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WAR! Open on: Scary war. Matthew and William are discussing how nuts this thing they’re going to do is, and how they have to “chuck everything they’ve got at them.” And we think, “What are they doing?” And then you see all of the soldiers bracing themselves as if they’re going to die, and then we’re thinking, “What? What are you doing? Just stay safe! Shoot from a safe distance!” And then the soldiers run at the other side’s soldiers with their muskets (or whatever) and their bayonets and it’s like, WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! And then they get shot at, and so many of them die brutally. And then Daisy feels startled back at home.
And also Mary suddenly feels a chill. Because THEY LOVE THOSE BOYS. (Except Daisy doesn’t actually? More on how Daisy doesn’t love those boys later.) Three days later, because it’s olden times, Lord Grantham gets a telegram telling him that Matthew has been injured. He isn’t dead, which is good!, and he’ll be brought back to the hospital at Downton. The servant class would like to know how William is, and Edith says she’ll drive (WE GET IT, EDITH) to William’s father’s house in the morning to see if he’s received a letter notifying him of anything. The thing I picked up from this scene is that olden times seem SUPER annoying when you’re trying to figure out if someone died in the war.
Edith’s driving mission is successful in that she found out the news about William, but unfortunately the news is bad. She and Old Lady Grantham try to convince Mean Dr. Rules to let William stay at Downton’s hospital, both because it’s where he’s from and because his father can’t afford to leave his farm and stay with William at the hospital where he is currently, in Leeds. Mean Dr. Rules says no, because of the RULES, and OLG says, “When you give these little people power it goes to their heads like a strong drink,” and we see that she is correct. Take the power away from the little people! They’re all dicks about it!
Along with the war scariness, there was a lot of Bates’ ex-wife scariness in this episode. The roller coaster begins when we see O’Brien and Thomas discussing how they, in light of all of the war scariness, probably shouldn’t have stirred the Bates/Ex-Wife shit by sending her that letter telling her that Bates was back at Downton. Ugh. These two. What a bunch of jerks. Thomas says it wasn’t his idea and that O’Brien is on her own with the guilt. Except that he is the one who wrote the letter? It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t your idea, Thomas! You still did it! You’re both terrible and I don’t understand why you keep terrorizing Bates! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! Anyway, so, then we see Bates and Anna at a church (to pray for the boys) where they’re discussing their future marriage, and Bates says it won’t be long until they can finally be married and everything is fine with his ex-wife and, like, “Oh, she’ll definitely never show up again, that problem is totally 100% solved, don’t even worry about it. Soon we will be perfect and happy together and we’ll never even have to think about my ex-wife because I gave her all my money and she gave me her word, and certainly I feel like I can trust her word because she has never been anything other than upstanding.”
And then BATES’ WIFE SHOWS UP AT DOWNTON AND SAYS SHE’S STILL GOING TO SELL THE STORY ABOUT LADY MARY AND THE TURKISH GUY, OBVIOUSLY. Ugh. “But you gave Bates your word! It’s almost as giving someone your word that doesn’t mean anything to you!”
Anyway, back to the Matthew and William plot. Mary wants to help out with Matthew while he’s at the Downton hospital, and Sybil wants to be there with her when he arrives. She asks Branson to drive her and Branson asks if Mary is still in love with Matthew, which is none of his business, and Sybil says she doesn’t want to talk about it, obviously, and Branson says, “Why? Because I’m the chauffeur?” Which is SO FUNNY AND ANNOYING! It reminds me of the scene from Parenthood where Haddie’s parents are discussing how they’re uncomfortable with 16-year-old Haddie’s new 20-something former alcoholic boyfriend who lives by himself and Haddie says, “YOU JUST DON’T LIKE HIM BECAUSE HE’S BLACK!” Hahaha. Ahh, Haddie! No! They don’t like him because of all those other iffy things! And Branson, the reason why Sybil doesn’t want to talk to you about her sister’s totally private business is NOT because you’re a chauffeur! You jerk! Go away, jerk! Leave us alone!
