Okay, Episode 2 was much better. Some characters seemed better defined, others were less annoying. I know, I know – I love these period pieces and no one wants to love this one more than me. I don’t know what the problem is. I have to say that every time I see either Jim Carter as Mr. Carson
or Brendan Coyle as John Bates
I’m transported back to Lark Rise. Seeing them together in the same scene makes me think that Laura is going to come running into view at any moment.
However, the appearance of Turkish houseguest Kemal Pamuk, played by Theo James, made me think that things were, indeed, picking up. And then he died. Which, as a plot device, was hysterical.
And which prompted Maggie Smith to utter one of the funniest lines so far – “No Englishman would ever dream of dying in someone else’s house.” Thank goodness I wasn’t drinking anything when I heard it.
If you can’t wait until the conclusion this Sunday – and I admit that I’m now looking forward to it myself – the ITV website offers exclusvie features, click here. And, of course, you can visit the Masterpiece Theater site, where you can watch the first two episodes again.
Janet – See link to Downton Abbey bloopers at top of this sidebar!
OMG ! I can just picture Maggie Smith delivering that line !!! I would have drowned in my Earl Gray!
I actually liked this episode less than I did the first one, although it was nice to see Matthew Crawley finally realize that he was depriving his butler/valet of his livilihood. Wished that the Turkish guy could have stuck around but it should be interesting next week to see the fall out from Lady mary's actions.
Oh, man, will there be fallout from that snooty Lady Mary's actions! You'd better believe it!!!
And, amazing to me that someone so snooty and frigid as Lady Mary would be so easily seduced by this exotic foreigner!
Maggie Smith, in my opinion, totally steals the show!
Just learned that interiors — servants' hall, etc. — are being shot at Ealing Studios, which is about 6 blocks from my daughter's home in West London!
Saw Episode 3 again last night. And I think — thanks for the reinforcement, Kristine! — that what really rankles me is the excessive buddy-buddying betwixt the staff and the aristos. Really, that did not happen đ
WHERE are all the other young female aristos in the nabe that the sisters would be interacting with?
And what made the dowager played (so well) by Maggie Smith suddenly decide to give the flower show prize to the old farmer who has been (unfairly) cut out for so many years? This change of heart was truly strange đ
I could go on! The writer, Julian Fellowes, has been sloppy.