Avaleigh

There is a house specifically for the estate manager on the land so I don't know that remarriage for Tom necessarily means that his character will have to leave the show. There isn't yet a need for Tom to move there now since Downton is so big and there are other benefits to living there in general that I think a single parent would be appreciative of like Sybbie having the same nanny, being able to play with her cousin every day, not having to worry about meal preparation, etc. Plus just being close by to immediately be able to talk to Robert or Mary about this or that is probably convenient for now.

To me it makes sense for a show like Downton Abbey to give the POV of the aristocracy since that's a large part of what this show is about. We're seeing the world through the eyes of the people who live at Downton and since the Crawleys are the family of the house, I understand why the show would choose to give us their impressions of world events like this. It also makes sense to me why aristocrats would be inclined to have sympathy for other aristocrats in situations like the ones mentioned. They're imagining how they'd feel if it happened to them and that doesn't come across to me as a manipulative or unnatural writing choice by JF. As far as choosing to have characters like Tom and Sarah as mouthpieces for the other side, I don't think that JF is necessarily trying to make their opinions seem wrong. Tom is a likable character who agreed with Sarah and made his own fair points about the war and the Russian Revolution. Robert was the character who seemed like he was on the wrong side of the argument during that exchange so I disagree with the idea that the show is necessarily presenting Sarah's opinions as being wrong.* I feel like the point has been made that it's her attitude rather than her opinions that most people, even Tom, have a problem dealing with. With the situation in Ireland when Tom and Sybil had to flee, I never got the impression from the show that Tom's position of wanting Ireland to be free was made to be unsympathetic. I think there were certain choices he made that people objected to and that was what caused the majority of the conflict when he showed up there in the middle of the night without pregnant Sybil. I personally never felt like the show was ever saying that his position about wanting independence for Ireland was wrong. In terms of feeling manipulated by the show's writing at times, a recent example for me was the whole thing with Anna getting the diaphragm for Mary. She doesn't want to do it but Mary does everything but twist her arm in order to make her go. She does Mary the favor and the overall experience is uncomfortable. Fast forward to Anna talking about it with Mary and she's suddenly talking about how she'd like to do it again and again based on principle, thereby letting Mary off of the hook for being insensitive about not seeing that Anna didn't want to do this for her and that she shouldn't have asked. IDK I found that to be annoying and I felt like JF was trying to make it seem like it wasn't wrong for Mary to all but insist that Anna do this for her. ETA: *Even at that first dinner party there was that comment Sarah made about the Prime Minister's election where a couple of the toffs present had to reply that they couldn't argue with her logic.

Or maybe will see that there's the possibility but aren't given confirmation either way. OTOH I have a hard time imagining Nucky having the balls to criticize the Commodore in public about his attraction to children if Nucky had also raped Gillian when she was that age. Gillian does seem to hate Nucky as much as she hates the Commodore but she never called him The Lech or anything like that as she did with the Commodore. When they had their only scene together after Jimmy's death (not counting the scene when she's on drugs after Richard has shot up the house) and she's going down the list of all of the ways Nucky has hurt her in the past, it seems like that would have been the time to mention it. I feel like the reveal might also just be that the Gillian thing left a permanent stain on Nucky's marriage. I can't see Nucky being stupid enough to tell Mabel that he's going to give the girl to the Commodore so I have to imagine that their argument in episode 7 is about something else and then maybe Mabel ends up finding out later somehow what happened. Maybe from Gillian after the fact. I'm guessing that Mabel wants Gillian to stay with them and Nucky doesn't? Maybe Mabel is the one who initially takes her in and Nucky thinks that it might not be good for their marriage to have her around. Still, something about Nucky's comment about wanting to leave something behind coupled with the reappearance of Tommy Darmody makes me think that Nucky having been Jimmy's father isn't completely off of the table. But would Nucky really have killed his own son? If he thinks there's the possibility that he could have been Jimmy's father, it's hard for me to believe that he would have been able to kill him. I'm on the fence on this one but definitely think it could end up being a reveal they've been leading up to.

