# Downton Abbey S6 - spoiler-free until broadcast in the U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966 "2015-08-16T02:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/121 "2016-01-19T05:11:47Z")
> [@digitalskeeza](#): > > I must have missed something…when did most of the other servants turn against Barrow? That newer footman(?) Andy avoids him like the plague, Carson is pushing him out the door, even Mrs. CARSON has shut him down on a few occasions. Is it just the gay, or did he do something really unforgivable AGAIN? I’ve also been struggling to remember why everyone except possibly Baxter hates him now, when if anything he’s been far less horrible recently than in the past. His most recent bit of serious wrongdoing that I can recall was blackmailing Baxter, but she seems to have totally forgiven him for this. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/122 "2016-01-19T05:18:47Z")
Too late to edit, but I was going to mention that Tom Barrow did save Lady Edith from the fire just last season. At first I was going to reference this as reason for people to see him as a hero rather than a creep they want to get rid of, but then I realized I was perhaps underestimating how much the other characters dislike Lady Edith. So that’s my WAG: since they can’t openly say they’re disappointed that Edith didn’t burn to death, they’re taking it out on Barrow. ---
**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 19, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/123 "2016-01-19T06:40:20Z")
Even when he’s not being evil, Barrow is at best a wet blanket. I’d be tired of his shit after 15 years as well. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/124 "2016-01-19T10:39:26Z")
> [@digitalskeeza](#): > > I must have missed something…when did most of the other servants turn against Barrow? That newer footman(?) Andy avoids him like the plague, Carson is pushing him out the door, even Mrs. CARSON has shut him down on a few occasions. Is it just the gay, or did he do something really unforgivable AGAIN? I thought it was just because he’s a total asshole. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/125 "2016-01-19T16:05:55Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > And Daisy is going to jinx Mr. Mason moving to a new farm. Shut up, Daisy. Prediction: Edith moves to London and takes Maribel. Robert, having no idea about the plan with Mr. Mason tells that other farmer to stay. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Robert having indigestion…not good. There are no random, benign symptoms on TV. As soon as he said that my fiance and I looked at each other. I’m guess stomach cancer. > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Mary’s got Tom back again. So much for shifting Lady Mary into the day to day drudgery of estate management. He may not have a fortune or title, but he’ll always defer to her decided opinions, won’t force her to have to leave Downton, and besides their kids like each other. (Am I alone in thinking it’s a bit oogie that he used to be married to her sister?) Anyway, that’s her set until her kid grows up anyway…though I have preemptive sympathy for her future daughter-in-law. If they get married she’ll be Aunt Mom, and he’ll be Uncle Dad. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/126 "2016-01-19T16:14:49Z")
Who in the household (upstairs and downstairs) knows that Marigold is Edith’s daughter? I’m thinking upstairs, Mary and Lady Isabel don’t know. I think everyone else knows but is pretending they don’t know. (Unless she told Robert or Cora straight out? I can’t remember.) Downstairs…Mrs. Hughes knows? I don’t think the rest care too much. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/127 "2016-01-19T16:26:38Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Who in the household (upstairs and downstairs) knows that Marigold is Edith’s daughter? > > I’m thinking upstairs, Mary and Lady Isabel don’t know. I think everyone else knows but is pretending they don’t know. (Unless she told Robert or Cora straight out? I can’t remember.) > > Downstairs…Mrs. Hughes knows? I don’t think the rest care too much. I’m pretty sure Anna knows. I don’t think Thomas knows, but he suspects something. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/128 "2016-01-19T16:30:02Z")
In 1925 the Crawleys now have electricity, a telephone, and a refrigerator. They _should_ be getting a RADIO. By 1925, radio was no longer a novelty and by the late 1920’s radio was as important as television in the '50’s and personal computers in the '80’s. Did England lag behind America? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/129 "2016-01-19T16:34:33Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > In 1925 the Crawleys now have electricity, a telephone, and a refrigerator. They _should_ be getting a RADIO. By 1925, radio was no longer a novelty and by the late 1920’s radio was as important as television in the '50’s and personal computers in the '80’s. Did England lag behind America? They had a radio. They used it to listen to the King’s speech. Did they buy it or was it borrowed? ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/130 "2016-01-19T17:13:53Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’ve also been struggling to remember why everyone except possibly Baxter hates him now, when if anything he’s been far less horrible recently than in the past. His most recent bit of serious wrongdoing that I can recall was blackmailing Baxter, but she seems to have totally forgiven him for this. I thought I must be forgetting something, too – he just seems to be way more openly ostracized that last season. But since a lot of us see that… Do you suppose he is being set up to suicide? They need some ‘dark’ things to offset all the happy joy-joy endings they seem to be aiming at for Mary and Edith and Mrs. Carson and Anna/Bates (though none of those are set in stone, of course) and maybe just killing Lord G. is not enough. And, after all, we’ve been shown how unhappy Barrows is over his homosexuality, what with that patent medicine he was torturing himself with. I could buy him killing himself: he has no friends, he can’t find another place, they’ve made him miserable there… Or maybe he can commit another heroic rescue – that other footman, maybe – and die in the course of it. