Sunday, March 1, 2015

Downton Abbey Recap 5.8


The season is almost over! We can't believe there's only one episode left. But if this one is anything to go by, the finale should be interesting. Let's jump into episode 8 shall we?

Jenn N: The minute Anna's presence was requested at Scotland Yard, I knew it was bad news. If I was her, I would've just said, I can't make it. But she went sans lawyer. I keep forgetting that it's only 1924 and they're in England and the "Miranda" case hasn't happened yet. Therefore, the cops were not required to advise Anna of her rights.  Poor Anna was forced into a line up with other women. I wanted to tell her to just run, run off with Mr. Bates.  The two of them should just flee the country and change their names. It seems a cloud of bad luck keeps following them. When Poor Anna was subsequently arrested. I was as outraged as Mary.  However, I did have a chuckle when the cop told Mary a protesting Mary that he didn't give a damn about her title he had to take Anna to jail. (Mary's self important attitude has gotten on my nerves a little this season - can you tell?)

Rebecca T: I just can't believe that Anna actually had anything to do with it. She certainly had a motive, but  she just couldn't. Besides, her obvious relief when Bates assured her he didn't do it couldn't have been feigned. I'm so very sick of this story line. It has felt forced all season. If there isn't something bigger behind the scenes explaining why they're so very interested in the death of a valet I'm going to be miffed.

Jenn N: This episode also fast forwarded a month. Rose and Atticus went from getting engaged at the end of the prior week's episode to being just days away from the wedding in this episode. I guess when you know, you know. Don't get me wrong, they're an adorable couple but I couldn't help but think, slow down! What's the rush, go on some dinner dates but the Crawleys seem to move a lot faster than my glacial dating pace.

Rebecca T: It was a quick jump in time. And a short engagement. I'm not really that aware of the normal timetable of these kinds of things during this period, but this show has made me much more curious. How long were normal engagements in this class at this time? How did people court/date? I'm going to have to go read up on it!

Jenn N: However, my desire for them to just slow things down a bit had nothing on Rose's mother Susan's plan. Susan set up Atticus to make it look like he was in a very compromising position with a "professional." Rose initially panicked as any bride would but good old Tom encouraged her to talk this over with Atticus as there must be a reasonable explanation. Please don't leave us Tom!! You're smart, your ridiculously handsome in those suits and you somehow manage to get along with both Mary and Edith.

Rebecca T: Seriously. I really don't want Tom to leave. He brings such a nice balance to everyone. And Rose's mother? Talk about trying out for worst mother of the year award. She is so miserable that she can't let anyone else in her life be happy. That's just so wrong and selfish.

Jenn N: Rose and Atticus fortunately worked things out and Rose discovered her mom was the saboteur.  I really don't understand why her mom is so miserable and nasty.  She makes Thomas seem fuzzy. Speaking of Thomas, he -shocker- did something nice this week!! Violet's crazy new lady's maid was using temporary footman Andrew as a gambling patsy. She manipulated him to gamble away his savings while she drank her weight in "free" booze. After hearing about this, Thomas won Andrew's money back and told the manager about Denka's scheme.

Rebecca T: Denka really grates on my nerves, but I can't really put my finger on exactly why. This episode didn't help raise her in my estimation at all. But Thomas... I'm surprised to see the change in him. I am all for character growth and development, but it feels very ... abrupt. I'm curious to see how long/if this new helpful streak will last.

Jenn N: In other rapid romances, Prince Kuragin basically tells Violet that he's not all that keen on the fact that she may have found his missing wife as he'd rather just run away with her. Again, does no one do dinner dates? And what has the Prince's wife been thinking about all this time?

Rebecca T: I'm hoping we get the rest of the story of what happened between the Prince and Violet. This has been quite the year for Violet and Isobel. 2 proposals of remarkably similar, yet distinctly different tones. It's nice to see something happening with the 2 of them other than commenting on other people's lives, though. Especially Violet.

Jenn N: I was just as touched as Mrs. Patmore was when Robert unveiled the special memorial for her nephew adjacent to the war memorial.

Rebecca T: Seriously. Robert's solution for that was so beautiful. I was crying right along with her. I was also crying when Mrs. Patmore cried in the kitchen at the thought of Daisy leaving. I want good things for Daisy, but I don't want her to leave, so I'm glad she decided to stay.

Jenn N: Yes. As much as I want Daisy to continue her education and possible career advancement, I'd also miss her just as much as Mrs. Patmore if she were to leave.

Rebecca T: And finally, Edith is so lovely as a mother and I'm very glad Robert knows the truth now. I wonder if Mary would have more or less sympathy if she knew the whole truth though. I'm curious to see what will happen when that eventually comes out.

So many threads hanging to tie up in the finale. We're excited to see how it all plays out!

No comments: