Downton Abbey: Season 2

Feel free to post about Season 2 here

In response to Mrs. Sirius's post on the main chat thread ...

Mrs. Sirius, I'm thinking last night was the official end of season 2 of Downton Abbey (it was aired as 2 episodes in the UK). One of the characters mentioned the length of time that had passed since the war ended ... seemed like about a year, although perhaps I misunderstood it. I'm betting that next week's episode is what was aired in the UK as the Christmas episode ... but it's just a hunch. (Now that there are threads to discuss the show, I'm sure someone who knows more than I can confirm or deny this. )

Is anyone else concerned about Daisy? She really is struggling with honesty and peer pressure.

In season one she started out pretty innocent and naive, which resulted in her developing a crush on Thomas, who is conniving and dishonest. Thomas took advantage of her feelings for him and convinced her to lie to Carson to get Bates in trouble. Although she did it, it was obvious that she wasn't comfortable and eventually she broke down and told Carson the truth. That was the end of her feelings for Thomas as she learned what kind of person he was.

Then there was William who lived a simple, honest life and who was especially fond of Daisy and hoped for a relationship with her. Though Daisy didn't have the same kind of feelings for William that she had had for Thomas, she saw in him an example of honesty and decency that starkly contrasted Thomas. I think she liked him very much as a person and was quite comfortable with him as long as romance was left out of the equation.

When Willliam is about to go off to war and he wanted some kind of affirmation of Daisy's affection for him, Mrs. Patmore got involved, and once again Daisy was pressured into deceit against her will. One lie led to another and, although Daisy kept protesting that she wanted to stop, she was ultimately railroaded into marrying William with him on his deathbed. And she continues to be pressured to deceive William's father by playing the grieving widow.

Daisy wants to put an end to all the lies and deceit. I think she sees the dishonesty as particularly repulsive because it's being perpetrated against two people who are the epitomy of living wholesome lives.

I thought it was curious that Daisy's attitude seemed to suddenly and drastically change while preparing for the wedding. She started out protesting that it wasn't right and she didn't want to do it. But as the preparations went on in spite of her, a calmness seemed to come over her and she appeared to be willingly involved and ultimately even refused to leave William's bedside until he died. To me it seemed like she just gave up fighting for what she believed to be right; as if she felt defeated. I don't know--maybe there was a better reason and I missed it.

But I can't help wondering what's going to happen if people keep pressuring her to do things that are dishonest. I'm afraid she's going to snap.

I missed the last episode --will watch it on pbs.org this weekend-- but based on the previous episode, I have a prediction.

I was surprised to see Sir Richard threaten Cora so directly. I predict that Sir Richard will threaten or harm Mary in some way.....and Mr. Carson either "takes care of him" or manuvers to get rid of him.

So it ends with a cliffhanger where Bates' fate is hanging--instead of him. Aarrgh. Poor Anna. How will they prove he didn't kill his wife unless they can find who did?

And next season Mary will go off to New York to stay with Grandmama, aka Shirley McClean. That should be interesting. Wonder how she'll fare in a country where status and titles don't mean anything and she's just another pretty face?

Maybe Daisy won't snap. She tried to tell William's father the truth, but ended up stopping before she got it all out. He seems to be making the truth a little fuzzy in her brain. Will Mrs. Patmore ever stop manipulating the girl?

When Thomas lost the dog, I was glad the scheme wasn't working for him, but he came out of that one smelling like a rose.

Well, I was clearly 100% wrong about Carson coming to Mary's defense. Should've known....all the plot twists have been more subtle than that.

I've always thought that Bates' wife might have committed suicide....but she's probably too self-involved to plan to injure herself. Bates never did explain that bit of blood on his temple when he arrived home after their last meeting.

Soooooo glad that the nasty Sir Richard is out of the picture. How he can claim to have ever loved Mary when he was willing to threaten to ruin her reputation.....stupid man!

While I support Daisy's sense of integrity, I also know that being less than completely honest is sometimes the more loving thing to do. She could have broken the father's heart by blurting out the unvarnished facts. I was very touched by how William's father explained how he needed someone to care for, to pray for, and to be a special person to him. Having no family of her own, I could see how "adopting" a father relationship might be very appealing --and healing-- to Daisy.

Since the path of Mary's and Matthew's love never has run smooth, I can't believe that all will just fall easily into place now. In fact, given the proposal where he asked her if she would stay if he asked her to, I don't think she'll make the trip to NYC after all. What obstacle will pop up next to interfere with their marriage?

Well, I was just going on the fact that Wikipedia says Shirley McClean has been cast to play Cora's mother. But I suppose she could come to Downton for a visit.

It would be nice if there were no more obstacles. Season one, episode one started in April, 1912, and season two, final episode ended in January, 1920. So almost eight years have passed (in spite of the fact that no one looks a day older ), and Mary has loved Matthew for..what?..seven of those years?

Goodness, eight years! No wonder Daisy wants a promotion! I agree that it's nice that she and William's father now have someone in their lives. Being alone in the world can be depressing. And that was a touching scene. And so far, he seems to be giving her good advice.

