S06.E09: Christmas Day

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mary endeavours to build bridges with her sister while Edith’s secret continues to pose a threat, despite having nothing left to lose. As Henry settles into the role of husband and stepfather, finding his place at Downton proves more difficult. Below stairs, Carson faces some personal challenges, which prove that even he is not invulnerable to change.

 

The last ever episode offers all the love and loss, happiness and heartbreak of Downton Abbey, and as the family and servants prepare to welcome 1926, they celebrate an unforgettable New Year’s Eve together at the great house.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am cracking up at the idea of Henry having to adjust to being a stepfather. Yes, it must be so taxing to spend 20 minutes with Mary's kid when the kids are all brought down to see Donk & co. once a day!

 

Promo:

Edited December 21, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[MissLucas]

Well, that was so predictable you could almost hear the pieces fall into place. It was like watching Sir Julian ticking off a to-do list: Redeem Lady Mary, marry off Lady Edith and Cousin Isobel, kick Daisy to the farm, make Barrow the new butler, give Henry something to do, make sure Tom gets a love-interest somewhere between the lines and let Anna have the baby at Downton (since nothing of importance will ever happen somewhere else).

But we got lots of great coats and gowns. I loved Lady Edith's wedding dress - but not the thingy on her head: it looked like a bit of plastering from the drawing room (or a meringue). The reception tiara was slightly better. Daisy provided final proof that a new haircut means a new woman. And Mr Mason and Mrs Patmore had their moment too. So all is well. Cheerio!

Edited December 25, 2015 by MissLucas

[Andorra]

Downton will be forever the worst show I’ve ever watched. I’m so happy I’m rid off it now!!!!

Tom Branson, I loved you so much, but you were so wasted and it hurt my heart to see the last episode. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. All characters will get “their moment”?? That’s what they said?

Well, where was Tom’s moment then? He did hold a puppy. Was that it? The moment we’ve all been waiting for? The great goodbye?

After all Tom’s been through, he got nothing. A job as a sidekick to Henry Talbot. Working with cars again. Sybil didn’t want him to work with cars again, but he conveniently forgot.

A 3 second flirt with Edith’s editor. That was it.

That’s what I watched 3 bloody seasons for!! I can’t believe it.

I’m crying, but these might also be tears of relief. Bye Bye Downton.What a crap show you’ve been.

I hope they paid Allen Leech well. Very well! And I hope it opened doors for him.

There must be SOME good in that show, mustn’t it?

 

The rest of the show was all cheesy, happy endings. Even Mary got pregnant. Hurray! Who cares? The only good thing was Isobel marrying Merton the rest was completely forgettable. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Andorra

[Slakkie]

They should have left Tom in America and had him come back with Rose for the wedding and have a fiancee' in tow.  Instead he is the dog wrangler and Mary's cheerleader. 

[chocolatine]

Tom Branson, I loved you so much, but you were so wasted and it hurt my heart to see the last episode. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. All characters will get “their moment”?? That’s what they said?

Well, where was Tom’s moment then? He did hold a puppy. Was that it? The moment we’ve all been waiting for? The great goodbye?

After all Tom’s been through, he got nothing. A job as a sidekick to Henry Talbot. Working with cars again. Sybil didn’t want him to work with cars again, but he conveniently forgot.

A 3 second flirt with Edith’s editor. That was it.

That’s what I watched 3 bloody seasons for!! I can’t believe it.

 

I think the editrix catching the bouquet was supposed to imply that she would be marrying Tom. I'm not happy that he's been used exclusively as Mary's sidekick this season, but I think he and the editrix will be good together. After the maid that tried to scam him and the dreadful Sarah Bunting, he finally has a promising love interest.

 

I thought the ending was too neat and predictable, but I didn't hate it. It was nice to see everyone happy.

[DeepRunner]

Although I am on the US side of the pond, and will have to watch based on the PBS empiricism of waiting until January (serves them right that they don't have anything of Downton's ratings power in their arsenal, yet, anyway), I do read the reviews in UK outlets, so here is my takeaway:

 

* Of course, Fellowes was going to protect his pet, the Queen of the Hive. He can't let his St. Mary be seen in anything other than a positive light at the story's end. Mary was much more interesting in Series 1 and more likable in Series 2. After that, meh...

 

* I am surprised (pleasantly though, as this character has been the running gag for so many episodes before Fellowes decided to cut him some slack last Series) in Molesley's ending. As much as John Bates had been Fellowes's downstairs torture doll, Molesley was Charlie Brown (some of it his own making). Not sure I buy the outcome, as I haven't seen any of Series 6 yet, and therefore the progression, but I guess every story has a happy ending. Unless you become a used-car salesman

[Glade]

Yawn.  What an overwrought, painfully self-aware and yet ultimately boring sendoff.   I didn't realize that a b-12 deficiency was considered an untreatable terminal illness back in the 1920s?  Maybe it would have brought us full circle with S1 if Mrs. Crawley championed some newfound, controversial but effective treatment for his illness?  Whatever.  I'm so glad I won't ever have to watch this horribly written show again.

 

I found it so distracting that early on Edith was wearing that scarf that was looped through a keyhole in her dress...bizzare.  I think that was supposed to be the same veil as the one she threw down from the top of the staircase after Anthony Stralland was encouraged to leave her at the altar.  Thus a symbol of triumph, I suppose.  I'm glad Edith got her marriage, but she is marrying into this crap system and never even mentioned whether she would continue to run her magazine. 