I disagree about the Russian aristocrats who visited Downton not being deserving of any sympathy. I thought it was sad when the prince was forced to admit that he has no idea what has become of his wife. She's probably dead but he doesn't know for sure and he seems haunted by it. To me it isn't about the loss of wealth and position so much as it's about being displaced and having to cope with sudden losses along the way. It was more than the execution of the Tsar, his wife, and their children. Even people like the Grand Duchess Elizabeth were executed and she'd spent years dedicating herself to the poor and not in the frivolous way that was expected of society women but in the hands on, down and dirty, selling her jewels, not living at court, etc. She was a good person who was helping others who were less fortunate and this still didn't keep her life from being taken by the Bolsheviks, so I can see how violent stuff like that could make them emotional upon seeing reminders of how things used to be. I don't think having had money, power, and position in the past makes it easier to deal with the pain of death and displacement. Responding to this in the Fixing up the Abbey thread. http://forums.previously.tv/topic/15297-time-to-fix-up-the-abbey/#entry415006

I agree. There are definitely duos and trios in particular that I'd like to see more of. I've always wished that the show would use Rosamund more. I'd like to see her in a scene with Robert because she seems like she'd be willing to put him in his place, even more so than Violet who's sometimes inclined to baby him. I'd also like to see Violet and Rosamund discuss how they think Edith is getting on. Furthermore I'd like to see Edith talk about the Marigold situation with somebody other than Mr Drewe. I'd like to see Rose interact more with Edith, Mary, and Tom. If Sarah Bunting had to be shoved down our throats I think I would have preferred seeing Isobel give a luncheon with Tom, Sarah, Rose, and maybe Clarkson in attendance. Would Sarah be just as obnoxious with this sort of guest lineup? I would have liked having something like that to compare to Sarah's first dinner at Downton. Isobel could have suggested it the night she offered to give Sarah a ride home. I think this might have been better rather than getting another evening with Sarah offending people at Downton because it felt so recycled. With Downstairs though I actually think it would be helpful to start up the revolving door of servants. Mrs Hughes mentioned that a lot of great houses are using dailies from their local villages to help out so I think I'd like to see Downton do the same. Having new people come in downstairs, bringing in whatever issue, and getting the reactions from the downstairs regulars I feel like it could breathe some new life into the downstairs characters so that they aren't always talking about the same things. Another thing I'd like to see is having a few members of the family go to another grand house to stay. I thought the CS episode at Inverary Castle was great and I'd love to see another house featured on the show. Maybe we can see Gillingham's family seat or that of Charles Blake since he's supposedly going to inherit a pile. Mary has mentioned staying at Cliveden before. Something like that. It would be nice too to see how the traveling servants would enjoy their time at another house. How are things run? Is Carson more strict than the average? Is the food better or worse? Do they have more free time? The show Upstairs Downstairs did a nice job of placing the servants in different environments from time to time and I don't think this show does the best job of that. Did we see any Downstairs scenes when the family was in London? I don't think we saw any when they were in Scotland but it's been awhile since I've seen the episode so I'm not sure.

I think what made Sigrid especially hard to take in this episode is that she was taking out her frustrations on everyone even the people who didn't deserve it. She was horrible to pregnant June who went out of her way to be friendly and she was sour with her kids particularly the daughter. I thought it was sad the way that she treated the daughter she's taken care of since the girl was a baby and she comes across as so resentful and put upon. That the girl (I can't remember her name) feels that she needs to almost immediately explain to a first time guest that this woman isn't really her mother and that her real mother was some lovely ballerina who died--IDK, I felt like that said something about their relationship and that they don't have an especially close mother/daughter relationship. Van Alden isn't father of the year by any means but at least some protective instinct seemed to kick in when Sigrid started dropping f-bombs and the scene seemed like it had the potential to maybe even get physical. Whether or not it was sincere his comment about a child of either sex being a blessing was appreciated in the moment since Sigrid was close to giving the impression that she'd happily ditch them all if given an attractive enough chance. We never did find out anything about her past, did we? I always thought it was strange that she was so willing to run with Nelson and fully commit herself to him and the identity change after knowing him for such a short while. (Not to mention the fact that it was always obvious that he'd never be a barrel of laughs nor would she have reason to think that he'd be on the path to big money.) I honestly can't tell how hurt Van Alden is over all of this at the end of the day. He definitely comes across as being sick of Sigrid too and part of me feels like he's mainly upset over the fact that it was Eli and over the fact that the situation isn't something that can be ignored or easily moved on from because a scene was created in front of everyone who matters to the situation. It's messy and I think he really dislikes messy. Emotionally though I'm not sure how much of a blow this was. He seemed like he felt about a thousand times worse when Mrs. Van Alden found out about Lucy and the baby. Yeah, I definitely imagined her in a different way when characters would talk about her in the first two seasons of the show. Gillian referred to her once as a "saint" and Eli too seemed to think of her as having once been a kind and calming presence in Nucky's life. I sort of imagined someone sweet, delicate, and maybe a little dreamy. This Mabel seems to have such a strong character it's hard for me to imagine her getting to the point where she retreats to a fantasy world before eventually killing herself after the tragic death of her premature baby. ETA: Taking this to the Spoiler Thread.

