The Dowager Countess Quip-o-meter is back to full speed. Witness:
Regarding a perfume seller…
A guinea? Did he have a mask and a gun?
Regarding Edith…
Stop whining and find something to do!
Regarding a manor that was burned down by Irish revolutionaries…
That house was hideous
Regarding Cora agreeing with her…
Can somebody write that down?
And this, my favorite, regarding the new footman…
He looks like a footman in a musical revue.
There was so much goodness that it almost overshadowed a weird line from Lord Grantham: “There always seems to be something Johnny Foreigner about the Catholics.” (Someone on Twitter made a comment about the new band Johnny Foreigner and the Catholics. I can’t remember who it was but they have my eternal respect.) Lord Grantham did have a great “Good Lord!” when Branson shows up because he’s on the run from the Irish police. Seems he happened to be at the above mentioned Irish manor fire and oh yeah, attended meetings where the plans were made. He didn’t do anything but he felt bad about it. LG was not sympathetic since Branson left pregnant Sybil to deal with the police. I believe “Go to bed!” was LG’s reaction to the whole thing. LG arranges it so that Branson is OK but only if he stays out of Ireland. Sybil is cool with that but Branson? Not so much.
Ethel sends Mrs. Hughes a letter asking her to contact The Bryants. Isobel tries to discourage her from giving up Charlie but she does anyway even though Mr. Bryant is still an ass. Mrs. Hughes tells her she did the right thing and then goes back to her new electric toaster.
The new musical revue footman is named Jimmy Kent. He is an instant favorite with the lineless maids. He also catches Thomas’ eye which catches O’Brien’s eye. Her “Don’t know how. Don’t know when.” threat is now known because O’Brien alludes to Thomas that Jimmy might be “receptive”. If you know what I mean!
Daisy has eyes for the other footman, Alfred. There’s a lovely scene between her and William’s father where she seeks his advice about how to approach Alfred. Which she tries to do but is interrupted by Mrs. Patmore introducing the new kitchenmaid. Not only is Daisy cockblocked by Mrs. Patmore but Alfred is all smiley to the new maid!
In other love news, the prison has been withholding Anna’s letters to Bates and Bates’ letters to Anna. Seems a crooked guard is in cahoots with the Cellmate and they are pushing the nasty drugs. They also aren’t Bates fans like the rest of us. But Bates gets his revenge by having a good guard search the cell which gets the Cellmate in trouble. Now Bates is off the bad boy prison list. Cue the Loving Letter Reading Montage.
What else did I learn from Part 3? Edith found something to do! She wrote a letter to the newspaper about women’s suffrage much to LG’s chagrin. Matthew starts making baby noise but Mary shuts him down with a “later on that”. Instead, Mary encourages Matthew to read up on Downton Abbey’s “affairs” which he does and then wishes he hadn’t because apparently the nobility aren’t very good accountants. He even consults the Dowager Countess who warns him that no matter how he broaches the subject, “a great many noses will be out of joint.” Welcome back, Maggie.
