- As you may have expected, I'm disappointed that they didn't show us Edith's pregnancy and time in Geneva. There's so much of interest there! Did they need a cover story or did they just keep quietly to themselves? Did Edith have to wear a fake wedding ring? Did they need to hire new servants for their time in Geneva to make sure that gossip wouldn't spread? Did Rosamund take her lady's maid? If so, how did she ensure her silence? If not, how did she explain the whole "I'm going on a trip and not taking you with me" thing?
- Jack's breakup with Rose is another story that they told rather than showing, but I did think the conversation between Jack and Mary was a good character moment for both of them.
- The problem with Mary having all the suitors is that if she marries someone, she will become the lady of their estate with all the related responsibilities, when she already has the responsibility of helping keep Downton well-run so it's secure for George's future. I can't see her just turning her back on Downton, but I also can't see an aristocratic marriage in that era working out with the lady of the house's primary responsibility being another estate. Not to mention that if she has a son with any future husband, that son would inherit the husband's estate.
- If Lord Grantham dies and Lady Mary hasn't remarried, what would her title be? Functionally she'd be a Dowager Countess, but she's never been a Countess because you have to be the wife of an Earl. Would she get some bigger title than simply Lady Mary?
- Actually, if Lord Grantham died right now, would Cora also be a Dowager Countess? If there can only be one Dowager (and what with Violet obviously being immortal), what would Cora be?
- Speaking of Lord Grantham, I think it's an excellent writing decision to make him incompetent. People have criticized the trope (often found in sitcoms and such) of the father being an incompetent buffoon (although Lord Grantham isn't a buffoon), but I think it's really interesting in this era and context because his decisions have so much impact on so many people. If a sitcom father does something foolish, maybe he blows up a barbecue. If Lord Grantham does something foolish, the livelihood of everyone in the house (and maybe the whole estate?) is harmed. So when he didn't want Mary to be involved in running the estate (with that paternalistic "for her own good" tone), this was actually a threat to the estate.
- When Thomas catches Branson showing the teacher around the house, Branson makes a point of explaining the situation to him and worrying about whether he misinterpreted it. But when Lord Grantham comments "I heard you had a guest", Branson simply says "Yes I did." That seems bass-ackwards to me. If Branson somehow felt that he owed Thomas an explanation, surely he'd owe Lord Grantham (who actually owns the house!) an explanation! Even if he'd collected his wits and wasn't going to fall into a stuttering apology/explanation, he could have just thrown in a very casual, "Yes, Miss Bunting the schoolteacher is very interested in our local art and history and architecture, so I was showing her around." Cora and Isobel and the Dowager Countess already know that he is friends with the schoolteacher, and even if they do evolve in the direction of a romance eventually that makes it look more organic, rather than having a secret assignation at his dead wife's parents' house while they're away.
- Why did the season finale mention that Mrs. Levinson's lady's maid had quit and that Cora had asked the Dowager Countess not to travel with a lady's maid and then not do anything with that information? They should have showed us some chaos with only two lady's maids for four ladies (plus Edith, plus Rose who was actually being presented to court and therefore would have wanted to look her best.) They should have at least showed them with slightly different hair styles than usual! (And speaking of which, who did Mrs. Levinson's hair etc. all during the ocean crossing if she wasn't travelling with a lady's maid?)
Ideas for spinoffs:
1. A prequel covering the early days of Robert and Cora's marriage. A benign marriage of convenience isn't something we really see portrayed on TV or in fiction in general, and it would be interesting to explore.
2. If Tom decides to move to America like he's mentioned in passing (although he hasn't raised the idea lately, there should be a sequel where, after WWII has conveniently killed off anyone who needs to die to make this happen, Baby Sybbie, now a twenty-something woman raised in the US by her working-class Irish father, inherits Downton. in all the mess of postwar Britain. Daisy is the cook, Anna is the housekeeper, and Thomas is the butler. (I haven't figured out where Mr. Bates is, but Thomas would be more interesting as the butler because he's evil but he's on Sybbie's side. And I know Anna isn't on a housekeeper track, but we don't have any other named maids.
3. Fifteen or twenty years in the future, George begins a flirtation with Edith's daughter, not knowing that she is his biological cousin. Edith tries to stop him, but he assumes she's just a snobbish old aunt. This could also have an interesting "everything dies and the illegitimate daughter inherits" denouement. Or maybe everyone but Edith dies, and then she reveals herself to her daughter.
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