<p>If they don’t want to kill off Cora, I guess the obvious extracurricular lust interest for Robert is Cora’s new lady’s maid after O’Brien leaves for India.</p>
<p>Cora is also very pale, with a too dark dyed hair. Her expressions are horrendous!
She has not aged well at all. Just sayin.</p>
<p>Also, isnt Cora modelled on the Bucaneers that wealthy american young women had their season in London and were married off to impoverished titled gentlemen, trad off was title and wealth?</p>
<p>Any word on Fellowes new drama featuring the Gilded Age in the States? Was that an ad for it starting in March at the end of the finale? I didnt think it would be so soon.</p>
<p>Thanks, all. IMO, Cora is just a placeholder. She doesn’t add anything to the drama. And couldn’t you just see Mary becoming a Machiavellian schemer if Robert even hinted at remarriage to a young woman? Would she threaten to claim Matthew’s inheritance from Swire as her own, leaving Downton without capital? Would she uncover dirt on the woman or even maim, injure or kill? I could see Mary turning deliciously evil to protect her little boy cub.</p>
<p>TatinG, I think you should contact Fellowes and offer to help him write. : )
You have some great ideas.</p>
<p>And speaking of writing, I’d love to know what Fellowes original storyline was going…was it saboutaged by Stevens not wanting to stay on? Did he already have it outlined in his mind? Or is he now going episode to episode?
Do you all think it would have worked to simply replace Matthew’s character with another actor and carry on? I guess obviously, Fellowes decided against that so I can only hope he has come up with a great storyline. I like the one that Cora dies and Robert has a son with a new wife.</p>
<p>I think you are all being too hard on poor Robert. He grew to love and respect Matthew and wanted Mary to marry a man worthy of such attachment. He urged her to break off her engagement to the newspaper baron, come what may, rather than be blackmailed into a marriage with a blackguard. He obviously wanted her to have the kind of marriage HE had: a partnership with someone she loved and respected.</p>
<p>I thought that the whole thing of his supposed attraction to the maid was wholly out of character, an aberration that I’m glad they dropped.</p>
<p>Although the plotline would certainly work, I hope they don’t kill off Cora. I think it much more likely that the burn victim will resurface, turn out to really be the heir, and marry Edith, who will triumph over Mary as lady of the manor. I just hope she doesn’t also get to steal all of Matthew’s money.</p>
<p>i really enjoy Matthew’s mother. It was delightful how she sidestepped the MD’s proposal of marriage, trying not to upset him. She is the most feminist of any of the characters, IMHO.</p>
<p>re the show for American TV, The Gilded Age: I read an interview with Julian Fellowes and he commented on this. He said it was a long way off and he couldn’t do both Downton and The Gilded Age. Either The Gilded Age will be after Downton or he will just supervise and others will write it.</p>
<p>I am reading To Marry an English Lord: Tales of Wealth and Marriage, Sex and Snobbery (how’s that for a title?). Fellowes was supposed to have read this book and it influenced his development of Gosford Park and Downton. The book has an analysis of how the wealthy American brides paired with financially needy titled British men came about and lots of interesting info about the houses, servants, customs, etc. Also info about wealthy people of the era in NYC and Newport, RI. I think most Downton fans would enjoy reading this!</p>
<p>Is Elizabeth McGovern a bad actress, or is she appropriately playing the bad role that has been written for her?</p>
<p>Several have mentioned plot possibilities if Cora dies and Robert remarries. Many pages ago in this discussion I suggested this idea with the maid Jane. I do not think it was wholly out of character for Robert and Jane to have that strong attraction. He was lost and feeling hopeless at that time, and Cora was ignoring him and moving on into a different life of running the hospital. I think that most people, even in stable marriages, could go through something like that. I am firmly convinced that Jane will be back in some capacity.</p>
<p>Maybe Patrick will come back and be the rightful heir, marry Edith, and they will have a son. Cora will die and Robert will marry Jane and they will have a son. (I love the idea of Jane as Mary’s stepmama!) Mary’s son will also be in picture and they can all duke it out with their lawyers! I guess Robert and Jane’s son would prevail in that scenario.</p>
<p>I think Elizabeth McGovern is playing the role that was written for her. Cora is kind of mercurial. Sometimes she can be very strong (standing up for Sybil and Tom, running the hospital) and sometimes she is quite dense (not seeing who O’Brien really is) and trivial, not seeing the big picture. I actually think she is a real character, flawed like a real person.</p>
<p>I thought Elizabeth McGovern did Sybil’s death scene very well. I found her believable. Same with Tom’s actor. </p>
<p>Actually, Dan Stevens is the only one who never impressed me. No, scratch that. I liked him in breakfast table scenes. But, that’s about it.</p>
<p>“poor Matthew didn’t have a chance what with Robert pontificating on how happy everyone was these days and how good their life has become! kiss of death!”</p>
<p>One of many moments I didn’t buy. Would they really feel that way just a year after Sybil died? I don’t believe it.</p>
<p>I’ve been catching up - what great ideas you all have for story lines!</p>
<p>
When I first started watching, I thought: Is that Elizabeth McGovern? Why do they have all that makeup on her to make her look old? It’s really distracting! (And agreed on the “simpering” look - yuk!)</p>
<p>I hope Jane never comes back - that was unbelievable, and I thought she looked weird. (mature, I know…)</p>
<p>Does anyone else think Mary’s mental health will decline, and she’ll become unable to function well, perhaps not accepting Matthew’s death? She could blame herself, and become slightly mad. I don’t see her recovering from this without a difficult adjustment.</p>
<p>One time when I was in London visiting my D, we went with a group of friends to see a band that Elizabeth McGovern sings with, and I can say that, in person, she’s a beautiful woman. I find the role of Cora to be annoying most of the time, but there are moments when the writing is very good.</p>
<p>So has she lived in the UK for a while?</p>
<p>Yes. I think that’s why she has that hybrid accent.</p>
<p>I have read that one of the producers said that Mary is truly the heart of the show, and that this next season will be about her rebuilding her life after Matthew’s death. The interviewer tried to ask what would have happened if Dan Stevens and the actress who played Sybill had stayed on, but he wouldn’t answer - he said to keep with the “mythology” of the show, this is what is written and filmed and hence this is the only story to consider. There aren’t any what-ifs or alternate universes (at least, none that they want to talk about)</p>
<p>Oh look - I found the link! [Downton</a> Abbey producer talks season finale | Inside TV | EW.com](<a href=“http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/02/17/downton-abbey-matthew-death/]Downton”>http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/02/17/downton-abbey-matthew-death/)</p>