<p>Just jumping in to say that DH and I just watched last night’s episode and found it delightful, though as others have said, it was really impossible to understand some things people said.</p>
<p>YES!! Thank you to everyone who posted that they found some of the dialog incomprehensible. I was afraid that my hearing was going…</p>
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<p>Wasn’t there some doubt about the death of one of the heirs ahead of Matthew in line for the inheritance? I wonder if one of them will suddenly show up alive and ready to put in his rightful claim for the fortune. That would sure put Mary in a foul mood, wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>For post #899, I haven’t re-watched it to get the exact wording, but it was basically that Matthew found it awkward for Anna to find him in bed with Mary in the morning. Anna replied, cheerfully, that she doesn’t shock easily.</p>
<p>Re Lord Grantham’s remark about Catholics in the preview for the next episode: wouldn’t Sybil have converted to Catholicism when she married Tom in Ireland? It doesn’t seem like they would have allowed Protestant-Catholic marriage in Ireland at that time. And their baby will be Catholic then, of course.</p>
<p>I’m growing bored of DA… this season seems like a rehash of last season, which wasn’t all that great. I’m losing faith that Fellows can recapture the show’s earlier magic and compelling storyline.</p>
<p>re #905 Ireland was still part of the UK at the time. Remember Tom is fighting for Irish independence. </p>
<p>There were always intermarriages between Catholics and Protestants. The informal rule, especially followed by the gentry, was that the Faith of children went by the sex of the parent. Of course, Tom isn’t gentry, but if they followed that rule, their male children would be Catholic and female children would be Church of Ireland.</p>
<p>It’s never been clear in the show which Church they married in. Lord Grantham says the “banns” were announced. He doesn’t say which Church announced them.</p>
<p>It was NOT required that the Protestant party to an interfaith marriage convert to Catholicism even if they married in the Catholic Church.</p>
<p>While it’s pretty clear Tom is Catholic, keep in mind that many of those who fought or argued for Irish independence were Protestant: Wolfe Tone , Robert Emmet, William Smith O’Brien, Roger Casement, Erskine Childers, and many more.</p>
<p>Is anyone finding an odd parallel between Lord Grantham and Mary? What I mean is, they’re both sort of blissfully unaware of the details of making money (or not losing it) and seem firmly ensconced in the belief that they belong at Downton and they both found spouses who could help them maintain their lifestyles.</p>
<p>Nothing odd about it: that’s how the aristocracy functions</p>
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<p>Same here!</p>
<p>I also had trouble with the DVR not recording last week. Don’t know about this week because I’ve been out of town.</p>
<p>Jonri, wasn’t Irish patriot and politician Parnell also a Protestant?</p>
<p>I have to laugh at all these subtitle comments (I have trouble with understanding the language too).</p>
<p>Although I LOVE the old HBO series “The Wire,” there were certain characters (Snoop!) that I could never understand - and supposedly they were speaking AMERICAN English (okay, it was the Baltimore-version of English…) Later I read an article about the popularity of the series in England with the caveat that the British had difficulty with the dialog, too. </p>
<p>It was only then that I learned that there were subtitles in the DVD version of “The Wire” - problem solved!!</p>
<p>katliamom: I thought it was me; I was intensely bored and distracted last night…this story line is not keeping me engaged…</p>
<p>Not enough historical references maybe? don’t know…just had a hard time focusing</p>
<p>As I commented earlier, it’s the snappy dialogue that I enjoy the most, and that seemed to be lacking Sunday night. And I think I just don’t care about Ethel - much of the show was about her. And sometimes I think things just move too quickly. Before we even had a chance to get worried about Sybil, there she was in the foyer! The Bates’s letter mystery was resolved in one episode, so not much tension there. I don’t know - it just wasn’t up to snuff somehow.</p>
<p>Filler episode. </p>
<p>Can’t stand the Bates/prison story line so I just fast forward. </p>
<p>I have very good friends in Liverpool and cannot understand a word they say - even when I ask them to talk slower.</p>
<p>Must join in the lively discussion here! I had an oh-ho moment watching this ep. Up until now, I’d been gliding along in the aristocracy nostalgia, enjoying the gaudy splendor and soap opera. But my oh-ho moment came when I realized (ok, I may be slow) that Grantham was rather rotten (quite outwardly anti-Catholic prejudiced, even as the other fellow gave him rather an askance look) and his dismissal of following the advice of his attorneys and accountants regarding running Downton, even in light of his enormous bungling of Cora’s fortune and the recent spectre of publicly losing face and being shown to be a fool. Saved by Matthew’s new inheritance, Grantham is still oblivious, entitled, and a fool. Ah, well. As true as this portrait is of a certain type of aristocrat in the 20’s, I hadn’t expected Fellowes to go there. And I think this will add that undertone of grit that bumps the series back to reality–just like the real post WWI world bumped the British upper class out of their fairy tale lives of privilege. </p>
<p>So, while I think this will add a new dimension, I think I’ll miss the fairy tale. I cannot believe, for instance, what an insistent, overly indulged, whiny harridan the always lovely Lady Mary has become in a few short weeks. I just keep thinking: poor Matthew! </p>
<p>And did anyone get the hint that she is NOT expecting to be pregnant anytime soon? What was that? Is she frightened of losing her figure?</p>
<p>The character I find reprehensible is Branson. He burns a nobleman’s home and then flees to the comforts of another nobleman’s home. He decries the class system but uses the earl’s influence to get him out of trouble. He apparently gave no thought to Sybil or the baby. It’s hard to see why Sybil loves him.</p>
<p>Well, TatinG, Sybil seemed to be asking herself the same question. But in the Downton world, cute men seem to rule, don’t they?</p>
<p>He is that.</p>
<p>I don’t mind Branson that much. I’m sure Sybil also contributed to the decision of what would happen, she knew if Branson stayed he would of gotten arrested but she had a better chance of not getting arrested than Branson did. </p>
<p>Sent from my PH44100 using CC</p>