RedHawk

Mabel Lane Fox is far and away more interesting, fun, and enjoyable. Tony was a fool to toss her and will be lucky to get her back! I hope we see a few scenes where she continues to make him pay just a bit. I believe the story that Baxter was a close friend of Thomas' (likely older) sister. She probably knew Thomas well when they were children/teens and thus has a soft spot for him. As it seems this sister is dead, it would make sense that Baxter cares about Thomas for his sisters' sake as well. As for Clarkson's understanding and acceptance of Thomas, just because many many people in the past were racist doesn't mean everyone was or that everyone was to an equal degree. Similarly, I also believe that many people in the past who knew men and women who were homosexual did not judge them as sick and horrible creatures, but instead accepted that they were "different" and were kind to them, or at least not unkind or cruel.

It would be rather predictably tidy if this happened, but it is plausible in Downton World. Though I think we'd have seen more of a reaction from her when Green showed up at Downton that second time. She was working there by then, wasn't she? Baxter being the one to push him would explain her adamant stance on not turning in this "Peter Coyle" (was that his name?). She knows he's dead and any investigation into "Coyle" would lead to "Green" and tie him to her. I love her, too, especially after her kindness toward Thomas.

Heavens yes, I hope never to see Yew Tree Farm again, and I hope Mrs. Drewe just keeps her mouth shut. Perhaps she could forgive her dumb-ass husband long enough to conceive a child that would definitely be hers to keep. (And I do think Edith needs to send a large check to somewhat atone for the mess she made of the Drewes' lives.) Speaking of Mr. Drewe, I originally liked him and thought he would prove a very interesting character. Now I'm thoroughly sick of him and his stupidity in keeping Edith's special little secret from his own wife, especially when it threatened to destroy his marriage. Now onto the other idiot couple: She seems to see it as a breech of confidentiality, but Bates is her husband and husbands and wives should not keep secrets for others when the secret could destroy their marriage. Besides, we saw in a previous episode that Bates discovered Anna putting something in her coat pocket at Downton. He asked her what it was and didn't she say something mysterious about it but basically explain it away? So why doesn't she just tell the truth and remind him of that day? Bates also keeps Robert's secrets as part of his employment and he would never breathe a word to anyone else about Mary's "sketching trip". And likely he would believe Anna because it would finally make sense why Anna didn't go on the trip with Mary. Then again, why should Bates expect total honesty from Anna? He didn't tell her the truth about knowing it was Green or nearly making the trip to London. Even after both had been questioned by the police. Another dumb-ass husband who always thinks he's right. At least Robert took about 2 minutes to realize Cora was right and return to her/their bed. So, who killed Mr. Green? I think it was Mrs. Hughes in Piccadilly Circus with an umbrella handle.

Yes, it was payback for Mary not only snatching Matthew's growing friendship from Edith but also turning Strallen's initial interest in Edith toward herself, when she had zero interest in him and Edith knew it. For a while I gave Mary this excuse for her behavior toward Edith. Edith's letter went beyond the pale and could have completely ruined Mary's marriage prospects and social standing. But once all worked out for Mary (as far as getting happily married to the right man) and years have passed, plus the sudden loss of their dear sister, it was time for her to soften and show a little feeling for Edith's misfortunes. However, that didn't happen because Mary's a bitch and there it is, so I'm just rolling with it. I wish it had been Edith to go to London and then return one day with bobbed hair. THAT would show them a thing or two. And then she could have announced, "Oh, yes, I've also brought my illegitimate daughter to play with her cousins in the nursery. Ta."

Yes, she was lovely there, communicating her happiness so well. She's good at managing her manager!

My thought was at this point Robert is so accustomed to Mary having her own way that he decided to just forgo the expected explosion (remember, Mary said something to the hairdresser along the lines of "Daddy will explode") and make a neutral-sounding yet negative comment. I gave Robert points for that one. I do wish one of Mary's men had said, "Uh, yuck, that's atrocious" when he saw it. Would have been especially fun if Tony G had whispered it to Mabel. I took it that she was including Cora having a Jewish father in the long line of Crawley marriage complications.

