Note: Plot spoilers if you have not seen the 2nd episode! PBS is streaming each episode for a number of weeks one day after the air date. Click here to view online videos.
Review: Downton Abbey, S3, Episode Two: Being tested only makes you stronger, or platitudes don’t help when your heart is breaking.
The second episode was largely devoted to Edith, her wedding and aftermath, Matthew’s dithering about Swire’s money, Mrs. Hughes’ health, and the further deterioration of ThomasanO’brien’s relationship
Lady Edith and the wedding that wasn’t
For once Edith is happy and the viewer is led to believe that his time it’s Edith’s turn to shine. But woe betide the middle child, especially one who is plainer than her sisters and who so openly longs for the same good fortune and happiness as were bestowed on those prettier creatures. Poor Edith. It is pathetic to see how much she yearns for equality. “Something happening in this house is actually about me”, she states naively.
She gazes at Sir Anthony in worship, seeing freedom from Downton Abbey and the chance to be mistress of her own house, whereas her affianced is beginning to acquire a hunted look. No wonder. Hounded at first by the earl and then by Violet, he is starting to feel as second class as Edith. I have watched this episode three times and still cannot quite understand the earl’s and dowager countess’s objections. Even today, hardly anyone blinks when a Hugh Hefner or a Donald Trump marries a woman young enough to be their daughter or granddaughter. Has anyone taken a gander at Ronnie Wood’s latest bride? Hello! She’s younger than a Beaujolais Nouveau. The age gap has always favored the man, not the woman. Therefore I’ll ask it again: What is so objectionable about Sir Anthony?
The second episode starts well enough, with a Violet quipping over the wedding arrangements: “At my age one must ration one’s excitement.” That was just about the last time I liked her in this episode. I must backtrack on my last post in which I called Violet inviolate, for I despise her behavior towards the blissful couple, calling Sir Anthony a “broken down old crock” and observing,. “Edith is beginning her life as an old man’s drudge.” What strange things for granny to say in a post war world where practically any whole young man left standing couldn’t serve in the war to begin with. And Daddy Crawley is no better, although one gets the sense that he is starting to put a good face on the situation, saying to his prospective son-in-law: “I’m happy Edith is happy, I’m happy you mean to keep her happy. That is quite enough happiness to be getting on with.” Damned with faint praise, but at least he gave it.
And so Edith’s big day arrives It is pathetic to see how radiant she is. “All of us married. All of us happy,” she declares. How plaintive. How naïve.
Knowing how Papa and Granny Crawley feel and based on Edith’s past track record, the viewer can sense that trouble is brewing. Even the minister seems to have swallowed a sour candy as he commiserated with the still bleating Violet, who, upon seeing Sir Anthony in the pew, says: “He looks as if he’s waiting for a beating from the head master.”
She’s some sore loser and won’t quit until she’s had the last word. This trait has been charming thus far, but there is a time and a place for everything. Violet’s like a python. Once she starts twisting and choking her victim, she’s unable to let go.
Poor Edith, looking quite beautiful walking down the aisle. Her mother and sisters are genuinely happy for her. And then Sir Anthony drops the bomb, hyperventilating and backtracking faster than the speed of light, saying: “I can’t do it. Bye, bye y’all. Take care of my little Edie” as he hightails it out of the church.
Grannie restrains Edith from going after her man, urging her: “Let him go. Don’t stop him. Don’t drag it out. Wish him well.” But if crazy glue had been invented back then, Edith would have poured some all over herself and Sir Anthony and clung to him until they were stuck for life.
A good friend of mine pointed out an implausibility. It was clear that Sir Anthony was fond of Edith and even loved her. Would he have waited until the last-minute to cry off, or would he have sought a less public, less humiliating forum? Like the night before, for instance? Or arranged to meet Daddy Crawley that morning before everyone tramped off towards the church? Or asked that someone stop Edith from walking down the aisle so that he did not have to jilt her in front of kith and kin?
The real Sir Anthony would have done anything but humiliate Edith. This plot development smacks of “deliberate melodrama” syndrome, in which, given the choice to proceed logically or throw viewers off track, the writers chose the path that promises the most gasps and cries of outrage. I almost threw my glass of Merlot at the screen, but then thought of my liver and its enjoyment.
