'Downton Abbey' Season 2, Episode 1

[wee_mango]

As predicted, Matthew has been sent to the front. Oh noes! :O Downton is in disarray: William has taken over temporarily as valet (where's Bates??); new housemaid Ethel Parks is complaining; Robert is lamenting the fact that he hasn't been called to war; Branson is attempting to teach Edith how to drive, and Sybil receives bad news.


Ethel: "Who is this Mr Bates?"
Anna: "His Lordship's valet. He's been in London because his mother died."
Ethel: "Oh everyone talks about him as if he were a king."
Anna: "Do they? That's nice to hear..."
:D



Nooooooo Matthew's engaged to someone who isn't Mary. The look on Robert & Cora's faces says it all. :(


- Sybil: "Sometimes it feels as if all the men I ever danced with are dead."




Sybil contemplates doing something more useful, ie. become a nurse (with which Violet agrees), new housemaid Ethel manages to wind up both Mrs Patmore and O'Brien on her first day (because WOMEN AREN'T ALLOWED TO HAVE AMBITIONS!!1!) and Mary bumps into Bates on the same train and share a car back to Downton.




Somebody sure looks pleased to have Bates back... ;) :D


- Lavinia: "It's awfully grand."
Matthew: "You better get used to it; it could be your home one day."


- Hahah Violet won't be civil to Lavinia by the sounds of it... ;)




Poor Mary, she obviously still has feelings for Matthew and this is awkward. Mrs Hughes and Carson still don't agree on Matthew (Carson thinking he broke Mary's heart and Mrs Hughes saying she has herself to blame for taking too long to answer Matthew's proposal), and Robert defends William when he's made to take a white feather, a sign of cowardice for not fighting at the Front.




(in the courtyard)
Bates: "She just turned up at my mother's house, not long before she died."
Anna: "So, what does it mean?"
Bates: "I think it means, at long last, I'm able to get a divorce."
Anna: "Mr Bates, is this a proposal?"
Bates: "If that's what you want to call it, and you might start calling me John."
Anna: "Why are you sure she'll do it now when she's refused for so long?"
Bates: "Mother left me some money, much more than I thought. Vera's a greedy woman; she won't refuse what I can offer her."
Anna: "Will we have to leave Downton?"
Bates: "Not until we want to. I've spoken to his Lordship and he will find a cottage for us near the house."
Anna: "You told him you want to marry me?"
Bates: "I did."
Anna: "Before you spoke to me?"
Bates: "You don't mind do you?"
Anna: (smiling) "Of course I mind! In fact I could give you a smack if I didn't want to kiss you so much, I could burst!"
(they kiss, Anna grins and they both embrace)
AT LONG FRIGGING LAST. And I love how Anna has to stand on her toes to hug him lol. :D :D :D



At the dining table between Mary and Matthew there is a slight awkwardness, though she claims she is happy for him; O'Brien wrongly sends Ethel up the stairs to the dining room embarrassing her infront of the Crawleys and their guests (and scandalising Carson); Sybil has a go at cooking (much to the amusement of Mrs Patmore), with help from Daisy.


- (the kitchen)
Anna: "I don't think we should sell your mother's house, not yet."
Bates: "We could rent it out, then we can save. When I've some time off, I'll go up to London and get it ready."
Anna: "Maybe I can come with you. We could do it together."
Bates: "I've got an idea, that a bit later on, if we want to..."
Anna: "...if we want to start a family."
Bates: "I thought that when the time is right, we might sell and we could buy a small hotel just a little one, maybe near here, then, we could work together and have the children with us..." (Anna looks like she's about to cry with happiness.) "What is it?"
Anna: "Nothing, it's just in my whole life I never thought I could be as happy as I am at this moment."
(Ethel comes storming into the kitchen and flings herself into a chair, throwing them a glance. Bates glares round at her and then back to Anna.)




Mary wishes Matthew good luck (of all things to say when you're about to go back to war!) and sees him off at the station; Vera Bates makes an unwelcome appearance; Carson tips Cora off about Sybil's cooking, however Cora's mind is put at ease.




