Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 6

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Season 4 Episode 6

Well, off go Lord Grantham and Thomas to America to see what Cora's troublesome brother has been up to. And Lady Mary (shockingly) thinks that Thomas may enjoy getting some action away from rural Yorkshire, which I imagine had a limited gay scene in the 1920s. Have fun Thomas!!!

And will someone at Downton please tell Rose that her jazz singer, although a lovely gentleman, will be a bit of an uphill battle for her to integrate into the 1920s elite of London? Lady Edith seems like the likely person to lay it on the line. "Why can't you just fit in for once?"

But what Bates is up to (staying back at Downton) we really don't have to think too hard about. Look out Gillingham/Green! But does Bates' plan include the PIGS, by any chance?!

Line of the night by Lady Mary: "What do I look like?"-Was anyone else yelling "A muddy snooty SNOB!" at the screen? Just me then?

And at another point she says "I'm not aloof am I?"  Well...not when you are throwing porcine excrement at your latest suitor I suppose.

I think we are all relieved that Edith didn't go through with the back street abortion at the place she found in the back of a magazine she found at a train station?! And another baby bouncing through the plot line can only be a good thing for Downton, can it not? But WHERE IS MICHAEL? Are we TRULY not going to see him for the rest of the season? Poor Edith!

The ill Dowager Countess story line had me worried for a bit. Lord Fellowes wouldn't kill off Dame Maggie would he? But then I realized that it was just a bonding exercise for the old dames. Rats...just when Violet was one up on Isobel (game, set and match) now she is in debt to the old drunken vicar herself. Pooh!

Uh-oh, I know I asked for a new love interest for Tom Branson but is this prune faced political dame really what he needs?

My fave scene of the week is a tie between the pig mud fight and Mary actually scrambling eggs. Cooking! In the kitchen! The look on Ivy's face said it all. But of course Ivy had to do the washing up. This is still Downton after all.

Best lines of the week:

Lord Grantham: "I know plenty of relatives of English Earls who belong in jail."

Lord Grantham: "You do know the Americans have a correct uniform for practically every activity known to man."

Lady Mary: "I've been married. I know everything." (LOL!)

Lady Rosamund: "You seem so preoccupée lately."

Carson (flirting with Mrs. Hughes): "You're quite a plotter when you want to be."

Mrs. Hughes: "It's a skill all women must learn."

Lady Mary: "I hope we are good employers. But even we expect to get what we pay for."

Mrs. Patmore: "I do grudge him the tears and the heartbreak that will flavour my puddings for weeks to come."

Violet: "Dr Clarkson when you go can you please take that mad woman with you?"

Dr. Clarkson: "You'll be rewarded in heaven."
Violet: "The sooner the better."

Mrs. Hughes (threatening Mr. Green): "If you value your life I should stop playing the joker and keep to the shadows."

TTFN and see you next week. One more regular episode and then the finale/Christmas episode!

Downton Abbey Season 4 Episode 5

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Season 4 Episode 5

Poor, poor Daisy. The ones she loves never love her back, and the man who adored her (remember her "husband" William?) not only didn't get Daisy's love, but died in Season 2. More tears. So is Alfred gone for good now?

And no sympathy for Ivy who discovered that Jimmy wanted "things no man should ask for before he's married." And I thought Daisy was a simple Yorkshire lass!

Hurrah! Molesley is back in the Abbey! Albeit with white gloves on, but that is soooo much better than shoveling gravel. Isn't it??

And now how many suitors does Mary have? Is that 3 now? Let's see...Anthony Gillingham is engaged but that doesn't count him out...Evelyn Napier wasn't scared off by the fact that anyone who sleeps with Lady Mary dies...and now we have Charles Blake/Andrew Foyle  in the mix. Since he is the least interested in Lady Mary of the three, he will be the one she falls for...according to the Daisy principle.

I have to say that the predictable kissing scene between Lady Rose and Jack Ross the band leader was WAY eclipsed by Carson asking him about Africa. Good one Carson!

Oh dear, Edith is pregnant, as Lord Julian Fellowes foreshadowed so obviously last week. Will this girl never learn? And her Michael Palin chappie has gone missing in Germany. Sigh! But at least she is getting some lovely headbands and hair ornaments to go with her vastly improved wardrobe.