Damn, that's good, Millennium! Perhaps Violet could make some typically Violet comment just after the pause.

And here I had my fingers crossed fervently hoping we would!

I'm sorry, Peggy06 dear, I fear we're in for a great deal more boredom before it's over. If we have to endure some trial with Mrs. Hughes going on the witness stand to admit that she destroyed evidence then I will simply put my fingers in my ears, shout "Lalalalalala" and refuse to watch. Twenty minutes of Violet and Isobel silently doing a jigsaw puzzle would be infinitely more interesting.

LOL! I hadn't consciously noticed but the clothes do seem a little tight. So if Isobel marries Lord Merton how do we keep the Crawley Cousins act together? Perhaps it will come out that Lord M lost most of his money ("darn that fellow Ponzi!") and can give Isobel a title but needs to sell the drafty house. They can then live in Isobel's tidy home eating soup together happily ever after. Also, Violet hires Bates to off Princess K so she at long last can be with her Prince. Was it Mary who burned the ticket? I thought it was Mrs. Hughes. Whichever, that ticket went into the fire, and at this point I don't give a flying fig about Bates. Anna deserves a hot young man who can dance with her.

I loved how the hairdresser dropped his froufrou French accent and spoke to his employee in a Cockney accent (or maybe lower-class Yorkshire accent?). Whatever, he sure wasn't French! Someone mentioned Anna not wanting to hide Mary's device because it would crush poor Bates' tiny ego. Anna didn't just not want to be seen buying the contraceptive device, she thought it was sinful to buy/use one and basically told Mary so, which made it even more horrible of Mary to all but order Anna to hide it in her own home, after she had also given her little choice in having to go purchase it. Really, Mary, you're quite awful! Although I did like seeing her ride/race using the sidesaddle. My grandmother died in 1928 and we have her sidesaddle. Didn't we see Mrs. Hughes put it in the fire in a previous episode? The look on her face when Anna said it would have proven Bates' innocence said that she felt terrible for having chosen to destroy the ticket, even though her motives were good.

I don't think we've seen the last of Edith. Mrs. Gregson in the attic surely will come up again. Perhaps she can't inherit property because she has been declared insane, but certainly This Show just won't pretend like she never existed. Though maybe she could have conveniently died in the interim... Mary as Willy Wonka Depp, yes, I can't unsee that either!

How Violet's prince has fallen in the world, living in a home that has a door with no door knocker! Thank heavens Violet had her silver-handled cane.

I agree. If she truly loves Andy and had wished in the present day that she'd spent more time with him in their younger years then I would understand her heavy push to be with him now. However, my feeling from the first episode was that she was very uncertain about marrying him, almost that she felt she was settling for the "nice guy" who'd always had a crush on her and who she had known for ages. If she's so bummed over her marriage with Sean not working out but there weren't any bad circumstances (drug or alcohol problems, for example) then why isn't she trying to steer their relationship to a better outcome?

I know! When he snarl-hissed at Baxter, "I know you know something!" in a previous episode it was almost laughable, except Robert J-C made it work somehow. Yet Thomas' scenes when he was becoming closer to Jimmy, taking a beating for him, etc. were beautiful and moving, so much better than the crap we're stuck with now. Again, it makes no sense that Thomas is stuck in this regressive personality. So many at Downton are kind to him, why can't he respond as most human beings would?

I think Stan was talking about local dentists in the metro DC area, which doesn't even seem likely to me. I can't imagine some "nationwide alert system", especially for something as common as a woman with a broken tooth, looking like maybe she'd been in a fight. Elizabeth could just drive to some town several hours away in Virginia or Maryland, go in with a plausible story, pay cash, and get treatment. Even if a dentist suspected she'd been physically abused or in a fight, well, that's what happened sometimes. He or she would not report it to the authorities.