 

And there was really nothing exciting about this episode, compared to the grand confrontations of E08.  What a bunch of dull, passionless crap, epitomized by the afterthought of a relationship between Mary and Talbot that JF doesn't even try to sell us on anymore.  And Tom was completely and utterly wasted.  What about politics, writing, and Ireland??  Where the fuck is your identity? 

 

I can't beleive how much time was wasted giving Barrow a thousand goodbyes when he really wasn't going anywhere.  Couldn't you just have given him a weekly roll in the hay with some farmboy about Andy's age instead?  Then I'd actually be happy for him.  I'd much rather have seen a flash forward to all of these changes/new relationships rather then hear people cough up ludicrously unbelievable dialogue about how "this is what we might do now..."  JF's writing style allows no innovation, no style, no artistry, it's just this dull, obtuse never-ending rut of obnoxious one-liners spewed out by characters in the place of actual storytelling.

 

I don't buy that Rose actually knew (let alone would have known historically, lol...) the names of all the servants and actually cared about them/their lives.  It didn't work that way.  And it's funny, because in that great documentary series about the real life of servants, a story is highlighted about a servant who gave birth in her employer's drawing room, and was immediately fired for bringing disgrace upon the house.   If you had a medical condition and neither you or your insurance could pay for it yourself, you were fired and shipped off to the workhouse, there was no pension, they did not take care of you.  That's how it was, and how it remains today for most of the servant class (now primarily immigrant/minority based.) 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Glade

[CaliCheeseSucks]

Kelly and Tom's Instant Take for the finale is up:

 

http://baldmove.com/up-yours-downstairs/downton-abbey-instant-take-s06e09/

 

Lots of funny observations but my favorite was, "And Bates died on the way back to his home planet."

Edited December 26, 2015 by CaliCheeseSucks

[Andorra]

Glade,

I agree with every single word you wrote. The best thing about the last episode: Thank God that awfully written show is over. 

[Daisy]

Well, I rather enjoyed it. 

I think it was a rather neat sendoff - but considering the kind of show it was, it was always going to have a neat send off - especially because a lot of people were like what?! at the end of episode 8. 

I am going to miss this show. Despite the faults that it had and the tendency to drag on in spots - it really did touch a spot (I'm actually re-watching now from the beginning).. I'm going to miss a lot of you. 

[Cramps]

Finale = yawn

[skyways]

Bye bye Downton. I won't miss the show. Onwards to others!

[CofCinci]

I'm free!!

[ichbin]

Well, I rather enjoyed it. 

I think it was a rather neat sendoff - but considering the kind of show it was, it was always going to have a neat send off - especially because a lot of people were like what?! at the end of episode 8. 

I am going to miss this show. Despite the faults that it had and the tendency to drag on in spots - it really did touch a spot (I'm actually re-watching now from the beginning).. I'm going to miss a lot of you. 

I feel much the same.  If I want real life I'll watch the news or read the newspaper.   Being something of a news junky sometimes I need to watch a show like this.  Downton is in many ways a fantasy...and sometimes that is exactly what I want, much in the same way children like fairy tales with happy endings.  The lovely backgrounds and evolving fashions were also fun to watch.  I'm glad all the characters on Downton appear to have landed on their feet in the end, most of the remaining servants included.   I'm particularly happy about Barrow.   I was not disappointed with the finale at all.    I am sorry to see it end.

[Fake Jan Brady]

At least Maggs got the final word.

[Daisy]

I feel much the same.  If I want real life I'll watch the news or read the newspaper.   Being something of a news junky sometimes I need to watch a show like this.  Downton is in many ways a fantasy...and sometimes that is exactly what I want, much in the same way children like fairy tales with happy endings.  The lovely backgrounds and evolving fashions were also fun to watch.  I'm glad all the characters on Downton appear to have landed on their feet in the end, most of the remaining servants included.   I'm particularly happy about Barrow.   I was not disappointed with the finale at all.    I am sorry to see it end.

 

 

That's how I see it. 

 

I mean generally speaking the Christmas Special has always set up what the next season would be. With no new season, it was just going to be wrapped up in a tiny neat bow. I don't know who was expecting otherwise. (I mean. my dream of Rosmaund admitting that Edith was hers never got realised lol, or that Tom/Mary would get together, was dashed in 6x08).  Edith was going to end up happy (either being Independent Woman, or how it was). I liked that Tom and Husband #2 went into owning their own car business (which is a far cry from Tom simply "working" on cars, in my estimation - but actually using his talents to make a living, as in selling etc. AND he is still Land Agent (or Co-Land Agent) with Mary) - to me he was helping a friend. Which is quintessential Tom. 

I do think the passing of the Baton from Violet to Cora was touching (this could have been addressed within the season without dragging that plot on, which is what I meant). Anna and John weren't pouty face, whinging or sad, which is a good thing and nothing happened to that baby. Mary is pregnant again (which as a Mary fan, yay - and Mary didn't "drop" the bomb where sometimes depending on the mood she would be. and I don't see it as Fellows making people not like Mary, i just see it (or Saw it) as what Mary often does. gets mad. tries to fix it as best as she can. In this case she did.). 

