…Thomas became the new butler. What a wonderful moment. I think his wrap-up story was my favorite.

Maybe a controversial opinion but I feel like most of the couples in Downton are so forced and I'm so indifferent to 95% of them.

Though I grew to love Mary and Matthew by season three, I never understood why Matthew was so persistently interested in Mary in the very early episodes when all he initially knew of her was her being snobby to him and comparing him to a sea monster. It just seems contradictory to Matthew's self righteous personality.

Why on earth did Anna even like Bates? He's old enough to be her father and literally only caused her stress. I liked Tom and Sybil until they actually got together. Don't get me started on Henry Talbot or Lucy because they both feel like they show up out of nowhere to give a half-baked happy ending that doesn't really have any emotional payoff.

That's not to say there aren't good love interests in the show, Charles Blake, Edith's editor, even Micheal Gregson. All of these could have been great but are either killed or just... forgotten about.

Edited for grammar.

I'm on the verge of completing my first watch of Downton Abbey. While I feel like the creatives did an outstanding job of bringing the story to an end by showing how the world was changing and how that in turn was impacting the lives of the show's characters, I also feel Mary's "deep love" for Henry Talbot was super forced.

After the slow build to the consummation of her and Matthew's romance, believing an interloper like Talbot had captured Mary's heart in a handful of episodes rang false.

I suppose there's an argument to be made that Mary had grown as a person and learned to love someone for who they are and not what they offer, but I don't know. It still feels very rushed.

What were the thoughts of fans when show first aired?

I've always been taught that the bottom button of a waistcoat must always be left undone, which as a rule is certainly correct.

However in Downton, I don't always see this being followed.

For example on the Series 6 episode I'm watching now, Thomas has all his buttons fastened on his waistcoat.

Does the rule not apply to things like uniforms?

Her second wedding dress is just lovely

In season 5,ep 1: Why was Carson really chosen for that war committee thing? To build a monument for the soldiers. They said he is closer to the village and the young man who died in the war. But is he? We never see that in the story. He runs the Abbey so I assumed he spends most of his time there and don't interact much with the village. Off screen is he supposed to be close to the people? Like was that a common thing at the time? Or is that just a weird way the writters found for more of Robert mops about beeing unwanted again?

I’m on my millionth rewatch and even though I like Lady Mary overall, I don’t understand how she has so many men falling at her feet. I get that she’s elegant, quick-witted, confident, and charming when she needs to be, so I can see how that would make her interesting at first. But she doesn’t even try to hide her haughtiness and in later seasons, she’s so bitter and openly bitchy to Edith without provocation - and considering the fact that she’s already in her 30s by then, it makes her seem extra miserable. Her most important love interests, Mathew and Henry, don’t suit her, imo. Mathew was an empathetic person and very guided by his sense of morality (he was borderline annoying), and unlike Mary, he never felt superior to anyone else even if he stood to become Earl. So it doesn’t make sense to me that Mathew would be head over heels for Mary, at least not for anything serious. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think that Lavinia Swire was a much better match, I could even see him with Edith, especially in later seasons (perhaps Sybil too). As for Henry, he and Mary had zero chemistry, though it could be because their romance was so quick that it felt forced. But even so, there’s nothing about them beyond their good looks and occupations that makes their mutual attraction believable. I honestly don’t know who I’d pair Mary with because she doesn’t like to feel second to anybody but at the same time, she doesn’t think much of more modest men like Evelyn Napier who don’t go out of their way to chase her or make a show of what good catches they are. Charles Blake might’ve been a decent match but she fumbled that one over a fling with pompous ass Lord Gillingham and then Henry. I know that Mary’s inheritance alone makes her a good prospect but other than Sir Richard Carlisle and Duke Philip, none of the men she was with even cared about that and were more drawn to her as a person. I don’t know, I just don’t get it.