At the hospital, the doctor requests that Mary hang back for a while so the nurses can get Matthew cleaned up a bit before she has to see him. She doesn’t want to do that, though, so she sees him fresh from the blast:
AHHHHHHHHH! Funny how WE didn’t get the option of waiting until he was cleaned up a bit. The ticket attached to his clothing says he has possible spinal damage, EEK, and under his blanket we find the little toy that Mary gave him for good luck before he left. Awww. Matthew! You kept it! When Lavinia shows up to the hospital later on (a few days later on) (but, who cares) (let’s just keep moving) we see that the doctor is checking Matthew out and that Matthew can’t feel anything below his waist. Uh-oh. Dr. Clarkson thinks he has suffered permanent damage to his spine and legs and that he will not walk again. Then the doctor takes the Lord outside to speak with him privately, and tells him that Matthew will no longer be able to do it or have children. Daaaaaaaaang. Dang dang dang.
At the hospital in Leeds, William’s doctor tells Old Lady Grantham that William will not recover because the force of the blast has fatally damaged his lungs. Nooooooo! Poor William! OLG wants to take him back to Downton, and the doctor agrees, saying he’d rather die in a familiar place surrounded by familiar faces. Very grim! And then William’s dad, who hasn’t been in on the conversation so far, says he thinks William will do much better when he’s at home. It’s sad. OLG lets him have the false hope, saying “Sometimes we must let the blow fall from degrees. Give him time to find the strength to face it.” OLG was really great for this whole episode! What a lady.
Oh, the other plot line included in this episode is that of the pregnant fired maid’s big, fat, adorable baby.
Awwww. What a big baby. Hughes has been checking up on Fired Maid and bring her food from Downton, which is very nice, and now Fired Maid wants her to take back a letter to the Major who got her pregnant. The maid says he hasn’t been responding to her. At first Hughes tells her that she won’t do this, but then she does! Hughes brings the Major the note when she gets back to Downton, and the Major is a MAJOR JERK about it. He refuses to even read the letter and tells Hughes that it’s none of her business. Ugh. MEN.
Once William is back at Downton, the kitchen staff urge Daisy to see him and say “warm, comforting things.” She is hesitant because she feels badly that she lied to him about her feelings for him, but no one will take no for an answer, so she goes to see him. Oh well. I certainly see her point, and it’s terrible that she’s put in this position, but also the boy is dying soooooooooo. C’mon, Daisy. But then when she’s talking to him he immediately asks if she’ll marry him now and not wait for the end of the war, EEK!, and she makes an excuse and leaves. Well. It is WAR time. The kitchen staff and the other servants urge her to take him up on the offer, and she pleads with them to not make her “be false to a dying man.” I don’t even know which side I support in this!
Back at the hospital, Mary is tending to Matthew who seems like he’s gotten a bit better, except for the not being able to feel his legs thing. He asks Mary if she knows anything concerning that fact, and she refuses to talk with him about it until Lavinia is there, until he asks one more time and she says “Ok, ok, FINE.” She tells him that they think he has spinal damage. “How long will it take to repair?” he asks, which is very sad. Lots of very sad, naive things are being said this episode! She explains that they’re not sure, and for now they have to focus on rebuilding his health. He thanks her for her honesty and she walks away crying. Ugh. Thanks a lot, TELEVISION SHOW.
Later, Mary visits Sir Richard to see if he can handle the Bates/Ex-Wife situation for her. She explains what happened with the Turkish gentleman and that this horrible woman is threatening her family with it, and asks if he could possibly buy the story from her and save them from humiliation. Sir Richard replies, “And when I save you, if I can, do you still expect me to marry you after all this?” Which is fair enough, really. It’s a weird story! Mary says she’ll accept his decision to break off their understanding, which hasn’t been made public yet anyway, and would be fine enough for her because Sir Richard seems like he would be a boring if not TERRIBLE husband. But he says he was only paying her a compliment, and would be even HAPPIER to marry her now, since they will be on more equal ground, which actually turned out to be kind of gross and not a great compliment at all! But, whatever. He’ll handle it. That’s all the matters right now.
