Downton Abbey - Season 2 Review, Part 1

Before I start, let me go on a tiny rant first: WHY IS TOM BRANSON NOT ON THE OFFICIAL SEASON 2 COVER?!?! Rant over.

I think this is probably my favourite season in the whole show. It covers a lot of historical events outside of just "oh the First World War is going on!!!" It showed that it wasn't just as simple as that, and definitely subverted expectations. I remember when this season came out, I just thought, "Okay, they'll probably cover some battles and maybe a feminist or two." I was in for a treat.

The charity performance in support of soldiers fighting in the war

Episode 1

Part of the focus of this episode is the charity performance. It's not because of the performance itself but rather because it is where a number of events occur. The episode takes place two years into the war, and Mary and Matthew are still no longer together. The show introduces Lavinia Swire during the concert, a middle-class girl from London, and Matthew's new fiancée. The other characters are a bit dubious about her, believing she is more than she seems. However, Mary and Cora, the Duchess of Grantham, try to be optimistic and friendly. I think they both knew that there was no chance Mary would be with Matthew with Lavinia in the picture, so they tried to move on by being accepting her. The concert also brings to light some of the more negative actions of the feminists during the war. During the performance, two women start distributing white feathers to men who weren't in military uniform, calling them cowards. In this time period, it was pretty clear who were involved in the military in some way. Even if they were invalided out of the war, the soldiers would still wear military uniform in their everyday lives, especially if it was a military event. One of the footmen, William, is only in his livery, making him a target for the two women. It was not an uncommon action for feminists in this time; Emmeline Pankhurst, a famous suffragette, encouraged the practice. To be a feminist pacifist was considered ridiculous.

The side-plot of the episode focuses on Sybil, who starts to feel as though she herself is a coward. Her sisters, Mary and Edith, have either found something else to worry about or made themselves useful in some way, leaving Sybil as - once again - the black sheep of the sisters. When her friend is killed in action, she confides in Isobel Crawley, who suggests that maybe she could be an auxiliary nurse, but that it would require some extra effort on her behalf, such as learning how to make a bed or make a cup of tea. Her solution is to ask the cook, Mrs Patmore, for cooking lessons. Eventually, she finds herself more practically confident to start her training as a nurse. I did a bit of research into the aristocracy and what their response was to the First World War. From what I gathered, this was a bad time for the aristocracy because many were high-ranking military leaders as a result of the Boer War, but they stayed far away from the actual combat, believing that all they had to do was keep spirits up. Instead, it caused the lower classes to be bitter. I think the show tried to avoid going down that route by giving the main characters something to do throughout the show, or to at least express their emotions about it. For example, Lord Grantham aspires to be on the front leading the men into battle, which he feels is more honourable than staying at home; instead, he is forced to stay at home, probably due to age. It makes us feel more sympathetic, I guess.

Henry Lang dealing with the side effects of shell shock

Episode 2

In the previous episode, Lord Grantham's valet, Mr Bates, is forced to leave Downton because his wife, Vera, threatened to go to the newspapers about a scandal regarding the family - which turned out to be about Mary's wanton behaviour in Season 1. He is replaced by Mr Lang, an ex-soldier who was invalided out for shell shock. I remember learning about shell shock in History classes, but it wasn't until I studied it in more detail in university that this was the point where society started to realise war could have traumatic effects on soldiers. This was essentially the beginning of understanding PTSD. I watched several videos of recovering soldiers suffering from shell shock, and to say it was jarring was an understatement. The show depicts shell shock with a very sanitised view of it - the video recordings of patients with shell shock depicted men who were barely able to stand, much less walk properly. Lang is still able to work, although we see his mental deterioration very clearly. He has lapses where he loses control of himself, such as dropping a gravy boat on Edith at a dinner. The show can only go so far in showing how shell shock affected soldiers, so at least they were able to address it. Honestly, they showed quite a lot about mental illness in the show. In the same episode, a soldier recovering in the hospital kills himself because he was depressed and he was going to be sent away after he only just started to feel normal (?). It's not until after his death that the rest of the characters who interacted with him realise what kind of toll the war is having on the mental health of soldiers.

