This week’s episode did not grab me by the collar.  My attention wandered.  I began thinking about what the characters might do with their time after the series ends.  I imagined a series of self-improvement books.

Team Building at Home and at Work by Charles Carson

Successful Succession Planning by Cora Crawley

Getting Started in Matchmaking by Daisy Mason

My Secrets for Attracting Upper Class Women by Evelyn Napier

101 Sick Room Entertainments by Robert Crawley

When the tour was in full swing, it was obvious that the three guides – Cora, Mary, and Edith – had never learned much about the grand and historic house in which they live.  On the other hand, Mr. Molesley was obviously ready to answer any of the questions that the visitors had, but as a lowly footman he went unnoticed.  If a weekly open house becomes a regular part of the business of the Abbey (which I believe is a common practice these days), perhaps Mr. Molelsey will be taken more seriously.  These chaps who are good at general knowledge, as Mr. Molesley is about to prove himself at the local school, often make serviceable docents as well.

One characteristic of Mr. Molesley’s that I find annoying is his willingness to offer advice to Baxter when he hasn’t been asked.  In this episode, Baxter receives a letter from the cad Coyle asking her to visit him in prison.  When she tells Molesley about it, he doesn’t ask her what she is thinking of doing or how she feels about it.  He tells her what to do and then repeats his advice later, again unsolicited.  Being good at general knowledge doesn’t turn you into Ann Landers, and even she waited for people to ask for advice.

Otherwise, the pairing off seems to be going along on schedule.  Mary and Henry, Edith and Bertie are both on the verge of a big commitment, each needing just one more plot point to be resolved.  Mary will have to get over her car phobia.  Really, just because your husband and the father of your child was killed while driving his favorite car is no reason to get all morbid about automobiles.  Edith will have to tell Bertie about Marigold.  I expect it will take her a while to work up to it, but I doubt it will put him off for an instant.  Once those two details are taken care of, the Crawley daughters will be nicely settled.

It appears that Isobel and Lord Merton will be able to wed now that Larry has been defanged by his new wife.  He is so unpleasant that it’s difficult to see how she is going to manage him, but she may have reserves of strength that were not evident during this episode.  It’s also possible that she is supplying the money.

Moving down the social scale, let us hope Mr. Mason and Mrs. Patmore will be able to overcome Daisy’s neurotic possessiveness so as to achieve their modicum of domestic happiness.  An episode or two ago, Andy gave Daisy a look that I thought had more than a hint of a twinkle, but he has not followed up, so perhaps that particular story line is not going to unfold for us.  Of course, it’s possible that Thomas has turned Andy’s head without even meaning to.  Perhaps Andy’s earlier attempts to avoid Mr. Barrow were masking an attraction that dared not speak its name.  Highly unlikely, naturally, and if there were anything to it, the Patmore-Carson axis would quickly end it.

Our congratulations to Mr. Napier on rejoining the story.  During his last appearance, he did not speak one complete line.  This time, he managed several sentences before being eclipsed by characters who have a stronger claim on our attention.  Still, a respectable showing.

What is the over-under on how long Mrs. Carson is going to put up with Mr. Carson’s passive-aggressive badgering?  I would not like to see the series end with their relationship in its current state.  Mrs. Hughes is not a woman to remain silent for too much longer.

Finally, the wine that Mr. Carson brought to Lord Grantham, secreted in a flask “for ease of carriage”, was Chateau Chasse-Spleen.  The legend is that Lord Byron visited the Chateau in 1821 and on tasting the wine declared “Quel remede pour chasser le spleen” or “What a remedy to chase away the spleen [i.e., melancholy].”  It’s a nice story, but in 1821 the vineyard that is now Chasse-Spleen was part of a larger property then known as Chateau Grand-Poujeaux[1].  It is possible that the owners wrote down the quote, planning to use it in the event that the vineyards were ever split up.  In fact, the process of splitting up began the next year, but it was several decades before the vineyard now known as Chasse-Spleen took that name.  Another theory is that the wine is named after the poem “Spleen” by Charles Baudelaire.  The difficulty with that story is that the poem does not mention wine.

At one time, Chasse-Spleen was classified as a Cru Bourgeois, the grade of Bordeaux wines lying between the 55 “classified” growths and “Bordeaux Supérieur”.  At some point, it lost that designation and is now Bordeaux Supérieur[2].  Hugh Johnson’s comment: “Good, often outstanding, long-maturing wine; classical structure, fragrance.”

I hope that Robert will once again be able to enjoy a glass of Chasse-Spleen before the series ends.

[1] http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/bordeaux-wine-producer-profiles/bordeaux/haut-medoc-lesser-appellations/chasse-spleen/

[2] The Cru Bourgeois website does not list it, but some websites still refer to it as a cru bourgeois.