# 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:** 8
**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, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/141 "2016-01-19T22:44:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well, one of them is Irish, so Clive seems unlikely for him. See what an easy choice that would be? And doesn’t Barrow look more like a Clive anyway? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/142 "2016-01-19T22:54:51Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > 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. I don’t think Daisy is going into teaching. I think she’s getting a diploma (or something similar), so if she ever needs proof of education, she has it. If she is working toward becoming a teacher (which again, I don’t think so), this is the step to move her toward the equivalent of teachers’ college, but not to say she’s ready to actually teach. > [@](#): > > 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. IIRC, since becoming widowed, she and Mr. Mason have struck up a father/daughter relationship. They talk, he counsels her, she visits him on her days off. The relationship with the son was more or less a sham - but the relationship with her father-in-law is very real. That said, she needs to shut up. The entire situation, though, is pointing at Fellowes not being a very good writer. Anyone in Daisy’s position would know better than to keep bugging Cora about the tenancy as both her livelihood and Mason’s livelihood were at stake. But he wants to do something that he considers dramatic, so he’s sacrificing character to do so. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/143 "2016-01-20T00:14:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t think the baby would have much to tell them, but in an English stately home, what is the correct form of address for police in speaking to the infant of an Earl’s daughter’s lady’s maid? Master Bates? > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > They had a radio. They used it to listen to the King’s speech. Did they buy it or was it borrowed? Robert bought it after Rose’s constant nagging. The staff was allowed to stand at the back of the room during the speech, and Violet immediately stood up when he started to speak. Also Mrs Patmore needed reassurance that the king couldn’t actually hear them too. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/144 "2016-01-20T15:18:07Z")
Someone at one point (Robert?) mused about where Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes/now Mrs. Carson would LIVE, and I don’t think that was followed up on … so I’m thinking maybe the solution that came to him was that they should live at the Drewes farmhouse. I think Bates and Anna also live in one of the tenancy houses. Then Daisy can have someone else to aim her unhelpful and seething resentment at. (I also find this particular plotline – that Daisy is being too vocal on this issue – out of character for her, as just about every other issue in her life she has worried over privately and had to have Mrs. Patmore drag it out of her.) ---
**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 20, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/145 "2016-01-20T15:27:12Z")
Perhaps Daisy’s outspokenness on this issue is supposed to exemplify that the servant class is less willing to be subservient as the feudal system is dying? ---
**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 20, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/146 "2016-01-20T19:12:35Z")
Probably, but it doesn’t really work, I think. ---
**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 21, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/147 "2016-01-21T04:07:53Z")
Why you don’t see the vicar much on DA: [Home - Episcopal Journal](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/downton-abbey-the-vicar-finally-makes-an-appearance/) ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/148 "2016-01-25T03:01:07Z")
Uh-oh. Robert’s pain is getting worse. Are they going to drag this out like the demise of Isis (the dog)? Baxter is a real Sad Sack. Why did she want Molesley in the room with the cop if she didn’t plan to tell him anything? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/149 "2016-01-25T03:27:15Z")
I’m glad this Drewes farm thing is finally settled; Daisy was unbearable. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/150 "2016-01-25T03:54:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Uh-oh. Robert’s pain is getting worse. Are they going to drag this out like the demise of Isis (the dog)? Obviously they are setting this up to prove that they need to modernize the hospital. No subtlety on this show. Even Violet will agree when Robert almost dies. > [@](#): > > Baxter is a real Sad Sack. Why did she want Molesley in the room with the cop if she didn’t plan to tell him anything? She didn’t know what the cop was going to say for sure. She wanted a witness and someone for council. And what a prick Barrow is. Everyone knows it and he knows everyone knows it. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/151 "2016-01-25T05:45:23Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > And what a prick Barrow is. Everyone knows it and he knows everyone knows it. It seems you need reminding that HE’S THE BUTLER. He was seriously reminding me of Frank Burns in this episode. I was half-expecting him to order them all to pick up and move across the street because Colonel Potter was away and he was the commanding officer, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/152 "2016-01-25T13:00:45Z")
Who thought it would be a good idea for Mary’s new potential love interest to be involved in _ **car racing** _? “Gosh, that seems dangerous!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/153 "2016-01-25T13:59:01Z")
