It airs today. Christmas Day is when all the big shows air their Christmas specials.
Well I did not expect that! I suppose I should have, with all the rumors going around, but I was still caught off guard! :eek:
thanks.
Just one word for it, “ridiculous” 
Well apparently Dan Stevens wanted to leave, which is why they killed Matthew off. But seriously, another Crawley buys it just after becoming a parent? Could they not have killed him in some sort of air crash or see him get shot by accident in Scotland.
I’ve seen better plot twists in daytime soaps. I don’t think I’ll continue watching it next year, I’m out.
Reported the post above so as to have a spoiler warning added to the title.
As for the episode, I must say…completely too far fetched. What a let down.
Another thing which I wasn’t too keen on throughout the series was the entanglement between the staff and the family. I’m sure that a real upper class family like that wouldn’t involve themselves so much in the lives of their servants. And there have been many occasions in which one of the servants would walk up to one of the “masters” (to the point of interrupting them during a meal or while entertaining guests) and offer their opinion on something, or request a favour or what have you.
I just don’t think it would happen that way. I mean, sure, the oldest and highest-ranking servants might have enjoyed some privileges in terms of such “liberties”, and probably long-serving ladies maids might have served as confidants to their mistresses but I think the degree to which it is shown to have happened in this series is entirely too far fetched.
As someone from a culture where servants are still common, I can state that I find that aspect to be extremely realistic.
Quite possibly you know best, then. But (not knowing your culture) I believe that the perception in the British upper echelon of yesteryear was that the “serving class” was actually and indisputably inferior to the lords and ladies. Granted, Downton Abbey is set in a time when all that is starting to change (and that is largely what the show about) but given my reading of the English classics, I think there truly was a difference.
As I said though, it might be as you say.
Terrible episode. 89 minutes of dull, followed by 2 minutes of what?! :mad:
So what exactly happened to Prince Charming?
He was driving back to Downton after visiting Mary in the hospital and seeing his newborn son, when he was hit by an oncoming car. Last shot in the show was a close up of his head with blood dripping.
So Christmas-y!
Since Dan Stevens wanted to leave the show, there was not much Fellowes could do about it. When he started writing the show, that wasn’t the original plan for Mary & Matthew’s characters. If Downton was going to continue after the third season (which it is) and Stevens wasn’t staying, then you’ve gotta kill Matthew. After all that’s happened, he wouldn’t simply leave Mary, and you had to have the son to fix the whole heir issue, otherwise Mary would have to find another suitor and it would just be a repeat of season 1.
Mary & Matthew were never my favorite pairing, so while I was surprised, I’m not upset. I kinda always found their storyline a bit boring tbh. I hope that season 4 starts right where this episode left off, and not “six months later” or some shit. I want to see all the character’s immediate reactions.
Not quite, the title & estate passes through the male line; so if Mary married anyone besides Mathew her child would not be the heir. IIRC entail was abolished in the '20s so they probally could’ve kept Downton, but not the title. I really wish I was able to avoid the spoiler re Matthew. I kept waiting for him to get shot, fall off a horse, have a blood vessel in his brain burst, etc.
I wonder how big a time skip there’s going to be between now and next season. If it’s a few years then we could see Mary courting again, or even just taking a lover. She’s basically a younger version of Lady Rosemund now, that gives her alot more social freedom. On the other hand I don’t want to miss to much of what’s going on between Edith and her editor. Don’t really care much about Tom’s love life.
It was interesting to see O’Brien with an even bigger bitch than her. I actually felt bad for her. It’s not like she could’ve acted any differently with Lady Flintshire than she did. Anna’s still young, will her & Bates have a baby? Obviously Mary would need to find a new lady’s maid. Poor Thomas, I really hope next series he get’s some kind of action. Anyone develop an urge to give him a sponge bath while he was lying there in bed?
Also I didn’t think it was realistic for anyone, let alone Robert, to suggest divorce merely because Susan & Shrimpie hated eachother. That’s way too frivolus a reason for someone of there class. They’d just live seperate lives unless/until Susan wanted to marry someone else.
Oh I did not see that coming. I didn’t know he wanted off the show, silly man, he’s not that good of an actor.
During the show I was too busy plotting out next season where the insipid Edith runs off to live with her lover in London—I actually thought the car at the end was driven by him as he came to fetch her (at first)— and since she can’t be received anymore, her niche is entertainly filled by Rose (?) who is also due to come out. So balls and beaux and 23 skiddoo. Except now the house will be in full mourning again. Rose will opt for someplace livelier and Edith will feel compelled to hang around. Blech.
Also, another housemaid with designs on the Upstairs men? This is the third time. I think the reverse was more common back then.
It was, but it would be really out of character any of the upstairs men to try and get with one the maids. The closest we got was the affair between the Duke of Crowborough and Thomas in the first episode. It’d been going on for quite awhile so I imagine the Duke was frequent houseguest at Downton. And let’s not forget Ethel and Major Bryant. Anyhow propositioning your host’s servants was considered very poor form. Impregnating one was simply beyond the pale.