# Downton Abbey, Series 2 (PBS) \[Please, no unaired spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368 "2012-01-13T04:06:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/181 "2012-02-05T22:52:37Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > …they’ll have to look a long way back in the Crawley pedigree to find a new heir presumptive. Would be cool if it was some soccer hooligan or Welsh tradesman. [O](http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/2011/09/14/the-real-downton-abbey-sordid-affairs-gambling-debts-and-saucy-photography-115875-23418659/) [M](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/8688994/Dark-past-of-the-real-Downton-Abbey-duchess.html) [G](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2051649/Downton-Abbey-A-lonely-countess-illicit-love-affair-Egyptian-prince.html) ! * * * [sub]Okay, so nothing’s been _proven_. Still, what a story![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/182 "2012-02-06T00:48:53Z")
Saturday Night Live (Feb 4) did a fun commercial as if Downton Abbey was Spike TV series. [http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/](http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/183 "2012-02-06T01:31:23Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > [O](http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/2011/09/14/the-real-downton-abbey-sordid-affairs-gambling-debts-and-saucy-photography-115875-23418659/) [M](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/8688994/Dark-past-of-the-real-Downton-Abbey-duchess.html) [G](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2051649/Downton-Abbey-A-lonely-countess-illicit-love-affair-Egyptian-prince.html) ! > > * * * > > [sub]Okay, so nothing’s been _proven_. Still, what a story![/sub] > [@N9IWP](#): > > Saturday Night Live (Feb 4) did a fun commercial as if Downton Abbey was Spike TV series. > > [http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/](http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/) > > Brian Great stuff! ---
**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:** [February 6, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/184 "2012-02-06T03:28:32Z")
Holy crap I know I said that we needed to have Mrs. Bates killed, but I swear I didn’t do it! :eek: Who is/was “Patrick Gordon”? I think he was an imposter like in that movie with Richard Gere and Jody Foster ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/185 "2012-02-06T03:59:28Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Who is/was “Patrick Gordon”? I think > > he was an imposter like in that movie with Richard Gere and Jody Foster Of course this being 1918 the family and staff at Downton would not have been as likely to say “Oldest soap opera plot line in existence”. However, I’m surprised Julian Fellowes didn’t have somebody tell him that. And I’m thinking imposter as well. I understand why Lord Nouveau-Riche (Mary’s fiance- can’t remember his name off hand) wanted Carson- partly practical reasons, partly to please his wife, partly a pissing contest with the Earl- but you’d think that the previous butler at the mansion would have been the better choice. For one thing he would know everything about the house that needed immediate tending to when the renovations begin. I liked Cora’s “I’m American, I don’t dislike comfort as much as you do” comment. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/186 "2012-02-06T04:14:36Z")
I think “Patrick” is an imposter. Didn’t that last conversaqtion with Sybil (?) pretty much clinch it? Ethel is quickly coming to the conclusion if she lies about being a war widow, nobody will actually check. Poor Daisy is having trouble deciding what is moral in the situation she finds herself in. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/187 "2012-02-06T04:18:56Z")
I’m afraid Ethel is going to off herself and the baby. She looked like she was thinking about it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/188 "2012-02-06T04:25:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Of course this being 1918 the family and staff at Downton would not have been as likely to say “Oldest soap opera plot line in existence”. However, I’m surprised Julian Fellowes didn’t have somebody tell him that. As soon as it became clear who Patrick Gordon was claiming to be, I thought of the current “[If Soap Opera Writers Wrote Movie Scripts!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=640918)” thread. > [@](#): > > And I’m thinking imposter as well. Yeah, I was pretty sure he was a phony all along, and if his last conversation with Edith plus the note don’t _quite_ add up to a confession it was close to it. I wonder if Lady Edith is ever going to get a serious love interest. Although she’s less attractive than her sisters she’s not a hag either, she’s from a titled family, and she would presumably be given a fair amount of money by dear papa upon her marriage. Even considering that the war has reduced the number of eligible bachelors, I’d think she’d still be regarded as a decent catch. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/189 "2012-02-06T04:56:24Z")
I think Edith is the MOST attractive of the three. I love her coloring, and I love a prominent nose-- on a man or a woman. Mary is too mixed up and Sybil is just dumb. Edith is THE catch of the three-- smart, sensitive, compassionate, red-haired, and a great nose. What more could any man ask? ---
**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:** [February 6, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/190 "2012-02-06T05:44:21Z")
Didn’t “Patrick” say because of his amnesia he did not remember his name, so he took the name Peter Gordon from a gin bottle? Then the lawyer finds out that the real Patrick just \*happened \*to be friends with a guy named, guess what, Peter Gordon? I thought that was pretty clear evidence that he was an imposter and didn’t know why none of them mentioned it again. I don’t think Bates killed his wife, that is just too much of a 180 for the character. (Or at least that’s what I’m hoping! I really like him! Can’t he & Anna just be happy for once!?) As soon as he said “the late Mrs. Bates” to Lord Grantham, I knew she’d turn up dead by the end of the episode and that it would look like he did it. > [@N9IWP](#): > > Saturday Night Live (Feb 4) did a fun commercial as if Downton Abbey was Spike TV series. > > [http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/](http://www.styleite.com/media/downton-abbey-spike-tv-saturday-night-live/) > > Brian Ha! OK that was really funny! “Hot, Way Hot… and The Other One.” ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/191 "2012-02-06T06:18:21Z")