Lady Cora gets a prize for putting the uppity maitre d' in his place but bad timing on cutting in on the serious conversation at the Bates table. And Bates is getting ever more murderous. Are we sure he didn't off his first wife? I am starting to wonder!

And more awkward dancing by Tom Branson with elderly ladies. Can we get this hunk of man someone decent to keep him happy at Downton? And will Dr. Death finally get Isobel to marry him at last? He sure is making a hash of it so far. By the way, kudos to Isobel for her detective work on the King of Sweden knife. But the big award goes to Violet for staying one step ahead of her (polite applause). I'd say that was game, set and match to Lady Grantham!

Best lines of the week:

Bates: Your husband is a brooder. And brooders brood.

Countess Violet: I wonder you don't set fire to the Abbey and dance round it, painted with woad and howling.

Isobel: How you hate to be wrong.
Countess Violet: I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the sensation.

Carson: You're nervous because you are intelligent Alfred. Only stupid people are foolhardy.

Mrs. Patmore: I like that Rudolph Valentino. He makes me shiver all over.
Carson: What a very disturbing thought.

Countess Violet: It is her fuel. I mean some people run on greed, lust, even love. She runs on indignation. (in reference to Isobel)

Lady Edith: Who is this singer and how did he get here? Isn't it rather odd?
Lord Grantham: No, I think it's fun.
Countess Violet: My dear, we country dwellers must beware of being provincial. Try and let your time in London rub off on you a little more.

Evelyn Napier: Is this your first experience of jazz Lady Grantham?
Countess Violet: Oh, is that what it is? Do you think any of them know what the others are playing?

TTFN and see you next week!

Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 3

SPOILER ALERT! This post is intended for those who have already seen Season 3 Episode 3!

A bit of a quiet episode today, but hang in there- next week is a big one! This one was sort of setting up future action.

Poor Ethel the prostitute. Mrs. Hughs and Ethel keep trying to avoid that word and Cousin Isobel keeps saying it. She definitely is a...you know, what Cousin Isobel said...but Ethel is a much nicer person now than when she thought she was the bees knees in Season 2.

Isobel: She's been working as a prostitute.

Mrs. Hughs:  My my, that's not a work you hear in this house every day.

Hopefully Ethel can rebuild her life together with Mrs. Crawley. Poor little Charlie. Will his lovely grandmother be strong enough to protect him from his evil mustachioed grandfather? I rather enjoyed this story line and I hope we get to see lots of Ethel and Charlie in the future.

Violet: Edith, dear, you're a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining and find something to do.

Yes, Violet, thank goodness you are encouraging Lady Edith to set out in a new direction. Journalism! Matthew is quite impressed I think. But Violet and Cora are not.

Violet: What do you mean you wrote to a newspaper? No lady writes to a newspaper.

Edith: What about Lady Sarah Wilson? She's the daughter of a duke and she worked as a war journalist.

Violet: Well, she's a Churchill. The Churchills are different.

Mary: Have we no Churchill blood?

Cora: I think Granny's right.

Violet: Can somebody write that down?





Wasn't Tom supposed to be the journalist in the family? Now he is just burning down the houses of Sybil's former childhood playmates. And she finally looks a little concerned about what kind of a whack-job she has actually married. Took her long enough! Although he was looking kinda sexy when he was wet and disheveled and running from the coppers...

But it looks like Tom the firebrand has to stay in England indefinitely now, so the baby will have to be born at Downton. Yay!!! Can we now find Branson something to do that doesn't involve burning down the houses of the aristocracy? Write radical newspaper articles to annoy his father-in-law?

And was anyone else slightly disappointed with Jimmy...I mean James the new footman?  I mean, he is OK looking but he's not THAT much better looking than Alfred. Oh well, if Mary and Matthew can't figure out how to conceive an heir to Downton, perhaps the new footman can be of assistance!

Mary: Well done, Carson. That must have cheered up the maids.

Violet: He looks like a footman in a musical review.

And poor Daisy has been overshadowed by the new scullery maid just when she was getting her nerve up to be "forward" with Alfred. Pooh! But good to get some new blood below stairs I suppose.

The stars of this episode were undoubtedly Mrs. Hughs' new electric toaster and the bouillon spoon.

Mr. Carson: I was worried that Mr. Branson might take it into his head to burn the house down, but I didn't think that you would.

Mrs. Hughs: No? I should never take anything for granted, Mr. Carson.

