The writers on this show don't have much memory. I thought the same thing about Mary- wouldn't she have an aversion to fast cars? Tom was (is?) a socialist Irishman who is now comfortable and happy in his tuxedo every night being English gentle man of the manor. That makes zero sense.

Mary is so utterly unlikable which would be bearable if her story moved forward.

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Tom was (is?) a socialist Irishman who is now comfortable and happy in his tuxedo every night being English gentle man of the manor. That makes zero sense.

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not to derail this thread, but he has just become a member of the liberal elite. Not hard at all to understand.

Oh absolutely. I mean he might as well have said "I missed being rich" when he came back from America.

I thought the tribute to Sybil was pretty wonderful.

I also think they'll address Mary and the cars in the coming episode. They may opt to use this as Mary finally "getting over" Matthew by putting that event behind her, but I doubt it.

Lots of the moments and themes so far this season have been callbacks to old events. A car crash could fit that mold.

Pretty sure war over hospital + the Earl's tummy ache = some kind of drama.

Yeah, he'll need some sort of machine or test that isn't available at their hospital. Or a kind of surgery that the local doc isn't versed in.

Then Mary's race driver boy friend will whisk him to London and then Edith will turn it into a story for her mag.

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Pretty sure war over hospital + the Earl's tummy ache = some kind of drama.

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Yeah, that was the most heavy handed foreshadowing I have ever seen. The volcano of blood was still surprising though.

Bleh

Thought he got poisoned by Daisy Domergue.

That dinner scene was more violent than any of the war scenes in the early days of this show!

That dining room scene. I really thought we were going to see him just fall over and die. I thought for a brief second I was watching Game of Thrones, not prim and proper Downton Abbey.

Thank God I wasn't eating while watching that! Yikes.

I had hope that this would just instantly turn to a zombie apocalypse show but looks like he recovered from that.

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So, how's that swing the hospital situation? Also, I enjoyed Chamberlain's uneasiness to be in the middle of a conflict... At least, it made me chuckle.

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that was the best part of the episode. The pacifist references kept getting less and less subtle until they hit you in the face with it during the dinner.

I think this swings the hospital fully into wanting the government money/control.

This season has been DULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

The ONLY memorable scene was Stanley Kubricks' dinner scene.

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So, how's that swing the hospital situation? Also, I enjoyed Chamberlain's uneasiness to be in the middle of a conflict... At least, it made me chuckle.

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that was the best part of the episode. The pacifist references kept getting less and less subtle until they hit you in the face with it during the dinner.

I think this swings the hospital fully into wanting the government money/control.

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but he basically was fine apparently...i expected him to need some services the hospital did not have but at the end they said he was fine (unless complications arise in the next episode of course).

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So, how's that swing the hospital situation? Also, I enjoyed Chamberlain's uneasiness to be in the middle of a conflict... At least, it made me chuckle.

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that was the best part of the episode. The pacifist references kept getting less and less subtle until they hit you in the face with it during the dinner.

I think this swings the hospital fully into wanting the government money/control.

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but he basically was fine apparently...i expected him to need some services the hospital did not have but at the end they said he was fine (unless complications arise in the next episode of course).

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i could see that I guess. He was fine thanks to Dr Clarkson. Maybe they want him to stay in control.

LOL

There is no way that a BBC drama will be written with a script that suggests anyone ever think that the local doctor is better than the precursor to the National Health.

In the present case, the old woman has been scripted as the old and out of touch remnant of the patriarchy who is clinging to the past at the expense of progress. Who knows what is to come, but it won't surprise me if Robert dies in the county hospital of sepsis and Granny will "preside over his funeral".

So someone help me clear something up. I figure I must have heard wrong or jus interpreting.

Right after the emergency Cora says to the health minister something like "I am fine with both systems" and the to the dowager she says "don't reprimand me mama".

Was she acquiescing about the argument on which health system was better? Seems counterintuitive. I would think Robert needing emergency medical services would enforce needing the most modern methods.

Confused.

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So someone help me clear something up. I figure I must have heard wrong or jus interpreting.

