Downton Abbey: Season 2, Episode 4
Welcome! Sarah from Green Bean Teen Queen and I are once again recapping Downton Abbey. Sarah’s words are italicized while mine are normal, except one part that’s bolded, simply because I couldn’t help myself.
If you’ve yet to start on this gem, here are five good reasons why you should. If you missed this episode, or any of Season 2, it is available until March on the Masterpiece website.
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We start on the battlefield. Matthew prepares to lead a surge, with William by his side. It will be dangerous. Yet when Matthew sounds the call, they all race forward valiantly. A bomb goes off near Matthew and William jumps forward to protect. They are both blown backwards.
Were you able to tell if the rest of the troop completed the mission, Sarah?
No, I didn’t. This scene went so fast and I was so worried about Matthew and William! I had to rewind to see again because I didn’t want it to be true that they were hurt! They also didn’t really discuss it much after-at least that I caught.
The next morning, Mary springs into action. She has decided she’ll watch over Matthew while he’s at the hospital. Cora has called Lavinia from London.
Watching Mary’s reaction to the news is so heartbreaking. I want Mary and Matthew to be together so much this season! You can see they still care for each other very much and it’s so hard to watch them dance around each other and try to be proper and ignore their feelings. I don’t think Mary’s doing a great job at hiding it though-her whole family knows how she feels!
I can tell Lord Grantham is just itching to say something, but he stops himself.
When Sybil hears Mary plans to stay by Matthew at the hospital, she decides to go there as well, to lend moral support. When she asks Branson for a ride, he goes off about the latest political news, the Russian royal family has been killed.
Although he doesn’t approve, he says that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. This is the first time I’ve really not liked Branson. Killing children? Not okay under any circumstances.
Yeah, I’m not loving the Branson/Sybil relationship as much I thought I would. I don’t really see the attraction on Sybil’s side-I think he appeals to her a bit, but I think he’s too pushy. They may win me over yet, but we’ll see. As of this episode I’m still feeling a bit meh about them.
After he arrives and settles in, the doctor discovers that Matthew’s injurys are really bad. It’s worse than anyone’s imagined. Not only does the doctor think he’ll never walk, it’s also supposed that he’ll never be able to have sex/children.
When Lavinia arrives from London, Matthew’s obviously pleased to see her, calling her, “My darling.” This is the first alone moment we’ve seen between these two! Although I’m still rooting for Mary, it’s nice to see that Matthew actually does love her and isn’t just engaged to her to spite Mary. It reaffirms my faith in his character.
Agreed. I liked seeing that Matthew isn’t just trying to get back at Mary but he really does care for Lavinia. This moment between them is very sweet and it’s again, so sad to watch everyone around Matthew try to be strong while they are breaking down inside.
Back at Downton, Mrs. Bates has reappeared, after O’Brien told her Bates is working there again. She once again threatens to sell Lady Mary’s story to the papers, even though Bates has given her all the money he has to keep her quiet.
That evening, Anna tells Mary of the visit. Mary knows what she must do and goes to London the next morning to see Carlisle.
Oooh-that Mrs. Bates! She just won’t stop! I’m glad Mary has some connections to stop her, but I’m worried about the price she’ll have to pay if she tells Carlisle her secret.
She tells him everything that happened with Pamuck. He’s shocked, but agrees to do what he can to keep Mrs. Bates quiet.
He actually seems rather pleased, saying this puts them on more equal footing. The more I see of Carlisle, the less I like him.
Yeah, I think he’s a bit swarmy. I liked that he didn’t brush Mary off after her confession, but I’m worried what he might do with the information. I don’t trust him.
I don’t think Mary really trusts him either. At the very least, I think she knows what he’s capable of.
Carlistle gets Mrs. Bates to “sell” her story to him, making her sign agreements that she’ll sell it to no one else.
The next day, Carlisle and Mary’s engagement is announced in the papers. Mrs. Bates comes back enraged, saying that he’s tricked her, but Carlisle reminds her of the papers she’s signed. He threatens her that if she doesn’t keep her promise, he’ll see her in court.
I like that Mrs. Bates has been quieted-for now. I’m sure she’ll have some new evil plan though-she’s just that horrible!
Mary arrives back at Downton that evening and tells Bates of the news.