[QUOTE=ThelmaLou] I’m afraid Ethel is going to off herself and the baby. She looked like she was thinking about it. [/quote] [QUOTE=Cub Mistress] {snip} Poor Daisy is having trouble deciding what is moral in the situation she finds herself in. [/QUOTE] Hmmmm…Ethel needs a source of income and Daisy doesn’t want to take the widow’s pension. Mrs. Hughes, can you think of a solution to their problems? ---
**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:** [February 6, 2012, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/192 "2012-02-06T07:11:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > …I wonder if Lady Edith is ever going to get a serious love interest. Although she’s less attractive than her sisters she’s not a hag either, she’s from a titled family, and she would presumably be given a fair amount of money by dear papa upon her marriage. Even considering that the war has reduced the number of eligible bachelors, I’d think she’d still be regarded as a decent catch. My WAG is that in series 3 she ends up in a happy, relatively class appropriate marriage. Naturally this is boring as Hell to watch, but does provide a contrast to the drama her sisters generate. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/193 "2012-02-06T07:36:50Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Didn’t “Patrick” say because of his amnesia he did not remember his name, so he took the name Peter Gordon from a gin bottle? Then the lawyer finds out that the real Patrick just \*happened \*to be friends with a guy named, guess what, Peter Gordon? I thought that was pretty clear evidence that he was an imposter and didn’t know why none of them mentioned it again. “I was rescued from the Titanic, and then when I woke up, I had lost my memory and my English accent.” Was I the only one who noticed that the guy sounded really Canadian for somebody who had come to the country in 1913? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/194 "2012-02-06T14:22:47Z")
I think it was a way to show how difficult it was to test the veracity of identity claims back then. Last week we heard about the massacre of the Russian royal family and that real life event spawned several Anastasia imposters over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/195 "2012-02-06T14:26:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Of course this being 1918 the family and staff at Downton would not have been as likely to say “Oldest soap opera plot line in existence”. However, I’m surprised Julian Fellowes didn’t have somebody tell him that. And I’m thinking imposter as well. Oh, it was already laughable by 1918: the Tichborne Claimant, the plots of numerous Wilkie Collins and Mrs. Henry Wood novels . . . I’m surprised Dame Maggie didn’t go all Lady Bracknell and go, “am-_NES_-ia?” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/196 "2012-02-06T14:40:00Z")
And anyway, Julian Fellowes doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who can be _told_ much. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/197 "2012-02-06T15:02:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And anyway, Julian Fellowes doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who can be _told_ much. I guess after stealing plots and scenes wholesale from _Mrs. Miniver_, he figured \*Random Harvest \*was next up for the pickin’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/198 "2012-02-06T15:14:07Z")
This continues to be some of the best TV on the air at present. Maggie Smith is a howl, even while chewing the scenery. So we now see the possibility of Matthew regaining his ‘manhood’. This may be a bit of a soap opera, but it’s certainly entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/199 "2012-02-06T15:22:17Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > “I was rescued from the Titanic, and then when I woke up, I had lost my memory and my English accent.” Was I the only one who noticed that the guy sounded really Canadian for somebody who had come to the country in 1913? IMHO, not a mark in either column, impostor or real. The man we (Mary Crawley and the audience 🙂 ) suspect the impostor to be, Peter Gordon, late of the Foreign Office and now of Princess Pat’s Regiment, emigrated to Canada around the same time, right? He’d have abooot 🙂 the same time to pick up the accent as near-drowned-and-amnesiac Patrick Crawley would have. It’s clear he’s either Crawley or Gordon, not some random Canadian. Beyond “knowing things” he spoke too wistfully of Patrick Crawley to Lady Edith. My theory is 10% that he’s really Crawley, acting weird because of his _Titanic_ and war experiences, and 90% that he’s Gordon, not acting to defraud anyone but because Crawley gave him such a glowing account of the Crawleys and Lady Edith (“He did. I do.” ☹ ) that he honestly fell in love with the latter and thought he’d fit in with the former. The former hope was confirmed when Lady Edith shrugged off his injuries, probably unlike many women before her. The latter hope was dashed by the rest of the family and thus exits P. Gordon. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368/200 "2012-02-06T16:54:22Z")
My WAG: Next season involves a love triangle between Lady Edith and Patrick, who is now recognizable as is burn wounds have healed completely since he became a vampire, and a buff teenaged stable boy who’s also a werewolf. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downton-abbey-series-2-pbs-please-no-unaired-spoilers/609368.md?page=11)