Right after the emergency Cora says to the health minister something like "I am fine with both systems" and the to the dowager she says "don't reprimand me mama".

Was she acquiescing about the argument on which health system was better? Seems counterintuitive. I would think Robert needing emergency medical services would enforce needing the most modern methods.

Confused.

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I think she was being so blunt and direct about her position... and basically apologizing to the dowager for not following more traditional protocol.

At least that was my take away.

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That dinner scene was more violent than any of the war scenes in the early days of this show!

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It made me burst out laughing... they had been playing up this stomach thing and it was surely going to come into play in some form for the hospital discussions... but that was so over the top ridiculous I just couldn't help from laughing.

Romances a-brewing:

Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Mason

Daisy & Andy, the illiterate, aspiring pig farmer footman.

Holy cow, I hope Lady Edith finally wins at love/marriage.


Incidentally, I find it interesting that Lady Mary finally suspects there may be more to Lady Edith and Marigold.

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Romances a-brewing:

Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Mason

Daisy & Andy, the illiterate, aspiring pig farmer footman.

Holy cow, I hope Lady Edith finally wins at love/marriage.

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yeah but....i fear it is setting up for everyone to be happily married by the end....blech.

except poor Tom of course......and Barrow.

No way. Edith will either die a lonely magazine owner, or go lez with that lady editor.

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Romances a-brewing:

Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Mason

Daisy & Andy, the illiterate, aspiring pig farmer footman.

Holy cow, I hope Lady Edith finally wins at love/marriage.

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yeah but....i fear it is setting up for everyone to be happily married by the end....blech.

except poor Tom of course......and Barrow.

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Maybe Barrow, in a fit of dispair, kills everyone with poison at Mrs. Patmore's wedding feast.

I really love the happy versions of Bates and Anna. They've had some really sweet moments of late.

Glad they finally moved forward on that hospital squabble. I love the dowager all pissed off too.

Most everything else is just more of the same. Mary, Edith, the carsons, Tom, ms patmore and mr mason has a chance if not for daisy and her meddling.

Barrow is coming to a head, but to what end I don't know.

The family knowing little of the abbey history was great.

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The family knowing little of the abbey history was great

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Watched last night. This caught our attention the most.

Tom has always joked about how aloof the family was, but it was put of full display in this episode. They don't know the home or even the history of their own family. They are befuddled that anyone in the county is genuinely interested in how they live or the house itself. Tom's suggestion of opening the house regularly sets each of them on the bit. It was the most interesting, and I think foretelling, element of the episode. It is all coming to an end, and only Mary can't (or won't) see it.

And Mr. Carson's shredding of the new wife's domestic skills and trying to keep his cottage as if it were the big house is a hoot, even if a bit overdone.

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Maybe Barrow, in a fit of dispair, kills everyone with poison at Mrs. Patmore's wedding feast.

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GRRM is directing the last episode, so spoilers.

I feel like they are setting Barrow up for a suicide. The British don't do tidy endings like the Americans. They love the uneasiness.

I think what's going to happen is that Mosely will end up teaching at the school, thereby allowing Barrow to stay.

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I feel like they are setting Barrow up for a suicide. The British don't do tidy endings like the Americans. They love the uneasiness.

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Oddly I feel the opposite. He is at a real low point of despair, but if/when they all find out he actually is helping the other guy learn to read - a completely unselfish act and without trying to gain anything from it - I think he will get some redemption.

And I actually think he will end up as the head butler at Downton - I think the entire downsizing will result in Carson retiring. Maybe not of his own accord, maybe health related. I think it has been a complete misdirection from the writers.

I think its too little too late for him. The entire show he's been conniving against everyone in the house including the family, and the chickens are coming home to roost. I think its been very interesting that the writers are starting to make you feel sorry for him, while he was the most hated character. He has literally alienated everyone he knows, and has no one that cares for him. On top of that, he hates himself, for everything he's done and for being gay in a time where that was not tolerated. The only people who like him are the children who don't know him. This helping Andy read is the last ditch effort to make a friend.