IIRC in each episode this season where Eli has been featured they've shown this short montage of him drinking heavily, listening to music, and having sex with some unseen woman. At the time I thought he was just having sex with prostitutes but the reveal in this episode implies that he was with Sigrid all of the times they showed those clips.

Cora's attitude towards O'Brien and Thomas were and are my biggest problems with her. I don't think she's stupid in general but I agree that she is often stupid when it comes to stuff with the staff. Cora has shown herself to be sharp on occasion and I like that she's the only one who has called out the fact that Violet doesn't really have Isobel's best interests at heart when it comes to the whole Lord Merton thing. Good question about whether or not Edith is still contributing to the newspaper. I'm guessing not since we haven't had a mention of it in awhile and definitely well over a year in show time. ETA: I loved how Violet totally lost herself for a moment when she first saw the prince. For a moment it was like they were the only two people in the room. It was a fun moment and I liked hearing about her memories of the Winter Palace and the sleigh rides and everything.

...while he recites bad poetry he's written.

Seriously. I didn't even go into it in my original post in this thread because it really did feel pointless and boring. Is it any shock that places like that would be horrific and that it would be a miracle for anyone to hold on to their sanity after being forced to live there for years? Or if they had to give us a dose of it, how about one episode in she gets the news that she's going to be able to leave soon provided that x, y, and z happens so then it adds a bit of tension to her remaining scenes at the hospital. We can wonder if something will go wrong when she's forced to be around the other patients for some activity or during a session with Dr. Cotton. Or maybe give us a couple of her AC flashbacks rather than scenes at the hospital; like all she's doing is thinking about the past as she counts down the days until she can be free again. It could even have been Gillian telling a doctor or a fellow patient a story the audience hasn't heard in relation to the Commodore or Nucky or even Jimmy. Something like that could have been interesting to see. Instead we're getting a bunch of tedious scenes that aren't giving us any insight into her character and aren't related to the overall plot. I feel like they haven't known what to do with her character since the fourth season. I think you guys are right. I thought the girl looked younger so that's why I jumped to the conclusion of Narcisse. I wish I'd been more excited to see Daughter and her daughter but it doesn't take away the sting of losing his first family. I bet Chalky's first wife has completely airbrushed him out of their lives and that they never talk about him. We know that Narcisse would use prostitutes and that this is how he first came into contact with Daughter because her mother was one. I agree that he's probably weird about sex but to me it's more about him not wanting certain people to think he's "common". His ego is so large that it gives me the impression he thinks he has the qualities of a god or something. The other weird thing apart from the number of times he must have blacked out--do people typically have their black out memories restored? I thought they were called black outs because there is no memory of what happened so how did Eli's memories come back? Or is that something that isn't all that unusual?

I agree that Carson is becoming bitter but disagree that he's the only one who seems to be lamenting the loss of their old world. Obviously Robert and Violet are the main ones looking forward to the past but I get that sense from Mrs Patmore and Molesley too. O'Brien was another one back when she was there. There were those crying Russians. I'm on the fence about this but lean towards him ultimately not going there because JF (as much as he likes to recycle storylines) likely doesn't want this to happen to Mary again. Also, while Mary would bear the brunt of any scandal, there are still people who would think he'd behaved badly and would hold it against him and I think that would keep him from telling the world. He strikes me as the kind of person who cares what his mother and family would think. Plus his lack of discretion wouldn't necessarily be helpful for him if he thinks he may be looking to have affairs with married/divorced/widowed society women in the future. I think Mrs Hughes and Anna both have it in the back of their heads it just isn't something they feel like discussing or getting into since the don't have any new info. They exchanged a look when they saw the baby picture and they both had the same thought but decided to move on because whatever the situation is I'm guessing they think it's probably better for them not to get involved. Actually, Mrs Hughes has to know because she also overheard the conversation on the night of the fire. She's a smart woman but this probably isn't something that she feels like she should talk about with anyone unless the situation changes in some way and she's compelled to for whatever reason.

