Downton Abbey, Series 2 (PBS) [Please, no unaired spoilers]

Cafe Society
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NOTE: This thread is about PBS’s version of Downton Abbey, Season (Series) 2, which started airing on January 8, 2012. Please do not discuss plot points in unaired episodes. Thanks for understanding!

Questions, I have questions…

From the first series: Carson received a letter from a friend in service in the home of someone (a diplomat?). Carson’s friend was told (overheard?) something about Lady Mary. This gossip came from the Turkish embassy. I think the Turkish embassy’s source was Lady Edith’s letter. But how much did Lady Edith know? Her info came from Daisy, who saw Cora, Mary and Anna carry Pamuk’s body through the hall, but did not know Pamuk had been in Mary’s room. Or did she? Carson told Cora about the letter, but viewers weren’t told exactly what Carson told Cora.

The second series: Keeping in mind the old “Telephone Game”, someone (who?) told Mrs. Bates something scandalous about Mary and Pamuk. Mrs. Bates threatened Bates with divulging Anna’s part in it. She was overheard by Mrs. Hughes, who then told Carson, who then told Lord Grantham. So…

What could Carson possibly have told Lord Grantham about Mrs. Bates’ allegations that would not get Mary in serious trouble, but would impress Grantham with the depth of Bates’ loyalty towards his family?

Second: Was Thomas really attracted to the Lieutenant and mourned his death? Or, was he mourning the lost opportunity to ingratiate himself with, and then manipulate or use, a member of the upper class? Both?

Third: I find it very hard to believe Lord Grantham would allow one of his daughters to drive a tractor. A fancy motorcar, maybe, but a tractor?

Fourth: What was Lady Edith thinking when she kissed the farmer? Was she really attracted to him or was she thinking she’d have some fun “slumming”?

Fifth: Is O’Brien sincerely interested in Henry Lang’s welfare, or is she grooming him to take Thomas’ place as her partner in schemes, sabotage and slander?

Sixth: I’m having a little trouble figuring out Mary, Edith and Sybil’s ages. I think Edith had her first season/début during the last series, which I guess means she was 16 or 17 years old in 1913 or 1914.

“Mrs. Hughes” (Phyllis Logan), back when she was posh: Lovejoy: The Firefly Cage. (May be NSFW due to language.)

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I haven’t seen the first series since it aired on PBS so I can’t remember exactly what Edith saw, but I think she knew enough to infer that Pamuk and Mary had been up to something illicit. They’d been flirting pretty openly earlier, he drops dead in the middle of the night dressed for bed but some distance away from his room, and Mary and their mother obviously don’t want anyone to know where he really was when he died. And from Edith’s perspective, the specifics of what happened that night probably weren’t all that important. Her goal was to damage Mary’s reputation.

I don’t think he told Lord Grantham anything about what the allegations were. Lord Grantham took Carson’s word for it that Bates was protecting the family from scandal.

I think Thomas was attracted to the blind officer, genuinely felt sympathy for him, and was shaken by his death. This being Thomas it’s entirely possible he had also been thinking about how this situation might work out to his advantage, but that wasn’t all that was going on.

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I didn’t get the relationship between Edith’s farmer and the farm woman. The farm woman was upset seeing them flirting, then kissing - was he her hired hand or something more?
Was she jealous, or just didn’t want him distracted from his work, and let Edith know that she wasn’t needed at the farm any more?

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I thought she was either his wife or his sister? Even if she was just his sister no doubt she would have disapproved of her brother carrying on with the local aristocrat, which can only lead to trouble.

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  1. Daisy told her she saw Ediths mother and sister carrying the dead Turk across the hallway. Its a fairly easy conclusion to make. All Carson told His Lordship was that Mrs Bates was threatening to make claims about Lady Mary, the mere existence of the claims would be enough to ruin her, he is uninterested about the detail and veracity of them and Carson does not tell him.

2)I don’t know (and don’t think its relevant) whether Thomas was attracted to the Lt, the point was that he had joined the medical corps to avoid risky service and had instead ended up as a a stretcher bearer in the trenches where he had a horrid time. Taking care of the Lt helped him get over his guilt and experiences.

  1. It war. Most of the men are gone off. Its an era before driving was a common skill. She knows how to drive. The harvest needs to be done, especially urgent as the Uboats are sinking Britains food before it even gets to port. So up to the breach dear Edith.

