justbarrowsing

Rob talks here about how the war has changed Thomas and how the things that used to matter to him and that still matter to O'Brien, such as getting one up on Bates, seem small and inconsequential compared to the vast and seemingly unending misery and horror of the war.

i so wish we had seen explored the aftermath of the war and how it changed personal and societal relationships

instead of JF pressing the reset button and things more or less continuing as before

so much interesting fodder for a writer

and what does JF serve up?

endless Bates melodrama, second-hand plots from other shows; ridiculous, repetitive, and ultimately inconsequential story arcs; more Bates melodrama; unnecessary and poorly handled SA, and soup 😐

why and how does JF set up interesting characters and potential situations, and then veer off into the dullest of directions, again and again?

eg Denker could have been an interesting antagonist and shit-stirrer—but when Thomas bests her at the gambling den that's the end of it, apart from her being the one to bring the news of DA letting staff go...there could have been an interesting battle between the two, with Denker winkling out all of Thomas' secrets, and Thomas trying to defend himself without resorting back to his old ways...an interesting parallel to the all too brief conflict between him and O'Brien that resulted in The Jimmy Incident...

instead we got that grindingly stupid soup plot good god

The only things that work without rest are machines; literally everything that lives requires rest.

Downton Abbey

Allen Leach

Yes, thank you! There's been a few articles today about the upcoming season with more pics too 👀 There's an article right here for anyone interested. I think my personal favorite of the photos is this one: