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All Aboard the Canon Ship
Apr. 8th, 2012 10:48 pm*sigh* Yeah, I was on the Mary/Matthew train trundling through the romantic messes of Downton Abbey season/series 2. A lot of that had to do with the tension between Matthew and Mary that Dan Stevens and Michelle Dockery bring to the table through body language and how their expressions undermine their words. Michelle Dockery gave Mary this wonderful earnest vulnerability that drew organically from where we left Mary at the end of the first season. It's in the way she smiles at Matthew or watches him or tries to hide her regret and attraction from him all paired up with snark and blunt self-deprecation--and that he can draw her playfulness out in a way that doesn't come out condescending or angry at him (yet often at herself). And I like that it's supposed to be obvious, that what we see is clearly what everyone around them also sees (and sighs over).
I enjoyed how the show managed to make it clear that the tables had turned between the two, having the scales tipped the other way in whose heart was pursuing whose. I think it's interesting, too, to see Mary have very clear affections for those who aren't Matthew: she's a total Bates/Anna shipper, dotes on youngest sister Sybil ("my darling"), and is aware of and reciprocates Carson's affections (though I even said out loud "Oh, Mary, that was a low blow" when she takes out her anger on him). I think it's also interesting that in the on-screen representations of Matthew and Mary, it's Mary we've seen succumb to lust, to have lusted, which, I think, lends more weight to the palpable sexual tension between Matthew and Mary. Series 2 Mary definitely felt a lot softer, less confident, and more and more aware that compromising out of practicality looks more necessary with each passing year.
It's one of those cases in which I really enjoyed watching Michelle Dockery do her work. While Lady Grantham often gets the best one-liners, Dockery manages to rocket back and forth between joy, worry, despair, shock, crumpling, brave fronts, snark, being pragmatic, and that UST-driving I-just-want-my-beloved-to-be-happy. It's how she can be so open with her face and the way she can work her throat to swallow tears/worries. Mary's just so dreadfully flawed and you can tell she regrets so much how she failed to rise to the occassion when she had the chance and not be contrary for contrariness's sake instead of just listening to her heart and having that and everything else work out perfectly for everyone because God forbid she should do what everyone wants.
Which is to say thank you, Christmas special. But now what in the world will happen in series 3? :O
I enjoyed how the show managed to make it clear that the tables had turned between the two, having the scales tipped the other way in whose heart was pursuing whose. I think it's interesting, too, to see Mary have very clear affections for those who aren't Matthew: she's a total Bates/Anna shipper, dotes on youngest sister Sybil ("my darling"), and is aware of and reciprocates Carson's affections (though I even said out loud "Oh, Mary, that was a low blow" when she takes out her anger on him). I think it's also interesting that in the on-screen representations of Matthew and Mary, it's Mary we've seen succumb to lust, to have lusted, which, I think, lends more weight to the palpable sexual tension between Matthew and Mary. Series 2 Mary definitely felt a lot softer, less confident, and more and more aware that compromising out of practicality looks more necessary with each passing year.
It's one of those cases in which I really enjoyed watching Michelle Dockery do her work. While Lady Grantham often gets the best one-liners, Dockery manages to rocket back and forth between joy, worry, despair, shock, crumpling, brave fronts, snark, being pragmatic, and that UST-driving I-just-want-my-beloved-to-be-happy. It's how she can be so open with her face and the way she can work her throat to swallow tears/worries. Mary's just so dreadfully flawed and you can tell she regrets so much how she failed to rise to the occassion when she had the chance and not be contrary for contrariness's sake instead of just listening to her heart and having that and everything else work out perfectly for everyone because God forbid she should do what everyone wants.
Which is to say thank you, Christmas special. But now what in the world will happen in series 3? :O
