518 replies to this topic

[TWoP Roxy]

From zap2it.com:

The Crawleys embark on a trip to a Scottish hunting lodge.

[flavia]

My first reaction was, "Now Mary will never be Countess of Grantham."

[Contralto]

So every Crawley grandchild must immediately lose a parent?

[lucindabelle]

Matthew's death was predictable as soon as we saw him driving with the top down, but disappointing anyway. Glad they got rid of Edna though.

[shesgotagun]

Long-time lurker, first time poster. Two things:

1. Oh, Scottish lady's maid. Never, ever try to out-O'Brien O'Brien. You are messing with a pro.

2. No newborn on this show can ever grow up with two parents, can it?

[jlc1967]

Anna: Send Mr. Crawley's CAR to the station.
Mary: I'll remind you how much you love me every time I put a dent in the CAR.

I turned to my housemate: How much you want to bet Matthew gets killed in a car wreck?

My housemate thinks I'm a genius.

[nilyank]

My first reaction was, "Now Mary will never be Countess of Grantham."

That actually makes me smile.

So every Crawley grandchild must immediately lose a parent?

On their birthday.

[twinmom]

There were so many anvils I expected Wil E Coyote and Acme boxes all over the place.


So when Robert dies and baby Crawley becomes Earl, what would Mary be? Would she still be Dowager Countess even though she was never the Countess?

Edited by twinmom, Feb 17, 2013 @ 11:06 PM.

[Jschoolgirl]

Poor Tom! First his wife, then his best mate!

Poor us, next year when Rose goes after him.

[Feberin]

Did they have to kill him off right after the baby was born? If they knew they wanted to kill Matthew and Sybil in one season why didn't they just have them driving together and die in the same crash? It would have been less weird to have it be new baby=dead parent!

[neonlite]

Dan Stevens wanted out.

[katycat74]

If I were Edith, I'd make sure to never have a kid...she'd have a 50/50 chance of lasting the day....

[Deanie87]

I was expecting Edith's married beau to shoot Matthew on the hunt just to make things worse between Mary and Edith.

[jjj]

Can you imagine what a bummer it would have been to see this on Chrstmas night, when it first aired in the UK?

[Jflower]

Oh my god, I'm so annoyed! Why why why would they kill off Matthew? What is the point, other than shock value? I'm just seriously pissed. And, then PBS comes on with the full-court press to get us to donate. Who wants to give you money after you killed off Matthew within an hour of his baby's birth? WTF?

[oceanblue]

The other anvil was "what about Rose?" , "is Rose going with you?", Ok, we get it, we're stuck with Rose. Glad Edna was short lived.

I am so pissed about Matthew I can't even speak about it.

[absolutelyido]

-I knew Matthew was a goner this episode (I got the itunes season pass), so not surprised at his death. Still, I'm very sorry to see him go. They keep killing off my favorite characters!

-Poor Tom, he's still struggling without Sybil. I feel bad for him, but liked the scene where he confessed to Mrs. Hughes that he can't bear it without her. It felt right for his character. That scene reminded me of the last scene of S1 when Mrs. Hughes saw Branson & Sybil being a little too familiar and warned him if he wasn't careful he would end up broken hearted and without a job. She was right about the broken hearted part, even though Sybil did fall in love with him. I do love Mrs. Hughes.

-It seems weird, but I almost feel more sorry for Tom than for Mary about Matthew's death. I have no doubt Mary will forge on. But Tom still feels so alone without Sybil, he's going to feel even more alone without his BFF Matthew.

-Edna was quite pushy wasn't she, although I can't deny that Branson is quite a catch. I'd probably be pushy too. He was looking fine again this episode.

-Carson and baby Sybie was the cutest thing ever. "Let's have a little chat about it". So cute! Sybie is adorable.

-Still don't like Rose. Yes, her mother is a b**** of the highest order, and I guess I'm supposed to feel sorry for her, but I don't. Still don't think the actress sells the character. I don't buy her as a girl of the '20's, she seems too modern. And I still think (as I did last episode) that she over acts. Her mannerisms are over-animated. Plus it is so obvious that she is supposed to be Sybil 2.0. I guess in the end I just liked Sybil & JBF too much to take a liking to Rose.

-Oh and Susan, no one gives a crap about how your hair looks. All they can see is your dour personality.

-Moseley was the comic relief of the episode again. Although, I didn't quite understand why the servants were invited to the ball.

-The Scottish countryside was gorgeous.

Edited by absolutelyido, Feb 17, 2013 @ 11:11 PM.