Also, I will never get over Mary’s shocked Pikachu face when she realizes that Edith will outrank her as Marchioness lmfao

Watched the show like a thousand times at this point. Here are the recycled plots that I have picked up on;

1. New servant - turns out went to prison for theft (Bates and baxter)
2. Innocent person goes to prison (Bates and Anna)
3. Told their illness is terminal only for it to be a mistake (lord Murton and Lady Grantham in the movie)
4. Lady Mary is blackmailed about her private affairs
5. Child out of wedlock (Lady Edith and Bagshaw)

Friends of mine asked me if I could make linocuts of Downton Abbey. I really like the idea and am now looking for a motif. At the moment I am thinking of a portrait of Violet or Mary, for example, with one of their most beautiful quotes. Now I am wondering which pictures and which dresses I should use as a template. What are your favourite costumes in Downton Abbey?

I would be happy to receive references to episodes or events. Links to pictures would, of course, be lovely.

Since I will be printing in black and white, dresses with beautiful contrasts are practical. But that shouldn't limit you. For the quotes, I will rely on the classics like ‘There can be too much truth in every relationship.’ But feel free to write me your favourite (short) quotes.

This is my first post on Reddit, please write me if I did something wrong.

Obviously I don’t mean boring ones like “yes my lady” “yes Mr. Carson” Give me your entertaining sentences!

My favourite sentence they seem to say frequently is “House of Ill Repute!?” 😂

So do we have any idea what happened to her after he went missing/passed? I don't recall any mention of the poor crazy lady after he left. And how is it no one ever finds out he is married? What public explanation was there for him to pick up and move to Germany?

I have to admit I’m absolutely enchanted with the fireplaces in the backdrop of various scenes , particularly when they are lit. Anyone else share in their magic?

I suspect having a lit fire in these days was a bit of a luxury as I think at one point Anna and Bates are considering to have a fire one night and debate on the cost of it (the wood ?).

I’m also so enchanted when I see the servants in the basement a few of them sitting by the fire before bed.

In a house like Downton do you think they are lit twice per day (morning and then before bed in the bedrooms?)?

I assumed the servants would sleep in the lower level basement but some of the scenes in their bedroom , they have skylight style windows implying they are on the top floor ?

My sister was always favored by any male acquaintance. Of course, I love her and have a much better relationship than the sisters in the show. But I just really connect with Edith because of this similarity. My sister is shorter and a better conversationalist. Very petite and pretty. And I’ve always been taller than most men and shy. My sister is getting her doctorate. She was popular in high school and college. She once broke up with a boyfriend and had 3 men admit they were infatuated with her. I once had a cousin ask me how I felt “being the black sheep of the family”. I had my first boyfriend at 21, and haven’t been kissed by my now age of 24. I really do get being the less desirable sister, and that’s why I have so much empathy for Edith.

I was curous if anyone had or could think of any entertaining, but somewhat plausible conspiracy theories from the show. I'll share just the easiest one, perhaps: Mr. Bates is a serial killer. He killed the obvious ones, and maybe a few of the unobvious ones too haha.

No, I don't believe it.

Are you on your 10th rewatch of Downton and just need to get something out of your system without having to make a whole post about it? Or maybe you're a new viewer with a simple question that you just need answered?

Then this is the place for you!

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Before he left, he was all mopey and full of existential angst, unable to reconcile his upbringing and ideology with his current lifestyle. He took his infant daughter and left for the green harbors of Boston, because he had to find himself.

Then, just a short while later, he's back, with no explanation of what he got up to in America, but he's got a huge pod person grin on his face and can't stop talking about how idyllic Downton is and how badly he wants to be allowed back into the fold. He even chastises himself for taking Sybbie away. ("What right had I?") A little while after that, he saves the king from an Irish republican.

It's almost as if something happened to Tom; something to completely reorder his thinking and render him 100% Downton compliant. Like he saw something so cosmically horrific and so irreconcilable with his sanity that he fled back to familiar climes and begged to be let back into civilization. You can have Sybbie, I'll do anything you want, just please don't make me go back out there.