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/131 "2016-01-19T17:14:08Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Tom’s return almost stole the wedding spotlight from the Carsons. Glad he’s back–even if he is a little pudgier. He and Mary just need to get it on already. > > Robert having indigestion…not good. There are no random, benign symptoms on TV. While that’s absolutely true, and I expected Robert to clutch his chest and proclaim “I’m comin’ Elizabeth” at any second – when it didn’t happen by the end of the episode, I started to wonder if Fellowes is Subverting the Trope and having fun with us. I’m turning into a sentimental ol’ softie…there were several moments in this episode that had me all verklempt. Mrs Hughes’ speech proclaiming her rights to a wedding her own way; Cora’s apology…examples of decent people doing the right thing, and not stringing along conflict for the sake of advancing a plot. And when Thomas returned, we saw Mary with a full, genuine smile – instead of a tight-lipped smirk – for the first time in years. ---
**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 19, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/132 "2016-01-19T17:17:09Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Who in the household (upstairs and downstairs) knows that Marigold is Edith’s daughter? > > I’m thinking upstairs, Mary and Lady Isabel don’t know. I think everyone else knows but is pretending they don’t know. (Unless she told Robert or Cora straight out? I can’t remember.) > > Downstairs…Mrs. Hughes knows? I don’t think the rest care too much. Robert & Cora both know. Robert found out in last year’s finale and Cora had known for some time. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/133 "2016-01-19T18:12:20Z")
When Tom said that now he knows they are his family, I could only picturing Cora, who was clutching her granddaughter, saying “well, actually, Little Sibbie is our family, but sure … come on back.” This is my take on Barrow: Carson sees himself as genuinely lobbying Lord Grantham hard to protect all of the servants’ jobs. Barrow’s assumption that that Carson was looking for a way to sack him (Barrow) got Carson’s back up in that “I wasn’t before … but I AM NOW.” There was a quick line in the first episode this season that led me to believe that the other servants are closing ranks to “protect” the new footman from Barrow and his gayness, which is why they keep jumping in to deflect any suggestions that Barrow makes to help out. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/134 "2016-01-19T18:35:13Z")
There were 2 references this episode to invisible members of the staff: Gertie who usually lights the fires, and the hall boy who told Tom where everybody went. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/135 "2016-01-19T18:40:35Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > And when Thomas returned, we saw Mary with a full, genuine smile – instead of a tight-lipped smirk – for the first time in years. Nitpick: They seem to consistently call him Tom Branson, perhaps to avoid confusion with Thomas Barrow. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/136 "2016-01-19T19:36:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nitpick: They seem to consistently call him Tom Branson, perhaps to avoid confusion with Thomas Barrow. How hard would it have been to name one of them Clive? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/137 "2016-01-19T19:39:50Z")
Well, one of them is Irish, so Clive seems unlikely for him. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/138 "2016-01-19T20:12:49Z")
I do think Mr. Molesly is working so hard to get Daisy into the teaching position that is will become evident to the headmaster that he, (Molesly) is most suited to be given a teaching position at the local school. As much as I like Daisy, she’s letting herself get far too involved with Mr. Mason’s issues. Remember, she only married Mason’s son because he was dying. She didn’t even want to know Mr. Mason at first. He had every possibility of keeping the tenancy that had been in his family for generations until she lost that for him. And I wouldn’t blame Mary for not putting him in the Drewes’ farm. He’s an old man who’s lost his only son. He couldn’t continue to work a farm all by himself, and they’d want a long-term tenant at the farm. Unless they decide for estate that it’s better to farm the land with estate workers and not have to share the profits with tenants. I thought for sure Robert would have a new yellow lab puppy by now. StG ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/139 "2016-01-19T20:24:04Z")
I don’t think Mr Molesley’s goal was to get a teaching position for Daisy; she’s far from qualified for that. I think he is working towards her taking whatever the equivalent of the GED exam is. ---
**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 19, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/140 "2016-01-19T21:20:33Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > …I’m turning into a sentimental ol’ softie…there were several moments in this episode that had me all verklempt. Mrs Hughes’ speech proclaiming her rights to a wedding her own way; Cora’s apology…examples of decent people doing the right thing, and not stringing along conflict for the sake of advancing a plot. > > And when Thomas returned, we saw Mary with a full, genuine smile – instead of a tight-lipped smirk – for the first time in years. Agreed on all counts. She’s radiant when she really smiles. > [@StGermain](#): > > …I thought for sure Robert would have a new yellow lab puppy by now… I thought the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966.md?page=8)