Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S6:E8
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Show of hands if you’re still wiping tears from your eyes
after last Sunday’s episode.
Yep. Me too.
And another show of hands if you’re still chuckling over
Mrs. Patmore’s House of Ill Repute.
Or Spratt’s double life as an advice columnist.
Bananas!
This week’s episode was probably one of my all-time
favorites and will go down in Downton history as one of the most tragic,
head-turning, I-sure-didn’t-see-that-coming episodes ever.
Well, except for the now infamous Robert ralphing blood
scene, which I shall never forget for as long as I live. What fun!
So this week sure ran us through the gamut of emotions,
didn’t it? I think, in honor of this swaying emotional episode, I’ll choose my
Top Five lines from the emotions they elicited. I’m living on the edge, I know,
but bear with me.
1. Glee
Robert could hardly contain himself when he found out that
Edith’s beau, Bertie, was no mere estate agent. No, Bertie had a secret, which,
because he is such a paragon of virtue, he had shared with Edith, but which
Edith, somewhat a lesser paragon than her boyfriend, had kept to herself.
Bertie’s secret came out this week. He was the heir to his
second-cousin-twice-removed’s estate—the one at which he worked as a lowly
agent prior to his cousin’s untimely death. At which point Bertie became the
Marquess of Somewhere.
[For those of you who, like me, might be confused as to what
exactly a Marquess actually is, I
looked it up for you. It’s one rank above earl (think Robert) and just below
duke. So it’s a pretty big deal.]
Robert knew the implications of having a Marquess in the
family. Clearly.
Golly Gumdrops!! What
a turnup!!
Downton is saved!!! All the worrying and handwringing and
firing of servants could now be put on hold because their Savior had arrived.
In the form of Bertie Pelham.
2. Marital bliss? Or irritability?
Robert, Cora, and Rosamund decide to help poor
Mrs. Patmore clear her name—it’s as easy as having tea!—but Carson is, of
course, concerned. How will this reflect on the fam?
Mrs. Hughes argues that they are all adults and can make up
their own minds about whether to visit a House of Ill Repute or not.
*signal eye roll here*
Carson then deals a blow that, I’ll admit, blew me right off
the sofa.
“I’ve always known women were ruthless, but I didn’t think I’d find the proof in my own wife.”
Oh boy. Mrs. Hughes looks none too pleased about that one. (And check out Daisy's "did-you-really-just-say-what-I-think-you-just-said?" look.)
And neither was I.
[Just a sec. I need to say something. Mr. Carson, you’ve been nothing but crabby and grouchy and
generally ugly this season. I think you might need another season (or maybe a
movie?) just to redeem yourself from your horrible behavior this year.]
I don’t know how they are going to redeem Carson with just
one episode left, but I sure hope they do. Five seasons of Wonderful Carson
completely eroded by one season of Demon Carson. It’s kind of surreal, but, as
Mrs. Hughes would say, “There you have it.”
Later, though, Mrs. Hughes puts everything into perspective
for us when she plainly tells Mr. Carson, “You’re such an old curmudgeon.” Carson
wonders if she’s gone off him, but she puts him at ease.
“No, because you’re my curmudgeon and that makes all the
difference.”
Illustrating that this is often the way it is in marriage.
3. Anger
Oh Edith, Edith, Edith.
And Mary, Mary, Mary.
What a terrible, terrible thing to do to your sister, Mary.
I just can’t get over the sadness of Edith’s breakup with
Bertie. And I couldn’t help noticing that Edith’s contrition only made her more
beautiful as she bade farewell to the second love of her life.
She didn’t scream or cry. She didn’t beg. She just told
Bertie, “I understand and I’m so very sorry.”
She sure gets the last word with her sister, though, doesn’t
she?
But first, Mary and Tom have it out. I absolutely loved that
scene in the agent’s office when Tom confronts Mary. She deserved every single
word of it.
Tom: How many lives are you going to wreck, just to smother your own misery?
Mary: I refuse to listen.
Tom: You’re a coward, Mary. Like all bullies, you’re a coward.
And then, Edith lets her have it. You surely remember the
scene in Edith’s bedroom as she’s packing to go to London. Mary comes in all
“Gee, I didn’t mean to make you mad, sis. I’m sorry-not-sorry, so get over
it.”
But Edith’s having none of it.
“Just shut up! I
don’t know what’s happened. Tom has made you feel bad. Or Papa. Or maybe it’s
just the same old Mary, who wants her cake and hate me too.”
Mary tries again. “I never meant . . .”
“Yes you did! . . . I
know you. I know you to be a nasty, jealous, scheming b*tch! . . . You’re a b*tch! And not content with ruining your
own life, you’re determined to ruin mine.”
Yeah. That.
Thanks for putting into words what we were all thinking,
Edith.
4. Love.
Violet believes in it. Who knew?
Yes, Granny returns to try to set things right between her
granddaughters. She knows full well their own mother is sitting on the sofa in
the library reading a magazine, sipping champagne, and is entirely incapable of
handling any emotional mess between her daughters.
Cora, you are an embarrassment to motherhood.
But I digress.
Didn’t you just love the sweet scene between Violet and Mary
in Mary’s bedroom? Violet has huffed and puffed her way up the stairs (“Oh
good! Climbing all those stairs wasn’t wasted!”) to confront and console her
favorite granddaughter.
The confrontation: “You are the only woman I know who likes
to think herself cold and selfish and grand. Most of us spend our lives trying
to hide it.”
So Mary’s not so bad after all, Granny?
And then we get a glimpse into Violet’s heart when she
consoles Mary.
“I believe in love. Brilliant
careers and rich lives are seldom led without just an element of love.”
So true, Violet. But I’m not sure I would have gone so easy
on Mary. She did, after all, ruin Edith’s life. Again.
But Violet gives Mary some sage advice in the end.
“I would only say
this. First, make peace with your sister; then, make peace with yourself.”
It must have been love that finally got to Mary because
shortly after that she heads to Matthew’s grave to have a chat. I must be going
soft on Mary too, because that scene made me cry buckets. And then Isobel shows
up and shows such kindness to Mary that I cried some more.
A true love fest.
5. Forgiveness. Sort of.
So Matthew has forgiven Mary. And Isobel has forgiven Mary.
But will Edith ever forgive Mary?
Is Mary actually sorry now?
She seems to be, but Edith totally gets her sister. She
knows that Mary is only being nice because she’s happy again, and she tells
Mary so.
Truthfully, I think Edith has grown so much more as a
character than Mary has. Edith shows true insight into her sister’s character,
and yet she also shows maturity in coming back for Mary’s wedding.
Could it be forgiveness?
Mary asks, “Why are you here?”
“Because in the end,
you are my sister. And one day, only we will remember Sybil. Or Mama. Or Papa.
Or Matthew or Michael. Or Granny or Carson. Nor any of the others who have
peopled our youth. Until at last, our shared memories will mean more than our
mutual dislike.”
Edith seems to be saying, “Let’s be real here, sister. We’re
never going to be best friends, but we do have a history. And one day, nobody
will remember our childhood and the people that meant the most to us except,
well, us. So let’s put our big girl panties on and get over it.”
And sometimes that’s the best we can do. We forgive in our
own way and we move on.
Bravo, Edith. Bravo.
