<p>I don’t think Edith’s farmer is the same farmer she flirted with in Season 1 or 2. </p>
<p>I love Shirley MacLaine in her role. Much better this time around. It gives such a contrast to the boorish aristocracy mannerisms and protocols of the English. Paul Giamatti is also play ing his part well. Watch some of his other roles, The illusionist and his role in the John Quincy Adams miniseries, such contrast. He received an Emmy for his performance.
It did not seem plausible that Mary would even consider turning Mr Bates in, as she did everything to cover up Pamuk’s death. That was unrealistic.
Love Daisy’s character. I did not like the Levinson butler. I found him irritating.
Sorry we have to wait til Jan, 2015 for the next go round.</p>
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<p>I understood that Samson DID keep his letter on his person, in the chest pocket of his suit jacket, and Bates picked his pocket when he was putting on his coat. Anyone could have gone through the pockets of the coat-- we didn’t need Bates for that-- but only a gentleman’s gentleman would actually be able to put his hands on Samson to get the letter.</p>
<p>I too liked Shirley MacClaine in this episode. I loved her turning down the marriage proposal-- she was on to him all along. Harold is a sharp guy too. How did dim Cora end up in that family?</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, you are correct. I just watched that bit again, and Bates said to Lord Grantham that it was “in the ‘gentleman’s’ inside breast pocket.” </p>
<p>Bates learned a lot of helpful skills in prison!</p>
<p>So I’m still not sure if the tenant farmer is the same as in earlier episodes, or a different one? If different, it seems as is there would have been more of an introduction to him? </p>
<p>Somehow I don’t believe we’ve seen the last of Gregson. I liked Shirley MacLaine better in this episode than in the ones last year. And how American of both her character and Harold to call out the English guy and his daughter for being chummy as a way to get at their money. </p>
<p>I thought the tenant farmer was the pig guy that Lord Grantham lent money to.</p>
<p>I was disappointed in last night’s episode. It all seemed predictable. Is there anything to look forward to next season? I’m not sure, as everything was tied up a little too well.</p>
<p>I love Isobel. I smile every time she’s on the screen.</p>
<p>We have lots of Edith plotlines for next year. Will Gregson show up? How soon will it come out that the pig guy is taking care of Sybbie and Georgie’s cousin? What will Edith do with the Power of Attorney?</p>
<p>We also have the Blake versus Gillingham story, and Tom getting together or not with the schoolteacher, though both of those have been boring so far.</p>
<p>And we need to find out what Baxter’s secret is. </p>
<p>Bates’ presumed murder of Rapey McRaperson has been neatly tied up, but will something untie it? Seems like Thomas was sniffing around there.</p>
<p>I agree, VH–love Isobel and love her banter with Violet. They are both such fine actresses.</p>
<p>Also agree that the open competition between Blake and Gillingham (and Mary’s comments) is a bit odd. I hadn’t understood why Mary would ever have considered Blake a legitimate suitor when she knew him as just a “regular guy.”</p>
<p>Thomas is always sniffing around. I do miss O’Brien’s interactions with him. I don’t know why Baxter being gay would be such a big deal–isn’t Thomas?</p>
<p>JHS, I’ve not checked in a long time but it wasn’t long ago that one could essentially completely disinherit your spouse in some U.S. jurisdictions. Like most state laws, it varies. At one time in Virginia you had to leave the spouse (typically understood to be the wife) some part of your assets, but the state didn’t dictate what you left her, so a lot of old curmudgeons left their widows small change or essentially nothing. On the other hand, a surviving spouse in Georgia is statutorily entitled to 1/3, for example.</p>
<p>Switching gears, how was Harold not shipped away to an English boarding school by the Levinsons like they did with Cora? It wasn’t unheard of for males, you know. I believe one of the Vanderbilt men was educated in England and eventually returned there to live out his life. I seem to recall one of his quotes as “America is no place for a gentleman.”</p>
<p>Incidentally, I watched Elizabeth McGovern’s 1980 movie “Ordinary People” the day before the Downton season finale. What a difference 34 years makes! No more plump cheeks!</p>
<p>^ She didn’t go to boarding school in England - she first came here for the Season. Given that she was born in 1868, I suspect that the travel arrangements would have meant that boarding school was impractical - by the time you got home to visit the family over the summer, it would be time to turn back again - the summer holidays are only six weeks long in the UK (now - don’t know about then!) </p>
<p>Anyway, education wasn’t compulsory until 1880 in England, and even then only from 5-10, and at that point a girl of Cora’s lineage who lived in England wouldn’t have been sent to school - she would have had a governess instead, as Mary, Sybil and Edith did, so I suspect that the boarding school options for girls would have been severely limited at that time. </p>
<p>Over on the Huffington Post review of last night’s episode, several comments that Edith might actually be Rosamund’s bio daughter! I was suspecting that Rosamund might have given up a baby by the tragic look on her face when Edith said “you’ve never been a mother.” </p>
<p>I don’t remember that Cora was sent to boarding school in England. But that would help explain how she is so completely different from her mother. </p>
<p>Just finished rewatching it again. I think I felt most sorry for Edith when she told her granny that she was away for so long because she was told it was best for babies to be weaned by their real mothers. </p>
<p>Interview with Julian Fellowes about finale and future of DA:
<a href=“Julian Fellowes on Viewer Criticism and 'Downton Abbey's' Future - The New York Times”>Julian Fellowes on Viewer Criticism and 'Downton Abbey's' Future - The New York Times;
<p>NY Times article today about finale:
<a href=“Another Helping of ‘Downton,’ M’Lord? - The New York Times”>Another Helping of ‘Downton,’ M’Lord? - The New York Times;
<p>I actually have been wondering for a couple weeks if Rosamund was Edith’s mom but figured there was no way Cora could have pulled that off. </p>
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<p>I’m not so sure Bates learned all his shady skills in prison. It seems to me that he had murky background that precedes his imprisonment. </p>
<p>Good point, coureur. Bates didn’t learn how to pick a gentleman’s front pocket in prison. Or learn forgery there either. He’s not a choir boy.</p>
<p>It now seems clear that before serving as Lord Grantham’s batman, and perhaps between then and being hired as a valet, Bates pursued the sort of profession where forging letters and picking pockets were part of one’s craft. My only question was whether Lord Grantham knew that and was only playing along for the benefit of the ladies when he asked Bates if Bates knew anybody, etc., or whether Lord Grantham really believed Bates might know a while-u-wait counterfeiter. (See above re: Can Robert be so dense?)</p>