Laura Carmichael truly shines in these scenes, going from radiant to disbelief to grief of the rawest kind, tearing off her veil as she runs to the privacy of her room, flinging aside her tiara, and then, unable to stand the sight of her two lucky sisters, wailing: “ Look at them both with their husbands … Sybil pregnant … Mary probably pregnant.”
Hers was a raw, naked emotion and a cry of longing for a husband, her own house, a family. Now, all of it gone.
No one can console her, not even her mother.
Only a day later Anna enters Edith’s room and asks her: “What would you like me to get you?” and Edith responds, “A different life.”
My heart broke for her just a little. But what placed me firmly in Edith’s camp was this resigned yet stoic quip to Anna’s question: “Can I bring you up some breakfast?”
“No, I’m a useless spinster, good at helping out. That is my role. And spinsters get up for breakfast.
Edith’s made of stern stuff and she’s going to land on top. Mark my words. Grannie Violet takes one more post wedding dig when Carson offers to take the wedding food to the poor. “If the poor don’t want it, you can bring it over to me.” The woman who admonished Sybil with “vulgarity is no substitute for wit,” certainly could have used a dose of her own medicine.
The rest of Downton Abbey’s cast:
Thomas and O’Brien
ThomasanObrien’s dislike for each other is taking a serious turn. Thomas uses Moseley to create trouble for O’Brien with Cora. The valet informs Cora that since O’brien was leaving the Crawley’s service, could he nominate his niece for the post instead? Cora, who doesn’t like surprises, expresses her disappointment to her maid. (Cora’s shown her steely side before when it comes to servants, such as expressing her disbelief that Bates could fully perform his duties as valet when he first arrived in Season One.)
We also get a clear sense of Robert’s lack of fondness for O’Brien and his lack of support for her. O’Brien confronts Moseley, who reveals Thomas’s role in starting the rumor. In one of the better scenes in episode 2, O’Brien promises the footman that if he wants a fight, he ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Daisy
Daisy is the unlikely heroine in Mary’s quest to save Downton Abbey from bankruptcy and ruin, confirming that she sent the letter for a dying Lavinia to her daddy, a letter that Matthew was certain had been counterfeited. Daisy’s been angry at Mrs. Patmore for not honoring her promotion to cook’s assistant, not knowing that the Crawleys at this point have less money than William’s farmer papa. I find her anger to be cute but petulant, like a kitten not getting its way. C’mon, Daise! The tarot cards and Ouija board say that you are going to inherit a rich yeoman farmer’s assets some day. Stay the course, girl, and you’ll be able to rent Downton Place in the near future.
Lavinia Swire’s Daddy’s Money
Lavinia Swire’s daddy’s fortune causes a heap of troubles twixt newly wed Mary and Matthew. Am I the only one who thinks their scenes in this episode are stiffer than starch and have about as much chemistry as two brooms in a closet?
It was Robert and Matthew who provided the real romance in this episode, or, more correctly, a splendid bromance moment. When Matthew offers to fork over his inheritance to Robert, the earl rejoined teary-eyed: “Don’t be silly you’re not going to give me any money. What I will allow is for you to invest in the place.” Matthew’s scenes with Robert and Tom, with whom he plays pool, were more passionate than his with Mary. (She hasn’t been able to give off smoldering hot looks since Pamuk’s arrival in Season 1 at the hunt.)
Isobel and Ethel
Isobel Crawley remains a peripheral figure, always looking for something worthwhile to do, in this instance converting ho’s into respectable underpaid working women. Poor Ethel is in a very bad way and trapped in a downward spiral. Fallen women without a family had few choices back then, which was to starve, sell their bodies, or enter a workhouse. Shame prevents Ethel from seeking help, yet desperation forces her to come out of hiding to ask for aid from Isobel. I wish Matthew’s mama were given a meatier role, as in Season 1. Lately she’s come off as an irritant and, frankly, I miss her stand-offs with Violet.
Downton Place
The poor Crawleys. The specter of having to live in a luxurious house instead of a mansion and having to let all but 8 servants go puts the lot of them in a bad mood. Off they go a-picnicking to view the grounds of their new abode and surprise the current tenant, who probably thought he had a 90-year lease. Only Cora can see the positive side of things, which makes me wonder all the more about her back story and what makes her tick. In this scene Violet is given a couple of zingers, my favorite of which is a rejoinder to her son, who tries to find room for all the family (talk about boomerang kids!)
