this episode was the. end. and i can't say as i enjoyed it like one might enjoy a final episode. you know, like with closure to main plot points and/or sexy times between mary and tom. hell, at this point i might even take sexy times between tom and edith. or better yet, tom and thomas. in fact, in general there just aren't enough sexy times in this show. period. raping anna does not count as sexy times, JULIAN!
and no, i do not particularly want to SEE sexy times with mrs hughes and mr. carson. though i did love that that happened. and maybe they are going to kiss and stuff in a totally pg way that is sweet and not at all like watching your parents kiss. for now i'll take the hand-holding and be satisfied. i thought it were adorable. and i teared up a little. (in reality i might have cried like a baby because i have my period) mike, on the other hand squirmed in his seat in not-so-subtle discomfort.
so, yes! mrs. hughes and mr. carson!! this is why i love this show. for every wrong there comes a right, that's SO right it's blinding.
once again so much stuff happened that my hands are giving my brain the middle finger.
the whole family is in london for rose's quinceneara.
she looks really pretty. so does cora, who says things like "kerfuffle".
speaking of london, there is a grantham house. and it's full. and small. so small that people have to share rooms. and mary would rather sleep on the roof than with edith. i think she speaks for us all when she says that. because edith is the ugly one, get it?
though after this episode i would have liked to have pushed mary off of a roof.
all of the staff is at grantham house as well. all but ivy, thomas and tom.
tom has to stay back to take care of isis. (jeez! why don't you just draw dicks on his face while he's sleeping, lord grantham. no respect.) and to take short-n-stocky on a tour of the big house. thomas isn't happy about it and does things like squeeze his fists in rage. i wish thomas would stop acting like a big ol' queen. also i wish i knew baxter's secret because that shit is about as clear as the water in mr. drew's pig trough. soon to be baby edith's bathtub. more on that in a minute. or never.
the levinson's arrive in london and martha is the same as before only she seems even less interested than last time, if that's possible. also, was it just me or did it seem like shirley maclaine swallowed half her lines? like she would have rather been on a prairie somewhere chewing on peyote and counting her crystals. WHO WOULDN'T?!
harold levinson arrived slinging his american all over everyone with his "ain'ts" and "why i oughta's" and it was all...."i can't".
harold brought his valet, that guy from 30 rock, with him.
that guy loved daisy. like more than anyone has loved daisy other than that guy that died. and maybe that guy's dad. ok, so a lot of people have loved daisy, just not the ones that daisy wants to love her. her little fit of happiness at the beach was about the cutest thing ever. watching daisy is like watching your daughter. you want to scold her for being rude and hug her when she's made good choices.
lord merkin asks isobel to the ball and she's like, nah…me and my soup'll just hang here. then she realizes how really lame that is and changes her mind.
they will probably get married. which is sad for dr. clarkson, because he is way sexier than merkin and like TOTALLY loves her.
the ticket.
so bates didn't take the ticket he bought for london to MURDER green out of his dumb pocket and anna gives the coat to mrs. hughes who gives it to charity.
that pretty much seems like the dumbest thing anyone who has ever murdered anyone (and i oughta know!) has ever done. he can forge a letter in the blink of an eye. he can retrieve a GIANT letter out of a man's pocket while standing in said man's face and yet he can't think to burn the most incriminating piece of evidence EVER in a fire?!?!
thank god mary did it for him.
but then, thank god he saved the family from ruin. AGAIN! thank god for mr. bates. and thank god for fire. and thank god for reese's peanut butter eggs. they're DELICIOUS!
edith's decision to have mr. drew and his wife raise her baby with regular visits from edith was probably the smartest and ballsiest thing edith has ever done. and i couldn't be happier about it. the end.
still no idea where mr. gregson is other than he gots beat up by some bandits? ruffians? "some bad men in brown suits." UPS drivers?
rose and the letter.
UGH! i get it. we needed this story so that bates could ultimately find it for them so that his incriminating ticket could be burned but UGH! why you gonna give me new story-line when so many story-lines are still open!?!
overall i was like, is that it?! that's the end? surely there is a sneaky episode somewhere lurking in the shadows that they're going to thrust on us next sunday?! but no. believe me, i checked.
the case of mary and her suitors- i guess i am glad that she didn't "pick" one. because i don't like either of them. so, charles blake is actually SUPER rich. like, richer than everyone. which means a great deal to mary because her main goal is to take care of george forever. or something.
tom asking granny to dance and granny saying "i know i can trust you to steer" = best ever.
i will miss this show. because for all it's faults and my thoughts which usually are.."no way that would happen" and "why are they so stupid?!"- i still love it so hard.
i love the characters, flaws and all and i care about most of them. i love the house. the land surrounding the house. the clothes. i will miss the bickering between violet and isobel. i will miss tom and his well fitting tweed. i will miss thomas's smirks. i will miss cora's clueless face. i will miss lord grantham's tan suit. i will miss edith's finger waves and STELLAR dresses. i will miss mrs. patmore's platitudes. i will miss molesley's debbie downer attitude. ultimately i will just miss their world, their atmosphere.
i have heard that julian fellowes is going to create a show similar to downton abbey called the gilded age for NBC. i can't think of anything more wrong. two things bother me about that most..
1.) the reason downton abbey works is because it's PBS and NOT NBC. among many things, the actors are english (mostly) and unknown to americans (mostly). it feels like people are trying to capitalize on the downton success. not make a surprise hit. which is what downton was. a surprise. no one ever thought it would be as big a success as it was. and while that might be due to julian fellowes's writing and knowledge of the era, i suspect it has just as much to do with the fact that he didn't have a lot of american executives over his head telling him "no one in america will get that".
and
2.) the writing of the gilded age will occur only when downton is over. which means that the end is nigh. and i can think of nothing sadder than getting rid of downton in favor of a watered down american version.
i hope i am wrong on all counts.
the end. for real.
