Mostly about Belgravia
Mar. 30th, 2020 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessEpisode 3
Two interesting moments, one cartoonishly confirming what we knew about a character, the other changing the lens through which we saw another. The first was brother Stephen’s clear thought bubble, ‘Why is Lady Brockenhrst going to invest cold hard dosh in a Mancunian Mill when my brother won’t help me out?’ Not seeing that that Mancunian mill (whatever the many, many wrongs of the cotton trade) would employ people in Manchester and India, and certainly not facing his gambling problem. The second was learning that ‘Mrs Oliver’ was infertile (well, let’s presume she is, otherwise her extramarital affair might cause problems), which does reframe her attempts to fill her days and social ambition.
Although they’re awful, Stephen (the gambling cleric) and John Bellairs do seem to have the close, sharing, understanding father-son bond that Oliver really wants with his dad (but not if it involves work.) Poor kid, it’s not his fault he wasn’t the beloved firstborn who ‘married’ for love.
I quite liked the recurring bedroom scenes, with the refrain of ‘That will be all, Servant. My husband is being indiscreet’ and us seeing who slept with who normally, although James was being wildly optimistic after what had happened, thinking that Anne was going to get over his secret relationship with Charles. After all, they’d adopted him out on his orders. But he later did seem to be adopting honesty with Anne.
There was more about the servants.
Oh, but the dialogue is excruciating. Maybe I’m kidding myself, but it’s mostly not this bad with Downton, is it?
I am totally against John marrying Lady Maria Grey (as we must apparently her), but can’t get worked up for her and Charles’s romance, even if an uncle and nephew by blood are unknowingly in a love pentagon.
John thinking he can blackmail Lady Caroline Brocklehurst as played by Harriet Walter is the funniest thing on the show.
The touching moment about how old Lord Bellairs would have been fell flat, because he’s the charmer who deceived and impregnated an innocent young woman, and it just makes you think of how little the Trenchards have aged and how old they should really be.
I forgot to mention that Killing Eve is ‘returning soon’. Apart from wondering if it’s a case of diminishing returns – although even though the second series wasn’t as good as the first, perhaps because of the loss of shock value or Phoebe Waller-Bridge, it was still better than much else on telly. But will a show that is so much about smashing social norms work inow? But who am I kiddin, I'll watch anything = see abve.
Also, I am spending my weekend lunchtimes devouring Friends episodes on five, because this is the start of Chandler/Monica era. Nostalgia is a part of it.
Two interesting moments, one cartoonishly confirming what we knew about a character, the other changing the lens through which we saw another. The first was brother Stephen’s clear thought bubble, ‘Why is Lady Brockenhrst going to invest cold hard dosh in a Mancunian Mill when my brother won’t help me out?’ Not seeing that that Mancunian mill (whatever the many, many wrongs of the cotton trade) would employ people in Manchester and India, and certainly not facing his gambling problem. The second was learning that ‘Mrs Oliver’ was infertile (well, let’s presume she is, otherwise her extramarital affair might cause problems), which does reframe her attempts to fill her days and social ambition.
Although they’re awful, Stephen (the gambling cleric) and John Bellairs do seem to have the close, sharing, understanding father-son bond that Oliver really wants with his dad (but not if it involves work.) Poor kid, it’s not his fault he wasn’t the beloved firstborn who ‘married’ for love.
I quite liked the recurring bedroom scenes, with the refrain of ‘That will be all, Servant. My husband is being indiscreet’ and us seeing who slept with who normally, although James was being wildly optimistic after what had happened, thinking that Anne was going to get over his secret relationship with Charles. After all, they’d adopted him out on his orders. But he later did seem to be adopting honesty with Anne.
There was more about the servants.
Oh, but the dialogue is excruciating. Maybe I’m kidding myself, but it’s mostly not this bad with Downton, is it?
I am totally against John marrying Lady Maria Grey (as we must apparently her), but can’t get worked up for her and Charles’s romance, even if an uncle and nephew by blood are unknowingly in a love pentagon.
John thinking he can blackmail Lady Caroline Brocklehurst as played by Harriet Walter is the funniest thing on the show.
The touching moment about how old Lord Bellairs would have been fell flat, because he’s the charmer who deceived and impregnated an innocent young woman, and it just makes you think of how little the Trenchards have aged and how old they should really be.
I forgot to mention that Killing Eve is ‘returning soon’. Apart from wondering if it’s a case of diminishing returns – although even though the second series wasn’t as good as the first, perhaps because of the loss of shock value or Phoebe Waller-Bridge, it was still better than much else on telly. But will a show that is so much about smashing social norms work inow? But who am I kiddin, I'll watch anything = see abve.
Also, I am spending my weekend lunchtimes devouring Friends episodes on five, because this is the start of Chandler/Monica era. Nostalgia is a part of it.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-30 08:30 pm (UTC)The downstairs conversations were better in Downton. I think so far Speer is less vile than O'Brian was, but we'll see.
I do feel a bit sorry for Mrs. Oliver, now knowing she's infertile.
And yes, the bits where the husbands were foolish enough to talk to their wives without checking for servants was great. I laughed both times.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-31 06:48 am (UTC)Do you mean Charles/Maria, because I think John/Maria would hust be miserable for both of them? I thought Matthew and Dybil were written offbecause the actors wanted to leave, but Edith's no good love life was her character arc until she'd suffered enough. But they are about the only viable happy ending, beyond Anne and James reconciling. Long way of saying I don't know.
I think so far Speer is less vile than O'Brian was, but we'll see.
And Mrs Oliver has an inkling that Speer is in it for the money.