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"May they be happy. With my love."
And so Saint Lavinia of Ginger proves herself to be about as useful in death as she was in life, sending her blessing to Mary and Matthew via a cryptic message to completely the wrong people. Bless, maybe she’s bored because Heaven has no ginger hats for her to wear.
Once again, a great deal of screen time was given over to the sainted Bates and Anna. It’s amazing that two of the most interesting pairs from the first series have become so wet and dull. To be honest, it would be a hundred times more interesting if it turned out Bates had murdered his wife, or if he had been executed. Instead we’re probably going to get another series of the fabulous Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt being forced to be infuriatingly noble as they fight for his inevitable acquittal. Still, seeing Mrs Hughes and Lord Grantham make such awful witnesses was pretty fun.
It was good to get some more scheming Thomas, sadly with minimal input from O’Brien. Although the missing Isis plot wasn’t exactly vintage, the fact that his machinations actually paid off was a nice touch. And I adored the Mrs Patmore and Daisy plot. Lesley Nichol and Sophie McShera have been doing some marvellous work, both comic and tragic, for quite some time, and the development of Daisy was one of the strongest elements of series two. I’m glad she got some closure, and the scene between McShera and Maggie Smith was completely ridiculous but really quite brilliant.
Poor Lady Rosamund, eh? It was good to have more Samantha Bond, who works so, so well up against Maggie Smith, and I’m sure the whole viewing nation almost had a collective fainting fit at the mere idea that Nigel Havers could be playing (gasp!) a bit of a cad. Of course it was all ludicrous, but what would an episode of Downton be without one random plot that hasn’t been built up in any way and will probably never be mentioned again?
Speaking of which, will Edith ever get a proper plot? Or a love interest who is vaguely around her age and actually has a face? It looked like things were finally going somewhere for her, and then it was literally not mentioned again after the first hour. Sybil got more plot development than her, and she wasn’t even there. I’m sure the little nuggets of information about the tales of the youngest Crawley and sexy Branson will have already inspired several new fan fictions.
And after several episodes of frustration, I have to concede that the Matthew and Mary plot was pretty much spot-on here. Sir Richard was still little more than a plot device, but Mary’s increasing despair and Matthew’s concern for her made them seem more real than they had in ages. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that Lord Grantham finally knows the truth about Pamuk, and his measured reaction at least gave a purpose to his stupid plot with Jane. But what really made it work was the fact that we were actually given a sense that they really were suited to each other, rather than just being told that they were some great love story. The final scene was cheesy as anything, but Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens gave it some class. And if you can’t have a bit of cheese at Christmas, when can you?
Although if the first impediment to their happiness in series three is Mary getting pneumonia from standing out in the snow without a coat, I will laugh forever.
The Downton Abbey Christmas Special aired on Christmas Day, 9pm, ITV1.
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