Alll I's dotted, T's crossed. Nothing that would make you go. "WAIT?! WHAT?! Nooo! I need more!!" Maybe they should have ended this in season three (not have killed Sybil not have Killed Matthew, and it ends with George's birth.). but even with the draggy draggy seasons, like you said, I appreciated the show of what it was. a periodical piece, with amazing clothes, and for me, a quasi-soapy situation. Not for everyone.. But it never made me rage like watching Scandal, Greys. It never made me go WTF like Once. For the most part, from Start to Finish -consistent. As Mrs. Hughes would say - the Crawleys were the Holy Family,  and it irked a lot at times... butnot enough that i won't be sad that this is now over. 

 

(and hence why I am doing a rewatch). I hope the prequel does get started up. I'd love to know about the gilded era. 

[jaytee1812]

Yawn.  What an overwrought, painfully self-aware and yet ultimately boring sendoff.   I didn't realize that a b-12 deficiency was considered an untreatable terminal illness back in the 1920s?  Maybe it would have brought us full circle with S1 if Mrs. Crawley championed some newfound, controversial but effective treatment for his illness?  Whatever.  I'm so glad I won't ever have to watch this horribly written show again

Pernicious Anemia killed my great-grandmother in 1926, so yes there was absolutely no treatment. Yet I barely notice I have it, I just get a b12 shot every 12 weeks.

[Llywela]

Downton will be forever the worst show I’ve ever watched. I’m so happy I’m rid off it now!!!!

Tom Branson, I loved you so much, but you were so wasted and it hurt my heart to see the last episode. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. All characters will get “their moment”?? That’s what they said?

Well, where was Tom’s moment then? He did hold a puppy. Was that it? The moment we’ve all been waiting for? The great goodbye?

After all Tom’s been through, he got nothing. A job as a sidekick to Henry Talbot. Working with cars again. Sybil didn’t want him to work with cars again, but he conveniently forgot.

A 3 second flirt with Edith’s editor. That was it.

I believe Tom's 'moment' was finally getting his act together and finding that role outside of Downton he's been banging on about for the past two seasons. I don't think going into business with Henry Talbot can be seen as a step backwards at all. Sybil didn't want him to take a step backward to a more menial job, which was the offer he had back in season three (mechanic in someone else's business). This is different. He doesn't have a job as Henry's sidekick at all. The two of them have gone into business together as equal partners, doing something they love. I think Sybil would be proud.

 

I mean, don't get me wrong - it's been horribly written and Fellowes could have done so, so much more with the character. But setting himself up in business is a nicely optimistic ending for him, finally resolving all those issues he's been having about how to remain at Downton while still forging his own way in the world. In a sense, Henry Talbot was created as much for Tom as for Mary. Tom and Henry each needed the other to give them that push to get this business going - alone, each of them might have dithered indefinitely, but as a partnership they were able to inspire and motivate one another, and as the two 'outsiders', neither has to feel alone any more. It's a shame Tom wasn't given more of a romantic life, but we are now free to imagine that for his future ourselves.

 

Well, I rather enjoyed it. 

I think it was a rather neat sendoff - but considering the kind of show it was, it was always going to have a neat send off - especially because a lot of people were like what?! at the end of episode 8. 

I am going to miss this show. Despite the faults that it had and the tendency to drag on in spots - it really did touch a spot (I'm actually re-watching now from the beginning).. I'm going to miss a lot of you. 

I agree. The pacing of this show has been horrible, and a lot of the dialogue is horribly clunky, the storylines can be illogical and unsatisfying and boringly predictable, but there's always been something charming about it, despite those flaws - and the actors have always contrived to make it more than the sum of its parts. I rolled my eyes at a lot of the goings on in this episode, most of which were only too predictable and should really have happened long ago, but I enjoyed it thoroughly anyway, and had a tear in my eye more than once. A nice happy ending. :)

[AZChristian]

Inquiring minds want to know:

 

1.  Who had pernicious anemia?  Did someone die?

2.  Was the Bates' baby a girl or boy?

 

I am such a Downton geek that I periodically snuck a look at my smartphone during Christmas festivities just to find out if Edith ended up happy.  If Edith is happy, I'm happy . . . 

[Llywela]

Inquiring minds want to know:

 

1.  Who had pernicious anemia?  Did someone die?

2.  Was the Bates' baby a girl or boy?

Lord Merton was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia by a top Harley Street doctor - but then it turned out to be a misdiagnosis, so he and Isobel get to live happily ever after, after all. No one died in this episode. They just thought for a while that Dickie was going to.

 

Baby Bates is a boy, nameless.

[tenativelyyours]

As bad as everything was, the weak and failed redemption of Thomas was the kicker for me.  Season after season we had to sit through him crafting machination after machination to gain, I still don't know what, except to supposedly further himself.  We saw he over and over again commit acts that would have probably had him jail or at least drummed off the estate with no references.  And even this season we saw him be pretty much as nasty as he could be and then whinge about poor poor him.  No one ever wanted to throw him a party or parade.   And then this?  I wanted the character of Barrow to be seen sitting in a gutter somewhere.  Or show him after garnering the fruits of all those seasons of mutterings and whisperings and lurkings and maybe find himself as a head servant at Buckingham.  Instead we get this half assed happily ever after.  It would have been nice to have a conflicted but sympathetic gay character.  Instead we got this.  Horsing around with sadly played (I know he is a little kid but every line sounded like he was repeating what someone off camera had just told him to say) George does not a redemption arc played. 

