Downton Abbey, Season 6, Ep. 6

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1920s, British drama, Cora, Downton Abbey, drama, Edith Crawley, England, Grantham, Henry Talbot, Mary Crawley, Masterpiece, Masterpiece Theater, Mr Carson, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Patmore, period piece, romance, Thomas, Tom, Violet

My reactions to the sixth episode of the final season of Downton Abbey. I’d say this was my favourite episode of the season due to all the humour.

• As is true for the whole season, I find the clothing sumptuous and it made me want to work on my triceps.
• Robert is out of the hospital and on the mend, but confined to bed all week.
• This week the hoi poloi was allowed to trample through the Abbey to make money for the Hospital Trust. What a situation ripe for dissension and humour! Of course, Violet, Carson and Robert believed this was the end of civilisation and they did have a point. Even Edith (I think) later said having them come through made her feel like there was something strange so that people were willing to pay to gape at them so that their home was a bit like a zoo. What was most funny was how when Cora, Mary and Edith gave their tours they knew so little about the house’s history. It makes sense because they’ve grown so used to it. It’s just home. Still since they fight to keep it you’d expect them to know more.

Don’t you just love these clothes?

• Daisy continues to get on my nerves. Lately, Mr. Mason is growing sweet on Mrs. Patmore, who seems to return his feelings. Daisy does whatever she can to keep them apart. In this episode she throws a letter to Mrs. Patmore from Mr. Mason in the trash. Luckily, Mrs. Patmore finds it, but Daisy’s acting so oddly and there’s no reason for it–especially since Daisy hasn’t taken up Mr. Mason’s offer for her to live in his house, which would be a lot more more comfortable and pretty than the servants’ quarters. She’d still be able to work at the Abbey.
• The storyline with the hospital progressed. The York Royal Hospital will take over the local hospital. What’s worse was that they’ve made Cora president of the hospital, and they’re sidelining Violet. Everyone kept that a secret from Violet till she discovered the truth via the grapevine. She was livid! The climax was Violet storming into the Abbey during the charity tour and blowing off steam with the acerbic wit we love her for.
• Mary’s love life is moving along. With Tom as an escort, she met Henry Talbot at a dinner party in London. Afterwards, Tom disappeared and Henry and Mary got caught in the rain and shared a romantic kiss. She’s still concerned about his lack of status and his car racing, which reminds her of Matthew’s death.
• Edith invited Bertie, the man who helped her get the magazine out in one night, for dinner at the Abbey. She even showed him her “ward” Marigold. Finally Mary is on to the truth that Marigold is Edith’s daughter. Rather than directly asking Edith, which she really can’t go since she’s got such a rotten relationship with her sister or asking her parents, she’s trying to get the truth out of Anna and Tom. I really applaud their loyalty to Edith as neither spilled the beans.
• Poor Thomas. He’s teaching Andy, who’s illiterate, to read. Yet Mrs. Patmore and Carson have seen Andy coming out of Thomas’ room so they’ve reached the conclusion that Thomas is corrupting Andy. Well, Thomas has been cold and conniving so people don’t expect him to be kind so in part, you reap what you sow, but it’s still too bad. He’s being pushed out the door. It’s understandable because the family has to make cut backs, but now it seems, that he’s getting pushed out because  Thomas has been misunderstood. He promised Andy he’d keep his illiteracy a secret so out of honour he can’t tell. What a dilemma.
• Mr Carson continues to nitpick his new bride Mrs Hughes over her cleaning and cooking skills. She must have known how to make a bed to have progressed in her early career, yet it’s not good enough for Mr Carson, who has no tact. Unfortunately, rather than raising the issue, Mrs Hughes has been stewing. I predict she’ll explode next week. We’ll see.
• Dexter, who deserves to be out of a job at the Dowager’s, coerced Spratt into pleading her case with Violet. He succeeded, but as is the case with blackmail, he’s still on the hook. Dexter will tell the world that he hid his nephew, who was fleeing the law. Yes, Spratt broke the law, but Dexter is so manipulative it’s dangerous.