After Matthew comes to understand the full extent of his injury, he tells Lavinia that they can never “be married properly. Not properly.” And she GETS IT, but tells him that she doesn’t care and wants to stay with him anyway. He doesn’t listen, though, and tells her that he has to let her go. Are we supposed to be rooting for him to let her go at this moment because we want him to be with Mary eventually? Is that what’s supposed to be happening? What am I supposed to want here? Because really I just want him to stay with Lavinia and for them to live happily ever after, because they both seem so sad! And they seem like they really love each other! What’s going on! STAY TOGETHER, GUYS! Finally he tells her to go home and think of him as dead. Jeeeeeesus.
That night, Mary walks by Lavinia’s room, where she finds her crying. Lavinia tells her the whole Matthew story, and then Mary makes a beautiful face.
Luckily for Mary’s beautiful face, Sir Richard DOES get Bates’ ex-wife to sign a binding contract that keeps her from selling her story to any other news source. She asks him how he heard that she had this information and he says, “I know everything that goes on in this city” and “I’m a newspaper man, when I hear of something good I have to make sure of it right away.” And at that point it is SOOOOO Gossip Girl‘s “Bass Industries” that I can barely even take it. For the sake of getting on with it, later in the episode Bates’ ex-wife storms back into Sir Richard’s office screaming “YOU TRICKED ME!” He acknowledges that yes, he tricked her, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. She then swears revenge on Bates. Hahaha. She says,”It doesn’t end here. Not for John Bates. Lady Mary got away clear, what do I care, but he won’t. You tell him.” Which is very, very funny. Why would this guy EVER care about the revenge she exacted on her ex-husband? And uh, you may not want to point out how crazy it was that the thing you were holding over his head in the first place had NOTHING to do with him? LOL. Good one, ex-wife. Sir Richard sends her on her way, because COME ON, LADY.
Back at Downton, William is trying to convince Daisy to marry him. It seems like he knows that Daisy is not in love with him, but he tells her that if they get married and he dies she’ll be entitled to his pension and more rights, and he just wants to know that she’ll be taken care of. And it’s just the sweetest sentiment, and it is so nice, and I’m a little mad at Daisy not falling in love with him RIGHT THEN. But then it starts to not seem like he knows she isn’t in love with him because she says it will feel dishonest and HE says, “We love each other, don’t’ we. Where’s the dishonesty in that?” Uhhhh, eeep! I thought we were all on the same page, William! Oh well! You’re still super sweet! I’m sorry for all the things I’ve ever said about you!
Anyway, she agrees to marry him and they arrange the marriage for that afternoon. This takes some coaxing from Old Lady Grantham, because their Downton priest thought they were only doing it for the War Widow benefits. Again, OLG was great. She coaxes the shit out of him, and he agrees to perform the ceremony.
While they kiss, Old Lady Grantham watches and cries and it is all SO SWEET AND SAD.
After the ceremony, Bates runs into Lady Mary in the hallway and she lets him know that his ex-wife told Sir Richard that she’s going to be attempting some revenge. Uh-oh. Then Bates runs into Anna in the same hallway and Anna asks if “everything in [their] garden is rosy again” and Bates says, “I hope so. I certainly hope so,” when really he should have said, “Probably not? It never was. I shouldn’t keep telling you that everything is fine because everything is definitely NEVER fine.”
And finally, at the end of the episode, while Daisy sits by his side, William dies. It’s strange because really I thought he would get better? I know they kept saying that he was definitely going to die for the whole episode, but I kind of thought that actually meant that he’d pull through? How dare you toy with me like that, Downton Abbey! Goodbye, William! I’ll miss you! You did a nice thing for Daisy! Have fun in Heaven!
Next Week: We see what Heaven is like, I hope!
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I continue to love Branson and I don’t care what anyone says!
Branson is the worst.
I feel bad for Daisy. This isn’t a simple, meaningless act. She’s going to change her name. You know that every time she uses her full name she’s going to feel pangs of dishonesty. I doubt she has the ability to see things in a positive light. And all because Mrs. Patmore bullied her into doing something that Daisy found morally wrong.
I do think that she should have married him, mainly because she’s already traveled this far down the road, might as well do the best with it. I just think that it was unkind to strong arm her to this point.
Woops, this was supposed to be on it’s own.
