Future Cat Lady

Maybe he knew that a lesbian would know her way around the hoo-ha and give his wife something he was never able to give her? Going back to lurking...

Trailer for Michelle Dockery's new show. Looks interesting. Nice to see her in such a different role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8qh1NHfVE

Brendan Coyle is 52 and Joanne Froggatt is 35.

That annoyed me. I think that was just another one of JF's manipulations to make us see how "perfect" Henry is. But in reality, Henry has no idea what he is talking about regarding the Edith/Mary relationship. He has known them less that a year at this point. He barely knows Edith. Matthew had a relationship with both sisters for almost ten years. He was aware of a lot (not all) of the crap that went on between them. He knew Mary's good side (his Mary) but he was also very well aware of Mary's bad side. And he did call her out on it. I hate the Henry/Mary pairing. It was really forced and JF really shoved them down the viewers throat. It felt like JF was screaming at us (by using Tom) that they were perfect and that we should love them. And by the way, how freaking convenient was it for Henry to no want to race anymore?

I don't think that any of the actors should be blamed. It's mostly Fellowes's fault and maybe with a little reluctance from the audience for accepting new love interests. Tony, Charles and Henry only existed to be in Mary's orbit. They had no life outside of that. We barely knew them. Also, JF has a tendency to write things that are supposed to be perceived one way but the audience receives another way (Pamuk not supposed to be a rapist, Richard not supposed to be an asshole...). Tony was supposed to be seen as romantic but he came off stalkerish and creepy. A lot of people saw Charles as rude. As for Henry, JF didn't even try to write a romance. He just had every character telling us how perfect he was for Mary instead of showing us. All of the actors were good and handsome but the writing didn't help them. I think a lot of people were happy to get Matthew Goode on the show. Unfortunately for him, JF was lazy and decided that the actor's popularity would be enough. It's kind of funny that Henry ended up as the least popular of the three.

Adultery? That would've made the Crawleys and the aristocrats look bad. We can't have that! ;)

MD quitting Queen of Earth is most likely related to the recent events in her personal life. As for the Matthew mentions on DA, there a lot less Matthew mentions than there were Sybil mentions. And it was noticeable. Several characters would often mention Sybil. We even had a lovely Sybil hommage when Gwen came back. Mary may not be the sentimental expressive type, but for Isobel to never mention her son made no sense. We never even had any mentions of Isobel spending time with her only grandson. It was like her son never existed. Her only connection to the Crawleys was as Violet's BFF. Also, Mary's scene at Matthew's grave should've happen much sooner. I feel like the scene was put there to push the Henry/Mary pairing.

There is some speculation that they will do a flash forward to the 40s first. I think that's very possible possible. They don't seem to be in a hurry to film the 60s stuff and the show is rumored to start airing again in april. So that part could be in the last episodes. I think they might show what happened when Claire first goes back.

It should've ended at S3.

I agree with Andorra. Breaking the entail is about separating the estate and money from the title. The title passes from the male line no matter what. Actually, Mary should have the entail broken. If George dies or doesn't have any male heir, the whole thing would go the next male heir. Whoever that is. If Mary or Robert break the entail, they can leave the estate to someone (or more than one person) they chose. Mary could leave it to her other children or even her nieces/nephews. This way, the house stays in the family.

I don't think for a second that Rose was brought on for Tom. After losing Sybil and Matthew, the upstairs cast was a bit lacking. Also Rose was young and could get into the new 20s stuff. Rose was way too young and silly for Tom. She was also quickly married because the actress was leaving. As for Mary suitors, I still think that Charles Blake was supposed to be the one. IIRC, Julian Ovenden was offered the role and developed the character with JF. Charles was the character who was the best suited for Mary (on paper). He was modern thinking and an heir, just like Matthew. At the end of the S4 CS, it really looked like that's where the storyline was going. However, something happened behind the scene between S4 and S5 that put an end to that storyline. In the first episode of S5, Mary was all over Tony. So did JF changed his mind about Charles? Did he thought that the pairing didn't work onscreen? Did the actor decide to leave? Did they found out that Matthew Goode would be available for the CS and scrapped Charles/Mary? We'll probably never know. As for Henry/Mary, I was sure they would end up together for the sole reason that they have a big name actor to play the guy. However, the storyline is so badly written that I'm not sure where it's going. The character his very thin. We know nothing about him except that he likes cars and racing. It's also very strange that Mary has all her emotional moments and in-depth conversations with Tom. And let's not talk how Tom is pushing for this couple as if his life depended on it. I also find it very funny that most people online seem to dislike this couple. Of course, that doesn't change the ending since everything is already filmed. I'm not entirely against a Tom/Mary pairing but I don't ship it. They're great friends and I love their scenes, but it would be weird for me to see them as lovers. However, I would choose Tom over Henry in a minute. The truth is that I would never ship anyone with Mary except Matthew. For me the best ending would be a single Mary who will see to the future of Downton with Tom as her platonic partner. That way, everyone can invent their own futures for the characters. Just my opinion anyway.

Well, it's not as lazy as Mary/Henry. However, if Mary and Tom end up together, it will be because fans reacted well to that pairing and not because JF had a grand plan for them from the start.

I guess cancer is God telling us he hates people. With that logic, God hates everyone. Why do they worship such an asshole?

I think we didn't see the painting because Ellen and Bree are supposed to look alot alike. Bree had not been cast at that point. Maybe we will see that painting in later seasons.

You are both so philosophical about this. Me, I was thinking "She's polluting the past, that's not cool." LOL!

I'm one of those who thinks that they will spoil the fact that Claire goes back because a) That cliffhanger packs a lot more punch that the actual ending of the book. b) They don't have to worry about spoiling the story when they announce the actors playing Brianna and Roger. Like others have said, I think that we might see Claire in the 40s pregnant, giving birth or with the baby (possibly with Frank). Or, we flash forward to the 60s with a grown up Bree. They started the casting process for her months ago. It's highly possible that Bree has been secretly cast. They might have only needed her to shoot a small scene. And like I said above, they will be spoiling the story for non-book readers when they announce who's been cast as Bree and Roger. Will they announce that they've cast a character named Brianna or Brianna Randall or Claire (and Jamie's) daughter? And why did they cast an adult? Ans what if she'a a natural redhead? I'm sure there will also be some set pictures coming out that will spoil the time jump? So basically, doing the time jump at the end of season solves a lot of problems. In my opinion anyway.

Very good point about Wentworth. As for the spanking, the thing is that Jamie is supposed the be the romantic hero. He has at this point been portrayed as the "perfect guy". So for him to do that is pretty shocking. He also mentions that he enjoys it in the book. And a lot of people find this problematic. And DG seems to always dismiss anyone who sees it that way. I can't wait to see the media reaction. Yikes!

I think Michelle Dockery is a good actress and I really like her. She was really good in S2. You could see all of what Mary was thinking and feeling on her facial expressions. However, I think she stopped emoting in S3. It's like someone told her to stop showing emotions because aristocrats don't have feelings. I was really unimpressed by her breakdown in Carson's arms in S4. As a huge Mary/Matthew fan, I was really disappointed. I also find it really funny when people say she should win all the awards. She won't win any awards because Fellowes doesn't bother to write any decent material for her.

I have read the 8 books and I'm almost finish with The Scottish Prisoner. I have a question about Lord John

My favorite soap storyline is the Blake/Ross/Holly/Roger story from 1992. The Holly/Blake scenes were the best. To me it was a mother/daughter story.

Actually Charles Blake is Matthew. Middle class values. Instant dislike on Mary's part at first meeting. Heir to a long distant cousin. Julian Fellowes is not that original.