Downton Abbey 3: Some Dogs Are Brown
Spoilers Ahead
I got to watch Downton Abbey last night with my husband. All dressed up like a hoochie mama.
So here are my thoughts on Downton Abbey 3
I am genuinly not surprised Lady Mary got divorced. If you look at how she acted in Season 6 with henry ("All high handed and pushing in") Like did we really think that was gonna work? And her being made to put her face in the corner like a dog under the stairs was goddamn wild. Like wow they really put you under there with the spider webs didn't they. Yeouch.
Lord/Lady Grantham and Edith sitting on that couch afterwards was so bizarrely funny to me like they were genuinly exhausted and pissed.
The Sambrook situation was unneeded and unnecessary. I personally would have preferred for the rumors of Mary's vagina-assassinatino of the turkish diplomat to rear their head again (there was alot of parallels with teh first season in this movie). It would have been much more compelling to see Lady Edith have to undo the damage she'd done in writing that letter, and I believe it would have brought they closer together as sisters/drawn that chapter to a close. The movie was a continuous loop of Mary tripping over her own shoelaces and then acting peculliarly humble while Edith was the great gracious lady. I would have preferred to see an equal match.
Branson saying "I prefer to see it as being sensible" when asked if he'd turned into a capitalist made me want to vomit.
Likewise Branson saying he met with Talbot and being like "he wanted to know about the cows" bitch???? Talbot is now the enemy??? what are you fucking doing talking to him??? If I was in Branson's shoes and someone did that to my sister-in-law, I'd have shown up to that shop sale like "say one goddamn word to me and I'm shooting off your dick".
Joseph Moseley being overblown with his own importance only to be shot down by Guy Dexter was a chef's kiss moment.
Andy turning into Carson 2.0 was awful. Just... plain awful. Terrible -12 stars out of 10.
Lord Grantham really went from "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I SHALL NEVER SELL OUT" to "okay let's go to the Dower House :3" in record breaking time. Either make him less RAAAAA or make him more unhappy to go. That 180 flip was wildly out of character and, as a writer, was unbelievable to me.
Seeing lady sybil's ghost fucked with me. I wept.
But now onto the part that I know you are wanting to read about.
Thomas Barrow is Guy Dexter's wife, and Lord Grantham is utterly oblivious.
Noel being like "I had a meal for three" was absolutely thomas and guy and him. I refuse to believe otherwise.
Thomas being like "not as happy as I am now" THERE YOU GO. RIGHT THERE. That's what we needed for you. He is loved. He is supported. He is home with his partner. He does not need Downton. Downton was poison for him.
It's so obvious that Thomas is with Guy in everything, to where when they're about to go through the front door Guy is taken aback Thomas won't go with him. And naturally they're like "well shit I guess we go this way now". This man and his wife, I swear.
Thomas clocked Carsons' tea immediately, seeing him in the kitchen and Andy in a butler's uniform. He knew what was going on at once, and he was not impressed.
Carson being offended that Thomas had the nerve to dine with friends, and muttering ugly shit under his breath? yeah, not cute. Not after he put thomas in that bathtub. Thomas is clearly supported and confident. "I organize everything, what would you call that". He is the one in charge, it's clear. Guy makes the money, but Thomas is the one that spends it and ensures it's kept tidy which is more than I can say for HAROLD LEVINSON'S DUMB ASS.
Lady Mary really is a girl's girl "since you came out here to support me, go get your wife and bring him up here".
Thomas being like "I wish I were in the right clothes" and Guy immediately being supportive, god my heart. Also, I am ready to bet high money Noel immediately went and got Thomas a tux.
Speaking of which, it is so clear that Thomas and Noel are friends. I do believe that, despite Guy being the actor, Noel's deeper connection is to Thomas. I'm unsure if it's a poly situation or not. I think it's honestly deeper than that. I will illuminate further below.
Thomas nudging Guy to go sing like "go on, do it" is very spousal behavior.
That shit at the country fair was hysterical "We can see women's ankles" and Noel is like "we don't give a shit about women's ankles, we are gay".
Now for Noel Coward:
I have, historically, been very careful when writing about real life people. I did it in Volver, but I had to put a hell of a lot of energy into really fleshing that out. Wavel, Allenby, French etc were all real people. Writing about them was a huge responsibility. When you write about someone who is real, you take on the enormous task of being honest with their legacy, particularly when it's someone like Noel Coward.
In 1930, Noel Coward was in love with a man named Jack Wilson who was his stage manager. Wilson was a heavy drinker, and they fell out in the mid 1940's ish when he became unmanagable. It was around this time that he met Graham Payn, a South African stag and film actor. He would remain in a relationship with Graham until his death. Payne would later co-edit a collection of Noel's diaries which they'd publish in 1982. So I don't think it's fair to write Noel as being in a relationship with Guy/Thomas because, at the time of this movie, he would have been in love with a man who had a drinking problem. There's alot to plumb there, as a writer.
Noel was incredibly kind to people who were in tough times. I think this is something he'd identify in with Thomas. He was also a purist when it came to theatre, despising propaganda in it. I can also see this as why he wanted to help Lady Mary.
Noel was well fucking aware that he looked and acted like a dandy. He played into it. It was part of his public image. He wore silk dressing gowns on stage, and smoked with a cigarette holder. Even his speaking voice was a perfected image (his mother was deaf so he developed a staccato style of speaking to make it easier for her to hear what he was saying). At the same time, he had to battle constantly with not being too gay, because he didn't want the public to have a harpoon to nail him to the wall with. He wore turtle neck sweaters often, even making a fashion out of it. His combinatino of chic, pose, and poise was all part of his intent to culminate the Coward image... and it did not have the effect you'd think.
That whole 'I only do plays for 3 months if I'm in them'? Yeah. Noel was prone to break downs because he was burning the midnight oil often. In 1925, Noel had four different plays running in the West End at the same time. He was churning out work faster than he could keep up with and it caught up to him one day when he collapsed in a fit of hysteria. He was ordered to rest for a month. What did he do? He got on a ship, when to the US, and started rehersals for naother play. And what did he do there? he collapsed again. This time, they forced him to go to Hawaii and to take a break. Noel was never the same after that. I can genuinly see Thomas alerting Noel to this, and caring for Noel (not as a lover but as a close friend) and Noel treasuring him for that.
All in all, the movie was what it was (some dogs are brown, after all). They had two hours to wrap up six seasons and two movies. It was tough to do. They did the best they could, and I respect them for that. At this point, we all have our opinions about the characters, and that really was what colored the movie. It was the audience's imagination that spurned the movie into its own heights, not the movie itself.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have fanfiction to write.