No. Branson can’t be the worst because we have the Doctor. GOOD LORD, MAN, WHAT KIND OF UNFEELING IDIOT ARE YOU?
But the doctor is just bad at his job. Branson is a jerk and bad at his job. He starts out okay but… nope. I am not a fan. Not at all. I can’t get into why bc SPOILERS but I think this is about when he starts showing signs of being emotionally abusive or just other obvious red flags. (Though maybe those are less of red flags when it’s 1918? Still red flags to me.)
YOU CAN DO BETTER, SYBIL!
I totally agree with you re: Branson sucks. I never understood why everyone loved him here. He is constantly bullying Sybil. It’s not fair at all for him to pressure her to just stop being a product of her environment.
This might seem insensitive of me but here goes anyway. It’s kind of like what I’ve seen with young people that travel abroad as missionaries,etc. It was actually part of our training when I was a missionary to be aware of the impulse to get caught up with a local and think you can just leave your life back home all behind because you’re in love and it’s romantic as hell. I can first hand vouch for how strong that pull can be. But it ends badly almost all the time.
I was also really torn about who to root for in the Daisy-William thing, because everyone is pushing her to love him and dammit sometimes you just can’t love someone no matter how much you should. BUT he just wants to take care of her! But she’s just trying to do the right thing! But but but!
Oh this was so frustrating though because she can’t let him have like 30 seconds of happiness before he DIES…I mean I agree all the set up before was annoying…I don’t think she should have been forced into a fake engagement just because he is a soldier, but we’re here and he’s going to die, so you might as well let him die happy!
i was so disappointed to see william go. it’s always good when these shows have at least one purely decent character in them. you could argue that they just aren’t interesting characters, but they function as a barometer of sorts. it’s such a nice contrast to all these other idiots only concerned with their own feelings getting them into all that trouble.
It was so nice to be taken through this sad but great episode again. And oh Branson, you’ve got a chip on your shoulder, but I like that you go after what you want, rules be damned.
Yeah. Also torn re: William + Daisy (Willaisy).
Everyone: be nice to William!
Daisy: WHAT FAH?
Ha, Daisy, what fah indeed.
Branson gets on my nerves/upsets me a lot as well, but I cannot wait for them to makeout?
YES. THIS GIF. I actually rewound this part and watched it a few times!!!!!
So hot right? They are both so gorgeous it hurts! And I’m sorry Branson is just passionate and in love and fights for what he wants and SORT OF SPOILERS…after this episode he backs off and lets her come to him. which btw, everyone is always saying they think he is too pushy but let’s not forget that SHE is always coming to see/talk to him too!
Okay I will concede that. But he reminds me of the typical activist secret misogynist guy who wants a lady servant wife/girlfriend. Or the guy who drives down a girl’s self confidence so that she goes to him bc she honestly begins to believe he is the only one for her. (And I’m sure being stuck in the Abby isn’t helping Sybil’s other options.) But as I just wrote above, maybe what freaks me out in 2012 is not a red flag in Downton times.
I used to love the dude until I saw the second season.
(Also I stumbled upon this insane society scandal in some very old newspapers my neighbor found in his garage from 1919 or so… and the scandal mimics this relationship EXACTLY. So then I went down the research hole and it just got more and more insane. I won’t link to it yet but it’s sooo bananas. And almost exactly the plot — only in NYC and Newport and with Vanderbilts and Astors all sorts of old money crazy.)
Other than the comment about her nursing, what else do you think he’s done that emotionally abusive? I think he is the only one who talks to her openly and honestly and I believe he does truly love that she is outspoken and fights back and puts him in his place too and that she has the same ideals and I think that’s why he fights so hard for her – he knows she can do better and he believes that he can help her achieve that by letting her be the woman she wants to be as well as supporting her and teaching her about the world too. I think in the remaining episodes it’s especially clear that he loves and respects her. Anyway I’m curious as to what else you think he’s done that is emotionally abusive.
Also the part about the real-life scandal sounds interesting!
So sad!
This gif is doing things to my heart.
I didn’t realize season 2 took place in Middle-Earth.
Aaaand one last terribly sad gif and I swear I’m done!
