I think people find it funny because is was shocking and gruesome, and just not what people expect from Downton Abbey. However, in this instanceI think the humor comes from the Game of Thrones reference.
Sitter way, here is yet another vote for Edith and Bertie.
The point is how it was really over-the-top. Like the dead Turk, it was a tragedy, but... XDDDD Black comedy category winner?
I like both couples, although I think Fellowes made more mistakes with the Mary and Henry relationship (many noted above already). With Bertie and Edith, the biggest issue was the over-drawn-out way they extended the "will Edith tell him about Marigold?" plotline and there were so many opportunities for her to do so even before his cousin's death. But I get that that was just a build-up for when Mary exposed it at breakfast.
As far as chemistry between the Mary and Henry goes, or Henry being wooden, they were supposed to "match" and both be cool collected types, only showing their fiery sides to few. Other weaknesses: Your best friend has just died in the same way that your love's first husband did, and you think that is the time to propose to her-- over the phone? Or, just as bad, your love interest just had his best friend die, so that makes it a good time to break up with him--over the phone? Really?
Michelle Dockery and Matthew Goode did admirably given some of the atrocious dialogue they were handed, except it seemed even they knew they couldn't pull off the horribly written library reconciliation scene. I have enjoyed reading fan works on other sites with alternative resolutions (which I would have never even gone to if I hadn't been so dissatisfied).
188.223.63.236 wrote: I think people find it funny because is was shocking and gruesome, and just not what people expect from Downton Abbey. However, in this instanceI think the humor comes from the Game of Thrones reference.
Okay... I guess I get it a Little bit better now.
Exactly. He might be wooden, but that is also why he's a match for ice queen Mary.
I think one problem is that Mary and Henry never had a "couch scene". Bertie and Edith had two. The first in the editor's office, after the long night or work, sitting together on that battered leather thing, completely relaxed with each other. For the first time Edith is with a man and doesn't seem nervous or with a sense of inferiority--he's not commanding her. And if you find a still, there's that business of their feet pointing at each's but not quite touching. JF said about Gregson that he let Edith be herself; that scene is that in spades.
And of course, the second couch scene, after the fatal race. In a quiet way, the sexiest scene in the series.
Mary and Henry never had anything like that; all their scenes have one kind of an edge or another.
To me, what it fails is all the characters around saying "they love each other" constantly. it felt forced. "Show, don't tell" is like the first rule to write something
At the end of the series I was just happy that Edith and Mary found somebody in Henry and Bertie.
Bertie and Edith were beautiful. They started off as friends, and then grew to love each other. They looked so natural together, and they didn't need words to show that they were in love with each other. Besides being in love, they also relied on each other to make them better people. Their relationship brought out the best in each other. Also, in this show there is a lot of kissing and saying "I love you" to express love, when really I prefer the casual gestures and looks that express the love and connection between people, like with Edith and Bertie. When Bertie learns about Marigold and is breaking with Edith, throughout the whole conversation you can see how much they love each other, even though they are dissapointed in each other and themselves. Though they are both crying, they also clearly show that they wanted to kiss each other. When they got back together, they had both learned lessons about trust and truth. And Edith's mistake in not trusting Bertie in the beginning leads her to choose truth and confess the truth of Marigold's parentage to Bertie's mother. Also, Edith who is always the underdog with star-crossed love and bad luck end up being a Marchioness, outranking the rest of her family. As the character with some of the most character development, progressing from a shallow, vindictive girl with no purpose, to a modern women with kindness and bravery, she certainly deserved this happy ending.
Henry and Mary... they were okay. I'm glad that she got down from her high horse to marry him, but it didn't really seem in her character. With them, they were a power struggle, and it seemed that they were attracted to each other, but maybe didn't have a lasting love that would sustain their relationship. Their relationship seemed based on passion, rather than lasting love and trust. They were both powerful and arrogant, so they balanced each other out, but it just didn't seem natural. They had to say "I love you" to show that they were in love with each other when their acting didn't really express it. Mary and Matthew were natural, and seemed like good chums as well as being in love with each other. Matthew brought out the goodness in Mary, but with Henry, Mary didn't really change much, other than a few really out of character moments like when she, the stuffiest person in the show, said she was proud of her husband's second hand car shop. The whole thing just felt kind of forced after the natural way that Mary interacted with Matthew.
Henry and Mary seemed a little forced, and attracted to each other rather than in love. Edith and Bertie grew and developed together, brought out the best in each other, and worked together naturally and beautifully, so I would say that they are a much better and more convincing couple than Henry and Mary.