While the dinner scene in Simpson's (a classic London restaurant that was about 75 years old when Mary and Blake visit and is still in operation!) was somewhat pointless it was FUN. I love Mabel Lane Fox and I got such a kick of the politely icy war of words she had with Mary. Golly, what a dinner! I hope Mabel and Mary become frenemies along the lines of Violet and Isobel. I'm also enjoying Moseley and Baxter's growing intimate friendship, and I'm in love with Lord Merton. Robert James-Collier is such a good actor that I'm about to scream if he is wasted in another episode, with Thomas confined to lurking around looking sick and pale, "sweating like a beast" and acting like a jerk to any and everyone who offers him kindness. His story could be sooo much better.

I thought so, too! He does that same shy, downward tilt of the head thing when he smiles that Princess Diana did (it was almost her trademark) and Prince William inherited (or unconsciously imitates). Could it be that Cora enjoyed Bricker's attentions and slightly encouraged him/flirted with him just because it felt good? If so, so what? It's easy to say she "should" have done this or not done that, but isn't it more realistic for her storyline that she be a little attracted to the guy, maybe more than she wants to admit to herself? And because Robert's being such an ass, she likes that a nice, interesting man is complimenting her and decides it's ok to flirt a little in return? She clearly didn't expect he'd cross her bedroom threshold uninvited (and she had no intention of inviting him), and she didn't seem to think she was in danger of being raped, so even when she was asking him to leave it seemed she felt they would come to an understanding, he'd return to his own room, and all would be well in the morning. I must say, Richard E. Grant's facial expressions when Robert entered the bedroom were great! He's such a good actor. I thought the whole thing as a lot of fun and have enjoyed this storyline almost more than any other this season. Maybe it helps that I'm basically the same age Cora is supposed to be.

I caught in the opening credits that this episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who played Lt. Riker in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I know he's done a lot of directing so looked him up on IMDB.com. He also directed the previous (Halloween party) episode. He is not credited with any future episodes so we'll see how it plays out.

They have people on call to dispose of bodies but they don't have dentists? Elizabeth's a travel agent. She could just get a flight to some other city and see a dentist there on an emergency basis. I'm thinking that the biggest reason she hasn't gone to a dentist -- as far as making the show explain itself -- is that she's being stoic and that she just hasn't had time yet.

Good point. She knows she can earn, and it's not crazy expensive to live in Manhattan in 1995. Her priority is still just trying to figure out what's going on in her "past" and why she may have returned to it.

The stock for her to buy would be Yahoo when it has an IPO in early 1996. It went up hugely by 2000, only 4 years. I like that they had her attempt to alter her future and it back-fired. That's why she won't be running around using her "future knowledge" to try to get rich every episode.

I know! Masters of disguise indeed. Sometimes I really do have to suspend my disbelief. Then I think, yes, people notice things without consciously putting 2 and 2 together. Sometimes you can hide a lie in plain sight. The kids have grown up with mom and dad doing what most of us would think of as highly odd and mysterious behaviors, yet it took a lot for Paige to overcome her "conditioning" and begin to question what the heck is really going on. She grew up with it so it seems more or less normal to her. Stan indeed thinks of Phillip as his friend the travel agent, a close friend in fact, and Elizabeth is Phillip's nice wife, so it's easier for him to just accept her story when he's focused on his own life (EST, Sandra, Nina, and all that).

I wasn't even sure they were actually broken up after she walked away with him, but then didn't we see a later scene in which she made it clear that she at least believes herself single again? Don't know how Tony's going to act and hope we've seen the last of him...

Quite true, yet she didn't know when she might run into him again, and she couldn't send out a tweet or update her Facebook status 10 minutes after she broke up with Tony, so I guess she took her chance. She's not getting any younger... What would a woman have done in those days, other than wait for word to get around? It wouldn't have been proper to write or telephone Blake directly and say, "Hey, don't know if ya heard but I dumped Tony, so if you're up for it, I'm doing dirty weekends with all my prospects and you're next. Ready to pack a bag?"