I love this GIF because Mary’s managed to hold it together while talking to Matthew and then BAM! Stay strong, Lady Mary!
I LOVE HER!
Kelly! Did you know that the actor who plays Sir Richard is also in Game of Thrones? And that his character in that show is flawed, but also rather dashing and heroic? The point is you should watch Game of Thrones, but not be too shocked when Sir Richard is in it.
OMG! Yes!!! I totally hate him on Downton Abbey but i love him on Game of Thrones… i’m so conflicted when he’s on screen.
oh… sorry wasn’t answering as Kelly, just got excited someone else noticed the stuff about Sir Richards’ actor too.
Wow! I can’t believe I didn’t put that together! Now I know why I’m so conflicted with Ser Jorah as well.
Ah! I was wondering if that was him!
ugh am i the only one who wanted to throttle Daisy for her being so flighty? i mean all that debating over whether to lie to william about her feelings or not? The man is on his death bed and it’s not like he’s not cute and would have worshipped the ground she walked on. ugh! Daisy is the one character i cannot stand on this show, i just want to slap her. and also because she was all into Thomas that one time, no Daisy!!! Thomas is mine!!!
How did Ethel’s baby get so big? There’s a war on; isn’t there rationing and food shortages and whatnot?
I adore this episode. Even though it’s so sad, I think it’s superbly done. The scene at the beginning of the episode when the upstairs household and the downstairs household are standing on either side of the library doors, all waiting for Lord Grantham to tell them the news in the middle of the night about the war–just, the best! So good! Like, we’re all in this together, even though some of us are lords and some of us are servants but there’s a war and we all love each other!
Also, OLG = THE BEST! She DOES coax the shit out of that minister!
This episode was so dusty! Even with all the housemaids and everything!
OLG isn’t crying she just has a cold guys ok?! agreed wolftm its just really dusty
Oh man, THIS EPISODE. So much sadness everywhere!!
I agree with pretty much all of you. I was torn on how to feel about Daisy and William. It’s a really sucky situation that she’s gotten herself into. But at the end of the day it’s like, Daisy, come on girl, you know you have to do this. He loves you so much and he’s going to die so make him happy? Sometimes I wish I could just take Daisy aside and have a nice long girlfriend to girlfriend chat with her. And if that didn’t work then I would slap her, because honestly I feel like doing that to her sometimes too.
Matthew!! Oh, our precious Matthew, you poor, poor thing! His scenes were so good this episode. Him and Mary, him and Lavinia, so heartbreaking! Lady Mary breaking down walking away! Ah! (Also, was it just me or did he look truly, truly awful and zombie like? He looked really…dead.) But I do have to say, if you look around the Internet there are some pretty hilarious “Matthew not being able to get it up” fan stuff floating around out there.
And of course, the Dowager Countess was, as always, perfect and amazing.
Haha, pretty sure my grammar took a slip when I was talking about Matthew. TOO MANY EMOTIONS, NO TIME FOR GRAMMAR.
Oh, yeah, also! Guys! I get to have a mini Downton viewing party tomorrow! A girlfriend and I are going to get together and watch some of Season 2 because she never got to finish it and I have the DVDs! I’m going to bring tea!
That is my dream evening!! Have fun!
I was watching some old Dr. Who episodes today, the two-part “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood”, set in 1913 England. (Aired 2007) Check out Thomas & O’Brian!
https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQBXMOjzlh0kQ_3C-IWxH9K4SSpq5q90Ku-vJs2gnT5FwfF3jMspQ
Aliens. The only explanation for their unrelenting awfulness.
This is the best. Thanks for sharing!
And who plays Son of Mine in that episode?
Grown-up Malfoy!
Bahahaha! Yes!
I really hate the Branson/Sybil relationship. He’s so creepy and annoying. And poor, poor, Matthew. He can never be properly married. Unlike poor, dead William, to whom that didn’t really seem to matter. Bye, William! You were a milquetoast and had a pointy chin and couldn’t read a room with regards to Daisy who was forced to lead you on and everyone knew you were going to bite it. Bye!!! (I didn’t really dislike William, but c’mon. He was doomed the moment he signed up for service. DOOMED!!!)