**Sniff** I can’t believe it’s over,
the Winter Olympics are over! Kidding!! Truth be told, I’ve had my full of
Olympic coverage. I eagerly counted down
the hours to Downton’s Season 4 finale. Unlike the USA men’s hockey team (I’m
still smarting from their world-class collapse), I knew Downton wouldn’t thwart
my hopes and, of course, it didn’t.
Brace for a long post!!
On to the show…
As usual, Episode 8 was full of
surprises. The show picked up 8 months
after Episode 7. Edith is back from
Switzerland without child, Mary still has three suitors, Rose is still wild,
and the police are not investigating Mr. Green’s death. All appears well, but we know better than
that.
The main plot is focused on Rose’s
presentation ceremony at Buckingham Palace and the ball afterwards. The Yorkshire staff is asked to pitch in with
all the preparations in London. Daisy’s
feet barely touch the pavement in London when she is being chatted up by Harold
Levinson’s valet, Mr. Slade. Slade is effervescent
and brutally honest when it comes to his employers, to the discomfort of the starched
and pressed English staff, especially Mr. Carson. Carson looks (some of which are hilarious) at
Slade like he’s a deranged being. They
may speak the same language but there is definitely something lost in
translation. Mr. Slade did manage to
bolster Daisy’s ego which is just what she needed.
Mrs. Baxter, buoyed by Mr. Molesley,
has drawn a line in the sand with Thomas.
She has never been comfortable being his spy. I think she’s realized she has a future at
Downton, she is liked and respected by everyone. She’s willing to come out of
her shell, risk being exposed by Thomas, and take her chances. This new found confidence will hopefully be
used against Thomas. What does it take
for him to get fired?!?! No one likes him either upstairs (well, with the
exception of Cora, who hired Edna Braithwaite so her character references are
questionable) or downstairs. Thomas is so deeply evil, it’s stunning he’s still
around. He’s an excellent source of
drama though which explains his presence.
Thomas isn’t happy until there is
unrest somewhere in the house. Tom
unfortunately enables Thomas’s passion by doing things he knows are not
appropriate. Tom is wonderful at managing
the estate but a nightmare at managing his own life. You’d think he would have learned a lesson
from Braithwaite. Sarah Bunting is
clanging the same gong. She talks about him not being one of “them”, she
constantly shoots barbs at the family he says he loves (i.e. where is the current
Countess’s crest, I don’t see a dollar sign.
Mean.), he just can’t stand up for himself. He’s like a moth to the flame, and Mrs.
Hughes can’t douse the fire this time. He’s got to be a big boy and tell Ms. Bunting
where to get off. He tells Edith they’ve
got to stand up to the Crawley family, how about standing up to the people who
make him feel even more uncomfortable like the Braithwaites and Buntings of the
world? They don’t understand him any
more than the Crawleys do. I hope next
season brings Tom a backbone.
It is clear the show was written by
a Brit. The Americans in the show are portrayed
as overbearing and rude. They don’t seem
to mind, though. Rather, they embrace
these opinions and make no apologies for the way they are. In the end, it turns out to be endearing to
nearly everyone, save the Dowager. I
hope we see more of Harold Levinson next season. His character grew on me.
It has been a difficult time for the
Dowager. She is aware that the aristocratic era she has always known is coming
to an end. Everywhere she turns, modern
advances are being made with which she is finding difficult to cope. Edith
slams her when the Dowager tries to change the awkward subject of Edith’s baby to a
discussion of her French acquisition. “That’s right Granny, let’s talk about
what really matters.” Lighten up
Edith! Your grandmother paid for the
trip to Switzerland and kept your secret, which had to have been
difficult. How about, “Thank you,
Granny.”
The Dowager thought she had the
better of the verbal joust with Martha Levinson during the following exchange:
Martha, “I have no desire to be a great Lady.” Dowager,“No. A decision that is
reinforced every time you look into the glass.” Martha draws the final blow
when she warned the Dowager that she lives in the modern age, and that the
Dowager’s time is fading away. The
Dowager looked so feeble as she walked into her room, there was a resignation in
her posture painfully recognizing Martha’s assertion was too true. I still love the Dowager, and I’m not crazy
about Martha. It doesn’t help that her
makeup makes her look like the Joker in a Batman film.
Now for “Mary’s men.” The more time
Mary spends with Charles Blake, the more I like him. I do like Mary with Tony, but I’m afraid he’d
be more of the old school. If Mary wants
to move forward, I think her best chance is with Charles. She smiles much more
around Charles and she clearly trusts him. He’ll challenge her not to remain
complacent, I’m not sure Tony will do that.
It’s intriguing that he’s to inherit a large estate. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays
out. Will it help? Or, will it hurt his
case with Mary? In any event, the battle
has begun and I can’t wait to see if either of them comes out the victor.
I think (rather, I hope) the matter
of Mr. Green is behind us. The web
between Anna, Bates, Mrs. Hughes and Mary again provided for the most suspenseful
moments of the evening. If there is a
soundtrack to the show the menacing piano music should be titled “Bates’ theme.” He can scowl with the best of them! In the end, Bates’ unwavering loyalty to the
family saved him and the only evidence against him (which we know of now) has
been destroyed. Wait until next season,
someone will have taken a picture of Piccadilly Square just as Bates shoved
Green into the road. Just leave them
alone!!!
The lines between upstairs and
downstairs are becoming less defined, perhaps an indication of the approaching modern
era. The conversations between Mary and
Mrs. Hughes were not characteristic of the employer/employee relationship, nor
was the conversation between Mary and Bates.
Robert asking Bates to use his unique abilities and connections to help
them with Sampson could not have been typical.
As a side note, I do find it ironic that Bates posited a person who had
an important document was likely to keep it on him (like in an overcoat) rather
than leaving it lying around, when all along the ticket stub that could have
been used to condemn him was in his own overcoat. Bates, what are you doing hanging on to the
ticket stub 8 months later???
Finally we come to Edith. Her trials
and tribulations continue. Despite
having secured Swiss parents for her daughter, she cannot bear the idea of not
being a part of her life. I understand
how she feels, it’s the way she goes about things that drive me crazy. She’s just so whiny. She would be well suited
for Tom, both can speak their minds in comfortable circumstances but when the
rubber meets the road both get timid unable to make a firm decision. We’ll see if Mr. Trewit can keep her
secret. Again, with Edith’s luck, this
is going to blow up somehow. But how:
Will Michael come back? Will Margie
Trewit decide not to take the baby into their home? Will the pull of motherhood be too strong for
Edith confessing to all what happened?
Will some pig borne illness sweep through the Trewit family? Will Trewit
blackmail Edith? The more far-fetched the better!
There wasn’t the big cliffhanger I was
expecting like in seasons past, but there certainly are enough unanswered questions and open-ended
plot lines to keep me eagerly awaiting Season 5.
Ta for now!
(I’m off on a Viking River Cruise! I’ve seen so many Masterpiece episodes, I’ve
been brain washed!)
I'll follow up with a post script blog...
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