Yes, and in all fairness to the aristocracy, many did spend a lot of time as children hanging out downstairs with the servants and developing relationships with them (see Lady Mary and Carson) and probably also learning from them. It's not completely unreasonable to expect that at some point Mrs. Patmore taught the…

Or you could start drinking wine at breakfast.

I expected Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars to start playing!

Indeed, a spoiled, comfortable, favored, much-loved, smug animal . . . just like my cats.

I once played the Lady Rosamund role to a young couple who were friends of mine and who were dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. She gets all due credit from me for her attempts to support and counsel Edith. Talk about a difficult, thankless job.

In purely practical terms, I bet the thought of traveling without a valet would send Robert into an internal white-hot terror. There is no way he could have dressed himself, and making even the simplest travel arrangements would have been beyond him. On the commentary track of "Gosford Park," Julian Fellowes tells the…

Phyllis Logan is a wonderful actress, highly adept at understatement, and Mrs. Hughes is a wonderful character. She's that unflappable, ultra-competent, very fair (and very rare) manager who works quietly behind the scenes to make sure things run smoothly and everyone is treated fairly. As much as I love Mr. Carson,…

I was impressed that Lady Mary knew how to cook scrambled eggs properly, by stirring slowly in a saucepan. A plate of smooth, creamy eggs with a bottle of red wine after a romp through the pig trough is always a splendid late-night treat!

I've been longing for a major scene in which Violet and Isobel get to play off each other in a prolonged way, and now I've been satisfied. It was ultimately both hilarious and touching to see them "in action" during Violet's illness, with Violet rasping what might have been her last breaths and Isobel immediately…

No, he doesn't say that in the episode; the reviewer was being tongue-in-cheek. It is clear, however, even before it's eventually explained that they're talking about the Teapot Dome scandal, which, if Cora's brother is involved, puts him in the company of some of the slimiest political hacks and money grubbers in…

I think Lord Fellowes may be making a point here. The current "desire of suitors" (hilarious) is aristocratic. These three are gentlemen by birth and by training. The awful newspaper guy, Sir Richard Carlisle, was a self-made, middle class fellow, who, however wealthy he might be, could never match the innate savor…

A wealthy, kind-hearted, loyal, boring husband might grow on a person through the years. Most people seem to do a lot worse.

I don't agree that they're both idiots. Robert is a dim bulb when it comes to thinking out of the box, but I'm sympathetic to that. He's being asked to do things and accept things that to his mind must seem nearly incomprehensible. He was raised, educated, and trained for success in one kind of world, only to have…

Yes, with the budget and also with the constraints of storytelling. There are only so many people and plot lines that we as viewers can reasonably take in. The indoor staff in a house the size of Highclere/Downton probably numbered in the 70s/80s.

Were I searching for wisdom on how to treat people, in the workplace or otherwise, I would look in Mrs. Hughes' parlor before Mr. Carson's pantry. In the case of Mr. Molesley's return as a footman, I'm on Mrs. Hughes's side, if sides are to be drawn. I think he should have been accorded respect when he asked for some…

I think we have to allow for a great deal of poetic license where the kitchen is concerned. Technically, the scullery maid, the lowest kitchen servant, would have spent all her days in the scullery, a separate room dedicated to the washing of dishes, pots, pans, etc. Imagine the amount of washing up that would have…

I agree. I think Violet and Isobel are having the female equivalent of a bromance. They argue and they bicker, but deep down there is respect and even affection. At this point, I think they would each be lost without the other.

I love that Robert and Cora are still very much in love. It's not a romance that gets a lot of attention, but it's quite real and seems to to be a rock for them through many a trial and tribulation.

Mr. Tufton, the portly grocer from Thirsk (and Mrs. Patmore's one-time fancy man) is probably available, and we know he likes women who can cook.

The Super Bowl was on?