Downton. (Page 7)

Whoa. I am SO glad I was tired last night and went to bed early. Just watched it early this morning.

This can still go in many ways! Tom may struggle with the family & want to take the baby...now that Edith is an Old Maid (heh) & Lady Mary & Matthew childless, the baby is the heir to a split-owned Downton! 

Sad, but I predicted it at the start of the episode. 

AND the best line of the show: 

"the decision lies with the Chau-ffeur."

I can't wait to see the FaceBook parody of this episode!

agreed.  granny rocks.

i kind of like how cousin isabel is getting a little more granny-like as well...

They are definitely working hard to make Robert look like an jerk.  Wow.  

And Mary, she is such a piece of work!  I can't believe her reply to Edith at Sybill's death-bedside.  It was practically a  physical slap. 

I would love it if Edith would raise the baby.  I think the likelihood of her moving to the US, my first choice, is much lower now that there are fewer cast members.

I think Mary is too much of a tight-youknowwhat to conceive a child. I am sure Matthew is more than capable. He can do anything!  Mary on the other hand...

She can't be the heir to Grantham.  If that was the case, Mary would be the heir and Matthew wouldn't have figured into the picture in Season 1.  If M&M don't have children, they'll find another distant male cousin to be the heir to Grantham.

So, what's up with the jail guards and Mr. Bates?  Curious. 

Plus, being pregnant and watching this particular episode left me a bit of a crying mess (i agree on the makeup, Meh!)  As if I don't have enough hormones swirling around.  I wonder how long it will be before Lady Grantham forgives her husband.  That will come to a head.

I just finished watching the episode and I cried too. 

What I don't understand is WHY Lord Grantham wouldn't want to do anything and everything possible to make sure his very pregnant daughter was absolutely fine?  With as much as he apparently loves his daughters, WHY wouldn't he take every precaution?  He certainly is becoming more and more a complete A S S (I don't think BT will allow those letters to happen without the spacing between them) and I think that will lead to more and more trouble with Lady Grantham. 

I don't know what the law is at the time, but Tom can't go back to Ireland without getting arrested, so he can't take the baby there - but is there a reason why he wouldn't want to keep the child and raise it for himself?  He's not of the upper class to begin with so may have a different view on what his 'duties' are with regards to raising a child?  I can't see him being okay with ANY of the Grantham family taking over the care of his daughter. 

Maggie Smith rocks. 

That is all. 

I cannot understand what is happening at the jail. I think I need subtitles. Why are the guards whispering about him? And Mr Bates may be found innocent bc of something in the pastry flour? What?

Interesting how at Sybil's death only the American and the Irishman were truly emoting. Those uppercrust Crawleys just stood around wide-eyed.

They're trying to show that Bates is innocent as there is now a witness saying that Vera made the poisoned pastry herself.  Vera's friend (sorry, I can't remember her name) told Anna that she saw Vera scraping the pastry dough from under her fingernails.  As the poison was in the pastry, and Bates had already left by that point, the only conclusion is that Bates couldn't have poisoned her. 

I noticed that too about the Crawleys - their daughter/sister/granddaughter is DYING and they all just stand around. 

Bad things aren't supposed to happen to rich aristocrats.  Death at child birth is for the common folk who are too poor to have their babies and women be of such good "stock."  I really don't think they can comprehend that something like that just happened.  I know Lord Grantham can't.  He went with his buddy because it would cause less trouble and be less of a fuss.... and his daughter died because of it.  It's the first time anything didn't go his way.  Well, there was the loss of his wife's money, but he got even more money back from Matthew without having to raise a finger.  His wife almost died of the flu, but she got well.  I assume he just thinks everything will magically get better, but Sybil isn't coming back from the dead unless they turn it into a zombie show and his wife is pizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzed off.

Oh, and while Professor McGonagall Granny maintains a stunningly high level of beyotchiness, Lady Mary, though not as consistent, has some gold medal moments.  What she said to Edith at Sybil's bedside definitely earned an "oh snap!!."

I thought for a minute that Sybil might live...that Clarkson would rush in and be able to save her and everyone would realize how dumb they were to ever doubt him...

But, that didn't happen.

And yeah, even I was surprised by Lady Mary's comment to Edith...but...Edith DID rat her out about the little tryst with the Turk, so...not sure how forgiveable that is...

We totally thought the bolded part would happen. I was SO BUMMED that Clarkson didn't get the chance. In fact, when they were all standing there watching her die he joined in.

I think Lady Mary is a total witch. I think that a good sister would give Edith a chance considering she has made a pretty much total turnaround.  ALso, considering she snitched on Mary for doing something that she actually did (It wasn't pure slander), I would think Mary could be a little more flexible.  Time to move on.  

I love the asides from Edith when she's being mistreated by her family.  That is also pure Granny.

Something is seriously wrong with the formatting! 

Anyway, Episode 4 Facebook parody isn't up yet!

It was more Dr. Clarkson screwed up with Mathew and Lavinia, so two strikes were enough to bring in a knighted 3rd party.  He was the expert, so why question him by some quack that already allowed someone to die under your roof...

In 1860, the mortality rate for C-Sections was 85%.  There were advances around the turn of the century and the teens, but were they available in the countryside?  A C-section most often killed the mother.  So you've got a specialist saying she'll be fine.  You've got a GP with questionable skills saying she needs a procedure that she'd only survive 15% of the time to save her life...

Sure, the writing of the show showed that she was sick, but in real life, most people would align themselves with the specialist.

The new phone book Downton episode on Facebook is here!!!

http://www.happyplace.com/20883/downton-abbey-facebook-recap-season-3-episode-4

OMG, watched the next episode on my DVDs tonight....I won't ruin it for everyone.

I'll just say (and this can't even really count as a spoiler) that Dowager Countess has a HILARIOUS line...I was LOL'ing and LMAO.  I would have been ROTFLMAO but I was riding my bike at the time.

I'm still giggling...hours later!

PBS every Sunday night. Set it to "Record Series"!

You must be referring to "Lie is such an unmusical word" right? peeing over that.

Loved this episode, mostly the women sticking up for Ethel. 

Thing is Robert is so typical!  How many do we see decade after decade clinging to some mystical illusion of what once was???  He is the caricature of society on every level in every time, truly.  

Oy the scoffing at the child being christened Catholic when only a few centuries before they were all bowing down to the Pope, the irony not lost on this Renaissance history girl.  Makes me want to start watching that delicious Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the Tudors again.

Actually, no...it was "Seems a pity to miss such a good pudding." :D  That cheered me right up. :D

Oh, and wasn't it "foreshadowing" showing Mary and Matthew holding baby Sybil while Tom watches over...I thought he was going to offer to leave her right then and there!

I think Tom might be destined to take over a farm on the property....with Daisy! :D

I knew that was what you were referring to!!!