10 Things We Loved About Downton Abbey This Week: Poor Edith!
When we last saw Lady Edith Crawley, at the end of the premiere of Season 3, she was happily planning to marry her much-older suitor, Sir Antony Strallan, in spite of the the massive age difference and his old war injury. Sunday's episode opened with her looking radiantly happy, possibly for the first time in her life, as her family and the staff got Downton Abbey ready for her wedding, just a month after her sister Mary's. But then? OMG. Here are 10 things we loved about the last episode.
Related: The Real Downton Abbey? Highclere Castle
1. Edith's wedding dress. Costume designer Caroline McColl says that the real inspiration for Edith's Grecian-style satin wedding gown was an original silk train that she borrowed from a friend. "We brought through the embroider from the train and put it on the shoulder and the hips,"she told Entertainment Weekly. "It was like a draped silk dress. It's very simple and elegant." (That gorgeous tiara was the same one that Mary wore in her wedding in last week's episode.) She wanted Edith to look "absolutely stunning on her wedding day," she said -- and she wanted the audience to feel the punch in the gut when Sir Antony left Edith at the altar. "I wanted you to sort of be devastated as an audience," she admitted. It totally worked.
2. Tiaras. Edith wore the family's "bridal tiara" for her short-lived trip down the aisle -- it's the same one that Mary wore at her wedding, during the season 3 premiere. And it's the real deal: An antique tiara from U.K. jewelry Bentley & Skinner, adorned with 45 carats worth of diamonds and worth nearly $200,000.
3. Downton Place. The family takes a picnic to a distant part of the estate, to look at the tiny house they'll be forced to inhabit once they have to sell Downton Abbey. It's isolated and run-down, the Dowager Countess complains. "Downton Place, how lovely!" Lady Cora gushes, making the best of the situation. "Won't it be a bit cramped?" asks Mary, skeptically surveying the 6,000-or-so square-foot place. "It'll only take about eight servants to run it, so it's much more economical," Lord Grantham says in his best "we'll make do" voice before pointing out that the family "still owns most of the village." Only Irish rebel Tom Branson is the voice of reason: "You do realize that for most people, it looks like a fairy palace," he points out. No one listens to him.
4. Mary's honesty. She's obviously fed up with Matthew's dithering about the money he's inherited, but we love her for what she told Edith just before the wedding: "I know we haven't always got along, and I doubt that will change much, but right now I wish you all the luck in the world!" And after the wedding, when there wasn't a trace of a gloat in Mary's eyes (you know there totally would have been, back in Season 1).
5. Cora's mothering moment. "You are being tested," she tells Edith before gathering her into a hug.
6. The Dowager Countess' grand-mothering moment. While everyone else is sitting there in shock -- and before the local pastor can persuade Sir Antony to go on with the wedding -- she walks over to the crushed bride and tells her, "It's over, my dear. Don't drag it out -- wish him well and let him go." She saves Edith's dignity, if not her broken heart.
7. Daisy's impending feminism. After finding out that her crush, Alfred, liked the American maid's brashness ("She said what she felt even though she was a woman," he marveled) Daisy wonders whether it's safe to speak her mind, now that it's the 1920s and all. We can't wait to hear what she says next.
8. Thomas hits an all-time low. He's an expert at spreading rumors, but to start one about Mrs. O'Brien, the woman who taught him every conniving thing he knows? That can't be good.
9. Mr. Carson, singing while polishing the silver. He loves Mrs. Hughes. We just know it.
10. The way the downstairs staff turned up their noses at asparagus, lobster, and Calvados-glazed duck. Because why eat all those silly tidbits when you can have a nice bit of cheese?
Also on Shine:
Get the Look: Mary's Wedding Headpiece
A Downton Abbey Premiere Menu
The Ladies of Downton Wear Uggs Under Their Dresses!
