Top 10 lines from Downton Abbey’s Christmas Episode or “Earl’s Valet to Swing”
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Well, my friends, our guilty pleasure has come to an end,
and I have to say I’m a little sad. To put M&M, Lord G, and Grandma to rest
for a year just seems cruel to those of us who have come to rely on them for
Sunday evening entertainment.
I may have to resort to creamy dips as my next guilty
pleasure. Or maybe trashy romance novels, but (imagine Violet saying this) that
one I highly doubt.
Anyway, I savored every moment of the Christmas episode
because who can’t get excited about scenery like that? It’s like my perfect
storm. English manor home? Check. Humongous Christmas tree? Check. Perfectly
aligned pastries on a silver platter? Check. Falling snow and a romantic . . .
Well now, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s just say check, check, CHECK.
This episode had it all. Mystery (missing dog, anyone?),
intrigue (even though I hated the scenes with the Ouija board, they kinda made
me laugh), and suspense (Mr. Bates in jail—how long?). Even romance. Oh boy,
was there romance.
And romance is what leads me to my number 10 pick. Before I
reveal number 10, I have to say that I’m so sorry to place Bates and Anna so
far down the list, but seriously, this line, although romantic, was also just a
tad bit cheesy for my liking. Which is why it had to land here. I couldn’t
leave it out, but I couldn’t very well make it one of my further favorites.
Number 10. Mr. Bates, having just been reprimanded by the
prison guard, “NO TOUCHING!”, leans across the table to Anna and declares his
undying love for her by saying, “No man can regret loving as I’ve loved you.”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the cheese factor.
Still, who doesn’t love Bates and Anna?
Number 9. So there’s this big hunting scene—a pivotal scene
in the episode, you have to admit. And the big galoop, Sir Anthony, grinning
ear-to-ear or whatever you call it that he does, standing with Edith and
Violet, asks after Sybil and her baby daddy, Branson.
Sir Anthony (about Branson): Does he shoot?
Edith: I’m sure he does.
Violet: Only, I don’t think pheasants.
Number 8. Again, at the shooting scene after Matthew
not-so-subtly rescues Mary from the clutches of Sir Richard the Goon, M&M
are enjoying a few minutes of levity in their otherwise serious lives, laughing
about Matthew’s inability to shoot. (Side note: since Matthew was practically
incapacitated in a wheelchair at the beginning of the previous episode, I’d say
he should be laughing it up. Life’s never been better for Matthew!)
Anyway, I loved this line during their “moment” together.
Mary: I never know which is worse—the sorrow when you hit
the bird or the shame when you miss it.
You hunters out there will get it.
Number 7. I just knew
Downton Abbey was educational programming, and this episode proved it. After
Cora tells Robert the joyous news that he is about to be a grandfather, I
learned a brand new idiom.
See if you can catch it.
Cora: Sybil’s pregnant!
Robert: I see. So that’s it then. She’s crossed the Rubicon.
Being the researcher that I am, I learned that crossing the
Rubicon is a reference to Julius Caesar’s army crossing the Rubicon River in 49
BC during an insurrection. It basically means coming to a point of no return.
Don’t ever say you don’t learn anything here.
Number 6. O.K. so who likes Edith? Anyone? Anyone?
Well, even so, I felt like I owed her a line this time
because she’s just. so. desperate. And she really likes that Sir Anthony guy.
So much so that she get’s number 6 this week.
Edith to Sir Anthony after he tells her he's too old for her (which, I have to add, he is): If you think I’m going to give up on
someone who calls me lovely . . .
Awwwww, Edith. Maybe you’ll get a real storyline next season
instead of some silly dalliance with an ugly farmer.
Alright, now we get to the good stuff. My top five lines
from the Christmas episode.
Number 5. This one just cracked me up. Even during a crucial
turning point in the story, the writers manage to make us laugh.
Cora: Do you remember a Turkish diplomat who stayed here
before the war?
Robert: I think I can be relied upon to recall any guest who
was found dead in his bed next morning.
Cora: Well, that’s the thing . . .
Number 4. And then came the touching scene between father
and daughter. Although, I gotta say, that if something like what Robert found
out about Mary ever happened in my house, I have a feeling it might have gone
down just a little bit differently.
Nevertheless, I think I may have shed a tear or two here.
And quite possibly shouted a hearty “AMEN!” to the
television screen.
Lord G: I don’t want my daughter to be married to a man who
threatens her with ruin. I want a good man for you. A brave man. Find a cowboy
in the Middle West and bring him back to shake us up a bit.
Yeah! That’s the way to stand up for your girl, Lord G.
Number 3. O.K., I just might have shed a tear or two during
the scene between William’s father and Daisy. I know, I know, some of you find
Daisy completely annoying what with her indecisiveness and her weak spine and
all, but I find her completely endearing. I think it’s her North Yorkshire
accent.
Anyway, the scene. Between William’s father and Daisy. Was
that not like the sweetest thing ever (to quote my daughter, Julia) when he
says to Daisy, “Without you, I’d have no one to pray for. William knew that. So
will you be my daughter?”
Yes, William’s father, I’ll be your daughter!
And while we’re on the subject of Daisy, how about the
tender moment between Violet and Daisy in the library? Daisy kind of pours out
her heart to Violet about how she married William out of pity rather than love,
and Violet, in a rare moment of empathy says, “Well to me that doesn’t sound unloving.
It sounds like you loved him a great deal.”
Seriously, Violet, I truly will love you till the day I die.
Number 2. You knew it was coming.
Sir Richard: I’m leaving in the morning, Lady Grantham. I
doubt we shall meet again.
Violet: Do you promise?
Don’t you wish you could deliver a smack-down the way
Grandma does? She’s a gem.
Number 1. I’m
afraid number 1 is a tie this week, and the Crawleys get them both. Matthew and
Isobel both delivered such great lines in this episode that I couldn’t decide
which I liked better.
So, if you’re a romantic and wanted the episode to end in
just exactly the way it did, here’s my first Number 1 line:
Matthew: “Lady Mary Crawley, will you do me the honor of
becoming my wife?”
*swoon*
And yes, some further tears may have just fallen for the
third time in this episode.
But hold on. If you think the romantic line was just a
little too over the top, maybe you’d prefer something a little more
tongue-in-cheek. So for you (and for me), I have just the line. Maybe the best-delivered, best subtle jab in the entire series.
Isobel has just given Violet her Christmas gift but Violet
is being snide, asking what on earth it is. And . . . wait for it . . . here it
comes . . . Isobel says, “It’s a nutcracker . . . to crack your nuts.”
Oh those two. Maybe in Season 3 we’ll get to see them
sharing a room in an Edwardian nursing home, growing old together, and verbally
abusing one another like old couples do.
And with that, I bid you adieu for now, Downton Abbey.
Promise me you’ll be back next year with more great lines and more wonderful
characters. But especially promise me that M&M will indeed tie the knot.
Who knows? Maybe Sir Richard will send them a nutcracker.
Just in case you want to read the rest of my DA recaps, here are the links to posts I've done:
Episode 6
Episode 5
Episode 4
Episode 3
