DOWNTON ABBEY – Live-action drama created by Julian Fellowes; rated TV-14; airs Sunday nights on PBS as part of “Masterpiece”; 93 minutes. Episode 4.9: “The London Season” (original airdate, Feb 23, 2014). Directed by Jon East, written by Julian Fellows (8 out of 10)
Previously on Downton Abbey: The Grantham Family lives on a huge estate in Yorkshire, England and is faced with creeping modernity as times change in the early 20th century. Lady Cora Grantham’s brother has been implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal in America. Michael Gregson, engaged to Lady Edith, has been lost while travelling in Germany, and Edith spent a year in Switzerland giving birth to his child and then giving her up to a local family.
The staff also deals with their own challenges, including the rape of Anna Bates, a secret only known to her husband, Mrs. Hughes, the head housekeeper, and Lady Mary. The rapist, Mr. Green, died under mysterious circumstances — being hit by a truck in London — and a tiny cloud of suspicion falls on Mr. Bates, who has previously been sent to prison for a murder he did not commit, but who has some areas of his history which are a bit dodgy.
In this episode:
The family goes to London for Rose’s coming-out as a lady. While there, it appears one of Rose’s friends had an inappropriate love letter from the Crown Prince stolen by Mr. Sampson, and the family, and a few members of the staff, must come together to pull off a heist to get it back. Mrs. Hughes also discovers a train ticket in Mr. Bates’ pocket, putting him in London on the day of Green’s death. She shares the ticket stub with Mary, who must make a fateful decision.
Cora’s mother and brother (guest stars Shirley Maclaine and Paul Giamatti) arrive from America to enjoy the social season, and both of them are caught up by people wishing to court them. But the real fireworks are, of course, whenever the Dowager Countess, Isobel Crawley, and Mrs. Levinson are together. There’s plenty of sass in this episode of that kind, and fans are well-rewarded.
Other things to look forward to:
Mary continues to be courted by both Tony Gillingham and Charles Blake. We also learn a great secret about Blake and his eligibility, further complicating things for Mary.
Tom is a bit inappropriate and invites the schoolteacher, Mrs. Bunting, to see the house. Unfortunately, they’re spied upon by Thomas, who tries to turn this to his advantage.
Speaking of inappropriate, Carson gets increasingly frustrated with Levinson’s valet.
Speaking of frustrated, Carson tries to suggest outings for the staff to take together and is a bit taken aback at how his (boring) suggestions are not greeted with cheers.
Mr. Levinson’s valet is quite taken with Daisy, and tries to recruit her to come to America with them.
Dialogue of the week:
“Rather gloomy for a monarchist.”
“I’m a realist monarchist.”
Dowager Countess quote of the week:
“Is that American for Hello?. . .How curious these phrases are.”
“I feel as though I’ve spent the entire evening in the cast of a who-done-it.”
Rating and final review: 8 out of 10
Paul Giamatti’s character was terribly underwritten, as though it was an intentional slight towards him as an American. While some of his “fish out of water” humor was quite funny, such as his interaction with the Prince, I expected more both from a Downton character and from someone played by an actor of Giamatti’s stature.
However, the heist element was incredibly fun and a great change of pace, as was the resolution with Bates. Mary’s final decision does not disappoint, and her reasoning is beautiful. It was also great to not have a major tragedy eclipse the rest of the story and have a nice resolution to so many elements. Bravo, and can’t wait for next season, especially after that final moment with Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson.
Season wrapup discussion:
So, now that the entire season is behind us, let’s talk about the elephant in the room of this season: Anna’s rape. At the time, I was told to wait until the end of the season to make any judgment. I also heard from several people who were outraged. That rape should not be used as a plot device, that it is cheap and intentionally shocking, not really “earning” the pathos and drama that it evokes.
There’s another criticism about the use of rape in modern entertainment: that rape is not entertainment. That it is wrong to use the victimization of women to further your plot. And this is especially true when a rape is used not to further the development of the female character who is the victim, but to create a situation in which a male character is then called to action. This is, loosely, the “women in refrigerators” argument brought by Gail Simone and others.