 

Every scene with Bates and Anna with the sound off looks like he is a crazed killer and she is the meek about to be victim.  Worst casting for a romantic story ever. As characters with their own stories, these two could have been interesting.  Mashing them up so early and seeing the heavy handed arc this season end last night just reminded me how bad these two are together. 

 

Everything else was annoying followed by a relief that it was over.  I shall miss the magic that was the first season and a little of the second.  But I have missed that for a couple of years now.   I just don't know what will turn out to be worse,  This show's decline or the frantic attempts to make the next DA.  Indians Summers was most definitely not a repeat of lightning in a bottle as the first season of this was.

[saki]

I mostly enjoyed this, actually,  It was bit cliched, no real surprises, but I think that's what Christmas specials are supposed to be like so that was fine with me.

 

My favourite bits:

 

Edith's happy ending, which was very long overdue.

Cora finally having a bit of a purpose in life, it was interesting to see her at the meeting.

Isobel finally getting together with Lord Merton.

Rose and Atticus - they are just very sweet and it's nice to have characters who are so happy.

The hats - Cora had one that was particularly stunning.

Edith's dresses - the one that she wore to dinner at Bertie's and the blue one she wore in the scene with her future mother-in-law especially.  In comparision to her other dresses, her wedding dress wasn't that amazing but she looked radiant the whole episode.

 

Things that I thought were funny:

 

Talbot having to ask whether Mary was pleased or upset by the motorcar business - given that she only really has one expression, it is quite hard to tell!

Talbot and Tom continuing their bromance.

"Not in Lady Mary's bedroom!"

"Not Susan after your mother?"  "No."

"So, you're both second hand car salesmen?"

 

Things that were a bit disappointing:

 

No clear Baxter/Molesley - after all of the scenes they have had together, I do feel a bit cheated that we didn't even get a kiss.

 

Things that didn't work for me:

 

Thomas' redemption - for the reasons given by tentatively yours above

Mary's redemption - we didn't even have a reference to her telling Bertie in the whole episode.  If you hadn't seen the previous episode, you'd have the impression that Mary had nothing to do with Edith and Bertie splitting up.  It was not portrayed as Mary righting a wrong, but doing something lovely and generous.  I didn't care for it.

I found it a bit weird that we had so much Edith/Talbot in this episode - at the beginning, it sort of felt that he was seeking her out.

[Roseanna]

I guess if JF had to rewrite Snowhite, it would be the wicked stepmother who would arrange Snowhite and the prince to get together.

[Glade]

Lord Merton was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia by a top Harley Street doctor - but then it turned out to be a misdiagnosis, so he and Isobel get to live happily ever after, after all. No one died in this episode. They just thought for a while that Dickie was going to.

 

Baby Bates is a boy, nameless.

Actually Merton was also misdiagnosed by Dr. Clarkson, who later ran the tests a second time and somehow found the correct diagnosis of iron deficient anemia.  It's another one of those ridiculous miracles (of medical incompetence) ala Matthew standing up out of his wheelchair.  Except this one happened so quickly it was difficult to actually feel anything, or care.  Another pointless subplot.  Personally, I have to imagine that the Bates children follow the Norma/Norman naming pattern. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Glade

[QuantumMechanic]

I thought for sure we were going to find out that Lord Merton was being slow-poisoned by his son and D-I-L.  Especially when after escaping from them and moving in with Isobel he ran into her in the hospital and said that while tired he wasn't deteriorating.

Edited December 26, 2015 by QuantumMechanic

[tenativelyyours]

I should add that, while I in no way expected one final show to redeem so much of the mess I willingly inflicted on myself with this show season after season, I could have had every plotline wrapped up as I wanted and the show would have been a failure.  Simply because the only way it could be a success is if there was a coda attached where Fellowes directly addresses the camera and apologizes profusely for inflicting on us the antics of Fucking Denker and Fucking Spratt.

[Tetraneutron]

I thought for sure we were going to find out that Lord Merton was being slow-poisoned by his son and D-I-L.  

Nah, that might have been interesting. And that never would have happened. The point is Isobel and Merton are happy, not that we get revenge on his horrible son and daughter in law. You would think there would have been some sort of scene where Larry gets his comeuppance because he's the closest thing the show has to a villain. 

 

Speaking of which, my one real question for the finale was WHY was Amelia being such a bitch? Why should she care one way or another if Merton marries Isobel or lives at home? If anything, you think she'd prefer having Lord Merton gone so Larry could run things. I hate it when villains are villains with no motivation. 

 

And there was really nothing exciting about this episode, compared to the grand confrontations of E08.  What a bunch of dull, passionless crap, epitomized by the afterthought of a relationship between Mary and Talbot that JF doesn't even try to sell us on anymore.  And Tom was completely and utterly wasted.  What about politics, writing, and Ireland??  Where the fuck is your identity? 