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Mr Selfridge, Finale Part 1

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1919, Amanda Abbington, British drama, British TV, drama, England, Frances O'Connor, Gordon, Grace, Harry Selfridge, Masterpiece Theater, Miss Mardle, Mr Crabbe, Mr Grove, Mr. Selfridge, Nancy Webb, sale, Selfridges, Victor, Violette

In the US, we got episodes 9 and 10 together for our finale.

So I came to them with great anticipation. We’ve known that Nancy’s a con artist and that Loxley’s scheming to get even with Harry for helping Mae, his ex-wife, though Loxley’s so one dimensional, it annoys me. The less screen time he gets the better. Many viewers have read about Harry’s life in Woodhouse’s Shopping, Selfridge and Mr Selfridge and we know that after Rose died, Harry’s life began to unravel as he became more indulgent and reckless. So far this season we haven’t seen too much of that — yet.

Harry’s got a lot on the line as he’s started a price war to make good on the promise to his board to get them a 10% dividend. Loxley’s circling the waters hoping to bring Harry down. As for romance, Harry’s proposed to Nancy completely unaware that she’s a con artist. Granted she seems to be falling for Harry, but she’s still too cunning for my tastes. How I wish Mamma Selfridge or Princess Marie would go to the Information Bureau and have her looked up! Or Violette. She seems to have her suspicions.

This season isn’t the program’s best. It feels like they’ve gotten new writers to take over and they don’t have a sense of what viewers like me want.

The episode begins with Harry showing everyone a warehouse of goods that they must sell so he can keep his board members happy. Everyone rises to the occasion, which does show a devotion to the game of retail and to Harry himself. It reminds me of The Paradise and I would get caught up in the glamor of shopping and sales. There was an art to this business, which is sadly fallen by the wayside.

Loxley, who’s name must be synonymous with unctuous, has a fit when he reads in the paper that Lady Mae, his ex-wife is going to get married. The scene came off as rather over-the-top in terms of emotion. Loxley is meant to be a character your hate, but mainly he’s become a caricature. He then calls a meeting with two board members who for some reason see him as worth listening to. Why? The man’s clearly unscrupulous and was losing money himself until he started profiteering.

Harry stops a supplier from overcharging Nancy who’s buying lumber for houses she didn’t plan to build. In the car to the store she admires his bargaining prowess. He’s saved her. Swoon. Then things go pear-shaped as the car approaches the store. Protestors outside pelt Harry and Nancy with eggs. If you don’t like a business practice, boycott the sale. There’s no reason to get nasty. But this barbarism results in Harry deciding he needs a new head of security and since George needs a new job . . .

So George gets a job as head of security back at Selfridges, where he belongs.

Princess Marie informs Harry that she’s gotten delivery of her family jewels. She can now wipe the slate clean and carry her weight financially. Harry brushes aside any thoughts of repayment. Harry confesses that he and Nancy are secretly engaged, which sets off the princess’ radar. She’s leery of Nancy Webb, so she does some detective work. She discovers that Nancy’s architect is a fraud when she sees him hocking the engagement ring Harry gave Nancy. This storyline has gotten tense. It seems the truth about Nancy will come out and it’ll devastate Harry.

Billy, the biological father of Doris and Mr Groves’ son Ernest, stops by unannounced to visit Ernest. Mr Groves sent him packing and later chewed out Miss Mardle for interfering, which she did do. She responds by calling Groves a hypocrite and criticizing him for seeing things in black and white. She had a point, but could have been more humble. After all, her meddling led to Doris’ death. This storyline has seemed forced. Doris getting hit by the car and having an affair seemed dreamt up to add Drama! The scene where Mr Groves and Miss Mardle have it out, seemed, like many this season, to be forced and unnatural.

The French aviator, who’s something of a churl, takes Violette out on a date — to Victor’s to “play out past history” if you believe what he says. She would have guessed as much before she gets to the alley where Victor’s club is, but never mind. It’s boorish in the extreme to flaunt that you’re going out with someone in front of your or their past love. Violette is extremely uncomfortable and should run from this sadistic man. He completely lacks insight or sensitivity when it comes to women. Violette is a strong-willed woman so even though her father’s meddled in her love life and said Victor’s off-limits, I don’t get that she feels she must go out with Jacques. At home Harry consoles Violette, who for some unknown reason feels she must marry this Jacques though she’s young and attractive. It’s just bizarre. Why does she feel so hopeless? Her mother didn’t marry till she was in her 30s. I doubt Violette’s that old.