TimWil, did they show that character again in tonight's episode? Somehow I missed that.

Eli has done *so* many horrible things but I still felt desperately sorry for him once everything started to hit the fan. He's a character who often seems to find himself in an 'and then it got worse' type of situation. How can he have blacked out every time they had sex? They cut to those "Lost Weekend" type clips of him, what, three or four times apart from this episode? Poor June. I wish Sigrid hadn't taken it out on her too. I can understand Sigrid's bitterness and unhappiness with her life but what did she really think she was going to get out of Eli? If he was black out drunk every time he went to see her how was that a sign that she was going to get more out of him than a secret affair? I do too! I didn't think I'd be on board with this, I've been beyond frustrated with both characters in the past but now after everything, the idea of them getting killed by one of Capone's men or being arrested by law enforcement bums me out. Did anyone catch what the men were saying in the flashbacks after Nucky closed the door and was standing outside? I've enjoyed some of the flashbacks but tonight's weren't my favorite. The scenes with the woman by the beach took too long, I thought and the actor's teeth were distracting. I agree though that the actor playing this Nucky was great and had certain facial expressions down. I only wish they'd given him better teeth. Is that Daughter's daughter with Narcisse? Ugh, I'm depressed if so. I was nervous that the innocent man Jenkins was going to be shot.

The moment I saw Violet's old boyfriend I couldn't help but think Boris the Blade aka Boris the Bullet Dodger! I think this was the best episode so far of the season. I'm still not into the plot with Bates and the Edith story is beginning to wear on my nerves*, but apart from those things I really enjoyed the rest. I thought there were a lot of nice small moments. I liked seeing Rose attending to the details of making sure the guests would feel warmly welcomed. She seems like she has the makings of a great society hostess. I also liked the subplot with Mrs Patmore and I liked the acknowledgment that Mrs Hughes is Carson's favorite. I like that Daisy is keeping up with her studies and that she seems like she could be turned on to reading and continuing her informal education. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Sarah recommends or even gives Daisy some books to get her started. Loved the conversation with Tom and Mary but am crossing my fingers that he doesn't go to America. I laughed out loud over Violet's comment about wanting her servants to only be human beings on their days off. What made it funny to me was that she puts this little smile on her face after she says it as though that's going to sweeten what is a pretty awful comment to make; it's like she wants it to almost seem like a joke but not really and of course Isobel and the audience know that she is indeed perfectly serious. Mary doesn't know when the hell to quit. In all seriousness even if I did have the nerve to ask someone to hide something that I know would be potentially embarrassing/upsetting/conflict causing or whatever else if found and the person went on to tell me that they felt that they were being used as an accomplice to sin--there's no way that I'd feel comfortable continuing to insist that they should be able to handle it and help me. I'd figure something else out. It's frustrating that Mary doesn't seem to care about Anna's feelings about this nor does she pause for a second to think about the fact that the situation could become awkward or even dangerous for Anna if Bates were to accidentally find it. I feel like Mr Drewe needs to tell Edith that she has to be okay with filling his wife in on the fact that she's Marigold's mother and then they can all figure out what to do from there. It's getting too ridiculous and Edith has to see why Mrs D is feeling put out and confused. I too thought the woman overreacted when she didn't see them right away but I can still understand why she's starting to wonder whether or not something could be developing romantically with her husband and this Lady of the county who'd never paid the slightest attention to them or any of their other children until recently. Edith doesn't seem like she's really tried to put herself in Mrs Drewe's shoes and I wish she'd think about that and try to approach the situation in a different way rather than expecting the woman to accommodate all of her expectations without a good enough reason. Spratt is so awful he makes Carson seem like a prince in comparison. The actor does a great job with his minimal screen time. I've only ever seen him in one other film, Gosford Park, and his character there was totally different. I enjoyed the scene with Violet and was amused that he tried to follow up to see whether or not he was actually going to catch his mistress in a lie. I thought the conversation between Isobel and Gillingham was strange. On the one hand he seemed like he was trying to be nice but it came across as phony, premature, and unnecessary. It was also obvious that she was uncomfortable but he kept trying to engage her in conversation so I understood why IIRC she just sort of walked away. He's odd. He seems like he's often trying to be apart of things and while he's ultimately welcome he isn't exactly encouraged, so it leaves me wondering why he continues to try so hard. Looking forward to meeting the much talked about MLF. *ETA It's not so much that I find the story uninteresting, I just find parts of it frustrating in a way that's not especially entertaining. Honestly, I rolled my eyes when Edith told Mrs Drewe that she'd come over anyway and that Mrs D could turn her away if she wanted. Really? There was no good outcome for that sort of suggestion IMO. Then she doesn't even wait for Mrs D to reply, she just talks past the lady to Marigold and leaves a few seconds later.