Tom's identity hasn't been politics, writing, or Ireland for some time. Remember the episode where he came back from Boston and told Mary the experience made him love capitalism? He hasn't mentioned Ireland since he gave up being a revolutionary after some of his friends burned down the house with a family inside. (Besides, JF was never comfortable writing a sympathetic socialist). His new identity is he's a businessman. That's what he went to America to do, and starting his own firm is moving up in the world and making him more the social equals of the Crawleys, rather than an interloper. 

 

And this also gives us a way to show that Downton won't end up in ruins and sold off piecemeal like all the other ruined stately homes we've been seeing all season. If the husband of the Lady of the house is a successful car magnate, he can easily keep up the house and its numerous unnecessary servants. 

 

One thing that bugged me about Thomas's storyline: WHY are we supposed to be happy he'll be the new butler (which I think we all predicted months ago) when we've spent the whole season seeing THAT NO ONE HIRES SERVANTS ANYMORE AND THEY'RE ALL LEAVING. MOLSELEY EVEN SAID THAT WHEN HE TOOK THE TEACHING JOB. I can't believe I'm yelling about Downton Abbey but come on. Thomas will get to reach the pinnacle of servanthood. In a house where one footman left to become a teacher and another one's about to leave to become a farmer. And they'll get married to the lady's maid and assistant cook and they'll leave too. Or at least move out. Downton is only a few years away from becoming like that sad house Thomas just left - a cook, a daily woman, and that's it. Thomas's happy ending could have been he becomes a clerk in York after leaving on good terms with the family. Now they've doomed him to a life of irrelevance and no job security. We're from the future. We KNOW this. 

 

Other than that, yeah. EVERYTHING we predicted happens. I do wonder what the former Lord Hexham was doing in Tangiers that was so scandalous. It would have been nice to have some scandal on this show, since that's what makes soaps fun to watch. 

[Lokiberry]

I mostly liked it, or at least, didn't hate it. The things I really wanted to happen, Edith and Bertie's marriage, Barrows elevation to butler, did happen. I'm a little sad that Carson didn't drop dead in a pool of his own self-righteousness, and that Mary didn't catch Tom and Henry making out at their new car business, but I can live with it.

 

Everyone looked nice, and the Bates didn't murder anyone, so I guess it was a decent ending.

 

 

I do wonder what the former Lord Hexham was doing in Tangiers that was so scandalous. It would have been nice to have some scandal on this show, since that's what makes soaps fun to watch.

Painting pictures of naked foreign men? He should have taken Barrows with him. I fear at this rate, Barrows will never get laid again.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Lokiberry

[Roseanna]

Tetraneutron, it has been quite obvious since Bertie told Edith that his cousin painted men (or was it boys) and that he was reluctant to marry that cousin who had intended to him by parents of them, that he was a gay.

[Badger]

Bertie said the late Lord Hexham liked painting pictures of the boys of Tangiers.  

 

All in all, it was a very good ending.  I was hoping there'd be a potential love interest for Thomas, and I was kind of hoping Daisy would say something about wanting to do something with her education before getting serious to Andy, but those were the only real quibbles I had.

 

You could see Thomas's elevation to butler coming a mile away, but I was kind of surprised that it came about because of Mr. Carson's health and not because he and Mrs. Hughes had retired to run their business.  

[Tetraneutron]

If Carson retired to run his business, that might mean being a servant isn't the best thing in the world and the pinnacle of human achievement for everyone not born with a title. And the show would NEVER have that. 

 

I'm glad in a way Thomas didn't have a love interest because everyone being completely blasé about Marigold was anachronistic enough for one show. Especially since he's been ruined as a character by no longer being scheming and self-interested and instead living for the Crawleys' approval like everyone else. It would have been fun if he had a fling with a powerful man or something, but him being in love and happy? Boring as well as unrealistic. 

 

It did bug me they never did anything with Daisy, except FINALLY give her a boyfriend. Even though they did write that whole plot like she was being pushed into it against her will. So the show ends, it's about how The World Is Changing and no single solitary person rises above their station in live unless they do it by marriage. Well, Gwen, I suppose. And Molseley becoming a teacher out of nowhere. Daisy wanted to get an education, getting an education was a big reason why former servants and farmers moved up in the world and became middle class, in season 5 the show made such a big deal about how Daisy had quit school at 11 and how there was so much she wanted to know, and see, and live a live beyond the inside of a kitchen (especially since she can see for herself that her job could go at any time, like what happened with her father-in-law and every other servant not employed by the Crawleys) and then it turns out she just wanted to take her exams for the sake of taking them and has no ambition to do anything. What a pointless storyline. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Tetraneutron

[CaliCheeseSucks]

 

I found it a bit weird that we had so much Edith/Talbot in this episode - at the beginning, it sort of felt that he was seeking her out.

 

During the many Edith/Talbot scenes, I kept thinking how Carmichael and Goode had far more spark together than Dockery and Goode.

[Pogojoco]

Anna encouraging Thomas to figure out what made him so blue amused me in a very dark way. 'Um, I dunno, Anna.....maybe because I'm a gay man in 1926 when it's illegal and I realized that I don't have a job in a house where I've lived and worked for maybe 15 or so years and all my striving and scheming and ambition has turned to shit....but who knows, really?" 

[Andorra]

Just a minor thing:

 

He hasn't mentioned Ireland since he gave up being a revolutionary after some of his friends burned down the house with a family inside.

