'Downton Abbey' recap: It was LUST, Matthew! (LA Times)

February 20, 2012 | 7:30 am

 By the time the two-hour grand finale of "Downton Abbey" Season 2 is over, the only one who doesn't know about the dead Turk in Lady Mary's bed is the yellow Lab Isis.

And that's because she was too busy being dognapped to get the news. The secret slips out because Lady Mary is so darn miserable with Sir Richard. He's so serious! And controlling! "The awful truth is," she tells Matthew, "he's starting to get on my nerves."

Hint: if your serious, controlling fiance is bugging you, don't go talking to your ex about it -- the fiance won't take it well. 

Lord Grantham nobly asks his wife why Lady Mary is sticking with Sir Richard if he's so un-fun, and Lady Grantham spills the dead-lover beans. Luckily, we don't have to hear the story over and over again: Instead, we see that the news is being passed along.

Lord Grantham confronts Lady Mary, and she is both relieved and ashamed. This gives Michelle Dockery a chance to do what she does really well, which is act two conflicting emotions all but simultaneously.

It gives Lord Grantham a chance to say what may be the best line of the night. They'll deal with the scandal, he says, and she should go visit her grandmother in America, maybe meet a man who truly loves her: "Find a cowboy!" (OK, maybe that's not quite a good a line as "It was lust, Matthew!" More about that after the jump). All in all, Lord Grantham takes the news of Mary's dead lover cover-up way better than the fact that chaste Sybil wanted to marry the chauffeur. Go figure.


Read the rest of the article:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/02/downton-abbey-recap-it-was-lust-matthew.html