So thinking further about Violet's commentary on the government taking power away from the important families, I do think it's interesting that the family decided to go against their economic self-interest in letting the farm to Mr. Mason. They definitely acted out of a sense of duty to their community and created a social safety net, which (I don't think) the government didn't do much of at that time. Interesting contrast to today.
Good point. On the flip side, not every family or owner would have been as nice or accommodating - like the estate where Mr. Mason used to live. So you'd be at the mercy of whomever you worked for. And like Daisy keeps pointing out, Mr. Mason spent his entire life at that farm (and some for multiple generations), just to not have any loyalty in return. But good families would have the option of extending kindness and loyalty.
And like Mr. Mason said, he'll be there as long as Mary is... although it might not be in the best interest of the estate long-term, either. Hard call.
I had stopped missing Branson when he showed up! Ah well. We'll see what he does.
Man. I miss Sybil. I love when they talk about her. She was my favorite. Once again last night they basically said, "Wow, she was the best of all of us, huh?"
And my husband was all, "Is that Rose Leslie?" and I was like, "Uh, yeah, dude, she was on this show BEFORE she was on GoT."
So thinking further about Violet's commentary on the government taking power away from the important families, I do think it's interesting that the family decided to go against their economic self-interest in letting the farm to Mr. Mason. They definitely acted out of a sense of duty to their community and created a social safety net, which (I don't think) the government didn't do much of at that time. Interesting contrast to today.
Good point. On the flip side, not every family or owner would have been as nice or accommodating - like the estate where Mr. Mason used to live. So you'd be at the mercy of whomever you worked for. And like Daisy keeps pointing out, Mr. Mason spent his entire life at that farm (and some for multiple generations), just to not have any loyalty in return. But good families would have the option of extending kindness and loyalty.
And like Mr. Mason said, he'll be there as long as Mary is... although it might not be in the best interest of the estate long-term, either. Hard call.
Oh, I'm not advocating that we go back to the days when "charity" (or even treating people decently) depended on the moral codes of individuals in power. I'm definitely a liberal when it comes to social safety nets. But, I have heard the argument from many conservatives on here about how they support more privatized social safety nets (e.g., from churches and other community organizations) rather than government-funded, and it just struck me that Violet and her family were sort of living that vision.
The Crawley family were definitely benevolent dictators...remember when Mrs. Patmore was crying into the soup because she couldnt' see and they just whisked her off with Mrs. Hughes to get it taken care of on their dime...and then gave them both time and space for her to recuperate?
I agree Thomas is a sad figure these days. He started out being the queen bitch on the show and as a result no one likes him and most expect the worst of him, and after trying to be a decent guy for a while he eventually gives up and just says well if you are always goign to think I'm nasty there's no reason to be nice.
He's also realising that had he been a little nicer to everyone years ago, he'd probably not be on the chopping block at the house. All the staff that's left are people who get along well with each other, help out in whatever needs done and genuinely like each other and the family upstairs.
I totally agree with all this, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that am uncomfortable with the queen bitch wording, because of Thomas's sexuality.
I had stopped missing Branson when he showed up! Ah well. We'll see what he does.
Man. I miss Sybil. I love when they talk about her. She was my favorite. Once again last night they basically said, "Wow, she was the best of all of us, huh?"
And my husband was all, "Is that Rose Leslie?" and I was like, "Uh, yeah, dude, she was on this show BEFORE she was on GoT."
I wanted to do a snarky recap of the episode.
"So, Gwen, what have you been doing with yourself since you left?"
"Well, I moved north of the wall. The sex was good, but there were ice zombies and it was a real bummer, so I came back here."
"OH! Lady Mary - remember the dude who was blackmailing you about the guy who died in your bed? You'll be happy to know that his life has become way more difficult since then. He's in love with a beautiful queen, but she only has eyes for her dragons."
I just watched this week's episode. A lot of it just struck me as gimmicky, as has much of this final season thus far. It happens a lot in shows that are winding down but I had hoped for a bit more from Downton.
10nille , re Thomas, I think it's because he only does the contemptuous things because he's so miserable, and that is very sad. Even after everything he's done, I don't want to see him let go. I also think that his "friendship" with Baxter could be the start of turning him around. I hope.
I've been thinking about this and I agree he is miserable. He's been 'in service' almost his entire life and to be the butler was his dream. Seems that is to be taken from him due to times changing or Carson's dislike for him. I'd hoped they were testing him and Carson was going to retire and hand over the reins. His job interviews were so dismal and with no family he really is quite alone in the world. I agree with Baxter's statement he is his own worse enemy. He plays his role extremely well.
I think it's sad for Thomas (and all the other servants) who have been in service their whole lives, have no education or other skills, and all of the big houses are letting people go. Someone like Thomas would have to start completely over. Daisy at least is pursuing education.
Tonight's episode hasn't aired here yet, but they had the season on DVD at Costco yesterday and I was sooo tempted pick it up and watch the season through.
Even with the dire circumstances for Donk, I still laughed out loud at a lot of the quips from the Dowager's house.
What does it mean that Mary knows about Marigold? Does this unite her and Edith (finally)? Or does she push Edith out to London?
I was shocked when Donk spewed blood all over.
Not sure about Mary... Honestly I think she was sad to be out of the loop? I can't remember.... Do any of the downstairs people know?
I think everyone but Mary and Mosely have had it figured out for awhile. I think Mary will be a bit stunned that (a) she's not alone in having pre/extramarital "relations" and (b) Edith successfully kept it all a secret.
I loved Tom's quips at the bar with Mary and the car guy.
Tonight's episode hasn't aired here yet, but they had the season on DVD at Costco yesterday and I was sooo tempted pick it up and watch the season through.
I saw that too, and did a double take! I have a multi-region DVD player, so technically I could buy the British version, too...
The Denker outburst rang SO false to me. Who does she think she is, Daisy? Surely, she's been around the block enough to know that kind of crap wouldn't be acceptable, despite her whole, "Oh, but I was just trying to defend you!" claim. She's not brand new. She appears to have been in service for about 50 freaking years.
I was expecting Donk to just clutch his chest and collapse or something, not spew blood everywhere! I also yelled out loud - not what I expect to see during a Downton episode, it reminded me of when people turn into zombies in horror movies. Maybe that's the direction it's going
I really have no idea how Mary will handle the Marigold knowledge.
So unfortunately I was distracted when watching this episode, but like everyone else of course the most memorable part was the violence of Robert's ulcer rupturing - I had no idea.
I think Mary will take the Marigold news differently in the wake of Robert's near-death experience than she would have the day before. I hope.
I love that Edith is such a powerful women's rights advocate now, and although it's cheesy it's nice that she seems to be coming into her own relationship-wise. All that advice about how you have to be happy yourself first.
I admit I still yawned through the hospital stuff, even now that it's confirmed why it has been set up for so long.
WTF with Carson asking Mrs. Patmore for cooking lessons for Mrs. Hughes/Carson? Can he become a bigger ass?