 

That's not correct. We were told in great detail, that the family and all their servants were taken out of the house before the rebels set fire to it. Tom felt remorse when he saw "the family watch their home burn". 

Edited December 26, 2015 by Andorra

[Marigny]

Yawn.  What an overwrought, painfully self-aware and yet ultimately boring sendoff.   I didn't realize that a b-12 deficiency was considered an untreatable terminal illness back in the 1920s?  Maybe it would have brought us full circle with S1 if Mrs. Crawley championed some newfound, controversial but effective treatment for his illness?  Whatever.  I'm so glad I won't ever have to watch this horribly written show again.

 

I found it so distracting that early on Edith was wearing that scarf that was looped through a keyhole in her dress...bizzare.  I think that was supposed to be the same veil as the one she threw down from the top of the staircase after Anthony Stralland was encouraged to leave her at the altar.  Thus a symbol of triumph, I suppose.  I'm glad Edith got her marriage, but she is marrying into this crap system and never even mentioned whether she would continue to run her magazine. 

 

And there was really nothing exciting about this episode, compared to the grand confrontations of E08.  What a bunch of dull, passionless crap, epitomized by the afterthought of a relationship between Mary and Talbot that JF doesn't even try to sell us on anymore.  And Tom was completely and utterly wasted.  What about politics, writing, and Ireland??  Where the fuck is your identity? 

 

I can't beleive how much time was wasted giving Barrow a thousand goodbyes when he really wasn't going anywhere.  Couldn't you just have given him a weekly roll in the hay with some farmboy about Andy's age instead?  Then I'd actually be happy for him.  I'd much rather have seen a flash forward to all of these changes/new relationships rather then hear people cough up ludicrously unbelievable dialogue about how "this is what we might do now..."  JF's writing style allows no innovation, no style, no artistry, it's just this dull, obtuse never-ending rut of obnoxious one-liners spewed out by characters in the place of actual storytelling.

 

I don't buy that Rose actually knew (let alone would have known historically, lol...) the names of all the servants and actually cared about them/their lives.  It didn't work that way.  And it's funny, because in that great documentary series about the real life of servants, a story is highlighted about a servant who gave birth in her employer's drawing room, and was immediately fired for bringing disgrace upon the house.   If you had a medical condition and neither you or your insurance could pay for it yourself, you were fired and shipped off to the workhouse, there was no pension, they did not take care of you.  That's how it was, and how it remains today for most of the servant class (now primarily immigrant/minority based.) 

 

Historically, no it wouldn't have been that way but this is a period piece and JF took a heck of a lot of poetic license. For the sake of this show, it made a whole lot of sense considering Rose's precociousness and the fact that there was a decent age difference between her and everyone else in the house. I saw her as no different than that teenage cousin who is just figuring herself out in a world that is shifting before everyone's eyes (think of the time period). She's the type that would ask why something is the way it is, be told "that's just the way it's always been, then go exploring to find out for herself. I have always felt that, in many ways, Rose mirrored what Sybil would have brought to the table personality wise had Fellows not fnuked up and killed her off. (Yes, I'm still bitter about it.)

 

I thought for sure we were going to find out that Lord Merton was being slow-poisoned by his son and D-I-L.  Especially when after escaping from them and moving in with Isobel he ran into her in the hospital and said that while tired he wasn't deteriorating.

 

That would have been awesome, especially if it had been capped off by Dickie & Isobel kicking them out of the house and writing them out of the will. 

[kieyra]

Spent most of the episode waiting for Chekhov's Hairdryer to kill someone.

[CaliCheeseSucks]

Spent most of the episode waiting for Chekhov's Hairdryer to kill someone.

Would it be that it might have sparked a fire that destroyed the Downton and all those in it.

 

I would have liked an all-star reunion of the disposed of beaus, fiancés and imposters: Melty Face! Strallan! Gregson! Gillingham! Charles Blake! The other guy!

[Ravenya003]

Well, that was that.

 

I can't say I'm disappointed, but that's only because I haven't been invested in years. I just hung in there as a casual viewer. So here are some thoughts:

 

The Edith/Mary reconciliation was totally undercooked, but whatever. Mary made a gesture, that's about all I could expect at this stage.

 

Tom seems happy, which again - is the most I could have expected. I enjoyed his bromance with Henry and that they're going into business together. 

 

I really wish that Edith's "happy ending" could have been realizing she belonged in that beautiful London flat with her career and her gal-pal (instead of just getting hitched, because being a spinster is the WORST THING EVER) but whatever, she's happy and after what this show put her through, she deserves it. I was holding my breath during the ceremony, certain that a drunken Anthony Strallen was about to burst in. 

 

Nice to see Rose and Atticus again, and I like that Fellowes was thoughtful to add scenes for the minor characters who have been present since the show's beginning: Doctor Clarkson, Mr Mason, that old reverent who marries everyone. There was also room for Rosamund, and mention of Mrs Levinson (via telegram). Heck, even Shrimpy managed to score himself a speech.  

 

What the heck was the point of Baxter, here or in any other episode? The odd thing was, I actually really liked the actress/character, and felt she was the only one of the post-season three characters who was integrated well into the cast, but damn she was pointless.

 

Would it have been too much for Thomas to truly leave and find happiness elsewhere? Downton Abbey is like the Hotel California - you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. At least Daisy got out after dithering about the farmhouse for what seems like years, but I don't envy Andrew's future. Girl ain't happy unless she's complaining about something.