Having a bit of a nerdgasm over this Littlefinger info, lol. Quick question: does the wording make it totally impossible for the show to introduce the idea of Loras having a younger brother or maybe a half brother? The assumption that there are only two Tyrell children (from the main line) comes from the conversation where Tywin makes the threat about the Kingsguard, right? I'm curious as to how or if they'll end up dealing with this. I suppose Mace could have a younger brother enter the picture.

This is what I'm most looking forward to seeing tomorrow. I'm interested in seeing how June and Sigrid get on. The deal between Margaret and Carolyn should be good too. I hope it isn't so simple as Carolyn just easily agreeing to whatever terms Margaret proposes. It also sounds like we'll be meeting 20 something year old Nucky in this episode. In episode 6 I wonder if this young thief will turn out to be Gillian?

My thought about the Lightbringer thing wrt Melisandre is that she's biding her time until they can get/make the real Lightbringer. The current one is just something to convince any followers of Stannis. I get all of the stuff with the PWWP and AAR mixed up but wouldn't Melisandre know about the whole Nissa Nissa part of it? Since that hasn't happened with the sword that Stannis is using, why would she think it's the real Lightbringer? I wonder what gives her the impression that she's the best one in her field. I can't remember how she phrased it but she indicates somewhere in her chapter that nobody was as good at reading the flames as she is or something along those lines and like GreyBunny points out, there are other red priests whose skills seem to exceed hers particularly Moqorro and Thoros.

Too bad about the shorts for Pairs and Dance. Still, I'll take what I can get. Hopefully viewership will improve with the trio doing the commentary for NBC. I'm curious too about who will be doing the commentary for Universal Sports. Maybe Ryan Bradley will be one?

IMO Edith is the one who did damage to the family by putting the information out there in the first place. Mrs Bates wouldn't even have had the information had it not been for Edith passing it on. Evelyn Napier found out about it all because of Edith's letter as did Richard Carlisle. If Edith hadn't decided that she wanted to permanently ruin her sister's life and bring scandal onto the entire family, the story of Mary and Pamuk would have died the same night/morning Pamuk did. Cora has always been loving and encouraging with Edith. I disagree and think it sucks that Cora is constantly lumped in with Robert when it comes to having supposedly treated Edith badly. Family members Violet and Rosamund have also been supportive of Edith. Sybil too when she was alive. I can see examples where Robert might have been more encouraging or flattering but I'll never agree with the idea that he's this ogre who has been terrorizing poor innocent Edith all of her life. Nor do I agree that Mary has to be torn down in order to show what an awesome character Edith is. It isn't a contest and I can honestly say that there have been moments when all three sisters have given life to a room or have been funny, kind, and fun to be around. We've seen Mary on numerous occasions carry on conversations that aren't focused on herself. And anyway I don't think that Edith is any less self absorbed than Mary truth be told. I think they are very similar and I don't think that Edith is any more deserving of happiness than Mary. For whatever reason, the many advantages that Edith has been given in life are conveniently forgotten or ignored and I wonder why this is. Does it boil down to the fact that her character never been married? I certainly don't believe that marriage is the end all and I don't think it's impossible for Edith to have a happy life even if she never ends up getting married. I feel like it's a myth that Edith has been mistreated by her entire family all of this time. I think she generally gives as good as she gets when it comes to Mary and I don't think that Robert not having the sense to appreciate some of Edith's better qualities necessarily means that she's been horribly treated by him. I feel like this easily describes Edith as well and think both of the sisters have been capable of giving this vibe. She certainly wasn't a joy to be around in this episode and she didn't bring any positive life to the party. I'm not saying she needed to or should have, obviously she's going through huge, understandable issues right now, but the reason that people don't get where she's coming from and why they aren't trying to make her feel better is because she's made the decision to keep nearly everyone in the dark about her troubles. At the end of the day that's on her. She made that choice and I think it's unfair of her to get upset with people for not understanding what she's going through when she hasn't even given them a clue. There's no reason on Earth IMO that she shouldn't be able to confide in her mother especially since she knows that her mother helped cover up Mary's Pamuk situation. Cora has given no reason or indication whatsoever that she wouldn't be helpful to Edith if Edith needed her help. She never gave her mother the chance to be of assistance and that was Edith's choice. Edith was certain that Violet wouldn't understand but Violet was loving, discreet, and supportive. What reason does Edith have to think that her mother would kick her to the curb over this situation? Edith also didn't want to tell Violet and thought she'd be judged harshly and she was wrong. I think it's too bad that the reactions of Violet and Rosamund didn't make Edith consider that maybe she could get some similar support from her mother. I just don't get it. I honestly feel like Edith is to blame for a lot of her own unhappiness and I think this is particularly true when it comes to the messy situation involving Anthony Strallan. Strallan seemed very uncomfortable when Edith kept going on about making him her life's project and wanting to dedicate herself to caring for him and that translated to him and others of Edith being a kind of glorified nurse maid. Strallan felt like Edith would be wasting herself and I think this was the main deal breaker at the end of the day. Tom had opposition from all sides but it didn't make him drop Sybil at the altar. He was willing to go for it and was hopeful that relations could be improved in time or was fine with severing ties altogether. Strallan had acceptance from Cora so in that sense he even had an advantage over Tom. Edith's sisters and their husbands would have been supportive too. Strallan had enough support from Edith's family and I honestly don't think they're the primary reason he didn't go through with the marriage. I think too that at least it seems that Edith has not at all blamed Robert or Violet for how that all turned out. Edited for clarification.

