#anna bates

[limpyvalet]

"That’s very racy of you." "I am racy."

for @ev--a who asked for banna on a picnic! and for @doctor-donnas who inspired me to make it more suggestive 👀

[profwonderbearthementalista]

Anna and Daisy in 3x02 Deleted Scene

Downton Abbey Deleted Scenes [23/?]

Downton Abbey 3x02

Tagging under the cut:

@francuskiakcent, @janevids, @whereyourtreasureis, @margaretintherain, @louisaland

@boodunnit, @wildwildtarget, @kingarthurlovesmerlin, @byeletty, @ladymaryjosephinecrawley

@ladymarycrawleyofdownton, @pinwheelwhirl, @thestarlight3, @rosemacclare, @luxheroica

@thedowntongramophone, @marisol-peony, @sapphicmontague, @notes-from-sarah

[notes-from-sarah]

Cuties

[sapphicmontague]

ok so I love Mary and Matthew, I do, but The Bates- ugh, they are so pure and an age-gap couple, one of my fav things. WHY CAN'T THEY BE HAPPY? UGH

I hate this storyline so much. And her pushing him away. I get it but I know, I just know he'll be there for her.

[blogcherryblossomthings]

And Mr. Bates, while a good guy, is so frustrating with his silence I can’t root for him until he tells Robert the truth whatever it actually is.

Anna’s no better for all that her husband won’t tell her everything because she won’t tell anyone else anything!

[sapphicmontague]

I love these two so much. He is her "dad"; no one will convince me otherwise. He never ever tears her down. And she truly loves and cares about him.

I lost Matthew and half my otp. But at least I still have these babies.

I'm not hating this team up <3

[katus77]

Thomas Barrow described himself as envious and would undoubtedly resort to blackmail to achieve his goals. How sad that he thought he had to blackmail Baxter to get her help, when that kind woman loved him unconditionally. He believed he had to force her because he assumed no one would help him willingly. The system had convinced him he didn't deserve help: what a tragedy!

Furthermore, Thomas isn't manipulative; he lacks the capacity to be. To manipulate, one needs respect, acceptance, and affection, and Thomas lacked all of those. Even in the first season, it was O'Brien who manipulated Daisy twice.

Thus, Thomas was a constant victim of a type of manipulation that happened right before our eyes, but that we didn't see: gaslighting. This method aims to make the victim doubt their own perception of reality. It turns out that the Downton Abbey staff functioned like a dysfunctional family, where all the members were allied to protect the "myth" of the perfect home, forcing Thomas to assume the role of scapegoat. Mr. Carson was considered a fair and kind father, but he bullied and humiliated Thomas, knowing that the system had his back and that Thomas had no voice or right to respond.

Moreover, as in real life, bullies are never alone; they are accompanied by accomplices, people the aggressor uses to socially isolate the victim. In Downton Abbey, that role is played by Anna and Mr. Bates.

Anna employed textbook passive-aggressive cruelty. First, she would tell Thomas that he "just needed to be nicer," then she would warn new employees about Thomas and advise them to stay away from him. By poisoning the well, she robbed Thomas of the chance to start over.

Bates, for his part, imposes the silent treatment and a code of silence with that passive-aggressive moral superiority that I find unbearable.

Of this group, Mrs. Hughes's case is perhaps the one that pains me the most, because she was mature enough to see the injustice, but she opted for institutional comfort. Her manipulation occurred through omission. She was only kind to Thomas in private and never publicly in the face of Carson's merciless attacks; she even justified her husband's behavior when he tried to comfort Thomas.

This dynamic of psychological manipulation destroys anyone's mind, and as I've mentioned in other posts, the scapegoat system in Downton Abbey wasn't limited to gaslighting alone.

This is how Fellowes used a character's psychological suffering for entertainment, conveying the dangerous corporate message that an employee's mental health is a strictly individual matter and not a collective responsibility of the workplace. Thomas Barrow is a reflection of millions of real people who suffer harassment in silence, with the enormous difference that, in the real world, the system doesn't have a happy ending written by a conservative baron.

Furthermore, I should point out that terms like gaslighting, "flying monkeys," or "institutional narcissism" are modern concepts in clinical psychology. Fellowes writes from a conservative and aristocratic mindset where these dynamics aren't recognized as abuse, but rather as "characteristics," "discipline," "work standards," "workplace friction," or "consequences of misconduct." That's why we never hear the cast (and even less so RJC) use that terminology; for them, the class system simply "worked that way," and history must be understood in that way and no other.

[sapphicmontague]

I love these two so much. Mary will always be my favorite on this show. (Followed closely by Anna , Mr. Bates and ofc Matthew.)