Alfred: Tea spoon, egg spoon, melon spoon, grapefruit spoon, jam spoon...

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Archbishop of York: I don't want to sound anti-Catholic

Robert: Why not? I am

Archbishop of York: Not in any real way, I'm sure

Robert: I don't want to thumbscrews or the rack, but there always seems to be something of Johnny Foreigner about the Catholics.

Gasp! I know this was almost 100 years ago, but really Mr. Fellowes! Would Lord Grantham really have said that? I guess this is foreshadowing future difficulties with his Johnny Foreigner Irish son-in-law, but really!

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Violet:  A guinea? For a bottle of scent? Did he have a mask and a gun?

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Mr. Carson: Hard work and diligence weigh more than beauty in the real world.

Violet: If only that were true.

Awwwwww...Bates and Anna are still in love and Bates is in favour with the gaol staff again. Whew!

Downton Abbey Season 2: Episode Six

Anna and Bates marry- Finally!

Well wasn't that a cracker of a season finale! I cannot believe that season 2 is over (as well as the Spanish flu pandemic). Well, we do get the encore Christmas episode next week and it's another 2 hour treat!

So Anna and Bates have finally gotten married and had their 20 minutes of happiness (in bed...pasty English body alert!) before tragedy strikes this story line again. Boy, I didn't see that one coming...again!

Matthew- We can have children now!

And just as I was getting really attached to Lavinia...the little ginger kid from the wrong side of the tiara who just couldn't believe deep down that she was good enough for Matthew. And yet you know that she would have made him happy, giving him a bunch of ginger babies with sweet faces. Ah well, this is Downton Abbey after all. Sir Julian Fellowes has the soap opera bubbles blowing again. But what will happen to the "cursed" Mary/Matthew story line now? Will it drag on for yet another season? (rhetorical question-sorry)

Look out Carson, Mary's going to blast some flapper music!

We are winging toward the 1920s with gramophones and social upheaval. I did find the Sir Richard/Anna/Carson/Mary spy storyline a bit interesting. Mary seems truly pissed off at Anna and Carson, and poor Carson finally gets a dose of nasty Mary for a change. Now he knows what Mrs. Hughs has been talking about. Mary really is "an uppity minx and the author of her own misfortune"!

Dowager Countess Violet pondering the aftermath of the Spanish Flu

Best Dowager Countess lines of the season finale:

•  "All this unbridled joy has given me quite an appetite."
•  "I was watching her the other night when you spoke of your wedding. She looked like...Juliet on awakening in the tomb."
•  "Marriage is a long business. There’s no getting out of it for our kind of people. I mean, you may live forty...fifty years with one of these two women. Just make sure you have selected the right one."
•  "Marry in May, rue the day."
• "Will someone please tell me what's going on, or have we all stepped through the looking glass?"
•   Branson thinks Violet "deserves to know" what's going on. "Why don't I find that reassuring?" says Violet.
•  Lavinia has been given a gramophone. "I'll stand well clear when you light the blue touch paper."
•  Lady Edith: "I've left space at the front for jewels. I know Lavinia's getting something from Papa."
  Violet: "And from me. Though she's so slight, a real necklace would flatten her."
• "I used to think Mary's beau was a mésalliance but compared to this he's practically a Hapsburg."
• "Don't be defeatist, dear. It's very middle class."
• "The plot thickens!" (Mainly for her little grin. Amazing.)
• "Wasn't there a masked ball in Paris when cholera broke out? Half the guests were dead before they left the ballroom." (Made even better by the following pause and the Earl's: "Thank you, mama. That's cheered us up no end.")
• "And while I am sure Branson has many virtues…He's a good driver."
• "I do hope I'm interrupting something."

Ethel discovers Charlie's grandad is a real bastard!

I think I have invented a new game. Eat an Oreo cookie (or similar chocolate treat) for every time the word bastard was used in this episode with respect to Ethel's love child. I believe have a tummy ache now however. I hope Ethel doesn't live to regret her decision about little Charlie, however horrible his moustachioed grandfather.

And did anyone else shriek at the return of the beanie baby/good luck charm? What is that thing anyway? Rabbit? Dog? Well, whatever it is Matthew will never give it up.

And any of you think that O'Brien almost used the word "soap" when feeling all guilty about her nasty past?

