# Thomas the evil & gay footman of Downton Abbey \[Season III -- spoilers for US viewers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-evil-gay-footman-of-downton-abbey-season-iii-spoilers-for-us-viewers/638954 "2012-10-26T17:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**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 16, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-evil-gay-footman-of-downton-abbey-season-iii-spoilers-for-us-viewers/638954/21 "2013-02-16T00:56:45Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > …What inappropriate advances? We’ve seen Thomas move on precisely two men in the entire series. The first was the young duke, in which case he thought they were picking up where they’d left off (and setting up the most gut-bustingly funny line I’ve ever heard on television). > > In the second case, he’d convinced himself, and been convinced by O’Brien, that James was flirting with him - which, to a degree, he was. Thomas was extremely careful and waited the situation out for months… he just happened to have been wrong and cruelly misled… And didn’t the Duke still want to have sex with Thomas after he burned the letters and told him a valetship was out of the question? Remember when Daisy had the crush on Thomas? I wonder if people would be so quick to throw around terms like creepy, harrasment, or sexual predator if she snuck into his room and planted a kiss while he was sleeping. IIRC back in season 1 there were posters who immediatly assumed that Thomas was going to use his positon as a medic to take advantanged of wounded soldiers. > [@cwthree](#): > > Three men, Mr. Pamuk being the third. Pamuk very quickly realizes what’s Thomas is suggesting, and uses it to manipulate Thomas into showing him to Lady Mary’s room later that night. It definatly felt like Pamuk was putting out feelers to try & find a way to get Thomas to help him to Lady Mary’s room. ---
**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 16, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-evil-gay-footman-of-downton-abbey-season-iii-spoilers-for-us-viewers/638954/22 "2013-02-16T06:43:09Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > Can I ask why we’re automatically supposed to spare any american viewers from spoilers in any Downton thread, when the same courtesy isn’t shown to european viewers when the US is ahead? Why can’t the americans just stay out of threads not marked “spolier-free”, just like europeans are expected to do? > > Especially with this issue, it seems ridiculous to even discuss it without openly mentioning events in season III. Err, you \*can \*mention spoilers in this thread. That’s why it says “spoilers for US viewers” in the title, as Season 3 has not finished here yet. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-evil-gay-footman-of-downton-abbey-season-iii-spoilers-for-us-viewers/638954/23 "2013-02-16T13:11:30Z")
Ah, sorry, I misunderstood the bitching about spoliers further up 🙂 Although I still don’t get _why_ it’s neccersary to mark it (spoilers): it should be the other way around, anything not marked (spoiler free) should be free to spoil 😃 Anyway, during season 1 and 2 it became increasingly clear that most of Thomas’ twistedness was the result of abuse and isolation; I actually always though he was a very realistic portrayal. Events in season 3 bring out a very accepting attitude among the downstairs cast, making of clear that Thomas is a character, not some “THE GAYS ARE EVIL” propaganda insert. After Thomas’ outing, reactions range from “What’s the big deal, surely” to “you’r a disgusting sinner, but since it’s not your fault for being that way, I have a lot of sympathy for you”. No one wants to beat him up, and no one thinks he’s making a choice to be gay because he’s evil; even those disgusted by him see him more as mentally afflicted, which is quite accepting for the time. Hell more accepting than mainstream america today, frankly (anything a major candidate for the presidency is allowed to say without automatically losing all votes is mainstream, sorry.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-evil-gay-footman-of-downton-abbey-season-iii-spoilers-for-us-viewers/638954.md?page=1)