Downton Abbey Season 3 Finale

Downton Abbey Season Finale

Well, lords and ladies, dukes and duchesses, we have come to the close of another season of the PBS phenom, Downton Abbey.  As the end cap recapper (a joke for all my fellow retail sales friends), along with the fab, Jenny Gardiner, I want to thank you for spending time with all the Downton Gala gals as we’ve hashed, rehashed, and hash-tagged this third season of Downton.  If you’d like to quickly take a walk down memory lane, you can find the previous blog posts here:

Episode 1 - Laura Chapman

Episode 1 - Elizabeth Marx 

Episode 2 - Tracey Livesay 

Episode 3 - Meredith Schorr

Episode 4 -  Tracie Banister

Episode 5 - Cat Lavoie 

Episode 6 - Jen Coffeen 

Don’t miss the lovely, Jenny Gardiner’s recap on the season finale as well. 

This was a meaty season finale, so let’s jump in and get right to it.  This episode is time stamped one year after episode 6, so make sure that you’re all caught up before watching!  There were a lot of goings on, so consider this the ESPN highlight reel.  There were other happenings, such as a drunken Mosley whooping it up at the ball, ladies maids infighting, and Carson being a stick in the mud when it comes to tom-foolery and the staff wanting a day off at the fair, and finally Anna and Bates are happy, lovey-dovey campers.  Those are your brief Jen's Notes on those sidebar story lines.  Yet, let's get to the goods, shall we?

**WARNING: SPOILERS IN MIRROR MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR**

An Heir and No Spare

Let’s clear the elephant from the room, shall we?  Mathew is dead.  In the words of my beloved husband Mike, “Damn!  American producers would’ve just hired actors who look exactly like the ones leaving the show.  The Brits kill them off!  First Sybil, then Matthew?  Damn…”

We were left in the final sequences of the show with Lady Mary cooing and cuddling her newborn son, while Matthew, daydreaming of fatherhood and lineage, is victim to a nasty head-on collision.  His blood spills onto the ground, as Lord Grantham speaks of Matthew as the family’s saving grace to keep their fortune intact and their future promising.

*Jen asks for a moment of silence*

Thank you.  Now let’s get on to other matters at hand, shall we?

Airing of the Grievances

The Stalking Tweeds-Donegal Castle, Sctoland

     We open the season finale with the Crawley’s packing to leave on their annual pilgrimage to visit their cousins, Shrimpy and Susan, and the naughty little Rose at Donegal Castle in Scotland.  Robert left his puppy companion, Isis behind, to which Mike said, “It’s all going to Hell now!  Isis will be killed and eaten.  You never leave your dog behind!”

     Thankfully, my hubs is not an intuitive, nor a script writer!

     What we do find is Shrimpy and Susan are no longer fond of one another, their daughter, Rose, has become a handful they can no longer deal with, and Shrimpy says in confidence to Robert that their fortune has run out.  All Robert has heard and seen on this getaway, leads him to confess to Cora that he has complete faith in Matthew to turn things around for Downton, and that he cherishes their family and relationship.  Cora Swoons.  It’s magic! 

Rose will be joining the Crawley family soon to escape her overbearing parents.  My girl, Rose, wants to party all the time, and her parents just aren’t having it.  Sending her off to live with the relatives will be interesting next season.  We were given a taste of Rose’s teen angst when she visited London with Edith.  I ‘m sure there’s more to come, my pretties. 

     Oh!  I forgot to mention that in Scotland, bagpipes are the new alarm clock, doorbell, and dinner is served indicator.  I mean, when in Scotland… 

Flirting 101

While the Aristocats were away at Donegal Castle, the mice were having a heyday.  There were a whole lot of sheep’s eyes going on at Downton Abbey!

          Edna and Branson-Edna, you moved a little fast and were a bit uppity for Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes.  You flirted with the widower openly, stalked him at the local pub, and then bullied him into eating downstairs with his old homies before breaking and entering his boudoir and planting a big juicy kiss on his lips.  Über inappropriate and unbecoming a downstairs dweller.  So now you’re canned!  Too bad, so sad.  Perhaps you’ll get a second shot at romance with Branson, and airtime, next season.

          Sales Dude and Mrs. Patmore-What a cheeky bugger!  Mrs. Patmore has a suitor in the new spice salesman.  He sends her a lovely blouse, invites her to the fair, and creates his go-to list of lovely things that she can cook for him, because it’s really romantic to dictate to your date how you like your eggs prepared.  Mrs. Hughes sees how this gentleman is with the other ladies in town; a cheek kisser and fanny pincher.  She makes the decision to spill the beans to Mrs. Patmore about her suitor, and is relieved to find Mrs. Patmore is grateful for the FBI file on Mr. Flirty Pants, for she was not fond of his culinary demands.

           Doctor Clarkson and Isobel-Well, well, well…  Wasn’t that a cute little one-sided relationship?  Dr. Clarkson invited Isobel Crawley to the fair, and spilled his liquored-up guts to her about marrying again, and laid on the hints pretty thick that he’d love to lover her, baby.  It all went right over Isobel’s head.  Feeling squeamish that he’d been so forward, the next day Dr. Clarkson thanked Isobel for saving him from babbling on and on.  Again, the gal can’t take a hint.  I would love to see happiness bloom between these two next season, especially with the death of Matthew. 

          Thomas and James-More one-sided lust and love!  Thomas and James are working side-by-side, yet the awkwardness between them is so thick, you could frost it and call it a cake.  James imbibes a little too much at the fair after betting on Team Downton to win at tug-of-war, and came away victorious with a few extra shillings in his pocket.  James wanders off and is accosted by the sore losers, yet not far behind is Thomas who jumps between them all and takes a licking for James.  Robbed, and beaten to a pulp, a recovering Thomas is visited in his room by James, who wants clarity as to why Thomas was following him and jumped into the fray.  Thomas followed public intox, James, worried he could get into a pickle, and he certainly did.  Thomas pleads with James to put the whole sorry I locked lips with you while you were sleeping episode to rest, and they agree to be chums.  Isn’t that lovely?

          Edith and her editor-Although her editor stalked her on the family vacation, he’s married to a woman he claims is mentally ill and institutionalized.  Edith realizes she’s cool with being the other woman because he legally cannot get a divorce.  Her family is not thrilled with it, and she refuses to bend to their will.  Edith—what a sassy little side of you I’m excited to see more of next season! 

A Kinder, Gentler Dowager Countess 

Could it be?  Did we see a less meddling, snarky side of Violet Crawley last night?  Sure she had a few quips about leaving Branson unsupervised while they jetted off to Scotland; she’ll always see him as the chauffer.   However, she stayed out of Shrimpy and Susan’s bickering due to Rose’s choice of dress for The Ball, due to her own interesting attire choices as a young thing.  Her eyes grew large at the bagpipe blast before dinner, yet she zipped her lip.  Do not fret, my friends!  Violet and all her Violet-isms will return before too long.  Season four of Downton Abbey is currently in production!

    

     Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you’ve all had fun with our little group of bloggers along the way!  Cheers to a riveting season of the wildly successful, Masterpiece Theater production, Downton Abbey.  Let’s also raise a virtual glass to success for the cast members we saw come and go.  I’m not sure how you might be feeling this morning, but Mike has claimed he will no longer watch Downton.  It’s not that his “man card” has been repo-ed.  He’s a tad pissed they killed off Matthew and Lady Sybil this season.  Poor thing.  He’ll recover quickly after watching a few episodes of Moonshiners, so don’t fret for him for long.   

XOXO

Jen