Predictions! Oh how we love to make them. The challenge is not to become so emotionally attached to our own ideas that we are disappointed -- this is usually my fate. But I can't help myself from making a few of my own about Downton Abbey since I just binge watched Season 5.
1. Carson and Mrs. Hughes. In keeping with the Greek tragedy style, and these two characters' understated-ness, the wedding will take place off-camera. The staff will be very disappointed and throw them a party, so that they (and the audience) are reminded of just how loved these two characters are. They are parents to both the upstairs and the downstairs, really.
2. Bates and Anna will announce they are pregnant and going to move away so that their child will not grow up under shadow of their parents' criminal histories. (Stage was set for this when Anna said lets move somewhere for a fresh start.)
2. Carson will then succumb to some illness - I can't quite see them finding Carson in an undignified position even post-moderm.
3. Carson's death will be the impetus for
4. Mary's arc will go "Scarlett O'hara" on us, certainly. There is nothing she loves as much as "family" or Downton Abbey, and keeping it in one piece for her son Charles. She will get her heart broken by the race car driver (Matthew Goode), and return to her one true love - home. Only to find it falling apart of course. She will end up alone. And very content, having realized Matthew was her one true love. She will be running the estate -- and will become more and more like her Grandmother, though in modern way. For example, she will not be afraid to take a lover when it suits her -- discretely, of course.
5. Edith will build on her happiness as a mother. I agree with others' theory that the new Agent was introduced this past season will be her love interest. He is a third cousin to a Lord -- just barely respectable enough by Crawley standards. Edith's questioning him about his ambitions leads me to believe that she will become more career focused - a novelist? poet? - and he will be her anchor to let her work in publishing and keep her family strong. We find out that Edith will be the primary heiress of both the Dowager and her Aunt Rosamund. Her new family will move into the smaller home on the estate.
6. Mary and Edith. Mary will misinterpret the new agent's interest in Edith as interest in her.
Oh the deliciousness of a potential scene where she discovers that she is not the center of the world - that her sister gets the guy and she finds out about Marigold, and realizes she didn't know the secret and just thought Edith was whining "because." Carson is dead, her lady's maid Anna has left and her sister has a lover and she does not. I will certainly eat this up because I love Mary, and I want her to find and stay connected with that compassionate side in her, and quit being so self-absorbed. I loved the comment that "a lack of compassion is as vulgar as tears."
5. I predict that Robert will die, rather than the Dowager. Who will be the man to take his place?
6. We will get to learn some things about the "controlled" yet ever lovely Cora. Will she travel? Will she revisit her American roots? Who is she? Does she know? And please don't let her make a trek to Germany . . . especially not to join Atticus and Rose. There will be much foreshadowing about this, I predict. Certainly a movie would have as a backdrop WW2, and the ability to bring in age-appropriate "new" characters. Certainly, the Jewish elements of this past season's storylines were relevant not only to the moment but the future.
6. The Dowager and Isobel will still be alive - and good friends - at season's end, and will remind Mary that you can be happy in all phases of life, and life brings you people you need at the time you need them.
7. Daisy! Oh Daisy. I want so much for you! So much potential, so many different paths. Any path they choose for you will give you adventure and happiness, I feel sure.
8. There will be new characters and surprises, of course.
9. Please stop with the GREEN storyline, and no one cares about the tranquility of a certain domestic staff and their war over chicken broth. PLEASE!
I would hope at the Christmas special in the end there would be one huge family reunion, with Tom, Sybbie, Rose, Atticus, Martha and Harold all visiting from America (since it has been made clear the show won't go to America).
Don't forget Shrimpie and the Sinderbys. Susan I could care less if she comes. Also, I still feel we should see more of Tom's family besides his brother, maybe his mom?
Tom and Sybbie must come back early on in Series 6 as they are my favourites and the show will not be the same for me without them! I do not want to see Tom come back with a wife in tow though whom we don't know and all the hassle of will the Crawleys like her or not. I would also like Edith to get the suitor as opposed to Mary for a change! And more of the lovely Molesley/Baxter pairing please!