Violet: What about me? Where am I supposed to go?
Robert: Well we still own most of the village.
Violet: Perhaps I can open up a shop?
Mrs Hughes, Mrs. Patmore, and Mr. Carson
Without these three upper servants, Downton Abbey, the series, wouldn’t be the same. Mrs. Hughes’ worry about cancer, Mrs. Patmore’s sincere concern for her friend, and Mr. Carson’s astute reading of the situation were a joy to watch. Many worry lines were lifted off Mrs. Hughes’s brow when Cora promised the housekeeper that she would always have a place at Downton and that she would be taken care of.
But my favorite scene was the last one, in which Mrs. Hughes observed Carson singing a little ditty after learning that her tumor was benign. In the first season, Carson declared that the servants were his family. This viewer wonders: is a romance brewing between Carson and Mrs. Hughes? Stay tuned, readers.
For those who have seen the full season, please feel free to comment, but, please, no plot spoilers.
More on the topic:
- Read my Downton Abbey Season 3 posts at this link: Downton Abbey Series 3
- Downton Abbey costumer on Lady Edith’s wedding dress
I enjoyed your review, Vic. I did not understand why Violet and Robert objected to Edith’s chosen (it isn’t like she hadn’t shown interest in him before-she’d had a crush on him forever), and his jilting her at the alter made no sense, either. No “gentleman” would have done that (especially to a girl he supposedly cared about!).
Loved your review again this time, Vic. 50% of Heyer novels feature a much younger woman who weds an older man, so this might be a later period but English lit fans wouldn’t care about the age difference. Audience manipulation is correct about leaving the victim at the altar. As to Thomas, he deserves a downfall after locking Isis up last season.
I was also puzzled by the Crawleys’ objection to Sir Anthony and wondered if the backstory is a past indiscretion or a breach of the gentlemen’s code of conduct. Is he gay? Does his injury involve more than a crippled right arm? Is there an episode of fraud or financial problems in his family history? Or insanity? I agree that the whole “leaving the bride at the altar” was melodramatic, but that’s entertainment.
The bloom is definitely fading from the rose for me. I agree with you, Vic, the car-chase crowd seem to have a feee hand with the script now. Remembering the reason for the unpopularity of the last Christmas special…I’m surprised that Maggie Smith is signed on for series 4, but perhaps this is no more than casting politics. Maggie doesn’t need Downton, she must be turning down offers left, right and centre.
The first two series were grabbers, I’m already sensing that the fish is off the hook for series 3.
Oh, yes, I’m glad I’m not the only one. Where is that Mary/Matthew chemistry? And other cast members seem to be just going through the motions.
I go back and forth on the jilting. I always thought Edith was forcing herself to be in love with Sir Anthony because he was the only available one and the only person who showed an interest in her, so I was happy to see it broken off, but it was done in the most melodramatic way possible. OTOH, while I love Edith and want to see her happy, it’s kind of funny the way everything goes absolutely to pot for her, no matter what she does.
I don’t see as much of a problem with Robert and Violet’s problem with the age issue. Age differences in marriage had always happened, but the optimum situation throughout history had been middle-aged parents hooking up two of their children of similar ages: an older man might not be able to have (as many) children, causing future inheritance problems like the Crawleys’. While we’re used to old (rich) men marrying young women today, people do register disapproval, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the young women’s parents did most of all. And think of the 1899 ballad, “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” –
“‘Tis sad when you think of her wasted life,
For youth cannot mate with age,
And her beauty was sold,
For an old man’s gold,
She’s a bird in a gilded cage.”
Why am I such a nerd
Beautifully put, Cassidy. Thank you.
