Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Let's talk about: Downton Abbey, Season One, Episodes five, six, and seven

 Spoiler Warning


 In episode five the house is full of drama. 
Rumors are going around London about Lady Mary and her relationship with the Turkish diplomat, Kemal, and his death at Downton. 
Thomas and O' Brien are up to no good as usual. First with spreading the news about Mary and then trying to frame Bates for something he didn't do before he can tell anyone about seeing Thomas taking a bottle of wine from the pantry. 
Mrs. Patmore is becoming increasingly grumpy and hard on Daisy as her eyesight is failing. 
It's also time for the Downton Village Flower show.

My thoughts while watching: 
Why is it so important to Isobel that the Dowager Countess not win this year. 
Is she trying to make sure it is fair or is there more to it? 


 I felt so bad for Mary when she told her mother that she was a lost cause. 
But I loved how she broke into giggles during the salt incident at dinner and Matthew started laughing with her.


I also felt bad for Daisy when she was getting blamed by Mrs. Patmore. 

So many feels when Anna confessed her love to Bates. 
I love that when she said she was no lady he said, "You are to me."

Edith.
There is a part of me that feels bad for Edith at this point. 
But then she walks around all smug whenever anything goes wrong for Mary and it just sucks up all my empathy for her. She and Mary really need to work their stuff out.


I was glad that the Dowager Countess did end up giving the Grantham cup to Mr. Mosley even though she had won it again. It was kind of her. And he looked very happy.

That ending!
You know it's about to get real.

Episode Six

Lady Sybil is becoming more political and attending the rallies when she can. 
Carson gets a letter about Mary from someone he knows in London and shares it with Cora. 
The Dowager Countess also gets a letter concerning the gossip and finally finds out the truth about the matter from Cora. 
Thomas and O' Brien accuse Bates of stealing and convince Daisy to help them. 

My thoughts: 

I was so frustrated when Daisy said she would do anything for Thomas. I can't help talking to the TV. 
"Someone PLEASE TELL HER!" 
I was so happy when she finally came clean to Mr. Carson about the whole thing. 


It was so exciting when Mary finally openly admits that she loves Matthew. 
And they KISS! 
But the course of love never does run smoothly in these shows. 

I laughed when Mrs. Hughes said, "I respect Mr. Bates but I'm not sure that I love him."

And I was also really glad when Mary found a way to get William to go home to visit his mom without telling him why. That was really kind to make sure that happened. 

Episode Seven

The last episode of the season starts with the family returning to Downton Abbey from their London house. Except for Mary. She has stayed behind with her aunt for a few weeks. 
While there she is visited by Mr. Napier. 
Mrs. Patmore and Anna go to London for the eye surgery. 
The news of the murder of the Archduke lets us know that war is coming soon. 
Thomas starts the process to join the Army Medical Corps. 
Sybil continues to help Gwen find a secretarial post. 
Cora finds out that she is pregnant.
William's mother has died and he is now back at Downton. 

My thoughts: 

I was really glad that Mr. Napier visited Mary to tell her the truth. 
I understand Edith is not fond of Mary and that they have major issues. 
But I couldn't believe she would really do that to her sister and family. 
That girl has let her envy get the best of her.
And when confronted about the letter, she was really mean about it.


I love it when Lord Grantham does things that show how kind he really is- like sending Mrs. Patmore to London to help with her eyesight. 

It was so frustrating when Matthew and Mary fought under the tree. 
Did anyone else just want to yell, "Just tell him you love him!!"


I loved the scene when Mr. Carson was practicing using the telephone and the operator started talking to him. It was so funny.

It was such a happy moment when Cora told her husband that she was pregnant. 
She looked so happy. 
And then the unthinkable happened. 
O' Brien is despicable. 
I know she stopped for a minute, thinking twice about what she was doing, but it was too late. 
Her hatred and mean spirit have taken her somewhere she will never recover from no matter how much guilt she feels. 
When Lord Grantham and Mr. Bates are talking about it and Lord Grantham starts crying and tells Mr. Bates that it was a boy. So heartbreaking.

I know Thomas is a jerk. 
But even so I didn't expect his reaction to the baby dying. 
I was such a fan of William after Thomas made his horrible comments and William didn't take it sitting down.


The episode ended with the garden party. 
I thought it was really cute when Sybil, Tom, and Gwen did the little group hug when they found out about Gwen's job. 

And then Mary... I understand why you want to get back at Edith. But you didn't need to involve that poor man. Not nice. 

I was so glad when Thomas turned in his notice. I hoped we wouldn't see him again, but I knew that would be too good to be true.

I really wanted to shake Mary and Matthew and make them tell each other the truth so he wouldn't leave. 
But I loved the moment between Mr. Carson and Mary when he was the one to come comfort her. 

Of course the season ended with the announcement that the war had begun.
We know that the next season will bring much heartache and drama with that news. 


*What are your thoughts on these episodes?
*Did you wish you were the one to punch Thomas? 

4 comments:

Donna said...

You're making me want to go back and watch the old seasons again. I haven't seen them in years.
I hated Thomas and O'Brien so much in Season One!

Cheryl said...

Oh! They are the worst!
It is really fun to go back and watch. I notice things that I didn't really notice the first time because of knowing the characters so much better now.

The Kings said...

Thank you for sharing the series with me. I liked all those episodes and I guess I am not alone is saying I really dislike Thomas and O'Brien!

Cheryl said...

It has been so much fun to watch it with you!