Gordon vows to tell his father that he loves Grace. She’d put an end to their romance after Mr. Crabbe caught them kissing.

Mr. Grove consents to allow Billy to visit his son once a month. I do wonder if Billy would continue to visit if at some point he meets a new girl . . . .

Loxley manipulates the board members, who’re putty in his hands, into calling an emergency board meeting. Mr. Crabb gets hysterical, but Harry’s ready for them. He knows he could be ousted and in the end has the last laugh by not showing up. There’s a clause in the store’s by laws that says he can postpone a board meeting for two weeks. So he does.

The Paradise

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19th Century, Britain, Denise Lovett, department store, drama, Edmund Lovett, historical drama, Masterpiece Theater, Moray, PBS, The Paradise

Denise Lovett

After Moray shook up The Paradise by jilting the powerful Katherine Glendenning, we’re back at this store a year later to see what’s new. Moray returns from Paris because Katherine, who now owns the store with her new husband, Mr. Tom Weston, a severe and scary man, summoned him. Katherine’s father has died. His loan put the store in his name as a means of keeping Moray faithful. That ploy didn’t work, but it won’t be easy for Moray to get the store back, as he’d like to.

Miss Audrey decides to marry Edmund, Denise’s uncle and she and go off to the seaside to live in a cottage her brother bequeathed to her. Ah, so now there’s a top position open in ladies’ wear. Who will get it Clara or Denise? In episode three Denise gets it in spite of Moray’s warning that the games between Katherine and Tom. Katherine’s drawn to this gloomy foreboding man. God knows why.

Episode 5 of 8 airs Sunday the 26th. Spoilers follow.

Tom treats his daughter, who’s about 7, terribly, belittling her, glaring at her and yelling at her not to touch his things! Miss Flora is sure to grow up in need of Dr. Freud’s expertise. Katherine is the kind stepmother, breaking a long held tradition, but she just indulges poor Flora with shopping trips. The girl has no playmates or friends. Poor thing.

I’ve liked the series and needed a dose of historical drama – corsets and all. I’m not sure whether I’m more draw by Denise’s romance with Moray or her ambition to run ladies’ wear and create the most magnificent department store in the Western world. I know Katherine’s plots are compelling. She’s someone I would watch with care. It’s clear that she want’s Denise to fail and fall as punishment for capturing Moray’s heart.

I miss Pauline, who was Clara and Denise’s roommate cum colleague. I didn’t catch what took her away. She did so want to marry. I should re-watch episode 1 to find out. Sam’s back and I’d like to see him in a more prominent role. He should be doing more at work, not just cutting cloth and uttering witticisms. Susy, who’s mother we learned is a drinker, replaced Pauline. She’s a good supporting character who needs to learn the ropes.

Tom has a back full of scars which Katherine uses to pull him under her influence, or try to. He’s very much a man who wants to be in charge, but he’s living in her father’s house and the money’s from her family. The scars on the back and dialog have suggested that he was attacked while retreating . . . hmm? What’s the story on that?

From week to week, my curiosity remains piqued as I want to know what Katherine’s up to, how Tom will react to any manipulation towards Moray and Denise which will reveal that Katherine married just to show Moray she could.

(By the way, next month my book club will read Emil Zola’s novel A Ladies’ Paradise. Leave a comment if you’d like to join us.)

Mr Selfridge Background: Mabel Normand

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1914, actress, background, comedienne, early film, entertainment, Mabel Normand, Masterpiece, Masterpiece Theater, Mr. Selfridge, silent film

Tomorrow’s Mr. Selfridge will feature a visit from silent film star Mabel Normand. She eventually directed her own films and opened her own film studio. Here’s more from The Encyclopedia of World Biography:

Actress and comedienne Mabel Normand’s most important role involved her contribution to the development of film comedy. Those who came after, such as Lucille Ball, owe her a large debt.

Normand proved far ahead of her time. She was an independent, successful woman in a male-dominated industry, and she exercised a great deal of control over her own career. She also developed gags, wrote scripts, and even directed some early silent films. But this comedy star’s life was filled with tragedy. She became enmeshed in scandal, indulged far too much than was good for her fragile health, and she died young.