 

Speaking of which, Andrew/Daisy? Mrs Patmore/Mr Mason? Tom/Laura? Sure, whatever. I half expected Denker/Spratt by the end of it. Though I feel robbed of a more solid declaration between Mosely/Baxter, and poor forever-single Thomas. 

 

Odd there wasn't a single mention of Matthew or Sybil throughout this. 

 

I did like that the roles between Mary/Anna were finally switched, and Mary ended up undressing her maid (or at least taking her shoes off). Anna/Bates are finally happy, though I suspect Fellowes lost interest in them as characters a long time ago.

 

The final words went to Isabel and Violet. That at least was perfect. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by Ravenya003

[magdalene]

I liked it for the most part.  It fixed most of the stuff I had disliked about the last episode. I got what I wanted - Edith finally in a good place and Thomas as butler. 

 

I thought Tom had a perfectly satisfying story arc. But then I never shared in - or understood really - shipping him with Mary.

 

The whole series was pretty conventional and predictable. Why would the ending have been anything else?

[Tetraneutron]

I liked it for the most part.  It fixed most of the stuff I had disliked about the last episode. I got what I wanted - Edith finally in a good place and Thomas as butler. 

 

I thought Tom had a perfectly satisfying story arc. But then I never shared in - or understood really - shipping him with Mary.

 

Neither did I. 

 

The problem with Thomas being a butler is that (a) he hated being a servant for most of the show and (b) the last season leaned heavily on the fact that servants are dying out. So how is it ha happy ending that he'll get older and older in a profession with no money and no future? No matter how much you like your colleagues (most of whom are leaving anyway) and your bosses, what does that leave you? Assume Thomas was 18 when the show started, he'd be 30 in the finale. In 40 years he'll be 70, it's 1965, Young Master George might keep him on out of pity or affection, but he won't be a butler of a grand house like Carson was. The "staff" will consist of a part-time cook and a few daily cleaning women and gardeners. If the Crawleys are lucky. More likely the estate is bankrupt and they've sold it. Meanwhile he's in a small town where he has zero chance at a love life and he'll never have a career or financial security. If they wanted to give him a happy ending, why not have him get a job? It's more realistic than anyone else's ending. 

 

And I still don't get the plot with Isobel, Lord Merton, and Amelia. Why was Amelia trying so hard to prevent Isobel from seeing Lord Merton? How does it benefit her? You would think she'd be happy that her father-in-law, whom she hates, is out of her hair. I get she's the villain but characters still have to have motivation for doing things?

[kmm49]

I hated this season and could've skipped the whole season because it was pointless but the Christmas episode saved it! Very nice if a little too conventional, pat and rushed. It leaves it open for hopefully follow-up movies, etc. one day. My only regret's Tom. Everyone's happy but him. What a waste of his return!

 

I didn't buy Mary's salvation. She's still a bitch but her salvation at the end fit into the mold. 

 

I also dislike the married couples because they've all become so boring! This goes especially for Anna/Bates.

 

I wouldn't have been too disappointed if Edith found happiness being a single mother/businesswoman in London but I knew the show would marry her off for that of course is the typical 1920s happy ending.

 

Anyway, such a wasteful season for Daisy, Dinker, Moseley, Spratt, Isobel and even Barrow. Could care less about these storylines. Some were just dropped and never followed through with or thrown in at the last minute.

 

Anyway, this season could've been more interesting but the Christmas episode brought everything full circle. Too bad I was expecting more though.

 

My family's going to watch it when it airs in the U.S. I want to tell them to skip the whole season and just watch this episode because you won't be missing much before it.

Edited December 27, 2015 by kmm49

[Kostgard]

This was a middle of the road episode, where they played it safe across the board, making it a bit dull. Though I do have to hand it to Fellowes on one thing - I never would have guessed that the series would end with Edith a marchioness and Mary married to a used car salesman.

Bringing Tom back was a total waste. He's been reduced to sidekick and puppy wrangler. He could have just come to visit for the weddings.

Thomas's storyline was a waste too. It's fine that he dropped his defenses, though it wasn't developed well, but he's just stuck in a dying profession and will never get laid again.

I'm okay with Mary's minor redemption with her treatment of Edith. I think Edith calling her out for the horrible bitch she's been to her and still being the bigger person and coming to Mary's wedding was a wake up call of sorts for Mary. She still got a minor zing in, though. But Edith does have better chemistry with him. Edith had good chemistry with both her husbands.

Count me among those who thought for sure that Daisy was going to blow every fuse in that place and burn it down. That hairdryer was serious business.

[Miss Slay]

I thought the finale was sweet...yes it was wrapped but nicely with a bow but I don't care. I just love the characters - every single one- and I'm going to miss the show.

[magdalene]

I should clarify that I liked Thomas becoming butler because I had predicted this since very early on - and who doesn't like to be right - and also because it meant that Mr Carson, a character I never cared for - didn't succeed in chucking Thomas out.

 

I always liked Thomas, a lot of this having to do with liking the actor playing him who comes across as such a sweet and funny guy. I am pleased that the actor got to keep an acting job he liked very much to the end.  Especially, considering that job longevity was not ensured considering Thomas'  many dubious actions and nastiness at times.  I always suspected that Thomas lasted beyond the first season because his actor was liked by the PTB and popular on set.