I’m with you, Vic. It was just ridiculous that a man who had been pushing Edith gently away through several episodes, trying to do what’s best for her, would bail at the last, most humiliating moment, leaving Edith as devastated as possible. More sacrificing character to plot. As dumb and unbelievable as Robert’s dalliance with the maid because he and Cora weren’t getting along. The biggest disappointment so far has been Matthew and Mary, Mr. abd Mrs. Broom, as you say. The fault is entirely hers. Matthew is clearly in love with her, Dan Stevens’ acting is warm and natural, but aside from one quip in bed, “now kiss me before I get cross” in episode 1, I believe, Mary is acting like it’s an arranged marriage. Where is all the feeling, the desperate love so clearly in her eyes when he was missing, and later, wounded? If she gives him that fake, pursed little smile one more time, I’ll scream. She only cares about the house now. In her own way, she’s headed toward being so much empty headed cardboard like Cora. Could Fellowes stop making characters we like do unbelievable things and maybe give Cora a storyline? It is series 3 for heaven’s sake. Time for her to get a life.
Honestly, I figured Julian Fellowes would either have Sir Robert or the Dowager Duchess object to Sir Anthony on some pretext but then, after he jilted Edith, indicate that it was for the best because (s)he knew him to be a homosexual. Certainly May/December marriages did take place during that period, especially because of the dearth of young, eligible bachelors, thanks to the War. As it was, Sir Anthony’s caddish behaviour made absolutely no sense. If Julian can’t figure his way out of a plot box better than this, the series should end.
Poor Edith, once again she is the child to be pitied and I certainly hope her happiness index increases from here. As an aunt to a young lady involved with a much older man I understand completely the Crawley’s resistance toward a May/December sort of marriage. There’s so many scenarios that come up with the age difference and one of them Violet hit upon; her grandaughter becoming more of a nurse than a wife to an aging man. Which brings me to a statement that foreshadowed the jilt. The night before the wedding Edith said to Sir Anthony, “I don’t love you in spite of your need to be looked after, I love you because of it. I want you to be my life’s work.” The camera panned to Sir Anthony’s face and if ever a man looked fraught with uncertainty, he did. Should a couple walking down the aisle consider it life’s work? Although we know being married is indeed work, the statement lacks any romance at all especially at a time when the romance and passion usually sing so sweetly.
I never believed the couple were in love with each other.. Edith always seemed too desperate and Sir Anthony somewhat embarrassed by her attentions. The jilting at the altar surprised me. I fully expected the groom to be gentle and considerate of Edith and end it before she actually walked down the aisle. Another clue that this was not going to end well was that Sir Anthony was not standing and waiting at the altar beaming. What groom sits on the front pew waiting as the music swells and his bride enters the sanctuary?
Sir Anthony was a tortured character on many levels and we may never know why, just as we may never know Cora’s full story. I realize there’s s time constraint, but I so wish Fellowes would give us substance and not just the top layer.
Entertaining review … well done.
I agree re the jilting at the altar. It was disappointingly melodramatic. And the Thomas and O’Brien subplot has never appealed to me from Season 1.
Julian Fellowes gave us a clue that Sir Anthony was not going to go through with the marriage to Edith, and Isabella hit on it!
If we go from the premise that Sir Anthony loved her, (“You’ve given me back my life…”), then for him to hear Edith say that, “I don’t just love you in spite of your illness; I love you because of it…I’m going to make you my life’s work!”, had to have convinced him that this was not the bases for a long-lived, loving marriage.
It sounded a lot more like Robert’s fears for Edith, when he reminded Cora, “By the time she is fifty, she will be a nurse to a one-armed, old man!”
Robert was a kind, loving father and did not want that for his daughter.
I also agree with Isabella that the script (Edith being jilted at the alter) was a bit melodramatic!
My thoughts are that there are two kinds of love – romantic and friendship. I believe Sir Anthony felt a friendly affection and love towards Edith, and respect. She was overwhelming in her attentions. As a gentleman, Sir Anthony had few defenses against her determination. But to allow her to plan a wedding and go through the charade of walking down the aisle was uncharacteristic. Edith would have been equally as unhappy and disappointed had Sir Anthony cried off earlier – just not humiliated in the worst way possible. The writers dropped the ball.
Isn’t it a tribute to the ‘Downton Abbey’ series, that we discuss these details as if the characters are alive!
Vic, what you say about there being two kinds of love is so true. However, I believe that Sir Anthony felt romantically towards Edith; we know that he pursued her, before the war, formally inviting her for a ride in his ‘automobile’ and later to a concert and dinner with his aristocratic friends.