I loved this moment between Mary and Bates. I like that this season the staff and the household really love Bates, whereas last season, they weren’t sure about him. He’s proven invaluable to the household and I like that Mary has taken care of him and Anna. Sure, she was saving herself as well, but I think she cares about Anna as well and doesn’t want to see her get hurt.
While Mary was in London, Lavinia was visiting Matthew. He breaks off their engagement, telling her about his disability and how their’s could never be a real marriage. Lavinia protests, but he tells her to return to London, think of him as dead, and remember him as he was.
Exactly! I can’t believe Lavinia would just give up! Mary would fight for him and I think she will. To me, this shows Lavinia is too weak and she’s nice and all, but I think Matthew could do better.
Soon after, Isobel finally arrives back and goes to see Matthew at the hospital.
While Matthew has been at the hospital, William has been staying at Downton, after some string-pulling from Violet. His lungs were severely injured and he’s going to die.
His final wish? To marry Daisy. She doesn’t want to, but she’s basically forced into it by the others. She doesn’t want to lie to him anymore.
He says he wants to be able to take care of her, and the pension she’ll get as his widow will be all he can do.
She does marry him and hours afterwards, he dies.
I’m afraid this scene didn’t quite move me to tears. I spent most of my time worrying about what this’ll do to Daisy’s conscience. Will she be able to reconcile her actions to herself? Now, one last thing:
Mrs. Hughes has been taking food to Ethel, who is now trying to find work while caring for her child. Poor Ethel has been trying to write letters to soldier who fathered her child (I forgot his name) but he won’t respond. Mrs. Hughes tries to deliver a letter to him when he’s visiting Downton, but he refuses to even look at it and says it’s none of Mrs. Hughes business.
I agree, Ethel is a frustration. I’m worried about this new maid, though. The way Lord Grantham was looking at her… I think she could cause trouble. Especially since he and Cora seem to be having a few arguments lately.
The preview for next week definitely has me anxious! The man with the scarred face and Carlisle’s threats against Mary both caught my attention. Is it Sunday yet?
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Twitter Etiquette: Late Night Tweeting?
I tweet a lot, and a rather large portion of my tweeting takes place late at night. I’m talking after midnight here.
When I get on twitter, the first thing I do is check my replies. Then I, umm, reply to them.
Lately, though, I’ve been worried. Since a lot of twitter accounts are hooked up to people’s cell phones, I’m wondering if tweeting people who aren’t on twitter late at night may be rude. The last thing I want is someone’s phone going off at midnight and them waking up to read a somewhat inane comment I’ve made.
Or should I assume everyone turns their phones off? Goodness knows I have no issues emailing people late, and I know a few friends who have their emails sent directly to their Droid. Twitter is a different beast altogether, though, I think.
Basically, this quandary has me confused. I need your opinions, twitterers. What’s the appropriate protocol?
A Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler
Since her return from teaching in a refugee camp located in the Philippines, Samantha has been living a quiet, lonely life working at her mother’s boutique near the capital. A string of encounters ends with her face to face with the student she falsely accused and the man who broke her heart. She has a lot of choices to make.
With a past full of disappointment, a present with loneliness, and a future with question marks, Samantha’s character has many challenges to overcome over the course of the novel. Some of the issues seem to be glossed over in order to focus on the romance, a tangled web in itself.
Speaking of the romance, my feelings towards it were mixed. I spent a rather large portion of the book wondering whether I really wanted the characters to get together. Instead, the majority of my time was spent thinking about whether Samantha and Carson would be good for each other. It intrigued me, but I wasn’t rooting for it to happen.
Although I didn’t know it from reading the official summary, this book is set in 1993 with flashbacks to 1985. The details in the flashbacks are historically accurate and help paint an appropriate picture of the Vietnamese refugee camps, not a surprise since Alice J. Wisler actually did work in such camps during the time period. However, in the 1993 portions of the book, there were not enough things to make the era distinct, other than an offhand reference to Princess Diana.
This book lacks a clear focus. Although Samantha is undeniably the main character, a lot of time is spent on secondary characters. Just enough to get to know the reasoning behind their actions, without the opportunity to feel as if I really knew them. In the end, the forays into the secondary characters’ pasts served only to distract from Samantha’s story.
A Wedding invitation tends to stumble over itself and is a bit awkward. While Samantha’s experience in the refugee camp, as well as the overarching romance perked my interest, it wasn’t enough to endear the book to me.
This book was received for review from Bethany House .