[kmm49]

I'd like to see a follow-up movie leading up to WW2 to see how the biggest war in Europe would've finally affected Downton once and for all. I'm sure by then a couple of the older characters would be dead and it's possible the little ones would still be too young to participate but it would be interesting anyway to see that disruption in their lives.

 

The show really hasn't been the same for me in quality writing since Matthew's death so I'm not upset it's ending at all. It was time.

 

The whole series was pretty conventional and predictable. Why would the ending have been anything else?

I still say they left it open so all the characters can return for a reunion one day but they could've had Carson or even Robert die in their sleep, etc. I understand they didn't want a cliffhanger that would've never been followed through with but one shocker would've been okay with me.

 

 

Spent most of the episode waiting for Chekhov's Hairdryer to kill someone.

Since the hairdryer came with no instructions on how to use it Daisy attempts to use it in a bathtub full of water.

Edited December 27, 2015 by kmm49

[kieyra]

Since the hairdryer came with no instructions on how to use it Daisy attempts to use it in a bathtub full of water.

When heavily pregnant Anna was carrying it up the stairs, I figured she was a goner.

[staveDarsky]

I should clarify that I liked Thomas becoming butler because I had predicted this since very early on - and who doesn't like to be right - and also because it meant that Mr Carson, a character I never cared for - didn't succeed in chucking Thomas out.

I realized after the finale that Thomas' promotion to butler of Downton was telegraphed by George having a special friendship with him -- in parallel to Mary having a special relationship with Carson when she was a little girl.  It was a nice symmetry.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The finale was pretty much what I expected - everyone got their happy ending (or the Downton version of a happy ending). The biggest surprise of the entire episode was Henry and Tom's business. I like their bromance, but Tom gets along with everyone now so it's not surprising.

 

I know that Tom was given barely anything to do since his return, but it was worth it to have him come back just so he could yell at Mary after she spilled the beans about Marigold.

I mostly liked it, or at least, didn't hate it. The things I really wanted to happen, Edith and Bertie's marriage, Barrows elevation to butler, did happen. I'm a little sad that Carson didn't drop dead in a pool of his own self-righteousness, and that Mary didn't catch Tom and Henry making out at their new car business, but I can live with it.

 

Everyone looked nice, and the Bates didn't murder anyone, so I guess it was a decent ending.

 

Painting pictures of naked foreign men? He should have taken Barrows with him. I fear at this rate, Barrows will never get laid again.

Hee, yes to all of this! As soon as we learned that Bertie's cousin was painting naked guys in Tangiers, I was hoping that Barrow would become his valet and they would have fun adventures in exotic places being each other's wingmen.

 

No police in this entire episode! No one being accused of murder! No trials! No jail! That in itself is a victory.

 

ITA that it would have been hilarious for Mary to find Tom and Henry making out at their new car place.

 

I thought for sure we were going to find out that Lord Merton was being slow-poisoned by his son and D-I-L.  Especially when after escaping from them and moving in with Isobel he ran into her in the hospital and said that while tired he wasn't deteriorating.

I thought the same thing! I figured that's why Amelia and Larry were keeping him locked away so they could poison him and get him out of the picture. When he later told Isobel that he was feeling better, I thought it was because he wasn't getting poisoned food anymore. I guess I'm just too suspicious.

 

Loved Tom and Henry letting George and Sybbie play in the office. "I'm working!" I remember how fun it was to go to an office when I was a kid too so that cracked me up.

[shang yiet]

Thomas will never be out a job. Handsome properly trained English butlers are in demand even today. Even if Downton Abbey is sold off, there will be enough millionaires and nouveau riche in London and Hollywood rushing to hire him. I was hoping for a lover to pop up  -perhaps Evelyn Napier is secretly gay - but I guess being butler and outlasting Carson is good enough.

 

Isobel should have been written off after Matthew's death. Her storyline was linked to his and she had nothing to do but miraculously get over Matthews' death and ramble on about the hospital. Wasn't she supposed to be paired up with the doctor? This Lord Merton nonsense took up a look of screentime better used elsewhere. Who cares if he was dying or not?

 

Yay! Edith got her man. One more episode would have been nice just to see her lord over Mary in high society but ah well, can't have everything. Edith did get off lightly. An illegitimate child with a married lover was absolutely scandalous in those days. I wonder what made Bertie and his mum come around in the end. It's like they just changed their minds at the last minute. Fellowes tried to build up the tension too late. Since we all knew this was the last episode, it fell flat.

 

So Daisy, Andy, Mr Manson and Mrs Patmore will all end up in the cottage as one big happy family. It's going to be pretty cramped.

 

Mrs Hudges didn't get a lot out of the marriage, did she? (unless Carson is a tiger in bed?) Pulling double duty doing the housework at both Downton and the cottage and now nursing poor Carson. To be cynical, she might as well have stayed just friends. Carson losing a job and position he lives and breathes for was glossed over in a hurry so we can spend more with the Merton family.

 

Auld Lang Syne scene the perfect time to bring up departed Matthew and Sybil but I guess they ran out of time. And yes, I too would like a sequel featuring the next generation.

 

Mr Bates had nothing to do this season except lurking about.