It's kind of odd that they'd spend a fair amount of time with Luciano and his STD and not really give much (any?) details about Capone's syphilis and how it might be effecting his mind and overall behavior. I was mostly struck by how immature Capone still his. I mean he hardly seems like he's grown up at all since the first season and I well remember that scene where that man was telling Capone that he wears the hat of a boy. It almost seemed like Al was headed for some growth and maturity after he stopped wearing "the hat of a boy" but not so much in the following seasons. Nice catch, alynch pointing out that Al seems to have forgotten Jimmy Darmody and that he was once friends with him. He had virtually no reaction when Luciano brought up Jimmy's name and Lucky and Jimmy weren't friends the way that Jimmy and Al were.

Haha, I had similar hopes for Melisandre's chapter and they were quickly dashed. If anything her chapter ended up giving me even more questions about just what her deal is. My thoughts prior to ADWD is 'Okay, this woman is willing to burn people and children alive if it suits her purpose. She's 100% bad news.' I still think she's leans towards the "bad" side or to put it her way, I think some part of her is rotten to the core and that makes her, by her own definition, a rotten onion. Melisandre doesn't see the world in shades of grey but as totally black and white. She's totally a 'you're with me or you're my enemy' type and something like collateral damage doesn't seem to bother her much at all. At the same time the kindness she specifically wanted to show Davos after his losses makes me wonder why she'd bother since she has little or to gain from making sure he isn't hurt some more. His loyalty to Stannis doesn't necessarily seem to be dependent on making sure that his family is safe and secure. As far as her endgame I feel like it could be so many things but I keep coming back to the fact that she genuinely seems to believe that Stannis is AAR. Her stubbornness about this is getting in her way but I find it interesting that she doesn't seem to have considered the possibility that she might be wrong or that she might have misread the flames. I think my favorite Melisandre theory is that she's a child of Bloodraven and Shiera Seastar. That and the idea that somehow Melisandre is actually a servant of the Great Other and is maybe even connected with the woman/female Other in the story of the Night's King. I'm also curious about who will be the first to see through her glamour.

In order although a question like this sometimes changes with my mood, I imagine it's something like this: For POVs: 1) Jaime (for sure if I could read one sample chapter it would be his first WoW chapter.) 2) Sansa 3) Jon 4) Bran 5) Dany 6) Cersei 7) Melisandre Non-POVs 1) Littlefinger 2) Stannis 3) Margaery If I could just get GRRM to tell me one thing though I think I'd ask about the outcome of the trials. If I could ask one question about the past I'd probably ask to about Tyrion's parentage since R+L=J already seems like such a given.

