Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 6

I have a theory, perhaps a mistaken theory, that writers, or viewers, thus the caveat, just know how to dole out interesting plot lines if they're given two hours. The first Downton Abbey of this season flies in the face of this theory because it was almost unwatchable whenever the American mother was on screen. However, it seems to me that viewers have become used to watching an entire storyline get laid out and tied up in a fairly neat bow in a two hour time slot by the movie industry. Thus, the two hour Downton Abbey had nice pacing, in a way that some of the previous episodes had not. Sure, we had the Thomas scandal introduced and solved in the episode, but we had a full two hours for that to take shape, which made it feel less rushed, or more familiar or something. I might be wrong. It's happened a lot for most of my life, but I'm willing to consider the idea that every Downton episode should be two hours to keep it from going off the rails. 

A few episodes ago, pre-Sybil expiration, I complained that I wanted the show to kill off Branson to free her up. Well, apparently due to contractual disputes, the show did the next best thing and freed Branson up. He had become a little too much of a caricature and a firebrand over the course of his time on the show. In fact, I never wanted him to marry Sybil. I thought the prettiest daughter should have gone to Matthew, but that's a different show. Anyhow, I'm quite enjoying his recovery from burning down houses in the countryside to little lord of the English manor. Certainly a more cynical watcher could complain that his turnabout is a bit too quick, but I'm willing to accept it on the grounds that his life completely changed after his wife died, freeing him, and the writers up to experiment a little. And I think they've struck on something. I enjoy the way he finessed Lord Grantham and won his way into the heart of Mrs. Grantham. It seems to me that the character actor playing Branson is up to the task of acting in a more nuanced role, and I'm happy to see him take it on. 

The whole episode was mostly pleasing. I'd say that the one misstep was the writer who proposed that they steal the plot of Jane Eyre and was not shut down. Placing Edith at the center of  a love triangle with a mad woman will only result in more trouble for her as she's no Jane. The editor she meets claims that his wife is in an asylum, but rest assured, she's knocking around in the attic by the end of the season. Also, did they have to pick an actor who looks, in the fact at least, like a replica of Sir Antony? 

The sage of Thomas and Jimmy comprises the main action of the episode, and I have to give the show credit for that one moment of Thomas sitting on his bed, alone, head bowed, deciding whether to go after Jimmy or not. Sure he's ignoring the fact that O'brien hates him, but I thought the moment was tender, human. Of course he crashed through the door, kissed the sleeping Jimmy and got walked in on by Alfred, but, it's Downton Abbey, we can't just have people struggling, we need action! I suppose it would have been too much to ask the show to slow it down more, but I'd like to see more moments like that, slow, careful, moments of humanity stripped a little raw. 

The whole house is up in arms about the Thomas scenario, though it comes to light that everyone already knew he was gay. The show handles the issue somewhat clumsily, having characters like Carson vacillate between calling it despicable and condemning Jimmy for doing nearly the same. It's not easy territory to plow through, and having Thomas say that he was not twisted, felt both right, and overstated. The truest moment is still of him sitting on the bed trying to figure out what to do. 

The resolution takes place at the cricket match. Special commendation to Mosely, who really shined in this episode, obnoxiously going on and on about the ins and outs of cricket and then turning out to be terrible at the game. It seemed like the actor was having fun playing the part, and he was wonderful at keeping the obsequiousness of Mosely on hand despite his seeming confidence in his cricket game. I think he's one of the best characters on the show, though that's in part because his smaller role demands less insanity than some of the other characters. 

Lord Grantham returns from trolling around the estate, complaining at Matthew that they just need to invest in one more pyramid scheme to retain some dignity by saving Thomas from leaving and Alfred from reporting him, promoting both in the process. It wasn't quite in keeping with the season one Lord of the manor, who had a bit more humanitarian in him as the show made it clear that part of Thomas staying was for a cricket match. However, I'll take my small victories where I can get them when it comes to Troll Grantham. 

The other story line was the resolution of Ethel cooking for Mrs. Crawley. And I always love it when the dowager and Mrs. Crawley square off. There is always such delicious intrigue, difference, and the two of them giving one another both truth and less credit than they each deserve. It was a nice moment to have the dowager watching Ethel cry after being slighted in the village and connecting that to her rabid approach to getting the woman out of town. It showed, though she never admitted it, the human side of her. I think that the comedic relationship between the two women, when played in this way, is probably the finest on the show and a welcome reprieve from other melodramatic moments. 

The other new introduction was an eighteen year old grand niece, who was obviously up to no good from the beginning. She plays everyone for a fool, gets herself back to London and back into the arms of her older and married lover. And that's when we get Matthew coming to the rescue and being likable for one of the few times this season, maybe the man is just cut out to rescue women rather than run estates, by saying, "Older men who are trying to seduce young women always have tolls for wives. You should meet her first." The show, due to this little interaction and the good as usual Dowager and Mrs. Crawly was one of the funnier in recent memory, and it benefited from it. 

The last thing to address is the rising Bachelor like music we keep hearing when Matthew and Mary are together. Yes, they're having a kid together, but it's starting to feel like they're selling us something that might not wind up smelling like roses. I keep expecting Matthew to tell Mary that he's going to whisk her away on a helicopter to Costa Rica and seeing her eyes light up. I'm not quite sure why we keep having to be reminded that they love each other by having the two characters say, "I love you to one another." The love between Lord Grantham and his wife seemed stronger in season one, if only because they talked about issues in bed before reassuring one another of their love, which felt a bit more real life. Why is it so uninteresting to watch two people say, "I love you," to one another when the feeling of saying "I love you" to another person, at least early on, is so exhilarating. I suppose it's because what we're not seeing is the myriad of unsexy ways that real love functions, or not enough of it, and so we're left watching two people saying I love you it feels less romantic than it did that first time in the snow. Apparently television can mirror real life in this way. If he really loved her, he'd take out the trash more often.