vesperholly

Yes, what is that all about? I've been rewatching S1 and she's so much more snappy and curt with her lines. I can see why she had men falling at her feet. Now, as the widowed mother of the heir who's pushing 30 amidst a man shortage, it makes little sense. What's next, the Duke of Crowborough is going to come sniffing around, interested 10 years later now that her son is the heir?

Hold the phone - I didn't know PBS ADDED scenes! I thought I was so smart getting the original UK broadcasts. Here's a link I found that has links to videos: http://dawntonabbey.tumblr.com/post/68335236975/downton-abbey-deleted-scenes-masterpost

Chalky's death was eloquent in the way it was filmed (the broken record as the screen goes black), but nothing will trump Richard Harrow's complete face as he walks towards Julia and the family ... that will always be the saddest, most touching death to me. I watched the "In Memoriam" for Chalky and looked up the one for Richard. Chalky's was sad, especially when Maybelle was killed, but I legit cried at Richard's. I'm more disappointed that they offed Van Alden. Ever since he turned tail and started working for Capone, "Husband" has been bringing the comic relief like no other. Michael Shannon rocks.

God, even Daisy's "improving herself" is Gwen's secretarial course from S1 all over again. Too much this show feels like JF's personal dollhouse, filled with Barbies and Kens that he can't bear to part with, so the plots are ever more contrived to keep them in the dollhouse. I miss the S1 ingenuity of plots like "Mary fucks a man to death!"

No kidding. Mrs Drewe is awfully thick though — mysterious child arrives needing care, and soon after Lady from the Big House (who returns after many months abroad) is extremely interested in child's welfare and emoting all over. Not to mention the child is a ringer for Lady. DUH. All of you here have come up with far better and more interesting explanations of Greene's possible murderer than JF ever will. "Martyred manpain" is the best possible description of him. Bahahaha.

That was my first thought too, and when she said "he's alive", I had a tiny shimmer of hope ... but alas. I HATED van Alden in the first season but I love him now. Literally laughed out loud when he told his son that the recorder would sound better farther away. The deadpan delivery of that line was hilarious. I'm not sure why Sigrid has turned to Eli (never felt too much hatred for Husband) nor do I remember the drunk seduction scenes - rewatching is in order. Marc Pickering was the young boy in Sleepy Hollow (Depp film, not TV). And young Mabel is also on The Knick. Familiarities everywhere.

I don't think Jamie was exactly going about the countryside introducing himself as James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser, wanted by the British Crown for a sum of X pounds. To those villagers, he was just Jamie, ally of the Mackenzie clan. Not really a spoiler but just in case:

But Claire and BJR are both English, so maybe it's not such a reach to have them refer to the Duke by his English title.

Well, they didn't read banns, so it's not like Randall knows yet that one James AMM Fraser, whipping boy, has married Claire. The paperwork was done that day — did they really send a rider to give the Scottish middle finger to Randall immediately?

Randall doesn't know that Jamie Fraser is in the protection of the Mackenzies, nor does he (probably?) know that Colum's nephew = Jamie Fraser = the dude he whipped. Jamie has laid low when redcoats appear and is going by an assumed name — hence the "I don't even know your name!" bit at the wedding. Though none of those points are made very clear by the show.

They have the worst chemistry I've ever seen on my television. Did he run over her puppy ... every time they have a scene together? It's the weirdest thing to watch, especially after three seasons of Mary and Matthew's radiance. My one hope for this season is for Edith to finally have something good happen to her, in the form of her daughter coming to live at Downton. She has been so poorly written and treated in the past few seasons that I am rooting for her as the underdog. I don't mind time jumps - Boardwalk Empire just did it nicely - but the way DA holds onto plots for inconceivable amounts of time, and while others rocket ahead unheedingly, drives me batty. Mary and Gillingham are still making doe eyes at each other while Edith's child is walking, but NOW they're going to jump into each other's beds? Thomas is the worst manipulator ever if it takes him over a year to finally push Baxter into action. They have effectively reduced all the characters down to one-note. Thomas is evil, Edith is a sad sack, Robert is a buffoon, Cora is a simpleton, Mary is an ice princess, Daisy lacks confidence, Bunting is rude, Moseley is a joke, Carson is stuck in the past, etc etc etc. It's too bad that one of the things I loved about this show was its well-rounded characters. In S1 when O'Brien put the soap down so Cora would trip, she wavers in doing such a cruel action and even changes her mind, but then it happens anyway. Thomas bonding with Sybil after being injured in the war made him more human and less of a cartoon. Remember when we liked Bates?! Not to mention there were actually plots that didn't revolve around someone's love life. It was never a perfect show, but it became wildly popular for reasons that I'm struggling to find in recent seasons. Sigh.

She was - she had his trucker cap in her hands and smelled it before she got bagged. There was a shot of it on the floor after the military dragged her off.

This lines up with what Olenna said to Margaery earlier this season, that her family had set her up with some awful Targaryen boy.