Normand was one of the film world’s first celebrities. She had a rebellious nature, and this non-conformity made her a “star” before that term came into common use. Like modern celebrities, her involvement in career-destroying scandals unfairly amounted to little more than guilt by association.

Born in New York City

The screen’s first true female comedy star was born as Mabel Ethelried Normand on November 11, 1892, in Staten Island in New York City, New York. She was the youngest of four children born to Claude G. Normand and Mary Drury Normand. Her parents were French Canadians, and Claude Normand struggled to make a living to support his family. He worked as a carpenter but also played piano in clubs, small theaters, and movie houses.

As a young teenager, Normand toiled as a factory garment worker. In 1909, the seventeen-year-old Normand found work as a model. Painters and illustrators were attracted to her dark curled hair that framed her round face and large, expressive eyes. At the time, such attributes epitomized the current conception of beauty. Famous artists she posed for included Charles Dana Gibson, who created the “Gibson girl look,” and James Montgomery Flagg, the man who created the famous Uncle Sam “I Want You” military recruiting posters.

Moved from Modeling to Films

Normand was friends with Alice Joyce, a fellow model whose beauty led her into film work. Normand followed her into the burgeoning industry and worked as an extra in films produced by the Kalem Film Company, an early East Coast-based movie production studio. Soon, she made the acquaintance of Frank Lanning, an actor who worked at Biograph Studios. Lanning convinced her to change studios, which proved to be good advice, as Biograph boasted the talents of D.W. Griffith, the pioneering film director who would later produce the movie industry’s first feature films, (The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance). As such, the company attracted the best of the early film industry’s talent.

Mr. Selfridge, Season 2

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drama, Frances O'Connor, Gregory Fitoussi, Jeremy Piven, Kathleen Kelly, Lady Loxley, Lord Loxley, Masterpiece Theater, Mr. Selfridge, period drama, Selfridges, women in war, WWI

In the third episode of Mr. Selfridge’s second season, Delphine Day (Polly Walker) organizes a card game with some of the influential movers and shakers she knows including Harry (Jeremy Piven) and Lord Loxley. It’s wonderful to see the smug Loxley lose to Harry.

People are coming to terms with the war. Agnes receives a letter from her brother George and though it’s been redacted he seems chipper. Miss Mardle takes in a Belgian refugee. She expects Florian to be a woman’s name, but it turns out that her refugee is a young man, a rather innocent and attractive Belgian. If he brings any chocolate into the house, she’ll be putty in his hands. This mix up is rather weak. Of course, Miss Mardle could arrange to have a woman live with her and someone else could take in Mr. Florian.

I’m worried about Henri who’s very mysterious this episode. His secret life remains so, to a larger extent. He’s giving lots of money to a suspicious looking man, who’s supposed to track a woman down for him. Since he’s gotten on Mr. Thackery’s bad side, Thackery follows him around town looking for dirt. Henri had best watch out. My guess is that while the problem may not be innocent it’s not as bad as it seems. Thackery expects that Henri is a German spy. Poppycock, Thackery. Poppycock.

Things are looking up for Lady Loxley (Kathleen Kelly) as her husband’s finances are going up since he’s getting kick backs for army procurement deals. She’s been authorized to get a new wardrobe. It’s a pity that Mr. Thackery just couldn’t pick up on the newer trends. All he could show her seemed dated, though I thought the gowns were stunning, just not right for wartime.

Rose was used nicely in this episode. She saved the day as the store must employ women in the warehouse. Their garments made work nearly impossible. No one at the store really knew what to do, but Rose stepped in and figured it all out. Later when Mr. Crab organized shooting practice for store employees, Rose impressed her son Gordon with her expertise. I love seeing these new facets of hers and I’m glad to see she and Harry’s marriage is improving. Yet I do fear Daphne is up to something with Harry. She was needlessly secretive about the card game when she saw Rose.

All in all, the season’s shaping up nicely. The new characters are intriguing, though troublesome and having the mother and girls away makes the cast size more manageable for the writer. I don’t miss Miss Love at all or Harry’s philandering. While that will no doubt return, I’m glad the show isn’t all about infidelity and illicit romance.

Downton Abbey, Episode 4

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British, British TV, Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theater, twitter

Tweets on tonight’s show