<p>gloworm, I agree. Shirley was a bust. Why did they bother??</p>
<p>Not only that, but the backstory was supposed to be that Shirley married Cora off to the titled Englishman because she was social climbing…then she shows up and proceeds to disparage the stuffiness of the aristocracy. Doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>^Speaking of that, it is amazing that Robert is so stuffy about who’s worthy of his daughters, considering he married a rich commoner himself. (not to mention how ridiculous it is that Mary is such a snob, considering that same fact about her mother–and that her husband is (was) middle class–shudder.)</p>
<p>Very good point, consolation. Hadn’t thought of that!</p>
<p>Is anyone else tired of Cora’s doe-eyed head cocking in every single scene?</p>
<p>Yes Vitrac! I am! She’s always looking up through her eyelashes. The same in every scene :(</p>
<p>ClaresMom–She showed more promise as an actress in Ordinary People!</p>
<p>Vitrac, that has driven me nuts since the series began! I was wondering if I was the only one bothered by it. I’m glad I’m not alone. It’s very distracting!</p>
<p>I would actually bet money (and I do not gamble) that either Bates is abusive to Anna OR! someone else is rude or awful and his ugly side as shown in prison side comes forward.
Rose will have a drunken incident with Tom but he will stop it. Then he might leave and move out to one of the cotteges with baby S.</p>
<p>Maybe Tom will want move into Matthew’s mother’s cottage, after she marries the doctor.</p>
<p>Edited to add that I’m laughing at myself for calling that house a cottage. The Downton Influence.</p>
<p>I thought that Cora’s dad was the social climber and he basically dangled her money under the nose of titled Englismen who were hard up for it. It happened a lot in those days. American new money wanted instant class, British old money wanted instant cash and they both got what they wanted, or at least thought they wanted. Robert, brought up to sacrifice everything for Downton, did as he was told, got lucky and ended up in a loving marriage. IMHO he’s stuffy about who his daughters marry because, technically, he married beneath him. People understand why but it doesn’t look right if it keeps happening. I hope Julian Fellowes goes through with the prequel regarding Robert and Cora’s courtship - it would answer a lot of questions.</p>
<p>Isn’t Cora supposed to be Jewish? There’s a storyline worth exploring!</p>
<p>Regarding Cora’s facial expression–every time I see her, the word ‘simper’ pops into my head. Can we get a little range here?</p>
<p>Here’s a great story line: Julian Fellowes are you reading?</p>
<p>The basic conflict in the entire series revolves around inheriting or saving Downton itself. The rest of the interpersonal drama is a sideline. Now that the line is ‘safe’ with Mary’s son, the conflict will lose it’s sizzle without another struggle for Downton. </p>
<p>So here it is: Robert re-kindles his roving eye after Cora comes down with a terminal illness. Lady Rose, perhaps? She does have an inclination for older married men. Cora dies and Robert remarries a younger, fertile woman. They have a son, much to the dismay of Mary as this son would displace her son for the inheritance and the title. </p>
<p>Now there’s conflict.</p>
<p>I view Rose as the functional replacement for Sybil. Prior to her marriage and eventual death, Sybil was the squirrelly, headstrong youngest girl who kept getting in jams and having adventures, primarily in the name of social justice. Rose appears destined to be the squirrelly, headstrong youngest girl who keeps getting in jams and having adventures, primarily in the name of good times.</p>
<p>This is similar to the way Miss Georgina was brought on to Upstairs Downstairs as the functional replacement for Miss Elizabeth after that actress left the series.</p>
<p>Cora’s father is Jewish but her mother is not. Cora herself is said to have been baptized and raised as at least a nominal Christian. So the Jewish angle may not be as rich in story lines as it might have been.</p>
<p>Very clever TatinG!</p>
<p>TatinG – Good one! Actually, Cora’s death alone would provide the necessary conflict b/c women would be coming out of the woodwork to catch Robert and they would all be rivals to Mary. And, even the Dowager would be on the side of the young women if they were highborn enough. She’d much rather see Downton go to the blue blooded son of her son and an aristocratic woman than to the son of a third-rate nobody (Matthew). Now that the money is taken care of, granny could help engineer a marriage worthy of Robert. I like it! Everyone would be scheming against Mary! I don’t think the love interest should be Rose, though. Too icky!</p>
<p>I, for one, wouldn’t be terribly sad to see Cora off the show. Like others, I find her very irritating–her voice and facial expressions always make me cringe. I liked Elizabeth McGovern when she was younger, but she hasn’t aged well at all and her acting has definitely gone downhill. Even some of the more minor characters on the show are better actors and actresses than she is.</p>
<p>So agree about Cora…yawn. Boring Cora.</p>
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<p>Genius! I’m glad people are finally saying that Elizabeth McGovern isn’t a very good actress. If I were to listen to her with my eyes closed, I would think it was an amateur actress…(not to disrespect the many wonderful amateur actresses out there, but you know what I mean.)</p>