If there’s already a thread, I apologize. Merge or change the title as needed.
Off to a good start with Episode 1! All that business between Mrs. Hughes, Carson, and poor Mrs. Patmore the go-between was hilarious.
It does make me sad that this will be the last season, I really do think they could carry on a few more years.
There is a spoiler-free thread for US viewers, but not one for people watching them as they transmit in the UK, AFAIK.
Maybe the mods could change the thread title to indicate spoilers within?
I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun to see Mary both stand up to, and be rattled by, her would-be blackmailer. It was fun to watch Daisy lose her shit yelling at the landlord who’s about to turf out her father in law. And I am a huge Edith fan so I enjoy watching her out Mary in her place:
Edith: My tenant is moving out.
Mary: Out of Michael Gregson’s flat?
Edith: Out of my flat.
And of course, Carson and Mrs. Hughes were too adorable for words.
So I did enjoy it. But it’s feeling … tired. Mary can’t be bothered being a bitch anymore. Edith can’t be bothered to mope or pity herself. Thomas is tired of everyone hating him. Lord Grantham is mentally already putting the For Sale sign on the door. It feels like senioritis is descending on Downton. So I think we’re in for a good final season, but there’s no doubt to me that it should be final.
I do miss Tom Branson and little Sybbie, though. Lady Rose can keep on keepin’ on in New York, however.
The Dowager Countess had her best moments this episode when she had her lady’s maid fearing for her job. It’s silly, but I love the go-nowhere plotlines between her butler and maid.
And yes, Mrs. Hughes and Carson, so adorable. They’ve now outpaced Anna and Mr. Bates as my favorite couple on the show.
I’ve added a spoiler tag to the title.
As if anyone who’s met her would believe she’d learn to dress herself. That women is going to have a lady’s maid until she dies or everything get’s turned over to a nurse. 
Poor Thomas, he’s the most superfluous member of staff and still hasn’t gotten any action. It’s very telling that Lord Grantham off all people fetched his own snack without a second though. :eek:
Just a thought, but it might be a good idea to modifier the tag to make it clear that this is a UK-spaced spoiler thread so I doesn’t get mixed up with the US-spaced thread.
The “next week’s episode” tease seemed to indicate that Cora would take Marigold to visit her former adoptive family, which is rather odd. Why in the world would she do such a thing?
Edith says Mary, not Cora, took Marigold to the Drews’. Seems a little early in the season for Mary to learn the truth, but maybe they’ll go there.
Why would Mary be taking Marigold anywhere? She hasn’t seemed to show very much interest in Marigold thus far.
My WAG is that maybe they are organizing a day-on-a-farm outing for George and Marigold, like a field trip. Or maybe Mrs. Drew just misses her and wants to see her again. They’d have no particular reason (or excuse) to turn her down.
I wonder if Mrs. Drew ends up challenging Edith, maybe threatening to reveal her secret if Edith doesn’t allow her occasional visits with Marigold.
I need me some Baxter & Molesley cuteness, though. So far that’s been sadly lacking.
I’m afraid to hope on that. If they start to look happy, we’re sure to find out that someone got tarred into the new road and he’s been set up for it. . .
I thought last night’s was better than episode one. I always like watching Mrs. Hughes stand up for herself, even if she seems destined not to get her way. Cora too was looking very strong in this hospital brouhaha. It was interesting to see Mary simultaneously at her best and worst, helping Anna where she needed it while obliviously sticking her nose into Carson’s wedding plans. And I wasn’t expecting the Marigold-napping, though it made pretty good sense given what we know about her (Mrs. Drewe). What a bummer for the Drewes. Still, Mr. Mason needs somewhere to go, eh? I’d say that worked out well for everyone. Except the Drewes.
In addition to the Carson/Hughes wedding, it looks like we’re also being primed for a season-long Baby Bates plot thread. Will Anna be able to carry to term this time? Will it take the entire season to find out? (In order: probably, and yes.)
I felt cheated in one regard: Cora said Edith and Mary were traveling together on the same train, and I thought, “Hot damn, fireworks a’coming!” And then they never showed it!
Looking forward to Mary calling Cora a snob next week.
Don’t forgot about the lead-up to Mrs. Hughes being caught wearing one of the ladies’ furs (thought that’s probably far more innocuous than it looks). Poor Thomas, he’s volunteering for footman work and Carson is turning him down. 
And I really think he’s trying to befriend Andy, not seduce him. He’s the most superfluous member of the household. Plus there’s the humiliation of the other butler’s not so subtle “Why aren’t you married?” innuendo. All he has to look forward to is the Carsons’ honeymoon, not that there’s any sign Carson is planning one. Is it just me, or do Thomas and Anna look like they’ve aged a lot more than the rest of the cast? :eek:
P.S. Someone needs to remind Lady Doormat that her editor works for her, not the other way around. I guarantee none of the other women in her family would ever allow anyone to speak to them like that.
I was saying to my wife, we had not one but two characters with extremely acute gaydar in this episode.
I thought the same.
Was it just me, or was this episode just a little… off? I’m very bored with the hospital storyline.
Is it really practical for the Bates to have kids in the first place? A valet and a lady’s maid that work all day? Did they have day care back in 1925?
I did get a chuckle from Thomas and his job interview - Valet, chauffeur, and footman, all in one job description? Times are a’changing. I wonder if Thomas can hang in there long enough until Carson retires. Or if the Crawleys would even have him as butler. He’s not aging well, either… that “inject-away-the-gay” scheme must have prematurely aged him. And what does the under-butler even DO, anyway?
It’s probably the only thing Violet and Isobel can believably fight about anymore, now that they’re otherwise so simpatico.
It seems to me that Mr. Drewe isn’t going to have a lot to lose at this point, as far as motivation to keep Edith’s secret. He’s lost his home and livelihood, and his wife appears to be mentally unstable, all because he wanted to do Edith a solid. Nice job, Crawleys. :-\
Drewe is too decent to rat out Edith out of spite. But there was definitely a touch of “Thank you sir, may I have another?” cringing in his farewell with Lord Grantham. At least Robert had the decency to look embarrassed.
I think we can take it for granted that Anna will retire if she has a kid. Nobody is going to expect her to keep working. They live in a tied cottage and should be able to get by on Bates’s wages and their rental income. Plus they should have both built up sizable savings by now (at least assuming the Crawleys were paying their legal fees).
Was it remotely acceptable for ladies maids to work while pregnant in the 1920s, I wonder? I’m kind of doubting it. So basically Mary is saying, “Here, let me try to help you lose your job!”