BTW, Freshwater; my grandson loves your avatar. The cat looks like my daughter's cat, so at first he thought it was Stormy. Every time he see's your avatar, he says "Oh, silly cat! Get down from the door!" Now whenever I'm on my computer, he comes in and wants to see the picture of the cat on the door. So I hope you don't mind, but I downloaded the picture to my computer so I can show it to him without having to find you on the forum.

I wonder how old Daisy is supposed to be? If she was quite young at the start of the series, that might explain why no one has thought to promote her yet.

I can't stand that Thomas. He is such a sleaze! First, he engineers his own wounding, so that he can get out of the trenches. Then he does the black market thing (where he finally gets his just desserts, mind you). When that backfires, he "dog-naps" Isis and locks her in that shed with the intent of "finding" her and gaining Bates's old spot as valet to the master of the house. What a jerk!

I still think Sir Richard had something to do with the evil Mrs. Bates's death ... either directly or indirectly. Too bad no one knew of his threat to her. I suppose she could have taken her own life. If she did, she would have certainly wanted Bates blamed for it, and that's the truth.

Daisy is at the bottom of the pecking order in the Crawley house.

Spoiler:

Anyway, I don't know how easy it is for a scullery maid to rise out of that position. I'll have to read up on the "downstairs hierarchy."

Shepherdess: I love that your grandson enjoys the pic of my "silly cat" on top of the door, and I'm so glad that you were able to download it for him!

Well, I spent last Thursday and Friday at home with a nasty head cold. But all was not lost....I watched all the episodes of season 2 on pbs.org! Here are my predictions for season 3:

1) Mary will go to New York --though not for long-- just to put some space between her break with Richard and her engagement with Matthew. An extended visit would take us too far from the environs of Downton, I think.

2) Remember that poor soldier in episode 5 who had been burned beyond recognition and claimed to be Patrick Crawley, having survived the Titantic but with amnesia? I think he will return with some sort of proof of his identity. This would once again endanger Matthew's claim to Downton --and put an interesting hitch into his and Mary's plan to marry and for her to become "Queen of the County". It would also elevate Edith to the possibility of becoming his wife and replacing Mary in the expected role as Mistress of Downton, and.....

3) This would, naturally, reanimate the animosity between Mary and Edith, seen in season one....let's not forget that Edith was ruthless enough to write the Turkish Embassy with insinuations about the death of their Ambassador while at Downton. And Mary was nasty enough to lie to Edith's beau and abort their courtship. They've both grown up some during the war, but I don't think they've entirely grown out of their antipathy towards each other.

4) Given Matthew's hesitation in response to Mary's confession to him (Turkish ambassador), and his comment during the proposal scene ("You don't need my forgiveness. You've lived your life and I've lived mine.") I think we can expect to learn of a dalliance with a girl while he was in France. There may even be a love child.....that would be an interesting tweak to the inheritance of Downton, and would also bookend the story of Ethel's child born w/o benefit of marriage in season 2: a bastard child of an heir can inherit, but the bastard child of a maid is entitled to nothing but scorn....at least in that society, at that time.

5) While I desperately want Anna and Bates to live happily ever after, I can't imagine how that will be accomplished. Any ideas? Perhaps some new fangled medical process will show that she did not die of arsenic poisoning after all...which is, I believe, a messy and prolonged process, not consistent with her lying on the floor with a broken cup. Besides, she was such an Umbridge, she may have had any number of people wishing her dead for reasons totally unrelated to Bates.

So, what do you think?

I think Sir Richard may have had a hand in Vera's death. He made a pretty clear threat when she left his office that day, and he has enough money to have someone who crosses him "taken care of" while keeping his own hands apparently clean. While Thomas has nothing to gain (I assume) by Vera's death, he does have plenty to gain by the removal of Bates.

Spoiler:

I agree about a Maggie Smith-Shirley MacLaine meeting. hehe That should bring in plenty of viewers.

I never count Thomas out when there is something underhanded and criminal going on.

PBS is replaying Downton Abby. I think it was last Friday, it was an early episode, it the one where Cousin Matthew goes missing. I had missed a lot of the episode so it was nice to catch up.

The Guardian (UK) has a quick quiz so you can find out which Downton Abbey character you are! Just take out the spaces.

http: // www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/quiz/2011/sep/13/downton-abbey-character

I am the Dowager Countess, LOL!!!!

Our local PBS stations are having a Downton Abbey marathon this Sunday, with a "Behind the Scenes" episode to close out the marathon. I can't wait to watch.

ROFL! LA, that was hilarious! Thanks for posting the link.

LOL I took it twice, giving different answers to 2-3 of the questions that I had trouble deciding. My first try: Lady Mary Crawley. My second: Mr. Bates! LOL

I've watched season 1 several times on Netflix. I watched season 2 at PBS Masterpiece Classics on my computer while it was being aired in the US. Netflix still has season 1 available, but neither have season 2 available.

I want Netflix to get season 2 so I can watch it again as I've forgotten so much about what happened during that season. And it would be nice to see it on something bigger than a small picture on my computer. lol

I noticed that the first season of Downton Abbey is showing on Sunday afternoons on PBS around here ... just in case anyone missed early shows or needs a fix!!

Today I got an early birthday present--the UK version of seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey on blue ray. I'm happy.