I would think she wouldn’t want a suitor who likes to drive cars fast, considering. I really thought Anna miscarrying again would be the proof for the hospital, but it’s looking like Robert is going to be in dire of need of immediate medical care not available close at hand. And why isn’t Cora bugging him to see a doctor? She’s seemed rather nonchalant about is ongoing pain. Nice to see Gwen again. Barrow is a jerk. Mrs. Padmore seems a wee bit jealous of Mrs. Carson/Hughes learning the sweet mystery of life. This thing with the hospital is getting on my nerves. Isabel is being a stick in the mud for no reason. Certainly they can make certain requirements during the takeover to make sure they keep local control? ---
**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 25, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/154 "2016-01-25T14:49:25Z")
[Here](http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/fun-facile-downton-abbey-pays-lip-service-social-m-231182) is the recap from The AV Club. It criticizes the writing of the episode for favoring the nobles rather than the servants. It points, out, for instance, that when Gwen describes how she moved from housemaid to secretary to local government to helping to run a women’s college, Sybil is praised for her role, and not Gwen for her own achievements. And the lesson for Daisy appeared to be that she should just sit back and wait for the Crawleys to solve her problems. On the other hand, it seemed clear to me that Daisy just ran with the idea that Mr Mason might get Yew Tree Farm and then was blaming the Crawleys for going back on a promise they never made. And Mary seemed to realize that unlike her, Sybil was remembered fondly by others and that it might serve her to be nicer to people. Robert also told Barrow that he needed to be kinder. Really, except for social class and sexual preference, Mary and Barrow ought to get together; they’re two of a kind. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/155 "2016-01-25T14:59:35Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I’m glad this Drewes farm thing is finally settled; Daisy was unbearable. I’m also glad that storyline is over, but what an anticlimactic ending. They spend an awful lot of time (far too much, in my opinion) on Daisy being uncharacteristically hotheaded and outspoken and really built up a confrontation with Cora that never even happened. So what was the point of all this? ---
**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 25, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/156 "2016-01-25T15:03:23Z")
I think the idea is that Daisy is finally going to get off her ass and do something with her life. She complained that Gwen moved on, so why can’t she, but what has she done to move forward? There was a male servant in an earlier episode (can’t remember his name) who went to London to work in a hotel kitchen. And Gwen of course took secretarial courses and then found a job outside the house. Meanwhile the younger footman (Andy?) mentioned that he wanted to live in the country; are they going to pair him and Daisy up and put them at Yew Tree Farm? ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/157 "2016-01-25T15:07:50Z")
Nothing on Spratt and Denker, not that I’m complaining. I’m not really seeing the point of that storyline. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/158 "2016-01-25T16:10:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Nothing on Spratt and Denker, not that I’m complaining. I’m not really seeing the point of that storyline. Comic relief. The writers learned it from Shakespeare. The idea, that is, not the proper execution! Is the actress who plays Lady Mary anorexic? She seems unhealthily skinny. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/159 "2016-01-25T16:30:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Here](http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/fun-facile-downton-abbey-pays-lip-service-social-m-231182) is the recap from The AV Club. It criticizes the writing of the episode for favoring the nobles rather than the servants. It points, out, for instance, that when Gwen describes how she moved from housemaid to secretary to local government to helping to run a women’s college, Sybil is praised for her role, and not Gwen for her own achievements. And the lesson for Daisy appeared to be that she should just sit back and wait for the Crawleys to solve her problems. I don’t know, _within_ the show it makes perfect sense to me. When you are talking to people who have lost a child, telling stories about positive attributes of their child is a completely normal thing. OF COURSE Sybil’s family would like to hear nice things about Dead Sybil, and it is kind of Gwen to tell them (and also a fairly standard social grace). And I think the writers balanced that by having the folks downstairs talking about how Gwen took the initiative to move out of service. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966/160 "2016-01-25T16:47:21Z")
[New York Times recap.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/arts/television/downton-abbey-season-6-episode-4-the-engine-purrs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0) (Yes, it is snarky.) > [@](#): > > …Here’s Andy casting moo-cow eyes (I think?) at Daisy. Here are the Carsons staggering back to Downton in a daze of carnal knowledge. (Mr. C appears to have taken his new wife warts and all.) > > Even Granny Violet — recalling, perhaps, her ancient affair with Prince Kuragin — is moved to declare that “Mary needs more than a handsome smile and a hand on the gear stick.” And when her son expresses surprise that she knows what a gear stick is, she snaps, “I know more than you think!” > > (What. A. Slut.) > > Still, as “Downton Abbey” is always the first to remind us, sex has its unintended consequences. Just ask poor Baxter, seduced long ago into a ruinous crime and now trembling at the prospect of testifying against her corrupter. “All that is needed for evil to triumph,” Molesley reminds her, “is for good men to do nothing.” You or I might have smacked him upside the head for his sententiousness, but Baxter squares her jaw and resolves to do what’s right, so other young women don’t get ruined or, at the very least, “changed.” (Me, I can’t wait to get a load of this Peter Coyle character: the Rasputin of servant girls.)… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-s6-spoiler-free-until-broadcast-in-the-u-s/727966.md?page=9)