Since his war injury, he has, undoubtedly, lost confidence in his attractiveness to a young woman like Edith.
We see him muster the will to overcome the disapproval expressed in Lord Grantham’s letter and go forward with the engagement to Edith.
I still feel that Edith’s comments, the night before the wedding, were what convinced him that this union was not going to bless either of them!
Whether the writers “dropped the ball”, is a matter of individual opinion…
Agreed that Edith’s remarks sealed her fate and that before Mary played her cruel trick in Season 1, he courted Edith. I had forgotten that. But would he have been so cruel, so ungentlemanly to have jilted her in public? Grand drama, indeed, which is what makes Downton appealing to so many. I go back and forth and still land firmly on the side that Sir Anthony would have loved Edith enough to let her down more gently, if that is the proper term.
Yes, we do think of these characters as people, don’t we? And discuss them as such. I keep shifting alliances as characters grow and develop, and Edith is certainly becoming a more interesting woman and less of a cartoon character.
You are absolutely right; Sir Anthony’s behavior,at the alter ( motivated by good judgment and fear), nevertheless, was ungentlemanly and selfish; all the more so because he could have avoided the humiliation he knew Edith would feel.
This is what ‘honor’ is all about; at what point do we put ourselves at the head of the line (or will it always be, ‘women and children first’, into the lifeboats)?
He waited until the very last minute to find the courage to act on his misgivings, and sacrificed Edith’s dignity and feelings in the process.
I do think this was cowardly, rather than cruel.
Excellent point about the cowardly part, Barbara! I so enjoyed our civilized discussion. Vic
I agree that it made no sense for anyone to be against Edith and Sir Anthony marrying and that he would not dumped her at the altar. She was going to have a large home of her own and be taken care of- something that in this time period was more important than any age difference. They have often said- poor Edith. Why would they have not jumped at the chance to marry her off to a respectable man.
The other thing that bothered me in this episode is how conveniently the money problem was solved. I feel like there is a dumbing down of the plot in the most recent episodes.
…but the family did; they just came round to it through a rather slow and circuitous route!
The tension Robert had to deal with was between the advantages, to Edith, that you enumerated, of marrying a man like Sir Anthony, against the obvious drawback to her, in her later years, of becoming a young widow or a nursemaid.
Sir Anthony’s age would insure a truncated marriage for Edith, either literally or practically.
i have a slightly different question; did they not talk about selling downton? i thought you could not sell an entailed property. am i wrong in this?
I think they talked about selling off the portions of the estate that they could and that were not tied down by the entail. Even so, they could not afford the maintenance of the property and, like Mr. Elliot in Persuasion, probably had to rent out the Abbey while living in Downton Place. I do not think the writers were very clear on this.
Please, not “writers.” Lord Fellowes writes every word; his wife is his editor. The entail was a huge theme in the first series; I’d hoped to learn more about it when Cora’s mother visited. (And learn more about Cora, too.) Nope.
It seemed to me that renting out the humongous house was the most likely plan. Which would have meant most of the staff who did not accompany the Crawleys to that miserable hovel would have kept their jobs. But Fellowes tends to ignore details.
People who get into period dramas tend to do their homework & LIVE for the details. At least, many of us do….
Sandy…I think you’re right! I don’t believe entailed property can be disposed of. at least not easily. Daniel Poole wrote inWhat Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew (p. 78 ) “The social irony of all this was if entail worked properly, it tied up the estate so magnificently that when debts were incurred there was then no way to get at the wealth , e.g., the family land, that might have been used to pay them off.” I think it also depends on the entail and how it was initially granted. I think we need an attorney to explain all this.
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Can’t wait to receive your review of Episode Three. I’ve viewed it three times already. Whoever thought that there would be conflict between Robert and Matthew. Yet, I see it coming. I wonder how that will play out? Although Mary encouraged Matthew to get more involved in the managing of the estate, I wonder if she will support him now that he’s studied the books and realizes that the estate has been mismanaged all along. Hmm.
Mr. Bates in prison: How did this “out of favor” and “in favor” thing get started? Does his cellmate have that much pull in prison? I’m just glad to know that at the end of Ep. 3 he’s out of the way and communication between our two romantics is once again flowing. That was a touching scene at the end when they read each other’s letters. I notice that Anna now has her own room. Quite nice.
