saki

I do agree with Obviously that it's been tremendously unclear what it is that Edith really wants out of life. I disagree, though, that Edith isn't the nicer person. She's not perfect (i.e. not Sybil or Anna levels of nice) but the clincher for me was WW1 - Mary was appalling in that season, the only thing she does for the war effort is sing in a concert after complaining bitterly about being asked to. She wanders around being annoyed at how inconvenient it is that the war has disrupted her lovely life. It's just awful. Even characters like Violet and Cora, who are fairly wrapped up in themselves generally, understood that the war wasn't all about them. Edith, on the other hand, is capable of being sympathetic and understanding. She did what she could to make the soldiers comfortable without bitching about the inconvenience to herself. Mary just has such a narrow world view - I don't think she understands at all that people might care about anything other than her and/or Downton. In particular, I rolled my eyes at the scene where she tries to show her American grandmother how important Downton is by throwing a dinner for the county and wearing a nice dress - because, obviously, once her grandmother sees that nice dinners in a big house with Mary being important are stake she'll want to save Downton! Similarly, the scene where she thinks that Isobel must obviously look up to Violet because Violet is a Dowager Countess and everything, she's known Isobel for over a decade at this point and hasn't noticed that Isobel doesn't care about that kind of thing... Edith's characterisation has suffered a lot, I think, from Sybil's death - I think Fellowes has tried to give her storylines that showcase the 'modern world' that he would otherwise have given Sybil - and from the perceived need to keep the show centred at Downton. It's been uneven and confusing - she loves Anthony! she loves a farmer! she drives a tractor! she writes a column! she's a suffragette! she is how we know about Nazism! But I still like her a lot more than I like Mary. I guess, in a way, you could summarise it by saying that Mary has been shown with more one-off acts of kindness towards individuals connected to Downton (like William or Anna) but Edith has been shown to see the wider world outside Downton much more and to be much kinder towards people that are outside that world (like the wounded soldiers). It's obviously personal preference how you feel about that but, for me, the person with the broader world view is always more interesting and rootable for.

Some thoughts - Mary's conversation with the Dowager was hilarious - I can't believe that she seriously thought Isobel looked up to her and was seeking her advice! - it made me realise that something that has been clear all through the series is that Mary doesn't really get female friendship. She has no female friends and it doesn't sound like she ever has had. She's fine with women who are somehow beneath her - like Sybil, who was younger, or Anna who is her maid - but she has no interest in her peers. I really enjoyed Cora this episode and, actually, this whole season has been good for her. She has a quiet dignity about her. Rose/Atticus is very rushed but I think that rings true for her personality. She is impulsive and I like that Attticus seems the same way, they both seem to have giddy, sunny personalities. The Mary/Gillingham/MLF stuff was just bizarre. It seemed like they were trying to say that, of course, Gillingham was still into Mary but that Mabel was ok with that and was happy to be second choice. It just didn't seem very believable - I could buy that Mabel still loved him but not that she had so little self respect that she would tell Mary how sexy and fashionable she was, etc, etc. The Merton boys were just over the top - would they really say those things in public? On a similar note, why were the family discussing Edith's disappearance in front of Gillingham, Blake and Mabel? The actress playing Baxter is incredibly compelling, she has such gravitas in the role. I hope Edith continues to run the newspaper business and that we get to see some scenes of her doing it. As ever, Mary was a bitch.

For me, it's not that I dislike Mary because she is a bitch - though she is - it's also that I find her really boring and, in particular, I'm tired of the dynamic between her and Edith. Mary isn't especially witty or funny and there's no suspense in her storylines because we all know how they will work out. Back in season 1, there was some suspense, I genuinely thought it was possible that Matthew would marry Sybil and Mary would have to swallow her disappointment. Now, there is no suspense - every man who comes near her falls in love with her, even though there are other attractive women (even if you don't think Edith is pretty, there is Rose who is undeniably attractive as well as much younger) around, you know that whatever potential disaster of the week looms, there will always be a deus ex machina to make sure that nothing bad ever happens for her. In the same way, there is no suspense about Edith either - we know that, every now and then, it will look like she might be happy for a bit and then it will go catastrophically wrong. It doesn't help that I think MD's portrayal has gone downhill. I felt, back at the beginning of the show, there was more depth to her portrayal of Mary. She played Mary as a bit more like the Dowager - sometimes saying mean things but, deep down, a compassionate person. That's all gone now and we're left with the iceberg.

She's literally Regina George from "Mean Girls." Except that we're somehow supposed to like her. I think?

I feel like we once saw Mary pick him up.. I can't remember in which episode. I doubt he recognises her, to be honest. Which is in character for Mary but I don't think Isobel would be so distant with her grandson.

It would just be nice to see Mary have some enthusiasm for anything at all - her baby, the estate, even a nice dress... It feels like we get quite a lot of Sybbie but very little of George - have we seen Isobel interact with him at all this season?

