Post by speckledfrog on Feb 10, 2013 22:57:50 GMT -5
I did feel bad for him when he was crying about not getting a reference. But keeping him on? WTF, Lord Grantham? I'm a bit behind on the episode, so I still have a few more minutes left.
Post by shostakovich on Feb 10, 2013 23:24:07 GMT -5
I was seriously shouting at my television, "NO, Thomas - NOOOOOO!" Even if you are sure the feeling is mutual, the first kiss in a relationship probably shouldn't happen when one party is in a subconscious state.
But I'm going to call it now - James is just fronting (and overcompensating with that nonsense with Ivy), and he and Thomas are going to end up together.
I thought Lord Granthams reaction to the Thomas incident was not true to his character. Were the brits more open minded than americans? I was surprised honestly, especially when he said thomas was born that way. He is typically very old fashioned and concerned about appearances, case in point storming into the luncheon last week
Post by Doc_Lobster on Feb 11, 2013 0:25:02 GMT -5
Yeah, it does seem a little odd that he threw a hissy fit about Ethel but not about this, but I do appreciate that they made everyone so accepting of Thomas.
Yeah i wasn't so much surprised by the downstairs folks being cool with it. And even some of the family like edith, matthew, or mary as they are more forward thinking. But this while season Lord Grantham has bucked change and tried to hold fast to tradition so i thought it was weird.
Post by Doc_Lobster on Feb 11, 2013 0:36:44 GMT -5
Oh, definitely it was the writers imposing modern views. Just like they have the characters use words like "stuff" and phrases like "step on it", but I don't think it is ever a bad thing to have gay people treated decently on TV.
I thought Lord Granthams reaction to the Thomas incident was not true to his character. Were the brits more open minded than americans? I was surprised honestly, especially when he said thomas was born that way. He is typically very old fashioned and concerned about appearances, case in point storming into the luncheon last week
I don't think the ordinary Briton was that open-minded. Among the upper crusts of society, homosexuality was ignored but not among the common man.
It was illegal and people were punished. Alan Turing, the man most responsible for winning WW II, was chemically castrated in 1952 as a consequence of being gay. The alternative was prison.
And I was right about Lady Mary! I knew she was hiding some kind of IF issue.
WTF? Could this have been?
The only thing I can think of would be a hymenectomy. Could Matthew have been that clueless?
This is where I am - talk about vague! Oh, it was me, and I needed surgery, but I'm fine now Eh, I'm sure Matthew didn't want to know the details anyway.
I'm glad to see Tom is sticking around and that he and Matthew have become such strong allies
Post by speckledfrog on Feb 11, 2013 10:28:05 GMT -5
The Eton comment made me laugh and laugh. It was awesome.
I'm so disappointed with what they're doing with Edith. Don't set her up with an unavailable man!
This Rose chick? Not fan.
I can't believe Thomas came out of this with a promotion! I wonder if he'll be nicer to Bates. O'Brien was so evil yesterday, it'll be interesting to see them clash.
I'm so over the Alfred loved Ivy storyline. It's bad enough that he's a stretched out version of William, does he really need to have the same unrequited love for the kitchen maid?
I thought Lord Granthams reaction to the Thomas incident was not true to his character. Were the brits more open minded than americans? I was surprised honestly, especially when he said thomas was born that way. He is typically very old fashioned and concerned about appearances, case in point storming into the luncheon last week
I think it fits at least on the surface. he knew Thomas was gay when he made him valet (see the scene where he and the butler discuss it he doesn't say it but it's clear what he means) so it's not a huge shock. plus it would be more of a scandal for it to come out that Lord G had a gay valet then for him to deal with it quietly and like he said he's had exposure to this before at school.
Post by vanillacourage on Feb 11, 2013 10:38:55 GMT -5
The plotting in this episode was really poor. I thought O'Brien was malevolently awesome when she got Thomas fired - but then pushing it to the point of ruining his entire life took her character to a place that I no longer found entertaining. I also don't buy that she'd do it knowing that Thomas had in his back pocket something that could ruin HER life (the thing with the soap).
I agree with others that the acceptance of Thomas is a projection of the modern-day writers. I did have a lot of sympathy for his character though - the crying in the rain was really sad, no matter what scheming he's pulled in the past.
Downton also needs to warn you when they have a random two-hour episode. DH and I were like, "what's going on, this feels long..." and then when it was over it was 30 minutes past our bedtime. Now I'm tired and I blame the show.
Yeah, it does seem a little odd that he threw a hissy fit about Ethel but not about this, but I do appreciate that they made everyone so accepting of Thomas.
The plotting in this episode was really poor. I thought O'Brien was malevolently awesome when she got Thomas fired - but then pushing it to the point of ruining his entire life took her character to a place that I no longer found entertaining. I also don't buy that she'd do it knowing that Thomas had in his back pocket something that could ruin HER life (the thing with the soap).
I agree with others that the acceptance of Thomas is a projection of the modern-day writers. I did have a lot of sympathy for his character though - the crying in the rain was really sad, no matter what scheming he's pulled in the past.
Downton also needs to warn you when they have a random two-hour episode. DH and I were like, "what's going on, this feels long..." and then when it was over it was 30 minutes past our bedtime. Now I'm tired and I blame the show.