Oh! And re Anna’s visit with Vera’s friend. Did anyone else notice that she said Vera was cooking and had to leave to post a letter (or something) meaning that she left the house unguarded for a short spell. I wonder who else could have entered the house besides Mr. Bates? Hmmmm.
Do you think we’ll ever see or hear about “Patrick” again? More “hmmm.”
Is the cook trying to keep Andrew and Daisy apart? Every time they have a moment together in comes Mrs. P to separate them.
Episode 2 – the scene where Mary is redecorating the former nursery and Matthew has “that” look on his face and then comes up behind her with those soft beautiful blue eyes of his… my heart melted. (I wanted to kick Mary to turn around and look at his face.) The love and longing on his face for Mary to say that the doctor’s visit was because she was pregnant. Now that I reflect and have viewed it again I think Mary’s hastiness to dismiss him was perhaps because she had indeed gone to the doctor hoping that she was pregnant only to have the doctor confirm otherwise. It touched my heart to think that she’s longing to have their child. It would have been a good opportunity to have sunk into Matthews arms and given us romantics at home another “ahhh” moment, because we know they really love one another. This British stoicism gets so much in the way at times.
I haven’t noticed Isis around lately. Is that because I’ve been too busy watching the plots unfold, studying the costume designs, jewelry, etc.?
And that new footman…when Thomas came across him changing his shirt! James has a stunning physique. Even Mrs. Hughes softened her tone when she turned around and saw him in the kitchen. The maids smirking and smiling was priceless. Something is up with Mrs. O’Reilly regarding the new footman and how to use him against Thomas. Hmmm. Thomas is as delighted as the maids that James is on board…and we viewers at home know why. Oh, and wasn’t that priceless when the butler made that comment to Mary and Matthew about Andrew…”even if he is Mrs. O’Brien’s nephew.” And the reaction of Mary and Matthew! Great touch.
Dear Daisy…she’s ready to reveal her true feelings to Andrew only to discover, when the pretty new maid is introduced, that now she’s jealous. Ah, our poor Daisy. Wouldn’t that be a kick if James was attracted to Daisy and then Andrew got jealous. Not that I advocate jealousy – it’s a horrible disease. I liked that we have an opportunity to see more interaction between Daisy and her father-in-law. He shares his wisdom with her and gives such good fatherly advice. Yes, William really was looking out for Daisy by marrying her when he did and leaving her with his dad. He knew they would both be good for one another.
I really like Thomas, though his socialism is taking him into dangerous territory. But he’s exposing Sybil to danger and I don’t applaud that. (I’m old enough to remember hearing the news back in the 60’s or 70’s about the civil strife in Ireland.) Thomas’s remorse for leaving Sybil behind was touching as was his relief when she finally arrives at Downton Abbey. When Thomas describes the burning of the Irish estate and the family taken outside and watching the burning of their castle, and the regret he feels I’m reminded of the younger Thomas. Remember when years ago as a chauffeur he was sitting in the kitchen downstairs reading a revolutionary newspaper and commenting about the Russian revolution and how he didn’t think that they meant any harm to the Romanoff family. We all remember what happened to them at the hands of the revolution.
Last, but not least, “hello” Edith! I don’t dislike Robert but I wanted to smack him up the side of the head with a napkin at his comment to Edith that her letter wouldn’t be published. Matthew won my votes (again) for congratulating her with true brother-in-law support and affection when it did appear in the Times. I see Edith ready to take on the world and shock everyone more than Sybil has done as a modern woman (in the good sense).
Well, I’m looking forward to your next blog and reading all the comments that will follow.
songbirdalicia
Once again, you have pretty much nailed the key points, Vic. I, too, cannot understand the opposition to Strallen. Older men married younger women regularly during the Victorian/Edwardian/Post war periods. This was partly because women still died in childbirth regularly and men would remarry to fill the loss.
And for the life of me, I cannot figure out what has happened with the “Great Love Story”. M&M act so indifferent emotionally to one another. Is this the writing or the actors? People who are newlywed usually do little things to indicate their affection…these two, not so much.
I am not particularly confident about the progress of this season – Has DA lost it’s way?