And it turned out that her anxiety and worry were not unfounded, because someone in fact DIED in a flaming crash. If anything, that validated her fear.
At one point during the race, I thought I heard the announcer say the cars were nearing 90…would that be miles per hour or kilometers per hour?
90 MPH = 145 KPH
90 KPH = 55 MPH
Even going 55 MPH in one of those cars would be terrifying.
We don’t speak in Kph even now, we most certainly didn’t back then. Filthy continental habit.
So those tin lizzie rattletraps were going 90 MILES per hour?? :eek: Talk about having a death wish. I didn’t see a whole lot of safety features.
Actually, no, they wouldn’t have been able to adopt. Adoption didn’t exist as a formal concept in English law until 1926, which is slightly too late for the fictional timeframe. The nearest thing was being a ward of court. I’m not sure that it’s ever actually been established that Marigold is anyone’s ward or if that’s only being implied, whether deliberately or, more likely, just by lazy scriptwriting.
If they’re going to hook up Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Mason, they’d better spread more canvas. There’s only one more episode left, plus a Christmas special.
Maybe they plan to spin off a “what happened to servants when they went out of service” kind of series. Do they do spinoffs in England?
Generally some time has passed between the last episode and the xmas special. They could just show them living together during the opening montage.
To me, this part of the storyline doesn’t make sense at all, because Matthew didn’t die car racing; he died while driving at a reasonable speed down a tiny road with bad sightlines.
If she’d been skittish or worse around cars in general, I would understand. Or long car trips on country roads. Or trucks (with or without loosely tied cargo). But she’s completely nonchalant about people (including herself and George) driving and riding in cars in the conditions where he actually died and freaks out over totally different circumstances. It didn’t work for me.
I can buy it; people aren’t always rational in what they fear.
I agree. And it’s only been a few years since Matthew died. I can still get teary about my late husband and it’s been over 15 years-- and he died in a hospital. When someone dies a sudden, violent death, the triggers can be there for a long, long time. And the fact that Matthew died violently only moments after seeing their son right after his birth adds even more baggage to any similar situation.
Good point.
There’s talk of a feature film. Fellowes was also working on a prequel book about Robert & Cora’s courtship, but that doesn’t’ appear to have gone anywhere. Supposedly ITV wanted it for a miniseries.
Ah, thanks. I thought English adoption law was better-established by 1925.
Slogging through this miserable last season is now totally worth it for that righteous burn on Lady Mary. Go Lady Edith!
so Mary is married again!
I hate Mary. She’s a bitch bitch bitch and I want Henry to die in a fiery crash right in front of her. Bitch bitch bitch.
I’m hoping Lord Hexam shows up again for Edith. He seems like a rather good fellow and I hope he comes around.
Poor Mr. Barrows. I mean he was a bastard in the past but still, attempted suicide? And Master George seems to like him.
I missed the part at the beginning with Mrs. Padmore’s B&B…someone was using her inn for a romp with the mistress?
Favorite line, “You’re my old curmudgeon.” There you go, Mrs. Hughes!
My favorite line from Robert: “Good golly gosh!” I’ve even forgotten what he was so excited about.
Frankly, I think Edith was too easy on Mary. She should have slapped her.
I LOVE that Spratt is the secret Agony Auntie!
And of course Mary fucks it up. I fully expect that we will see Marchioness Edith in the xmas episode next week.
I had the exact same reaction, except I was thinking of a word other than bitch.
Oh, that’d be a nice nod! Remember when Mary and Matthew settled things outside in the snow at Christmas? Maybe Lady Edith and Lord Hexam will do the same.
Well, I was screaming, “Shut the fuck up, bitch!” at the TV while my husband looked at me funny, but it didn’t work. 
Ha!
I was so happy when Tom called her out! Oh my God what a bitch! Gahh I hate hate Mary!
Next week they are showing a special called “The Manners of Downton Abbey Part 2” and then the finale will air March 6. I presume this was done so that the finale is not up against the Oscars.