![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Downton Abbey
Feb. 24th, 2014 10:47 amSo, that was the season finale? Was that the Christmas episode or is that coming? At any rate, for the season as a whole:
* I am more than sick to death of Mary and her 'desire of suitors'. Yes, she is beautiful, but she's also a self-important, ice-cold, bratty SNOB. Seriously, I HATE the way she behaves to Edith. Yeah, yeah, Parmuk, whatever. That was ten freaking years ago. Get over it. Plus, why do all these men fall over themselves even after Mary makes clear that she's all about name and money. What? Blake is wealthy and soon to be titled? SOLD! Seriously, I don't get what is supposed to be so incredible about ice-cold Mary that ALL the men trip all over her. Pretty? Yes, she is. But... honestly, when that's the very best thing that can be said of her. Even Matthew, when pressed to come up with her best qualities resorted to saying that he'd seen her naked.
* Poor Edith. It's always "poor Edith". Why does the writer hate her so much? I wish her some wayto be with her baby. And I wish she could get ONE nice man -- who isn't married, an imposter, or spineless -- to court her. She deserves a good looking love interest more than Mary deserves three at once!
* Speaking of "deserves better", Tom deserves a better storyline. And more airtime. And a much, much better love interest. This chick in the last few episodes is annoying and totally condescending. She's been judging him since she met him. I did love the Dowager Countess telling him that the Crawleys are his family now, though. I'm not sure how entirely true that is. But I think it's at least a tiny bit true with all of them (and more so with some than others). It amuses me that with as staid as the show is, Tom is 'hot' via just pulling off his coat and trying to fix his car. He STILL deserves a better love interest though. Seriously!
* Totally over Bates. Frankly, if he kicked it at this point, I'd be all "yay!" His wife could do better. Anna deserves better too.
* Did enjoy Moseley & Baxter. I like her and I like how her respect for him makes him better. They can proceed with that pairing with my approval.
* I've grown to appreciate Rose. At least she is sparkly and happy when the Crawleys can be so morose. I also liked her friend Madeleine. Could Rose invite her back to the Abbey so that Madeleine could meet Tom?
* I liked Isobel's growing romance with Lord what's-his-name. If they want a triangle, Doctor/Isabel/Lord What's-his-name would be more enjoyable than Mary's pack of slavering look alikes who ignore the fact that she's more pretty on the outside than the inside.
* *Sigh* Thomas's storyline just circled going no where and they basically discounted all of his character growth last season. I had kind of wanted a denouement where he discovered the secret that Anna kept, and then kept it to himself because he didn't want to add to her harm, showing that he does have a heart under there somewhere. It's okay for him to not be a white-hat. But they had made some effort at expanding him into sort of a middle territory, and then they just reverted him to mean busy-body this year. I'd rather he be gray and nuanced... but that would require better writing.
* The letter and the Prince of Wales story was stupid. We DO know that he eventually abdicates over scandal. Why exactly should we care about different one?
* I hate Shirley McClain's character. We get it. The head writer thinks Americans are crass, loud, pushy and/or dimwitted. WE GET IT. But Shirley McClain's character is just grating. I honestly don't know how SHE is supposed be Cora's mother. (And really, if she's hanging in Newport, she's hanging with the Vanderbilts and the Astors, who were every bit as much rule-bound snobs as the Brits. They really could tone down the 'Americans are borish" undertone that keeps happening (Cora seems to be the exception, as being made a Countess apparently ammeliorates her crass American-ess. Though she is rather stupid most of the time so...) Didn't mind Harold's story with Madeleine nearly as much.
* Still love Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes.
At this point, I really just want Edith to find some happiness and Tom to have a half-decent love interest (and I don't expect to have either wish granted) and both of them added together to have even half the airtime of Mary's merry-go-round of a passel of near-identical suitors.
* I am more than sick to death of Mary and her 'desire of suitors'. Yes, she is beautiful, but she's also a self-important, ice-cold, bratty SNOB. Seriously, I HATE the way she behaves to Edith. Yeah, yeah, Parmuk, whatever. That was ten freaking years ago. Get over it. Plus, why do all these men fall over themselves even after Mary makes clear that she's all about name and money. What? Blake is wealthy and soon to be titled? SOLD! Seriously, I don't get what is supposed to be so incredible about ice-cold Mary that ALL the men trip all over her. Pretty? Yes, she is. But... honestly, when that's the very best thing that can be said of her. Even Matthew, when pressed to come up with her best qualities resorted to saying that he'd seen her naked.
* Poor Edith. It's always "poor Edith". Why does the writer hate her so much? I wish her some way
* Speaking of "deserves better", Tom deserves a better storyline. And more airtime. And a much, much better love interest. This chick in the last few episodes is annoying and totally condescending. She's been judging him since she met him. I did love the Dowager Countess telling him that the Crawleys are his family now, though. I'm not sure how entirely true that is. But I think it's at least a tiny bit true with all of them (and more so with some than others). It amuses me that with as staid as the show is, Tom is 'hot' via just pulling off his coat and trying to fix his car. He STILL deserves a better love interest though. Seriously!
* Totally over Bates. Frankly, if he kicked it at this point, I'd be all "yay!" His wife could do better. Anna deserves better too.
* Did enjoy Moseley & Baxter. I like her and I like how her respect for him makes him better. They can proceed with that pairing with my approval.
* I've grown to appreciate Rose. At least she is sparkly and happy when the Crawleys can be so morose. I also liked her friend Madeleine. Could Rose invite her back to the Abbey so that Madeleine could meet Tom?
* I liked Isobel's growing romance with Lord what's-his-name. If they want a triangle, Doctor/Isabel/Lord What's-his-name would be more enjoyable than Mary's pack of slavering look alikes who ignore the fact that she's more pretty on the outside than the inside.
* *Sigh* Thomas's storyline just circled going no where and they basically discounted all of his character growth last season. I had kind of wanted a denouement where he discovered the secret that Anna kept, and then kept it to himself because he didn't want to add to her harm, showing that he does have a heart under there somewhere. It's okay for him to not be a white-hat. But they had made some effort at expanding him into sort of a middle territory, and then they just reverted him to mean busy-body this year. I'd rather he be gray and nuanced... but that would require better writing.
* The letter and the Prince of Wales story was stupid. We DO know that he eventually abdicates over scandal. Why exactly should we care about different one?
* I hate Shirley McClain's character. We get it. The head writer thinks Americans are crass, loud, pushy and/or dimwitted. WE GET IT. But Shirley McClain's character is just grating. I honestly don't know how SHE is supposed be Cora's mother. (And really, if she's hanging in Newport, she's hanging with the Vanderbilts and the Astors, who were every bit as much rule-bound snobs as the Brits. They really could tone down the 'Americans are borish" undertone that keeps happening (Cora seems to be the exception, as being made a Countess apparently ammeliorates her crass American-ess. Though she is rather stupid most of the time so...) Didn't mind Harold's story with Madeleine nearly as much.
* Still love Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes.
At this point, I really just want Edith to find some happiness and Tom to have a half-decent love interest (and I don't expect to have either wish granted) and both of them added together to have even half the airtime of Mary's merry-go-round of a passel of near-identical suitors.