I agree that that the Pia comparison is weird to make but it's the closest Jaime comes to interacting sexually with another woman so that's why I brought it up. Also, my point wasn't to suggest that Tyrion is incapable of sexual loyalty but more about the idea that he seems like the kind of man who would think of his own needs first in a situation like that. Wrt Jaime refusing, I don't agree with the idea that it was necessarily easy for Jaime to refuse simply because he sees Cersei his beautiful soul mate. Jaime thinks to himself how difficult it was to refuse so I feel inclined to take the word of the character. As far as the sick thoughts Jaime has had about Cersei, I absolutely find them to be disturbing and hope that it's glossed over or not included at all on the show. I'd much prefer to see Jaime get over Cersei because of the things she does once she starts acting as a Regent rather than seeing him freaking out over her having sex with Lancel. It isn't that Jaime isn't offensive when it comes to stuff like this it's more that Jaime's feelings and rage at least seem more focused whereas Tyrion seems to want punish people who had little or nothing to do with his misery in addition to the people who legitimately did hurt him. That prostitute seemed like she was being treated horribly because of things other people had done and I think it's stuff like this that makes Tyrion seem more disturbed than Jaime overall. As for the idea that he didn't force Sansa to strip--we have to agree to disagree on that one. No, it wasn't in public, Joffrey style but it was obvious that she didn't want to and that she wouldn't have done it at all if Tyrion hadn't asked. Sansa was in a position where she felt like it would be pointless to fight or resist and it's not like Tyrion wasn't aware of this. I'm glad that he ultimately did the right thing but the moment was uncomfortable and it was unnecessary for him to go there IMO. I didn't say anything about feeling that Sansa is scarred for life I just think that moment highlighted some qualities in Tyrion's character both negative and positive. As for the possible spoilers!--

Knowing what the episode title was I immediately got the chills when Sally said "Cuanto?" Nucky is going to be devastated. My favorite scene was the one with Margaret and Kennedy. Loved the look of surprise on Joe's face when he realizes that she and Nucky are married. I also appreciated that it seemed like she was going to object if Nucky's plan had been to kill Carolyn Rothstein. I liked having a chance to have Luciano and Capone in a scene together again because it really reminded me how much more mature and calm Luciano is in comparison to Al. Al hasn't really grown up much since the first season. Yeah, he's a boss and not a driver anymore but he's also basically just a juvenile teenager with rage issues. Luciano sees the bigger picture and doesn't seem like he needs the entourage atmosphere that Capone seems to crave. They've both been through a lot throughout the course of the show but Luciano seems to have become a better and more effective criminal from his experiences whereas Capone doesn't seem to have gained any particular wisdom and gives little consideration to the consequences of his actions. The moment with the empire statue was Gyp Rosetti worthy. Just awful. I knew it was going to bad the moment the guy decided to linger. The flashbacks were a little lengthy but I really liked the way the scene ended. Was the Commodore looking at child porn? I thought that was what he was covering up when Nucky came into the room.

I enjoyed the episode and thought it was surprisingly funny at different points. I laughed out loud when Robert made the comment about nothing being so ill bred as flirting with another man's dog. Cora basically telling Robert that he's a bore who makes the same jokes over and over again was good too. I laughed when Blake bolted in the middle of his conversation with Mary just as it was getting interesting. He almost seemed freaked out that Mary was being so candid. Tony and Mary are still forced and wooden. Cora seems interested in the Richard E. Grant character. I still can't stand Thomas but I did like the goodbye scene with Jimmy. I thought it was nice of Jimmy to make it a point to wish Thomas happiness in all areas of his life. Jimmy has come along way from how he was in the third season. Mr Drewe needs to clue his wife in. I don't understand why he's willing to upset his own marriage for the sake of Edith when he could still help her and tell his wife the truth. It's not telling the truth that's creating the tense atmosphere. Plus Mrs Drewe thinks that Edith is just bored and wants a real life doll to play with. If she were told the truth she'd know that Edith is serious and in this for the long haul. Now that they've waited and haven't told her the truth it's going to look like they're trying to hide something like an affair. Speaking of lying to spouses, Bates and Anna seem like they do that from time to time out of loyalty to Robert or Mary. Anna felt like she had to lie to Bates to not put him in an uncomfortable position regarding whether or not to tell Robert about Mary's plans with Gillingham. Mary really does expect a lot from Anna. JF really is going to drag out this Baxter story, isn't he? Why?