Downton Abbey

[Ka-mai]

I have been looking for an excuse to start this thread for a while, and felt this warranted discussion... warning, season 3 spoilers in this article.

Maggie Smith Leaving Downton Abbey

[Heather19]

That'll be a shame if she leaves. She's such a vital character to the show. Also do you know when it comes back?

[Ka-mai]

I heard November for the UK but January for us. She is my favorite character but I always knew she would go eventually since she's the oldest character on the show and it's already spanned 8 years.

[Heather19]

True. And that's probably my one gripe with the show. I don't like how they've jumped ahead so quickly. I wish it took place over a shorter period of time. And at least we'll hopefully have her for all of next season it sounds like.

[Ka-mai]

It is kind of annoying in that you have no idea what year it is half the time, but on the other hand it's a little more realistic than some shows because they're not saying, "hey, interesting stuff happens to these people EVERY DAY." I think if we made movies of most people's lives there would only be a couple highlights out of every year. And maybe they'll introduce someone new who's also awesome.

[Heather19]

True, but I too get confused sometimes I wonder when this season will pick up. Will it be another few years in the future?

[Ka-mai]

I'm really interested in people's views on "Patrick Gordon." Was he the real Patrick Crawley, or Peter Gordon pretending?

[Heather19]

Yeah, I'm kinda curious too. He took off at the end right? Do you think he'll be back. That would be interesting.

I was never quite sure if he was or not. Sometimes I thought he was but then something would happen to make me question it.

[Ka-mai]

I don't think he was for the following reasons.

Burn victim, changed accent, amnesia... how convenient!
Patrick used to work with a Gordon who knew him well, and when he was picked up they mistook him for a Gordon? Really?
He seems extremely nervous the entire time he's talking
That hand thing he did across his face seemed very deliberate, like he was waiting for a moment to do it.
The whole "wasn't there a governess?" thing was just what Mary said: they say a little information and wait for you to fill in the details.
He runs right after they find out about the other Gordon... wouldn't he stick around?

Also, yeah his face and hands were burned, but there are other things: hair and eye color, body shape, movements, which should have at least gotten some recognition out of the family. No one seems to see anything like that.

[Heather19]

That's true, never really thought of that. But you should be able to look into someone's eyes and know if it's them. At least Mary should have, she was engaged to him after all. Although she never really loved him, but still.

[Ka-mai]

Bumping this up because season 3 is finally airing in the US. I'm going to ask everyone to please mark spoilers by episode because some of you lucky people live in the UK and have already seen everything.

[Ka-mai]

Season 3, episode 3:

Spoiler:

Fuck you, Sir Anthony. I don't understand why everyone on this show is determined to be miserable. "Waah, I won't get married because I'm paralyzed. I won't take your money to save my family from shame. I'm an old man who would rather humiliate you than marry you even though we've had this discussion NINE MILLION TIMES. I won't be happy EVER because of Lavinia. I'm gonna be a spinster forever because one old dude stood me up."

Everyone needs to lighten up already!

Also that letter was a little too deus ex machina for my tastes.

[Heather19]

I agree. It's quite dramatic at times. And the letter definitely was. Maybe they should have had him just accept it. The thing that bothers me the most is how quickly time advances. I wish it moved at a slower pace. Although that said, I'm still hooked. I love period dramas. How many eps do we have this year?

[Ka-mai]

Yes, that goes back to my "everyone is determined to be miserable" point: just take the fucking money! I asked my parents while we were watching, "Does it make me a bad person that I'd spend the money anyway?" My dad goes, "That means you're smart."

[Ka-mai]

Aaaaand yet again, nobody can be happy or have something happy happen.

I'm getting a little pissed off at this show.

[Heather19]

Omg, I just watched it. I can't even believe that just happened

[Ka-mai]

Episode 7: I think I need to watch episode 8 now, even though I was going to watch it all as it aired. I just can't wait.

[Ka-mai]

Ugh, totally forgot there was a Christmas special and went to the Downton Abbey Wiki. Spoilers! Just one, not sure if I consider it big or not.

Anyway, finished the 8 regular episodes.

Spoiler:

I think if I were Thomas or James I'd probably leave because things are awkward. Who wants to hang around after that? And half the house knows about it now, it's not like it's just Alfred and Mr. Carson anymore.

Branson is adorable.

[Ka-mai]

Son of a bitch.

Not sure I even want to watch this show anymore.

[cit74]

I think they've gone off the deep end with the major changes to begin/end each season. The last ending was a bit much.

[Bev Vincent]

They didn't have much choice.

Spoiler:

the actor quit

This aired on Christmas Day in the UK. Ho Ho Ho!

[Ka-mai]

I understand why they did it, I do not understand why you'd air it on Christmas.

I had heard

Spoiler:

he was quitting, but I thought they'd do something like, "he has business in France. Forever." I really thought it was going to be the Dowager because I heard she also wants out... I guess that's next season. Or the Christmas episode.

I mean seriously,

Spoiler:

if that many actors want out, maybe you should just end the show instead of killing off fucking EVERYBODY.

[cit74]

Thank you both - I had not heard that news (nor had I looked into it really)

Spoiler:

I guess that is a great way to deal with people quitting...just kill them off

[Bev Vincent]

Spoiler:

They had hoped the actor would return for an episode or two in the fourth season so they could send him off as a foreign envoy or something else less abrupt, but he wouldn't do it. They didn't want to have his death lurking over the entire Christmas episode but they had to address why he wouldn't be around any more, so this is the best solution they could think to come up with.

And Maggie Smith is back for the fourth season and as long as they want her, according to her 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night. There are perpetual rumors that she won't come back each year, but I think that's just hype.

[Heather19]

Just watched it...

Spoiler:

Can't believe they killed him off. I had no idea he wanted out of the show

But I guess it doesn't really surprise me. I had a hard time getting into this season. It was just all over the place. I know I've complained about this before, but I wish they would slow the show down a bit. They can't develop any storylines with so much time passing between each episode. I don't understand what the idea behind that is?