son being an asshole, was good, though - foreshadowing the troubles Rose and her boyfriend are going to encounter. We hope - she was set up as the airhead bimbo earlier, with her semi-affair with the black jazz singer. Now it’s a Jewish guy - what will Shrimpie say?
Too much cock-teasing by the writer - what about the London ticket? What about Edith the publisher? Is this significant? What will Baxter do about her Guilty Secret? Will the saintly father-in-law convince Daisy to read books even if the Labour Government falls? Will Isobel break off the engagement (as if that were in any doubt)?
OTOH, I see ads for the next season of Mr. Selfridge. 
Regards,
Shodan
I, too, saw the Earl as being loving and not selfish with regard to Isis. The dog didn’t seem in pain, and if it was going to die that soon anyway, euthanising it wasn’t a markedly better approach.
I still kind of hope Gregson will show up somehow, alive. Maybe that insane wife of his escaped the asylum and hired Hitler and his buddies to kidnap him.
How accurately could they have identified his body after all that time?
Of course “back from the dead” might be a little too soap-opera even for Fellowes, so I guess it’s not too likely at this point.
They might as well just rename the show to “Poor Edith!”
Lily James, who plays Lady Rose on DA, is in the title role of a new live-action Cinderella: Cinderella TRAILER 1 (2015) - Helena Bonham Carter Live-Action Disney Fantasy Movie HD - YouTube
I just saw The Imitation Game last weekend (completing my pre-Oscar viewing); Tom Branson has a big part.
Other than Maggie Smith and (for some reason) Hugh Bonneville, I have no clue about actor’s names on this show. Add: Joanne Froggatt, just because she just won a Golden Globe.
I’d add Elizabeth McGovern (Lady Grantham), but you’re right, I can’t name many of the cast from memory.
I remember Michelle Dockery because it sounds like someone’s describing khakis. “Did you see what she was wearing? Was it jeans?” “No, it was very Dockery.”
I can just see Lady Mary, “Oh, Papa…do stop going on about Isis. You knew she was getting old. Here, have another puppy. This one should last you the rest of your life.”
StG
Hickory dickery dockery, Michelle ran up the clockery.
Lord Sinderby confirmed this tonight when he said to Atticus that his and Rose’s children would not be Jewish because their mother (Rose) isn’t Jewish.
Liked:
Lord’s Sinderby’s attitude. As someone who is Jewish and is married to someone non-Jewish this made me laugh. I bet my husband’s family to this day still can’t possibly believe that anyone in my family would dislike me marrying someone non-Jewish. I also sort of did our marriage at City Hall because the rabbis were being a pain about my husband not being Jewish so it rang true to me.
Lady Rose. She’s just sweet. The show needs someone who is sweet.
The proposal to granny. I want her to be a Russian aristocrat.
The selling of the painting by Robert and his reason why. Also his figuring out that Marigold is his grandchild. His kindness to Mrs. Patmore with the plaque.
The scene where someone comes over to Cora to make snide remarks about Rose and her Jewish finance. Snerk.
Edith’s open love of her child. I do wish she’d go back to London at least half the year. Let her give Mary’s jilted fiance a run for his empire. She was also sweet to Tom. I think she may be finally developing a backbone and turning into less of a sad sack.
Tom finally leaving possibly for Boston.
Disliked:
Arresting Anna. Really? Two people arrested for murder who happen to be married to each other? Could Fellowes be anymore over the top unbelievable? Puh-lease!
Refusing to let Daisy move on. Enough already. She’s got the training. Let her try her wings in London. I want to see her open her own shop. Why are other characters allowed to develop but she isn’t?
Isobel undecided about Lord Merton. I thought she was braver.
Oh Mary. Could you stop being such a bitch for five seconds?
We snickered at Barrow getting back at Miss Denker. Hee hee hee.
I like Barrow using his powers for good, not evil.
I’m going with a theory proposed earlier in this thread that it was Baxter who killed Mr. Green.
Agree that arresting Anna strains credulity. Is she gonna spend all next season in jail like Mr. B did awhile back?
When Tom and Mary were talking I so wanted them to realize they’re in love etc., blahblahblah. I mean, Tom is the only man Mary can tolerate, and Tom has already proved he’s attracted to cold, opinionated, domineering women. Match made in heaven.
Yeah, Tom, give up this cushy life where your daughter has loving grandparents and cousins and move to a flat in Boston and work for a living-- that’s the ticket. Dufus.
I liked the scene where Carson assumed the avuncular tone he used to do with Mary when she was young. Sweet.
The servants in this household sure get a lot of free time, even as their numbers are dwindling.
The fact that Robert figured out and accepted Marigold’s true identity over the course of about three minutes makes all the deception, tap dancing, and heartbreak of the last year or so re the child seem cruelly pointless.
I cried when they unveiled the plaque for Mrs. Patmore’s nephew. WTG, Robert. I guess the death of Isis really softened him up.
Rose’s mother: bitch on wheels.
Let’s get the Russian princess declared legally dead, and then Violet and Isobel can have a double wedding.
Best line of the series:
Rose’s mother: So now I’m just to be a good loser?
Granny: Oh, it’s far, far too late for that.
Sloppy writing, if you ask me. I can’t imagine a man in his position at that time being so blasé about his daughter having a child out of wedlock.
Yul Brenner is being a bit one-dimensional for my tastes. I half expect him to challenge his son to a duel!