Phew. I am still recovering. How about you? Whilst I've enjoyed the series so far - the settings and costumes, as ever are lush - I felt, up until Sunday night, something was missing. Lady Mary's deep grief, whilst realistic, seemed overdone. There was no gripping storyline to set the pulse racing and leave you on a cliffhanger. My emotions weren't yet thoroughly involved.
So when I sat down, Sunday night, a jab of disappointment pricked my mind. During the first half of the show with nothing much happening apart from the arrival of guests and talk of Lady Mary's involvement with the estate, I wished for a bit of action.
There were the usual hilarious and cutting comments from the Dowager Countess and as the programme progressed I enjoyed the thought of the Lord of Grantham getting in trouble with Cora for gambling. Plus Mr Carson... Isn't he great - clearly struggling with the changes in etiquette since the war?
Yet where was the big story? Who was going to pull on my heartstrings? Cue Nigel Harman - Lord Gillingham's valet, Green. I'd been looking forward to him joining the show! I still remember Harman as twinkly-eyed Dennis in EastEnders. So, it was a double-shock for me when he attacked Anna.
The portrayal of his abuse was a case of less is more, in some ways - scenes cutting from Dame Nellie Melba's beautiful performance to hearing Anna's desperate screams for help. Whilst we only saw the beginning and aftermath of the attack on-screen, is even this the sort of action we want from Downton, on a Sunday night? I suspect it was too brutal for some viewers.
However, I feel it was sensitively done. It left me feeling angry and sad for Anna and the predicament she'd been left in. Will she be pregnant? Can Bates have children or could she pass a baby off as his? Or will the outcome be that she distances herself so much from Bates, he finds comfort elsewhere?
As long as it isn't the dreadful new maid, Braithwaite! Clearly brought in to replace horrible O'Brien, I'd much rather see Myanna Buring, who plays her, as the beautiful blonde vampire Tanya she was in Twilight. In Downton she is devious and conniving and out to make trouble. The saucy woman clearly has her eye set on unassuming Branson.
As long as it isn't the dreadful new maid, Braithwaite! Clearly brought in to replace horrible O'Brien, I'd much rather see Myanna Buring, who plays her, as the beautiful blonde vampire Tanya she was in Twilight. In Downton she is devious and conniving and out to make trouble. The saucy woman clearly has her eye set on unassuming Branson.
Yes, Downton Abbey Season 4 is shaping up to be a great series and I for one won't miss a second. It's going to be interesting to see the fallout from the last brutal episode. The story did pull on my heartstrings, yet not in a romantic way - I'm praying for Anna. That, somehow, she can find a way to move forward...