I won't lie, that's honestly the only interesting thing worth talking about with this episode :p

General Strutt with Matthew Crawley, Isobel Crawley, and Cora Crawley

Episode 3

This episode is a bit more interesting. Due to the soldier who committed suicide in the last episode, Sybil, Isobel and Dr Clarkson come up with a solution of turning Downton Abbey into a convalescent home. Despite initial objections by the other family members, they eventually agree. This is where Edith starts to flourish. Up until this point, I always thought Edith was extremely annoying and vindictive. Mary is equally vindictive, but at least she had some personality. Here, she starts to realise that she wants to be useful. She takes care of the soldiers' personal needs, such as making sure letters arrive for them, providing books for them to read, etc, so much so that the soldiers praise her efforts to General Strutt on his visit. 

Meanwhile, Sybil and Tom Branson's relationship starts to blossom. The two bond as they start to spend more time with each other. However, Tom becomes extremely bitter about the military, to Sybil's confusion. It is revealed Tom had a cousin who was present at the Easter Rising in 1916. I didn't know much about this event when the episode came out, mostly because Irish politics was just plain boring to 14-year old me. I didn't learn about it properly until I started A Level History, and I had to study Irish history as part of the curriculum. The Easter Rising was probably the point where the Irish revolutionists decided that enough was enough, and that parliamentarianism was no longer a useful tactic. Armed rebels took to the streets during Easter Week to protest British rule in Ireland. Many were killed, but it sparked greater support for Irish home rule. I think Tom started to become more inclined towards reactionary motivations to promote politics around this time as well, but slowly. When he talks about the Bolshevik Revolution, and how Kerensky had been made Prime Minister, he argues that the political side isn't enough, and that the entire country's system needed to be changed completely, preferably without killing the Tsar's family. Within two episodes, Tom argues that the deaths of the Tsar and his family were "necessary sacrifices." Harsh.

The curiosity around Lavinia is heightened. When Lord Grantham's sister, Rosamund, catches Lavinia arguing with Mary's new partner, Sir Richard Carlisle, she and the Dowager Countess start to do some investigating. They soon find that Lavinia was the instigator of the Marconi share scandal, since she gave evidence about insider share trading to Sir Richard when he blackmailed her father. I won't lie, I looked into this scandal - I still don't get what happened exactly. It doesn't help that these characters are fictional.

Setting up a soup kitchen in Isobel's home.

Episode 4

When Isobel leaves Downton, believing she is not wanted, things become complicated. Matthew and William - who is now part of the army and working with Matthew - go missing after they stumble on a German army camp. Meanwhile, Isobel's staff, Mr Molesley and Mrs Bird, find themselves bored when Isobel leaves, but not for long. A veteran of the war appears asking for food, and before too long, he brings along other soldiers in similar situations as him. Interestingly, the two staff take pity on the first veteran, but he insists that they don't because he was considered "one of the lucky ones." I suppose in a way he's right, but not in a good way. Mrs Patmore and Daisy discover this and decide to help, saying that it would be a disgrace if they couldn't even feed soldiers who fought for them from their own kitchens. They provide food made from what the army gave them as they are feeding soldiers, but when Lady Grantham discovers the soup kitchen they begin running, she tells them to use the food provided by the house instead to avoid any legal problems of potential mismanagement. To probably everybody's delight, she joins them after that.

One new character introduced at the beginning of the season is a new housemaid, Ethel Parks. I only just discovered maybe...2 or 3 weeks ago that the actress who played Ethel was the youngest ever actress to be cast as Christine in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera. Naturally, I was jumping out of my seat, as an avid Phan. Ethel is a light woman given to flights of fancy. She constantly goes on about how she thinks the working class will have far more opportunities to succeed in careers after the war, making her a target for lady's maid Ms O'Brien as a potential laughingstock. When Downton Abbey is turned into a convalescent home, Ethel is attracted to a young officer, Major Charles Bryant, and unfortunately ends up in a sexual affair with him, eventually getting caught by housekeeper Mrs Hughes and immediately dismissed. We already know the social consequences of premarital sex in this historical context, thanks to Mary. However, Ethel's tryst brings on a new challenge: pregnancy. By the end of the episode, she confides to Mrs Hughes that she is expecting Major Bryant's baby. What kind of impact will this have on Ethel? Stay tuned for the next post ;)