The maid Jane and Lord Grantham storyline was a bit weird. Poor Lord Grantham is just knocking around Downton trying to find something to do. Or someone to do. Oooh sorry for that one!

Lady Sybil clearly not enjoying the dinner table chitchat

Although I haven't been a fan of the whole Irish chauffeur storyline (because there was no spark of affection between the two AT ALL) I have to admit I was highly amused when Sybil took off with him to Gretna Green  (just like Lydia and Wickham!) and then was dragged back to Downton to hash it out with Papa. The final scene between Robert and the Dowager Countess was perfect.

Robert: And perhaps we should let Lavinia's last gift to us be a reminder of what really matters. Of course, you'll think that's soft.

Violet: Well, not at all. The aristocracy has not survived by its intransigence. Oh, no, no, we must work with what we've got to minimize the scandal.

Robert: But what have we got to work with?

Violet: Well, you'd be surprised. He's political, isn't he? And a writer. Well, I could make something out of that. And there's a family called Branson with a place not far from Cork. I believe they have a connection with the Howards. Well, surely, we can hitch him onto them.


So meet me here again next week for the recap of the two hour Christmas special. I hope Isis the new bouncier Labrador Retriever gets a little doggy stocking with a bone or two from Mrs. Patmore!  I can't wait to see more of Thomas the former footman. He is sooooo smarmy!

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 Help for non Brits with references from this episode:


Carson: Definition of "a guinea a minute" which Carson uses to describe Mary as a child-means a "barrel of laughs" or "a hoot".

Sybil: The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying et al., often to express exasperation at the large number of people in a list. The phrase comes from a Devon folk song "Widecombe Fair". Its chorus ends with a long list of people: "Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all."

Violet: Light the blue touch paper was originally used as instruction for British fireworks- "Light blue touch-paper-stand well back". Became a way of suggesting someone had done something dangerous or foolhardy and needed to beware of the consequences, especially, for example, when having said something that was likely to cause someone else to respond explosively

Downton Abbey Season 2: Episode Four

Matthew returns from the front

Well, we knew the war would come to Downton eventually. After being sent "over the top" Matthew and William don't make it out unscathed. They both do make it back to Downton eventually, although it takes some doing by Violet to get William back from the hospital in Leeds.

Daisy does the right thing!

Some of the finest acting in this episode was from the actress playing Daisy. She is understandably reluctant to let William know her true feelings, yet she does the right thing and brings everyone to tears at the end.

Bates and Anna in church

They are really leaving us hanging about Anna and Bates. Are we waiting for the divorce to be finalized? Well that leaves the door open for Vera to stick her evil snoot in again doesn't it? Hmmmmm. Very silly of Bates to pay her off before he was actually divorced and remarried. Lovely scene with them praying for Matthew and William.

"Is this an instrument of communication or torture?"

The best lines (and the comic relief) came from the Dowager Countess again. Bless Maggie Smith for her talent. She seems to relish every line she is given! Best lines from this episode:

• "I am no Jacobin revolutionary. Nor do I seek to overthrow the civilized world. We just need one bed for a young man from this village."
• "It always happens when you give these little people power. It goes to their heads like strong drink."
• "Is this an instrument of communication or torture?"
• "Sometimes we must let the blow fall by degrees."
• "I hope it's not vulgar in me to suggest that you find some way to overcome your scruples."
• "I have a cold." Sniff!

Nurse Mary and Matthew- tender moment

Interesting to see the drama playing out between Matthew, Lavinia and Mary when his "medical condition" is revealed. A lot of code words bandied about! And poor Mary had to go and admit her sins to slimy Sir Richard Carlisle (the predecessor of Rupert Murdoch, and just as icky). Her future takes another swerve!

Mrs. Hughs takes food swiped from Downton to Ethel and her baby

Other quotes from this episode:

• "I'd rather have the right man than the right wedding." Love Anna and Bates!
• "I feel I've led him up the garden path with all that nonsense. I'm ashamed, I'm so ashamed." Poor Daisy.
• "I'm not standing by while she brings misery and ruin on my lady," O'Brien huffs. "You started it all," Thomas responds.
• Thomas wants to shake William's hand before he dies. "Is that sentiment or superstition in case he haunts you?" says O'Brien
• "Have you got a handkerchief? I never seem to have one in moments of crisis." Poor Lavinia!
• Vera Bates calls Anna a "floozy". Harrumph!
•  "My husband works for them. We're not on good terms." Vera, really! Not on good terms?
• "I don't think asking permission is his strongest suit." Oh dear Mary, Sir Richard really is a slimy one.
• "It seems such a long time since I turned you down and now look at me - an impotent cripple stinking of sick. What a reversal. You have to admit it's quite funny." Not really, Matthew.
• " I'll die if I can't be with him."

