That part made me feel like I must have overlooked some significant part of the story. What would cause Thomas to develop a shred of something resembling empathy?
[QUOTE=John Mace]
Yul Brenner is being a bit one-dimensional for my tastes.
[/QUOTE]
Brynner’s been dead for ages. That’s Mr. Clean.
I don’t think he was blasé as much as resigned. He didn’t want to go up against Cora, who had obviously accepted the situation, and more importantly, he didn’t want to lose another daughter.
Baxter’s kindness and empathy towards him after he was a bully to her. She implored him to try to find a way to live a kinder life and tried to tell him he was deserving of happiness.
I think that part of why it mattered so much to Lord Sinderby was because he was one of the leading Jews of England and therefore was likely looked up to by other Jews in the country. And I think his statement of the 4th Lord Sinderby being English and just as prejudiced against Jews as any of them was quite powerful as well.
Every once in a while, Fellows likes to show that at his core, Robert is a good person, even though he can do some mean spirited and dumb things. I think this episode showed that in spades - it was really quite wonderful what he did for Mrs. Pattmore.
I kind of got the impression Thomas was attracted to the temporary footman.
Yeah that was it.
He’s probably conflicted on the whole thing. He likes Rose personally but she isn’t Jewish and isn’t going to convert. He’s probably wondering what others are going to think of him in the local English Jewish community when his son marries a shiksa.
So did I. Anyone else think Bates is going to confess to murder next season to spring Anna from prison?
That’s the impression I got when Bates was telling Mrs. Hughes that Anna wasn’t going to be convicted.
His main objection is that because Rose isn’t Jewish, their children won’t be Jewish and won’t be considered Jewish by the Jewish community. So the estate will pass out of Jewish hands. This is a huge deal to him. To be Jewish your mother has to be Jewish (which is why Cora isn’t Jewish). I’m not making this up. Maybe some people think there’s wiggle room today, but there certainly wasn’t back then. The children would have to convert in order to be Jewish.
Who’s to say Rose won’t convert? The subject hasn’t come up. She’s not terribly attached to whatever the official family faith is. If Rose were to convert before she has children, then the children would be Jewish.
I definitely got that impression. And Andy picked up on it when Thomas fixed the kid’s tie.
Yea, me too. When Thomas told Andy, “That’s why you should come to Uncle Thomas”, I got more of an “Uncle Ernie” vibe.
Seriously? Uncle Earnie was a pedophile. That’s not related in any way. For fuck sake, dude.
Perhaps to someone lacking a sense of humor.
I was thinking more of Thomas’s desire to “fiddle about”.
I like the idea of Isobel and Violet both getting late-in-life upgrade marriages!
Princess Violet! And her best friend Lady Isobel! (Would she be a countess? or a baroness? Have they ever specified what Lord Murton is lord of?) It just has a nice ring to it, either way!
However I suspect that neither of these marriages will be happening, unfortunately.
I wish the writers had thought to hook up Daisy and Tom Branson - Tom would have made a good farmer and manager for the Mason farm, eventually, and it would have kept Sybbie nearby. But no… we’ve got to send poor Tom over to Boston. And poor Sybbie can grow up in an apartment instead of a castle. (She’s going to resent the heck out of that as she gets a little bit older!)
Nice try.
I’m Jewish so I know you’re not making it up. 
To Jews, one is either Jewish in which case one is born of a Jewish mother or one has converted. You are not half Jewish to Jews. The only Jewish denomination that considers a father’s religion relevant in counting Jewish affiliation is Reform. That’s a very American thing so I doubt it’s Sinderby’s sect.
I wonder if Rose would consider doing so? Would it have been heavily frowned on back then by her upper class English society? Or merely an acceptable eccentricity? Mary and Edith certain seem to have essentially no connection with Judaism at all despite having a Jewish grandfather. They don’t even identify as American.
Thanks. The first time I brought this up, there was some discussion.
None of the Crawleys seem very religious at all, so I can’t see them minding it.
Trivia: The West London Synagogue of British Jewswas established in 1840 as a Reform synagogue. It’s not impossible that our fictional Lord Sinderby would have been affiliated. But overall, Reform Judaism doesn’t represent a significant share of European Jews in the way it does in the US.
I groaned out loud when she was arrested.
Is there anyone watching DA who isn’t tired of the Bates Family Crime Drama? The man needs a new plot stat.
I really enjoyed most of this episode. I think that Thomas has shown a good side on and off over the years. It’s like he really does have a nice person locked down inside but he’s so bitter he never lets it come through.
I enjoyed the wedding and Rose’s mother is just as horrible and we remember her being. Rose’s dress was stunning. Loved it, although the Princess Leia-ish roses were a bit too much.
I just don’t see Tom really going. I think Fellows is going to tease us with it and then bring him back in. Downton is a bit like Hotel California.
Well he said that he would stay through Christmas and, guess what, the next episode is the Christmas special. There was a big break between the episode that we just saw and the one that we will see next week. I imagine that a lot of that episode will revolve around that as well as Anna in prison.
Apparently he is a Baron, but that is something that is inferred from the way Carson announced him, rather than directly stated. (See footnote here).