  2. Tell me, how many things did you do when you first went to University/first were out of parents control, which is exactly where she is at the time. I know that I did much worse then kiss a farmer.

  3. Spoilers! (Seasons been broadcast where I am)

6)At the time of the first episode of the new season, Mary is around 23-25, Edith 21-22 and Sybil around 18-19

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I assumed wife, as well.

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The scale of mobilisation in pretty unimaginable in modern terms, as is the scale of loss - 1 in 30 of the entire population (obv. mostly men). Or 10 million dead Americans in todays money. Didn’t she already know how to drive (one of the family cars)?

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They are husband and wife. The farmer and his wife are the couple from the hospital in season one - he had dropsy and Mrs. Crawley bullied the doctor into helping him by removing the fluid from around his heart and then restarting his heart using adrenalin.

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I’m just going to discuss the topiscs that interest me.

After all the gossip we heard of in the first episode, I’m thinking Lord Grantham is the last person in Great Britain who doesn’t know about The Case of The Dead Turk. I especially enjoyed his reaction at the end of that episode–when he spoke of how the tender feelings of the ladies of the house needed respect after having such a horrid occurrence under their roof. Not knowing that his darling wife & daughter had quite efficiently moved the body back to his own bed… (With Anna’s help, of course; I’m not happy that Bates left her with such a pisspoor excuse.)

  1. During both World Wars, the Women’s Land Army helped out on Great Britain’s Farms. But if Edith actually joined up, she’d be away from Downton for too many episodes. (Just as most nursing jobs would take the youngest away & Matthew seems to come Back From The Front rather too often. The show is called Downton Abbey & that will probably remain the central focus. Besides, other locations & sets cost money.)

  2. Edith was probably thinking “I was not expecting this!” She looked good in those casual clothes & doing useful work suited her better than sitting at home, being compared to The Beautiful Sister & The Youngest Sister. Had she ever had an opportunity for a simple flirtation? But it couldn’t go anywhere; the young farmer was the one who almost died from dropsy last series & that lady was his wife.

My major problem with this series is the two-years missing after the last one. A bit more of the War (even discussed from a distance) & a bit more character development at Downton would have been good. But the show is about The Pretty & The War wasn’t very pretty.

Onward!

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I’m just getting around to watching the first episode of the second season.

Maggie Smith has be cracking up already – Upon learning that there’s no chance of Matthew and Mary meeting on the train on the way to Downton – “Well that’s a relief! I hate Greek drama – everything happens offstage!” – Her main worry was that she wouldn’t get a front-row seat!

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Oh, wow! Thanks! I missed that entirely!

Thanks to everyone for your answers/comments/questions.

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IIRC on Matthew, his returns from the front are about right. quite a lot of leave was permitted and he seems to have seen his share of action. About one week in four was spent in the trenches, the rest in the rear, training or on leave.

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That’s true, and while Lady Sybil is a VAD nurse she’s too young to be sent to France (IIRC VAD nurse had to be at least 23 to serve in the field). It’s a shame we didn’t get to see any of her training or her actually having to live with without a staff to wait on her for the first time in her life.

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Just you wait.

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I’ve already seen the 2nd series.

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Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! ::Putting fingers in ears & chanting, “La la la, I can’t hear you!”:: No spoilers, Og rot your hide! :smiley:

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One thing from the first season that I’m not clear on, if someone can help:

Why was Daisy near the family’s bedrooms when the Turk’s body was carried from Lady Mary’s room to his room? The lodging of the help in Downton Abbey seems to be in the attic, both male and female, and Daisy also helps with the fires in the bedrooms, but this was in the middle of the night. What was she doing on that floor? Or was she in a stairwell on her way from the attic to the kitchen for some reason?

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I’ll have to rewatch to be sure, but I seem to recall at the time that Daisy thought he was hearing and seeing ghosts and was skulking around the house in the middle of the night because of that.

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I thought the ghost thing came up when the other maids saw her reaction to being in Lady Mary’s room. And I don’t understand how she knew that it happened in Lady Mary’s room when the scene only showed her seeing the body being carried down a hallway, not being taken from the actual room, unless Lady Mary’s room was the only one at that end of hall.

I plan to watch the episodes again to see what Thomas(?) got out of her when he heard that she’d seen something that bothered her. I don’t recall who talked to her. Maybe she had some explanation then.

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I seem to recall that when Daisy was seeing the ladies moving the body there was a blue light of predawn in the scene. I think she may have been up to start her work day.