Daisy at the wedding

 Bless you Daisy. I think she really did love William after all.

Downton Abbey Season 2: Episode Three

Lady Cora- New dress, new hairstyle!

Well, we certainly had some fireworks between Lady Cora and Isobel this week over their shared management of Downton. I sort of felt sorry for poor Isobel, didn't you? She looked like she expected Cora to back down, but instead her bluff was called. Mind you, she'll probably do much more good in France than she would at Downton, where Lady Cora and the girls seem quite capable of keeping it all under control. But surely Downton will be a little too quiet without Isobel. Bring her back Mr. Fellowes...please?

Lady Violet, The Dowager Countess, looking very smart indeed!

And didn't Lady Violet have some of the best lines again this week. I'm having fun trying to keep up with her!

Lady Violet:  I'm a woman, Mary, I can be as contrary as I choose!

Lady Violet:  It's like living in a second-rate hotel where the guests keep arriving and no one seems to leave.  

Lady Violet: God knows who the next heir will be. Probably a chimney sweep from Solihull!


I just about snorted my tea through my nose on that last one. Dame Maggie Smith looks like she is having the time of her life. She went right from Professor McGonagall to this role without skipping a beat. What more can an actress ask for?

O'Brien and Mrs. Hughs vying for sour look of the night. Mrs. Hughs wins!

I did rather enjoy seeing Mrs. Hughs catch Ethel in flagrante with moustachio man!

Mrs. Hughs: I may not be a woman of the world but I don't live in a sack.

Apparently Ethel lives in a sack if she didn't think this one through. This was not the best way to get out of service Ethel! You just have to learn how to type, you little twit!

O'Brien and Thomas aka "Poacher turned Gamekeeper"

And how about the look on O'Brien's face when she and her ladyship discovered Mrs. Bird's little secret? Classic! But other than this wonderful bit of meddling, O'Brien really seems to be going soft. Has the arrival and departure of "The Looney" as Thomas calls poor shell-shocked Mr. Lang made her reevaluate her evil ways? I hope not!

I do have to admit that I was tearing up at the end. "If you were the only girl in the world and I were the only boy …" By god, I love this show.

Downton Abbey Doll House on YouTube

This Downton parody set in a dollhouse (and created by two 16 year old girls) was featured in the British newspaper The Guardian last week for those who couldn't wait for the new series to start. It starts slow but hang in there and you'll be in stitches by the end of Part 1. I particularly like the Mrs. Patmore & Daisy scene and the Pamuk & Mary scene.

It may help to have this character guide as reference:

Lord Grantham-Bunny in red jacket
Lady Cora-Bunny with hat
Mary-Bunny in red dress
Edith-Bunny in pink dress
Sybil-Bunny in yellow dress then yellow dungarees
Matthew-Chubby cat in blue coat
Violet (Dowager)-Duck with hat
Isobel (Matthew's mother)-Cat with purple hood
Mrs. Patmore (cook)-large badger type thing with ruffled hat
Daisy(scullery maid)-Hedgehog in dress
O'Brien (Lady's maid) -Otter in blue dress
Mrs. Hughes- (Housekeeper)- Grey mouse in flowered dress
Mr. Bates (Valet)-Dog in pram
Mr. Carson (Butler)-Large mouse with yellow waistcoat
Thomas (Footman 1)-Penguin with red coat
William (Footman 2)-Penguin with green coat
Branson (Chauffeur)-Otter with bad Irish accent
Maid Anna-Grey cat in red dress
Maid Gwen-Grey puppy with pencil and note book
Pamuk (Turk)-naked Hedgehog



And here is Episode 2 (still cute but not quite as funny):



Apparently the little animal characters are called Sylvanian Families. By the way, I am feeling envious of that doll house. I think there is a 12 year old girl still inside me!

And in my opinion, the Lord Grantham bunny in the red waistcoat looks amazingly like Hugh Bonneville!