Downton Abbey newbie--can't read the existent thread for fear of spoilers

Parent Cafe
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<p>Okay, so, late to the party as always, I just started watching DA because my S has a Hulu account (we don’t have Netflix or anything) and I needed something to Nordictrak to because it is otherwise beyond boring.</p>

<p>So, I need to talk about it, but I’ve only finished Season One, and I don’t want to hear anything ahead of time.</p>

<p>So, please bear with me while I muse:</p>

<p>First of all, I was afraid it would be too soap opera-y, and mostly it isn’t, but the scheming of the Evil Twins (Obrien and Thomas) is a wee bit over the top.</p>

<p>Love Maggie Smith and the other older woman–their scenes are delightful.</p>

<p>Love Bates and Anna and hope all good things happen for them eventually (don’t tell me, though!)</p>

<p>But, more to the point–am I the only person in the room who can’t stand Mary??? I’m so tired of her whining and being a total witch to everyone in the room, and then Matthew coming mooning back to her over and over. I know he walks away at the end of the season, but I dn’t expect that to last.</p>

<p>I mean, I get that I’m supposed to dislike Edith because she’s made out to be ugly and we know the ugly girl really shows her character, while the luminously gorgeous Mary can’t really be bad, cuz, she’s gorgeous, right?/sarcasm, and she always gets a long tragic speech where she bemoans the difficulty of being gorgeous and mean when she doesn’t mean to be.</p>

<p>Okay, so I exaggerate, but not by much. But truthfully, every awful thing Edith’s ever done to her (which at this point is just one, though it’s a doozy) has been provoked by carelessly cruel things her sister does to her for sport. I don’t even like Edith, but I’m not supposed to, which is fine–but I know i’m supposed to feel for ol’ tragic Mary, when in truth I just want to yell–run, Matthew, run! (Or date Sybil–she’s cool!)</p>

<p>I am so on Team Sybil! (nevermind Matthew anyway, Sybil–it’s all about Branson, right?)</p>

<p>Anyhoo, if that long thread on the whole series hasn’t worn y’all out, I’d love to hear opinions or dissent to my take on this–but again, nix on the spoilers!</p>

<p>I’ll get to season 2 soon, I promise! :)</p>

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<p>You are not the only one who can’t stand Mary.</p>

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<p>I have only watched three episodes of the current season. I need to go back and start at the beginning!</p>

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<p>Garland: one of the captivating things about this series is the way the characters grow and change over the course of the years depicted. They aren’t cardboard characters, any of them, as they are multi-dimensional. Some of the “good” characters are sometimes weak or mean or snarky and some of the “bad” characters sometimes show a softer or kind side. </p>

<p>I think season one is the most fun as you are just getting used to the house and the relationships between characters and between upstairs and downstairs. Don’t talk to anyone about D.A. and for heaven’s sake, don’t Google anything about the series or you’ll spoil everything for yourself!</p>

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<p>I was just going to post that. DO NOT Google a character to get their back story or for more information, because the results will tell you the relationships as of the end of the 3rd season.</p>

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<p>Oh, I know all that! that’s why I posted this here! I do assume we’ll get “another side of Mary”–that’s the way things like this work. But it doesn’t excuse Matthew mooning over her now! :)</p>

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<p>I have Netflix and am going to watch season 1. (I, too, am late to the party as always garland.) But I think only season one is on Netflix. Where do I get season two?</p>

<p>I admit I am being lazy here as I have not tried to find season two. I just thought I’d ask the smart folks on CC.</p>

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<p>If you have Amazon Prime, it has seasons one and two. I started watching during Season 2 - tomorrow our new “smart” TV gets delivered so I plan to watch season one - not sure when I will find the time though.</p>

<p>I 3rd, 4th , and 5th the advice to not Google to find out more about the characters. I did that as I had not seen Season 1 and was a but confused about some things. I was really bummed to learn things that happen to 2 of the characters this season (one last night, one later in the season) - I would rather not have known. Lesson learned - I know we are a season behind the UK so I should have had more sense.</p>

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<p>Agree. Don’t google. We re-watched Seasons 1 & 2 on Amazon Prime.</p>

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<p>We also watched season 1 and 2 on Amazon prime over the xmas break. We finished just in time for season 3 to start. Agree Mary was a pain in season 1.</p>

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<p>I’ve been watching on Hulu Plus. I think they have 1 and 2 only also. Is anyone watching 3 and 4 yet, or is that only overseas?</p>

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<p>It is well worth the investment of time to watch all episodes beginning with Season 1. Maggie Smith is just too much of a hoot to miss out on Lady Violet’s great one liners.</p>

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<p>Agree that one of the great things about this series is that the characters do grow and change. Having said that, I still don’t like Mary.</p>

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<p>I’m definitely starting from the start. Lady Violet is priceless!</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, the second series descends into this a lot, and the third isn’t proving much better. I still watch for Maggie Smith and a few of the other characters, but…meh (and I loved the first season). And I completely agree about Mary.</p>

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<p>PBS is showing 3 right now. No 4 yet in the US.</p>

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<p>Garland, in the words of Carson, “Welcome to Downton!” I just checked. You can watch the first two seasons, and the first 4 episodes of the current season, on PBS. org - just click on the video link at the top of the page. But don’t click around, because there’s lots of other info you don’t want yet! The seasons are short, so you can catch up pretty quickly. And then hurry up and join us on the other thread! We’re always dishing Mary there, so you’ll fit right in! Enjoy!</p>

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<p>Lots of people dislike Mary. I like her more than I dislike her. In fact I don’t really dislike her so much as I become exasperated with her from time to time. She sometimes fits the common behavior pattern of the Difficult Girlfriend.</p>

<p>One thing about Downton Abbey is that nearly every character is constantly riding a sine wave of being likable for a while, but then becoming dislikable for one reason or another, and then getting rehabilitated back to likable again, and so on…</p>

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<p>One of the things I do like about Mary is her “get it done” attitude. Like in season 1 when no one wanted to go against the woman’s wishes and tell William his mother was ill. Mary just said “I’ll do it.” She sees what needs to be done, and she does it. I’ve seen this more in the next two seasons - she just steps up. I think that’s a “first child” trait. She’s practical. And even when her choices cause her pain, she takes her lumps. There’s something to be said for that.</p>

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You can get it on disc from Netflix.</p>

<p>I also just finished Season 1 and agree with much of what’s been said. I don’t really dislike Mary, because she has been raised to do what she does. It is simply expected of her.</p>

<p>I do have a question, though, about the entail. Wouldn’t Mary’s son, should she have one, inherit Downton? Why is everyone so certain that it will pass to Matthew?</p>

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<p>ED’sM^Yes, those are the reasons I knew i was supposed to find her complicated. But they didn’t work for me. She has such a cruel streak–I don’t believe that cruelty is an easy thing to balance. The time she helped Will was nice, but actually felt out of character, whereas it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Sybil do that–she’s always seen the staff as real human beings, while on the other hand that’s a notion that seems to only occur to Mary sporadically (somewhat like her mother. Her father, though, seems to do so more readily.) (And Edith is just continually presented as a cartoon character with an ugly hairdo and a Jan Brady complex. Not sure we ever see her actually “interact” with anyone.)</p>