(Mrs Hughes's sitting room)
Vera: (pouring herself a cup of tea) "Sit down."
Bates: "I don't want to sit down."
Vera: (sighing) "Suit yourself."
Bates: "Look, I'm not saying it's all your fault for how things worked between us, but I couldn't go back to that. I'll take the blame. I'll go to some hotel in Malton with a tart, so why hold on?"
Vera: "Because I tried it on my own and I don't like it. (smiling) You've got money now. We'd be comfortable."
Bates: (scoffs) "You're out of your mind. What makes you think I'd allow that to happen?"
Vera: "You went to prison once. (taking a sip of tea and smiling) I must say this is very good. Does Lord Grantham have his own blend?"
Bates: (agitated) "Is that all?"
Vera: "Not quite. You see, if you don't come back to me, I'm going to the newspapers with a cracking story and I'd like to bet the Granthams won't survive it."
Bates: (reaching into his pocket) "Oh? And what nonsense is this?"
Vera: "The nonsense I heard when I used your name to get a job with Lady Flincher, his Lordship's cousin."
Bates: "I know who Lady Flincher is."
Vera: "Well when I arrived her maid asked me if it was true, about lady Mary Crawley and the Turkish diplomat. They thought I'd know you see, being your wife."
Bates: "I hope you told them you knew nothing about it."
Vera: (laughing) "Oh as if! I said 'why don't you tell me what you think you know and I'll tell you if it's true?' Goodness me, wasn't my patience rewarded? The public's bored with the war you see. They like gossip and a diplomat dying in the bed of an earl's unmarried daughter, well, that takes the ticket for the tale of the year."
Bates: "That's a pack of lies!"
Vera: "I assume that's loyalty and not ignorance because you see I heard that lady Mary used her maid to help her carry him and yes, you've guessed it, your precious Anna's going to figure in the story too. Not to worry too much. It's not a criminal offence is it, just a social one."
Bates: (lunging at Vera and grabbing her wrists) "You bitch."
Vera: "Please, be my guest. When they must excuse me while I run into town and have it photographed..." (Defeated, Bates lets her go and sits down.)
Bates: "What do you want from me?"
Vera: "Firstly, hand in your notice tonight. I'll put up at the pub in the village."
Bates: "And what reason do I give?"
Vera: "You don't need a reason. Just tell them that you're going and then tomorrow we head back to London, staying in your mother's house for the time being while we get ourselves sorted. And in case you're wondering, whatever my future plans may be, they will involve you..."
(their voices fade through the room's grating where Mrs Hughes can hear them in another room. She places a box up against the grating and leaves.)
OMG that women is bitch personified. Poor Bates; how did he get stuck with her? :(




(courtyard)
Anna: (stopping Bates in his tracks) "I don't believe it! You say my life is over and your wife will collect you first thing and that's it? Have you mentioned this to anyone else?"
Bates: "Only Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes. The others can find out when I've gone." (begins to move off)
Anna: (stopping him) "I know you've not told me the real reason!"
Bates: "You're wrong. Vera has reminded me that I am a married man and I must give my vows another chance. I have no right to involve you in my life."
Anna: (stopping him again) "Yes but you see that's just what I don't agree with! You had every right! I know you. You're doing something gallant here, making a sacrifice for my honour but I don't want you to! I don't care, don't you understand, I don't care what people say! I'd live in sin with you! If she's threatening to ruin me then let her! It's nothing to me. The only ruin that I recognise is to be without you."
Bates: "Forget me and be happy, please."
Anna: "I couldn't, not ever."
Bates: "You should, and you must. I am nothing."
(He leaves Anna crying in the courtyard)
:( :( :( :( :(



Robert takes the news about Bates's sudden departure very badly (unsurprisingly), stating that he's very disappointed in him while Bates can only stay silent and bear the brunt of it; Daisy cheers William up by kissing him, William stating "If you were my girl, I know I could tackle anything" (♥); Matthew returns to the trenches where he bumps into Thomas; the Bateses leave Downton the following morning; Sybil leaves for her nursing course.

Isobel: (bickering with Violet over Molesley possibly being sent to fight) "Every man at the Front is a special case to someone."




Mrs Hughes confesses to Carson about what she overheard between the Bateses; Branson leaves Sybil off and admits his feelings, though she doesn't seem to be as interested in him as he is into her; Thomas struggles in the trenches; Carson confides to Robert the real reason why Bates was forced into leaving Downton so suddenly but without revealing the scandal itself; Anna and Ethel comfort each other.




Mary: (kneeling beside her bed with a photograph of Matthew) "Dear Lord, I don't pretend to have much credit with you, I'm not even sure that you're there, but if you are, and if I've ever done anything good, I beg you to keep him safe."
♥♥♥


- Matthew: "War has a way of distinguishing between the things that matter and the things that don't."




Thomas and Matthew 'dine' together, Thomas confessing he wishes he was back at Downton but he's reminded that he can only go back home if he's discharged. After Matthew leaves, Thomas finds himself an area of the trench where he is alone and holds up his lighter, receiving a bullet through his palm in the process, gasping "th-th-thank you for my deliverance".
Coward. >:|