What an episode: worth every minute of the extra running time. After months of will-they-won’t-they, the Mary/Matthew moment together was very well done – although that kiss was a little off the mark and a tad awkward.
A nuisance no more - Episode 8
They’ve left us guessing ahead of the Christmas Special, and now it looks as if Mary is in fact destined to marry her Richard, unless she can inject him with some of Lavinia’s strain of Death-on-Demand Spanish Flu. Which brings me to my favourite tweet of the eve: “That’s the same doctor who said that Matthew would never walk again, so Lavinia will probably be better in the morning.”
What’s with all the inappropriate kissing? I’m not talking early 20th century conservatism but simple cop on. First of all, Jane and Robert step off the main upstairs corridor, hand-in-hand for some risky business without locking any doors (unusual though that Bates didn’t knock). Later, when they shared their final kiss, they didn’t even check to see if the door was closed.
While the Mr & Mrs Bates bedroom scene wasn’t the most appealing, at least it was discreet. (Couldn't Mary have lit the few candles and thrown a few roses about herself?) As was Mrs Crawley’s leaving the door open as she left Matthew and Lavinia unchaperoned, although given the fact that she was dying and he had just kissed someone else, I think she was safe enough.
Plus Mary and Matthew stood in the heart of the household, accessible from every direction, including the stairwell. Not only did they avoid whispering their sweet nothings, but there wasn’t so much as a glance over the shoulder to check who might happen upon them.
Happen upon them Lavinia did; the classy lass may have won out in the end, too. Despite the fact that she described herself as a small person, fearful of being a "nuisance", she has packed a mighty punch into the heart of the Matthew/Mary romance, possibly killing, and certainly cursing, it.
The war and age have both wizened and softened the Dowager and as she and her son headed off into the season finale, (wonder who was driving them in Branson’s absence?) she was already plotting Sybil’s Irish rising. Now that series three has finally been confirmed, perhaps we will see them all head to the Emerald Isle? If not for Downton Abbey then perhaps in their civvies – if the Daily Mail reports are to be believed, 30-year-old Allen Leech who plays Branson is dating 22-year-old Jessica Brown Findlay, who plays Sybil, in real-life.
Favourite Line of the Week
This week there are four and no surprise that three come courtesy of Violet. First of all, her reaction to Branson’s bold bursting into the drawing room: “Will someone tell me what’s going on or have we all stepped through the looking glass?!”
Walking in on her son trying to convince Sybil to stay at Downton until the ‘right’ man comes along, she blurts: “I do hope I’m interrupting something.” Brilliant and as worried as Sybil was that the whole palaver would upset her granny, Violet is one of her closest allies.
Her reaction to poor Edith’s fears of becoming a spinster, whose future would involve looking after the wedding presents of her better-looking relations: “Don’t be so defeatist dear, it’s very middle class.”
Carson was also on the ball this week before Spanish Flu got the better of him. He put Thomas back in his box when he asked for his rent-free stay to be extended: “You’re trespassing on our generosity.” As for Thomas, what is his game? Has his spirit, as Mrs Patmore said, been changed due to the fear factor or is he slowly poisoning Carson to get his job?
The Daisy storyline needs to fade out as it’s going nowhere fast. As for Ethel, it’s great that she kept Charlie and hopefully Charles' horrible father and delicate mother will do the decent thing.
Despite being great support to Cora, O’Brien’s attempted confession wasn’t exactly perfectly timed or in the best possible taste. Aside from a selfish need for forgiveness, what will come of ‘fessing up? She’ll lose her job and Cora will lose a very willing lady's maid.
Although maybe it would be better to have the air cleared and Cora would be in safer hands with someone else. She’s going to need a friend with a husband like Robert; she’s busy for a few weeks and rather than talking out his needs, he opts for a dalliance with a maid. He does set Freddie up with a good school and a job prospect – bully for him, Jane’s out on her ear, out of a job and a pay packet and is left fending alone as a single mother. He’s a complete hypocrite, telling Sybil that she can’t marry the man that she loves as he happens to be of a different class, when he married Cora but frolics with the maid.
The Christmas Special is due to pick up exactly where last night’s episode left off which will be followed by the third series in September, jumping forward from 1919 to the early ‘Roaring Twenties’. Should be fun, especially in the costume department.
Taragh Loughrey-Grant
P.s. On a separate note, during one of the 50 ad breaks, anyone spot The X Factor contestants in the Christmas M&S ads? They must have been breathing a sigh of relief when Misha B made it through last week’s sing off!
