<p>Yes, TatinG. Lol, the writing is corny and I still love it. I agree!</p>
<p>Oh how funny. Letterman was egging her to tell more about the potential of Mary & Matthew. She ended with, “well, we’ll see if anything arises…”</p>
<p>I’m really disappointed in Lord Grantham. Although Lavinia was a good egg, I’m glad she’s out of the way.</p>
<p>Enjoyed it, but don’t know what to think anymore.</p>
<p>The show has taken a decided turn towards a soap opera. So many marriages that were happening, and then canceled, or someone in the wedding dies. I can name at least 6 that were discussed or dissolved last night (M&L, B&A, B&T, W&P, B&E, M&R). And then death &/or recovery (M, L, C, B). Is it no wonder the writer, Fellows, had Lord Grantham “busy” with another twist? (Not that I liked it though!)</p>
<p>Was last night’s episode the only 2 hour one (besides the season 2 opener)?</p>
<p>I looked up the PBS schedule and it said that episodes 1, 6 & 7 were 2 hours each, and episodes 2-5 were an hour each. That means that next week’s episode will be the last for this season. I guess we will have to wait a year for the next installments of the series. I don’t want it to end. I know that they are shooting next season’s episodes right now.</p>
<p>So we’re not to learn who killed Vera until next year? I’d put my money on Sir Richard because he’s so heartless and devious.</p>
<p>The scene where Mary and Matthew were dancing had so much chemistry…well done!</p>
<p>alynor, I thought Vera did indeed commit suicide, but before she did so she sent the letter to her friend to make it look like Bates did it. Getting at him from beyond the grave…</p>
<p>Given the guilt that Matthew (properly) feels about Lavinia’s death, it would seem to cloud forever his relationship with Mary, no? It is a bit curious that Lavinia seems so fine and then up and conveniently dies so suddenly. After all, she was well enough to roam the house, causing her to catch the (I suppose) fatal glimpse of Matthew and Mary kissing. They’ve disposed of her, but you would think that some explanation is owed other than the doctor’s brief deus ex machina, “it can sometimes flare up!” What now become cringe-inducing are the stolen kisses in this program: someone is always walking in on someone else just while they’re being bad – the writers here so desperate to turn their plot on these now regularly occurring happenstances? Finally Anna and John Bates get married: she had to whip him to the altar, poor girl! Lavinia was starting to grow on me as a decent, sweet person – I was almost liking her better than Mary, who still at times shows a very cold side.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ditto - I feel the same way. </p>
<p>In retrospect, of course they had to kill off Lavinia. Matthew is too far an honorable man to have an affair and divorce was not as much of an option back then. So the Mary/Matthew storyline would have been more difficult if he was married.</p>
<p>I struggle with the chemistry between a lot of these characters except Anna and Bates. I guess because they are so ‘controlled’ about showing emotions it’s hard to feel a connection. Mary and Richard - good grief, it’s like they are business partners. And I still don’t get the Lord Grantham/house maid thing. I did finally feel it a little bit between Sybil and the chauffeur last night. I think the problem is the scenes are so brief and there’s no time to build up the chemistry and/or tension. I thought LOST did a better job with this, often devoting an entire episode to one character or couple so you really got to know them. Of course, if you are only doing 7 episodes per season, I guess it would be more difficult to do this.</p>
<p>I will watch the next episode but I feel my interest fading fast. Season 1 was definitely better. Hopefully, next season will be a little more ‘real’. Does anyone know how they do ‘seasons’ in the UK? Is it once a year or do they cycle through them faster.</p>
<p>Last night’s episode had a lot of ridiculous plot twists, but suddenly dropping dead of the Spanish flu wasn’t one of them. Young people like Lavinia did, really, die quickly from flu.
(I’m not defending the plot convenience of Lavina’s death-- they obviously wiped her out to clear the way for Mary and Matthew-- but people did die like that.)</p>
<p>The scary thing is, if the Spanish flu came back now, we’d still have no idea how to treat it, and young people would still drop dead.</p>
<p>I want to see chemistry, but I only see it between Mary and Matthew and to some extent between Mary and Carlisle. Sybil and Branson-- nothing, they kept replaying the same scene in the garage. Anna and Bates-- nothing.</p>
<p>MomLive - Downton Abbey is running on a September to December schedule in the UK. The third series will premiere in September with PBS probably airing around this time next year. </p>
<p>The third series is officially in stages of production at this point. They had a read through, costume fittings, and the like this week.</p>
<p>Wow what a total soap opera it has all become…I’m still watching though.</p>
<p>Anyone else happy to see Thomas get shafted on his black market deals? </p>
<p>Sir Richard is so cold and calculating. He reminds me of J.R. Ewing!</p>
<p>The Ethel and baby Charlie subplot does not seem to be going anywhere. It feels like a time filler without any connection to the rest of the story.</p>
<p>When Michelle Dockery was on Letterman last week, she described the relationship of Mary & Matthew like Ross and Rachel on Friends. I agree. It’s like they’re perfect for each other, but there’s always some tension keeping them apart.</p>
<p>I liked Sybil and Branson, in part because Sybil is a bit of a rebel and very independent. It fit her character.</p>
<p>It did not fit Lord Granthem’s character AT ALL to kiss Jane. How silly!</p>
<p>Agree that the Ethel subplot wasn’t very interesting. It only involved the Downstair’s group, but only Mrs Hughes. That story line would only get more interesting if it involved other characters as well.</p>
<p>I didn’t see last season’s episodes until they got this press this year. I only watched them recently. What I notice is that some scenes were very, very subtle and that subtlety made this show so terrific. Like, remember how Mary ruined Edith’s chances to marry with some guy she liked? So well done, and it really required the viewer to understand the history of what was going on. (Mary did that to Edith because Edith admitted she leaked the story about Mary.) This year, many of the story lines seem rather tidy and wrap up within one episode, like Lord Granthem’s kiss or the Spanish flu.</p>
<p>I do appreciate Mary getting back to her snippety, cold ways. And I agree she and her fiance Richard make an interesting couple. They sort of deserve one another :)</p>