To all of these arguments, there is merit. Rape should not be entertainment, it should not be used just for shock value, and it shouldn’t be done to further only male characters. In this case, where Bates took revenge (and many Downton fans were calling for just this scenario) this meets this criteria. However, I believe this is playing short shrift to what actually occurred here. To focus only on Bates and his actions to fulfill the “women in refrigerators” trope, you ignore what else was happening during this entire season.
The entire season, I submit, is about sex. Sex and consequences. Consensual sex — Edith and Michael Gregson. Rape — Green and Anna, Edna and Tom. The prospect of conception of a child is clear in all of these cases. In the case of Edna, she wishes to use it as a weapon against Tom to marry into the family. In the case of Edith, she doesn’t believe you can get pregnant on your first time. She does. And she considers an illegal and unsafe abortion to deal with the consequences.
The consequences in Tom’s case are less severe: guilt, shame, and the dismissal of Edna as a maid. Anna’s are far worse, both based on the power dynamic and the violence of the attack. Anna couldn’t ensure she never had to be around her attacker again. And she internalized the attack far more, being worried about what her husband would do if he found out.
The thread running between all three of these plotlines that makes them so intertwined is how similar the circumstances are today in 2014 as they were nearly 100 years ago. We still have too many women who are attacked but do not speak up. (For example, there is a similar plotline in House of Cards Season 2– I don’t hear the same outrage about that as I do about this?) We still assume non-consensual sex based on innebriation is not the same as rape. (see “Blurred Lines”) We think sexual assault doesn’t happen to men. And we think you can’t get pregnant your first time having sex.
And so I’ll excuse Downton Abbey this plotline because I do not think it was random, nor just for shock value, but it went to character and to overall theme and artistic merit.
About the more troubling “women in refrigerators” critique, this is something the show definitely falls to on a very basic level. To a large extent, Anna’s rape became all about Mr. Bates and how he would react to it. That is bad. However, I would like to couch this in something equally important. Because of how Anna handled her rape, with her secrets, and resulting in Green’s eventual murder, this also made the consequences of the violence towards her land largely in the hands of Mrs. Hughes and Lady Mary.
Essentially, Hughes and Mary were called upon to become the moral arbiters of a terrible situation. First, how do you keep such a terrible secret that does not deserve to be kept hidden? Second, upon discovering evidence of Bates’ involvement in Green’s death, do you cover it up or punish him for taking the law into his own hands? Do you eschew society’s rule of law for moral justice– the death of someone who truly deserves it? (I certainly would)
Typically, the “women in refrigerators” critique is all about how violence towards women is used only to further male characters. Indeed, I would argue that Bates made no great leaps as a character. If anything, his character development all came during the heist situation in he finale. His involvement was understated, offscreen, and still fully unknown. It is possible he did not do anything himself, but did arrange the accident. (Not that this is a huge moral difference, but still.)
No, it is fair to say that Anna’s rape helped drive the character development of others, but those others were female characters. Her rape didn’t become about Mr Bates. It became about Mary and Mrs. Hughes. To the extent that it did drive a revenge-plot by Bates, the critique is valid, but I feel this is mitigated by the development of the other female characters.
I’m sure many of you will disagree with me. I welcome hearing your feedback and criticism. The best thing to come out of this season of “Downton Abbey” is the real discussion we’ve had about rape and secrecy, at least amongst fans of the show. And I think we can all agree that is a positive.
We will get another season, likely early next year again, while our friends across the pond get it later this fall. And so, until then, stay fancy and may a Dowager-Countess-esque putdown be always ready on your lips for when you’ll need one.
CAST:
The regular characters: Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham), Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley), Jim Carter (Mr. Carson), Brendan Coyle (John Bates), Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley), Kevin Doyle (Joseph Molesley), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates), Lily James (Lady Rose MacClare), Rob James-Collier (Thomas Barrow), Allen Leech (Tom Branson), Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes), Elizabeth McGovern (Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham), Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason), Matt Milne (Alfred Nugent), Lesley Nicol (Mrs. Patmore), David Robb (Dr. Clarkson), Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham), Ed Speleers (Jimmy Kent), Cara Theobold (Ivy Stuart), Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley)