I suppose she was too preoccupied for that hospital thing to pay attention to a kid.

yes. Actually, this is another of the points that reinforce the impression that this season makes a much better job than the previous ones to show that "things have changed".
I found the discussion the family has at the end of the day, and Edith's observation that being part of "something to visit" a bit sad, very on…

cool!

I agree, he was a very good match.
I think that the pig thing really is what she's missing with Talbot: a genuine bonding moment. This is why they seem forced.

the books are not -that- better.

we see several times Baxter attending Cora in her bedroom (as preparing her clothes) even if we don't see her dressing. Besides, that's not so important in the economy of the show. We see Anna and Mary together several times because they have dialogues important for the story and because Anna is basically Mary's…

very interesting, thanks!

yes yes of course, I meant more we don't understand (in the intimate sense, not in the intellectual sense) than we don't know.
Also, the human factor is so important in this matter that there must be a huge variance in behavior, so it's difficult to grasp it well.

A possible justification is the fact we're following a rural aristocratic family in Yorkshire, so quite cut out from the exotism of a place like London. Plus, not even such a high-ranked family (I could imagine some Dukes getting more exotic entourage and friends, being more connected to the 'world that creates…

thanks for the interesting historical snippet.

It is indeed steered towards conservatism, but I really believe that many english rural aristocrats felt a degree of duty towards their servants and their land (which implies their tenants). After all they were rooted in that territory since centuries. Of course, together with appalling behaviors from others.

I don't think so, at least not MR Bates ;)

don't worry about that (seriously, I don't want to spoiler anything, but I'll just say it will be more than mentioned in the next episodes).

I think there is a big risk to see these period pieces -especially those set in a vastly different culture than what we're used to, as upper class England- too much through our lens of 2016 people. We project a lot, but ultimately we don't know the dynamics of patrons-servants of that society.
Also because they must…

I think it's a combination of things. First of all, he wasn't approving of Thomas' homosexuality but he didn't care that much until the thing came out with the risk of endangering the good standing and reputation of the family. Then, he never had sympathy for Thomas to begin with (gay or not), because Thomas has…

I also think socialism in the '10s-20s was quite different from what we today perceive to be socialism. Or at least it was conveyed differently.
Tom was actually more than socialist, he was an Irishman (socialist by default?). I was never really convinced he was a socialist in fact, more like an angry Irish against the…

he actually stayed pretty socialist for many years after marrying an upper class, until he went to US.

yes, that's my favourite part of the episode, how the mood changes instantaneously. It was also very believable and a genuinely moving moment.

they tried once and we saw how it went!

agreed!