It would be nice to see more MacClares and Bransons, but on the other hand, it might not be a good idea to crowd everyone in simply because it is the final season.
Still, it had better end on a high note with the characters feeling confidence/hope for whatever the future will bring.
Predictions for the character's a la chcwvgirl's post above. I think there are a lot of opportunities to show Downton moving forward in this final season.
First, I'll preface this with prediction that Lord Grantham is going to die. The Dowager Countess seems like the easy option but I think Robert would make more sense. He is the head of house, so his death would be the true sign of Downton moving on. This would give Mary the chance to truly step up her role in overseeing the estate. They already showed her getting involved in managing affairs last season, and with Tom's presence uncertain, it will be her time to come into her own.
1. Carson and Mrs. Hughes - With the house hunting last season, they might just retire at the end. As Carson has been a father figure to Mary for so long, his moving on would be a wonderful sign of trust in her, and you know there'd be an incredibly moving scene devoted to it. Hughes and Carson's departure would allow a shift in household positions, which leads to...
2. Bates and Anna - Possibly taking over the running of the house. If not, they either go about their usual positions or move on to a new life running a pub or something like that. If Robert dies, this would provide the perfect impetus for shifts to take place, as Bates would lose his valet position. I hope the Mr. Green intrigue finally dies down. Perhaps it'll come to light his murder is related to one of his previous victims.
3. Mary - She ends up with racecar dude. I thought she had great chemistry and a lot more fun with pig-farmer, but I get the impression they'll just be friends at this point. With Mary/racecar dude, they're setting up a matched suave yet stoic couple. Mary will continue to be involved in the affairs of Downton, and if her father passes, she'll be in the perfect position to take over in the new era. Hopefully her practical, forward thinking will steer the estate through the invetable drama ahead.
4. Edith will find love with the new agent (gosh he even looks like the last two guys--that woman has a type!). Things will finally go right for her this season as she settles into life with Marigold, gets a steady beau, and throws herself into her publishing work. As for her relationship with Mary, I think that handhold in the Christmas special was a sign that things will FINALLY start getting better between them (season 1 was years ago Mary--let it go!!!).
5. Cora and Robert - Aside from Robert's health possibly failing, idk what they'd do for these two. They're pretty flexible characters though, so they can easily come up with some local or domestic issues for them to chew on.
6. Violet and Isobel - These are more hopes than predictions. Please keep them alive, and let them happily live out their days as friends (or something more ;D). No more suitors please. Might as well move in together given how they're already attached at the hip. I could do without any more Spratt/Denka drama.
7. Daisy - Go do...whatever it is you want to do! That girl will end up just fine.
8. Thomas the Evil Footman - I think he'll finally get a proper love interest this season in the new fellow on staff.
I think we need to see a wedding of some sort, Thomas should probably find someone who makes him a little nicer (the new Footman would be a bit weird - they'd be bound to be caught) maybe some new person in the village?
I hope they do a good epilogue; George being born in the early 20's means he'll almost definitely fight in WW2. Would be nice to see Mary and Edith as old ladies.
I hope they do a good epilogue; George being born in the early 20's means he'll almost definitely fight in WW2. Would be nice to see Mary and Edith as old ladies.
Right!
118.208.185.53 wrote: I think we need to see a wedding of some sort, Thomas should probably find someone who makes him a little nicer (the new Footman would be a bit weird - they'd be bound to be caught) maybe some new person in the village?
I hope they do a good epilogue; George being born in the early 20's means he'll almost definitely fight in WW2. Would be nice to see Mary and Edith as old ladies.
I think it would be far easier for Thomas to have a lover in the house. No worrying about getting caught by random people around town. With the heavy work schedule, it'd be tough to frequently meet someone in the village. At Downton they could catch a moment in a corner, visits at night. It'd be a simple pleasure just to pass by in the house. Plus a bunch of folks at Downton already know about Thomas, and are relatively accepting for the time. It'd be somewhat safer among friends. He thought he could've made a go of things with Jimmy had he swung that way, so he might take another chance if the right guy came along.
Ah, but haven't you learned? Thomas and Edith are the universe's butt-monkeys. If it can screw them over, it's going to screw them over.