Oh.  I must have missed that, what with my mental voice constantly saying "Shut up Bates" whenever the guy opens his mouth.

@avclub-b0968cb03f5c51b647bbc197f2975157:disqus  : At the risk of misinterpreting someone else's comment, I think @avclub-d7f43e1fb2d4977c86163d9b0cb07814:disqus had a good point.  Just like when Bates would not pin the theft of the wine on Thomas after already being accused, I think Carson would not really have taken…

@avclub-6953b07bde4dc0ca797f710ed3f968d3:disqus : I actually enjoyed the move from Robert.  It was quite a way to shut the guy up.

I was pleased to see her genuinely scared while talking at the end of the episode to Jimmy, because normally all we see of her is her cynical sneer.  She was practically on her hands and knees begging him to take back his demands.  I have to say, creepy semi-seduction of Jimmy aside, I've loved the little battle she…

I loved the Thomas plot too.  Such a seasoned schemer getting so masterfully manipulated with his own heart being used against him… well done, Mrs. O'Brien, although it hurt quite a bit to see Thomas broken to the point where he did not even argue against the threat of being separated without reference and where he…

@avclub-3a7e51d147107126d603db6022ddd70b:disqus : I don't find it that unbelievable that they would try to sweep something like that under the rug.  Homosexuality was no doubt an extremely touchy subject that they (Carson and Robert) would rather not deal with at all, so they would be perfectly relieved to hide it all…

When Robert said he "didn't choose" to be homosexual, I did not find it that anachronistic, because I assumed Robert meant that Thomas had caught some kind of "disease" or something.  I did not automatically assume that Robert was thinking along the lines of current sexual orientation thought, because there could be…

Bah.  You know him striking out was all a ploy by the Dowager to build Robert's confidence and restore the legitimacy of Downton.

I'm pretty sure he told Watson it was on the table, and I'm equally sure she probably dumped it down the toilet with the rest of Rhys' stash, even though they didn't actually show that.

I've got nothing really to say about this article, but this seems as good a place as any to remark:

Yeah, I definitely understand: lots of stuff to see, so little time.  I just didn't want the non-Elementary-watching folks on here assuming that the Super Bowl episode was as good as it got.

That's why I'm only a captain and not a major.

That's why I'm only a captain and not a major.

Well, it's equally possible not to have happened.  Consider the circumstances: time crunch before an innocent girl's death, unpleasant phone call asking for a favor from a distant and uninvolved father, a lifetime of baggage between the two, and the subject of the phone call would not really have touched on Watson in…

The Super Bowl Sunday episode was a definite drop in quality for the show, since they were trying to use the good old "oh, we're risque, let's show lots of sex" route to drag new viewers in while sidelining much of the last few weeks of strong character development.  The episode isn't representative of the series as a…

Hey, employees working on top-secret CIA missions need morale boosting too, you know.

Yeah, but it's a strange time to pull Rhys' name out of a hat, two years after the guy ran off with the money.  He may not have known Rhys personally, but it's stretching it a bit to think that anyone would still have a full $2.2 million two years after they first stole it.

Well, this episode was fantastic coming off of the (relative) down week post-Super Bowl.  I loved the moment Sherlock lost it when Rhys literally tried to push drugs onto him.  As the review said, I never really noticed the subtle way Jonny Lee Miller was showing the strain on Sherlock until he exploded, but now that…

I agree.  An excellent review for an awesome episode.

True.  But for me the mystery has always been nothing but the background against which we see Holmes work and interact with the other characters.  The mystery has always been forgettable, but I'm perfectly fine with that as long as the characterizations for Holmes, Watson, and the others continue to develop as well as…