[dizzyd]

Baby Syby is too cute. I'm glad that new maid didn't last long, don't mess wth Tom. It was nice to see Mary being scolded like a child twice by Matthew, guess he was practicing being a father that he wouldn't get to be for very long. The change of scenery was beautiful, but it makes me think Fellows can't come up with enough story to stay in DA.

[WillisofTN]

Seriously, oceanblue...what in the blue hell did I just see??

[Tess23]

I hate that Matthew's gone but the last two episodes have been the best since Season 1. Julian, my dear (channeling Violet), please keep yourself in check during next season's filming. No need to reinvent the wheel--just give us good stories, pretty clothes, more Scotland scenery, Violet's sharp digs and we'll be happy.

[Sunshine55]

Noooo! I can't believe they did it. I had been spoiled (accidentally), so I knew it was coming, but it was still a shock. And just to twist the knife a few turns, they made Matthew so happy and sweet to Mary and so hopeful about the future. If there's one thing that will bond little Sybbie and this new baby as they grow up, it will be that they both lost parents the day they were born.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the episode. Rose surprised me by being tolerable. Maybe she matured in the one year that was supposed to have passed since the previous episode.
O'Brien apparently met her match in Wilkins. I guess the moral of that story is, never cross a lady's maid! And I cracked up at Molesley's drunken abandon. That's the best I've ever liked his character.
It was interesting the way they handled the Thomas/Jimmy James situation. I hope they will be friends after Thomas got the crap beaten out of him while defending Jimmy.
Hated Edna the maid. She was so snotty; I'm just glad Branson didn't respond to her advances.
And Violet as always, is the highlight. "Oh my dear, in my day I wore the crinoline, the leg-o'-mutton sleeves and the bustle. I'm not in a strong position to criticize."

[quarks]

Ah, Downton. You kill off Matthew and leave Lord Grantham alive, proving to us all once and for all that there is no justice in the British aristocratic system.

(Though Lord Grantham was slightly less insufferable this episode.)

Edited by quarks, Feb 17, 2013 @ 11:11 PM.

[peridot16]

I loved Mrs. Hughes looks to the guy that was interested in Mrs. Patmore. The new maid got on my nerves, she really overstepped.

Hated Mary insulted Edith's editor. And this is before she knew he was interested in Edith.

As always, loved seeing Molesley make a fool of himself.

Hated seeing Matthew go that way.

[BoDiva]

No, Mary will not be Dowager Countess because she will never have been styled Countess.

I don't get what Fellowes was doing with this. He's shown he can create and resolve tension within a marriage, happy or un. Why would he find it necessary to kill Matthew?

But yes, the death in a car accident was telegraphed quite enough. There's no way he's making it out alive after the lovely scene in the hospital.

[PRgal]

Is it just me, or did the Scottish maid give off a Marilla Cuthbert vibe?

[ggo85]

The "problem" they had this season is that the actors playing Sybil and Matthew both wanted to leave the show and, as I understand it, not make guest appearances in future seasons. They might have been able to keep Sybil in Ireland, but the actor playing Tom wanted to stay on the show so that wouldn't work. Also hard to get rid of Matthew without killing him off. Where would he go such that he'd never return?

So, there weren't a lot of options. I agree with the above poster that it might have been better to kill both off at the same instant. But this is a soap opera of sorts so . . .

In the US, producers typically solve this problem by signing actors to extended contracts. I'm guessing things work differently in the UK -- either that, or they never expected DA to go beyond three seasons.

[Pallas429]

I didn't quite understand why the servants were invited to the ball.

That's the way of a Gillies Ball. The Gillies are the hosts. Sort of a U.K. version of a Sadie Hawkins Day dance.

[MiniDriver]

The foreshadowing was agonizingly heavy-handed.

Poor Edith driven to another doomed romance.

Glad there was no Edna-Tom romance (and she just better be gone for good) but sad for Mrs. Patmore. I wish the doctor had more success with Isabel, they're good together.

And the way Jimmy and Thomas were flirting the whole episode, I was certain they'd make out at least.

Mary did her best to be a bitch the whole episode, and cooing "but you love me anyway." Not me.

Still see no point in Scrappy Doo.

[irisheyes]

Oh Matthew. The pretty has left. Thank goodness for Tom, or I don't know if I would be able to keep watching.

Carson and the baby was quite possibly the best scene that's ever been on this show.

[2MuchTV]

Why would he find it necessary to kill Matthew?

Dan Stevens refused to commit to even occasional appearances after this, the end of his contract. Short of constantly having him off-screen ("Oh, Matthew's in another room. You just missed him!") and having Mary never interact with her husband again, killing him was the only way to write him out.

Edited by 2MuchTV, Feb 17, 2013 @ 11:17 PM.