Edith Grantham is the Jan Brady of Downton Abbey- Page 3

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 2:11pm

I miss O'Brien as well. She was a good actress.

And I don't think that he's writing Maggie Smith's role as well as he used to. The character is flowing because of Maggie Smith but he really needs to sharpen her dialogue.

And I think it's funny how he writes the storylines. Mrs. Pattmore overcame blindness in one episode, Mrs. Hughes beat breast cancer in one episode, but Anna is going to drag her situation out for the rest of the season. And whatever happened to the old farmer whose son Daisy married? Wasn't she supposed to get the farm once he died? Will Daisy become landed gentry?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 2:15pm

My complaint is, he sets things up and then they go away rather quickly. The episode prior to the one where Anna is raped, Thomas is conspiring with Edna to make Anna look bad. Then 2 episodes later, Edna is gone. Edna with Tom is another example.

I miss O'Brien as well.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 2:30pm

"Then 2 episodes later, Edna is gone."

I think that was a temporary fix because of the exit of the actress playing O'Brien. You see how the new actress is almost like O'Brien, very secretive, very plain looking. I don't think Fellowes wanted to reimagine the role for a new actress. The filming was about to begin so they brought Edna back until he could find O'Brien II. The interesting part is that there was hardly any mention of Edna being in a higher position than Anna. Anna should have thrown a bitch fit.

[wonkit]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 4:26pm

I didn't like the Edna character, so glad to see the last of her. Interesting that the motive for O'Brien II is not entirely clear.

I was afraid that Anna would be impregnated by the rapist but they have ruled that out (thank goodness).

I keep hoping that some lovely upper class girl falls for Tom so that he doesn't have to feel so out of place. If both Sibyl and another young aristocrat loved him, surely he would become more confident.

Updated On: 2/4/14 at 04:26 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 4:30pm

I wish Tom had better writing as well. "I'm going back to Ireland" "I have family in Liverpool" "I'm going to America." It's too much. He's going in twenty different directions.

[wonkit]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 4:32pm

This season so far, I wish [enter any character's name here] had better writing.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 7:18pm

I do think the need for so many quips for Maggie Smith has caused them to not be nearly as good overall.

It may be very soapy (but I mean this show did have that oddly dropped story about the "heir" with amnesia and a changed face or whatever) but I still think it was going to be revealed that Alfred, her nephew she was so protective of, would turn out to be her legitimate son and Thomas would have found out (or knew.) I have zero gossip about if that was the plan, but it just seems too obvious to me. As others have said, that wasn't their fault as the actress left so suddenly, but...

Best, Iunderstand what you mean and I agree about the first two seasons. I'm worried Fellowes now wants to keep the show as long as possible (when I believe he used to always say he had it clearly mapped out for five years only.) I suppose the planned prequel has been dropped too?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 7:30pm

"As others have said, that wasn't their fault as the actress left so suddenly, but..."

Did she leave suddenly? I thought she gave an interview where she said she had only planned on being in it for three years. It does seem strange that she would leave since she was a well liked character. She was the one we love to hate in a cast full of goody-two-shoes.

I've also heard it said that British actor contracts are different than Americans. They are only signed for a year and sometimes it's not clear whether the show will be renewed and so they take other work before the decision to return is made. Could that have been the case?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 9:26pm

Isn't Edith's boyfriend stuck in Munich in 1922? I'm hoping they get him embroiled in Hitler's putsch-- anything to reflect the current events of the time... (And no Spoilers, please-- I want to be surprised.)

[wonkit]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 9:42pm

Re-watching this week's episode: at one point, Gary Carter (playing Jack Ross) refers to Carson as "Mr. Carter." Odd that the editor didn't catch it!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 2/4/14 at 9:51pm

Gotham, it's true that in the UK nearly all TV contracts are only for three years, unlike the US (or so I've read. Apparently agents simply won't allow longer ones, I assume partly due to TV work (unless it's a soap) being relatively shorter, the fact that so many UK tv actors seem to do a lot of other projects too--at least IMHO it seems more so than American ones, etc.

But, from the Fellowes quotes in I believe Ent Weekly, she did make her decision after series 3 was done. Dan Stevens made his decision late while filming, and whoever plays Sybil had let them know before they started the season. Still, maybe they had some idea since they did give her an easy out with Rose's mom taking to her so much and wanting to take her with her to India.

And in embarrassing news, I recently re-watched Weekend with a friend who hadn't seen it yet, and never put two and two together that Cullen is playing Tony, one of Mary's suitor (I did recognize Ovendon.)