“Sometimes I feel as if I were living in an H.G. Wells novel.” (Violet)

For an episode spending so much time on introducing a telephone and with a very predictable cliffhanger, I was surprised to not see two and two put together. It appears that, in case of war breakout, the good old telegraph is still the way to go. Downton Abbey finished off its spectacular season with a bang followed by a very predictable non-existent cliffhanger. Jeez, it’s 1914, we all know the war was coming.

Edith and Mary finally stood face to face in the debacle surrounding Mr. Pamook. I enjoyed seeing them both utterly crushed in the end; it felt satisfying, as if they both deserved it. I feel bad for writing this, but I hope the war makes them grow up a bit. The incessant bickering has been so annoying and I don’t know if I can bear another season of it. It’s the very definition of 1914 first world problems.

Which brings me to the miscarriage… somehow. In retrospect, I’m amazing how well I swallowed O’brian’s remorse over the soap-slipping episode. That poor girl regretted it right away, even before Cora fell, and I think that’s where the dramaturgical difference lay. Well done, writers, well done. Maybe O’brian won’t be so insufferable come next season?

Thomas on the other hand was as bad as ever. Sneaky bastard had a plan all along, too. I wonder how being a medic will treat him? Will he return for the second season or will he make a quiet escape? Even though I loathe him, I hope we’ll find out more about him – even if only to see his retribution.

Thoughts and things

• Bates is simply too good for this world. It’s a bit much, no?
• You know the American cliché where someone runs away from someone else, only to be stopped by a handy “wait” that resolved the clonflicts and fixes everything? Downton Abbey is like that, only without the wait. Boy, did we have a lot of unresolved conflicts.
• On the flip side, Mr. Carson hugged Mary. That was cute.

In all…

A very strong episode once again. I do wonder if the first season was a bit too nice for its own good, though. Sure, the miscarriage was harsh, but in the end it wasn’t about Cora but about O’brian. Other than her, the nice characters all seem to be nice and the evil ones evil. There’s no middle ground, there’s no movement. Maybe that’s the metaphor for the entire series and its upstairs-downstairs shtick?

Anyway, I can’t wait for the second season. It’s gonna be sweet!