Apparently not! It's still not going to make me think of him as a nice, boundary-respecting, guy though because he wasn't - the fact that Miranda put up with it, doesn't make me like him. It's a bit like the scene with Carrie and Big in the elevator where she says no several times and pushes him away but he persists and she then gets into it - the fact that she responded to it eventually doesn't mean that Big's behaviour was ok or likeable. I also just really really hated the way that the writers seemed to view quite stalkerish/creepy/pushy behaviour as absolutely fine, it was a horrible message.

I think both Gillingham and Blake come across as in love with Mary. No idea why, mind, but they do. Gillingham especially really sells that he's sexually attracted to her. The issue is more, IMO, that MD is playing Mary as such an icicle. I watched a couple of youtube videos with clips from earlier seasons and Mary is so different - there's a lot more playfulness and lightness about her. It's natural that, after Matthew's death, she would be a bit different but she barely cracks a smile these days. It makes the relationships come across as very one sided and, in Gillingham's case, kind of creepy.

I think it started after Matthew died - I think she was trying to show how devastated Mary was and it was ok then. I am tired of it now, though.

Same for me. I have never been particularly interested in Mary and I continue not to be. Then again, I've never been particularly interested in Tom either - mostly because the writing for him has been so inconsistent. The character never made much sense - why would an Irish revolutionary even take the job at Downton in the first place? - but makes even less sense now. Things I enjoyed about this episode: Lord Merton's proposal - so sweet! Both my husband and I were pleading with Isobel to just say yes. Daisy's speech about how much her horizons had been broadened by Sarah Bunting Mrs Hughes and Carson gossiping together about the dinner drama. The little flash we saw of the old smiley, happy Anna. Don't know if I enjoyed it per se but I thought it was funny that Mary basically imagined Mabel to be like Lavinia... I also laughed when Robert commented on Mary's priorities when she said she was going to a dress show rather than an estate meeting. Things I didn't like: The fact that Blake is still into Mary - after all this time, surely he would have moved on? She is really not that great and has kept him hanging for years at this point. Yet more of Edith and the Drews. I like Edith generally but this storyline is horribly written and I am tired of it. The way that MD somehow manages to make her line delivery more monotone and slow every week. She plays Mary like she's recovering from a stroke. Random speculation: I really really hope that it turns out that Gillingham doesn't really like Mary at all and is so upset because he has borrowed money on the expectation of marrying her.

Thinking about my Steve hate some more... I hated him from the very first episode he was on - he shows a complete lack of respect for boundaries. They have sex, she asks him to leave and says she doesn't want to see him any more. He insists on making a date when she is obviously uncomfortable. When she gives him a false time because she doesn't want to see him again, he insists on seeing her anyway. It is creepy and stalkerish. The writers clearly want us to see it as cute and how he's good at overcoming Miranda's "issues" when all I see is a man who won't take no for an answer. The very next episode, he is continually making her late for work because he can't see her until after his bar shift. That is all Miranda's fault apparently and, rather than do anything to compromise - like, for instance, when she complains that she needs to pick up her dry cleaning on Saturday morning offering to do it for her during the week or swapping shifts so that he can be available to see her earlier in the evening - he throws a hissy fit and makes her feel like a bad person, so she puts up with sleep deprivation and he gets what he wants. Attractive. Then, the next episode, he doesn't tell her what he really feels about her buying him a suit and dumps her right before promising to attend a work function with her. Honestly, on my first watch through the show, I assumed that that was the last we'd see of him because - surely - the writers liked Miranda too much to give her this creepy, uncompromising, selfish twat as a long-term partner. But, no.

I also hated Steve and the way that Steve/Miranda was portrayed. We got endless episodes about the need for Miranda to 'compromise' but somehow Steve never needed to compromise. He gets everything his way in their relationship and still manages to whine about how hard it is for him. To take just one example, Miranda somehow ends up apologising to him for not being ok with him just wandering into her apartment any time he feels like it to see Brady - WTF? It is pretty normal not to want your ex treating your house as his own, even if you do have a child together. I thought the writing when Miranda decides, out of nowhere, that she's in love with him again was awful. We never got any explanation as to why, out of nowhere, she would suddenly want him back.

Unlike most viewers, I was never that bought into Mary and Matthew and the big reason for that was that Mary basically came out and said that she did not love him enough to marry him if he was "only" going to be a solicitor. I feel like the show never really explained why Matthew was ok with that. Mary never apologises to him for it and he never explains why he is suddenly ok with it. I feel like the show thought it had shown us Mary growing up during the war but, actually, all it showed was Sybil, Edith and Isobel doing a lot and Mary (and to some extent Cora) only being concerned with how the war had inconvenienced them. Literally the only thing that Mary does at all for the 'war effort' is sing at that party and she had to be talked into that. I never loved the character but the WW1 season put the seal on my dislike.

I think the big problem is the plotting. The first series had some genuinely OMG! moments - Pamuk, Cheeky Charlie, Thomas and the Duke. I'm not sure that anything has surprised me since series 1. Nothing really changes - Robert and Carson hate change, Mary is the perfect prize that all men must seek, Edith is a punching bag, Tom feels sorry for himself, Cora does whatever it is that Cora does, Thomas is evil, Mrs Hughes and the Dowager are awesome... blah blah blah.

I think Sarah Bunting was rude to that friend of Rose's (though it was also quite funny - I laughed, anyway!) but I think that various characters on the show have been just as rude without nearly as much criticism - the Dowager, Mary, and Robert are fairly regularly rude to people and Tom was incredibly rude to Sarah in this episode, almost accusing her of having come without an invitation. The most polite person on this show is probably Isobel, who is uniformly kind.

I've been watching a lot of Frasier lately. I think Frasier works best with someone who is able to puncture his pomposity. Lilith does this beautifully and the actors have great chemistry. I too would have preferred it if they had been able to bring Lilith onto the show, not least because I felt like it was implausible that Frasier would have moved so far away from his son. I also really liked him with Julia. It was clear that the writers just didn't want to do this but I am a little sorry that they didn't pursue Frasier/Roz for more than a one-off. I think, in contrast, Niles works best with someone who builds up his self-esteem a bit, which is why I liked Mel the best of his love interests. As others have said, she came across as though she really admired/respected him. I just don't get the same thing from Daphne. I also always felt that Niles' feelings for Daphne were purely physical - his reaction to her is immediate and they are never shown having much in common. I think, being the snob that Niles is, I don't think he could be happy long-term with someone who is as unintellectual as Daphne. In retrospect, it's interesting that Niles has so few relationships over the course of the series - obviously he has long-term ones with Maris and Daphne which take up a lot of time - but I sort of think it would have been interesting to show him with a few other women.

I thought this was a decent start to the season - a bit better than last season, anyway, though still nowhere near as good as season 1. I'm going to go against the grain a bit and say that, although I didn't like Sarah Bunting at all last season, I actually thought she was ok in this episode and I saw a bit more of what Tom sees in her. I thought Robert was incredibly rude when she walked in, making it quite clear to anyone within earshot that she wasn't welcome. Tom then did the same thing right in front of her. Now, I realise Rose blindsided them but it is etiquette 101 not to make guests feel that unwelcome. I didn't think that Sarah was rude at the dinner table initially when expressing her views on war memorials, I thought that Robert made it personal - basically telling her that she didn't have the right to express an opinion - and she responded in kind. In short, I think she responded to rudeness with rudeness, which wasn't ideal but I didn't think that she started it. I also agree that Tom should not have felt that he had to apologise for disagreeing with Robert. One of the things I miss from season 1 is the sense that the upper classes are not always right - season 1 allowed Matthew and Isobel to be right sometimes - and I felt that there was a slight return to that feel in this episode where it was made clear that, although sometimes abrasive, Sarah Bunting does at least have a job that is useful and is quick and intelligent, Isobel still does much more useful stuff than that the Dowager and Cora, etc. Mary and Gillingham ... boring. Does anyone else find it really strange the way that they are so explicit about the 'contest' to 'win' Mary? I get that Julian Fellowes thinks of her in this way, that has been obvious from the very beginning of the show but I find it deeply odd that Mary herself will describe herself as a prize and will actually have a conversation with a suitor about whether or not he's 'won'? I am not a Mary fan and it just reinforces for me how much she loves herself. I did initially like the actress's portrayal at least but this episode continued the trend from last season for her coming across as a bit catatonic, the super slow delivery of all of her lines makes her come across as if she is a bit slow.

I think, also, Buffy was the 'senior' slayer - i.e. she'd been a slayer for longer than Faith, had more experience and was (in my opinion) more naturally gifted - so it made sense to think of her as the main slayer.

A few of mine: I love season 1. I genuinely think it's really good - Prophecy Girl is, of course, brilliant but I think episodes like The Witch and The Puppet Show are very underrated too. I really like Buffy - she's not perfect but I don't really agree that she is especially self-absorbed/whiny. Given the endless patrolling, etc, I think she's actually surprisingly perky. I hate Tara. When rewatching, I actually fast forward her scenes. The actress is just awful, I don't understand why they cast someone so dull and unable to emote. And why is she permanently slack jawed? I think Faith is fun to have on screen but I'm really surprised at how many people find her a 'complex' character - to me she is fairly stereotypical 'bad girl' and that's fine, particularly because Eliza Dushku had such great chemistry with other members of the cast, but it isn't especially 'complex'. I loved Kendra's episodes and am sorry that there aren't more of them. The dynamic with Buffy was excellent. "Kendra killed the bad lamp." I don't have very strong views on any of the romances in Buffy - there are some I enjoyed more than others, but they were never a big part of my enjoyment of the show.