I feel like whatever she is doing now, she SHOULD be teaching a class in how to disappear from the internet.

I saw Eddie Brill perform in NYC recently, and he did an entire bit about why he doesn't consume dairy products. It was very preachy and unfunny. That is all.

You know, I've been re-watching the first season this week, just to refresh my memory, and I sort of had the same response. At the risk of sounding mean, I do wonder a bit about the casting. I think Dan Stevens is perfectly fine in the part, but when I think about the heroes of other British period pieces—like Colin…

Oh Jesus H. Christ, I can't even talk about his win. That show…oy…what a pretentious, ponderous awards-grab that thing was/is, especially Grammer's part. I don't feel THAT bad for Cranston, I mean he has 80000 awards at this point (not that he doesn't deserve them) I'm just mad that show is getting any recognition at…

I like your point about internalizing the mores of the time — that's kind of what I was saying in my intro re: rooting for the aristocracy. Maybe I just don't think William is such a "doob." A goober, maybe. But never a doob.

OK, so Highclere Castle, a.k.a. "the real Downton Abbey" has something like 70 bedrooms. That's enough to give every officer his own room, and then some. http://www.highclerecastle….

I never really thought about what they'd done, exactly, and I think it's intentionally ambiguous. I assumed he had some kind of heart problem or the like.

This is an interesting point, and the surprise was effective in this regard. I just think her development as a character would be more believable if only we'd see more of her onscreen.

"There's a fine line between nobility and passivity." That's a nice way of putting it. Really, I just wish Brendan Coyle had more to do. He was so great in the first season.

Overstuffed is right. A few more minutes with Edith, or maybe with Branson and Sybil, would have been more useful. Then again, I suppose someone had to be the new valet, and it would have been strange if Fellowes hadn't bothered to develop the character whatsoever.

But it's not even English to me, it's like she's taken too much Xanax or something.

Re: Lang. I didn't really care for it, and it doesn't seem like Fellowes was too invested in this story, either. There's just soooo much going on in this show, it's impossible to talk about every plot point in detail, and Lang definitely feels like filler.

This is true, but it seems like such an afterthought. There's so much emphasis placed on how Bates wants to protect the family's name, etc.

"Leno’s level of interest palpably increased when talking macho with Liam Neeson, Gerard Butler, and Pauly D."  
Leno's got a major frat-boy streak, and I feel like given the many ways in which his show is awful, this aspect does not get enough attention. He'll interrogate, like, Justin Bieber about his love life in…

The singing was very funny, especially when Cam goes "I'm a clown!" in the middle of "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart."

Yes, as some people have pointed out below, I think it's creepy that he INHERENTLY gets how to play the game and that, without the benefit of having seen the show, he knows how to work it. He also takes such evident glee in fucking with people. He's a total creep.

You know, this is a really good point you're making. I still don't totally understand why they weren't able to come together to form a counter-alliance. It seems to me there ought to be more explanation of their voting choices, instead of the tacked-on bit in the credits.

Ohhhhhhh, right. My bad. I'll change.

OF COURSE HE DID.

Oh dear. I hadn't thought of the crack thing. But, yes, I did use that picture intentionally, because of all the stereotypes bandied about in this episode.