This Week on My TV: April 21, 2016

Disclaimer: Consider the fact that there could be spoilers ahead. You read at your own risk!



**(Downton Abbey, season 5) Violet: Principles are like prayers. Noble, of course, but awkward at a party. -- Violet: There's nothing simpler than avoiding people you don't like. Avoiding one's friends, that's the real test. -- Daisy: I was rubbish at numbers at school. Mrs Patmore: Well, all the best people were rubbish at numbers at school. ... I concur. -- Something I have noted: beware of the smokers. It seems like all the troublemakers smoke. -- What a miserable, conniving little man, Spratt is! -- I am not at all sad that Miss Bunting is gone. Thank the Lord Tom didn't end up with her. The aristocracy may be on shaky ground, but her rudeness is appalling. I like to think that Tom is the "man of the future," blending the best of both worlds. -- I kind of loved how everyone stood when the king spoke, even though they were only listening on the radio. -- Well, now. I did *not* expect that Mary, of all people, would have herself a rendezvous! How bold and controversial! -- Tom: You know you're much nicer than a lot of people realize. Mary: Not always. ... This is why I love Tom and I love Mary. Tom is sincere and kind. And Mary knows who she is and how she is, good qualities and those less so. She certainly doesn't pretend she isn't who she is or make excuses. Sometimes, she's just not nice. Aren't we all. -- I miss the Anna and Bates that were in love. Their story started out so sweet and hopeful, and they haven't had an easy moment since they said their vows. I really wasn't much on board with the investigation and imprisonment of Anna, after all the time we spent dealing with Bates in prison for the murder of his first wife. Why do you hate Anna and Bates, Julian Fellowes? -- Mrs Patmore: We should always be polite to people who are kind. There's not much of it about. -- I wept when Edith took Marigold from the Drewes. And I don't know if they were tears of joy for Edith or of sorrow for Mrs Drewe. -- Thing I never would have predicted: Violet expressing sadness about possibly losing Isobel as her friend and confidante, should Isobel marry. Of course she may not need to worry about that, given what awful human beings Lord Merton's sons happen to be. Get thee with the doc, Isobel. That's what I have to say. -- There was even more weeping over Isis, when Robert and Cora put her on the bed between them during her final hours. --I am amused that Robert is so set against the grandchildren calling him 'Donk', when everyone seems completely at home calling Rose's father 'Shrimpie'. -- Rose finally feels like she has a point in this show that isn't merely to fill the gaping hole left by Sybil. I like who she's becoming. -- Speaking of Rose, they sure were fond of botanical names! Violet. Rose. Marigold. Daisy. Ivy. -- Total seal of approval on Mary's haircut! -- I raise an eyebrow at Robert's extreme jealousy and silent treatment surrounding that whole Mr Bricker-Cora incident. Have you forgotten how you dallied with Jane, the maid, while Cora lay dying from Spanish Flu?? Because I haven't, mister. I was amused by the line Cora dropped to return Robert to her bed from his sulking in his dressing room. Even though he can be a real dunce at time, I think Robert has enough integrity that he'd feel too guilty looking in the mirror if he pretended he'd never been in questionable circumstances himself. -- I really, really tried to get into the Violet and Prince Kuragin love story, but it just didn't work for me. -- I often lament the over saturation of information we experience in today's hyper-connected world, but good grief. It took a year for Edith to get final confirmation that Gregson had died. That certainly wasn't optimal either. -- Say what you will about Mary, but there are far more awful women associated with the family. Lady Flintshire, for one. And she may be the worst of them all, pulling out every stop she can think of to spoil her daughter's wedding. -- If I wept over Isis and Edith taking Marigold from the Drewes, I outright sobbed when Robert unveiled the tribute he did for Mrs Patmore's nephew, in lieu of being able to memorialize him on the monument. -- It *is* nice to see Edith actually happy. She is certainly blossoming as Marigold's mother. -- Every time I expect stodgy, clinging to the old ways Robert to handle a sensitive situation callously, he comes through with surprising calm compassion. First with Mary and Mr Pamuk in the early days, and now with Edith, as he tells her he accepts her daughter into the family. -- I favored Charles Blake over Lord Gillingham, but forget those two clowns. Mary must have Henry Talbot! (Matthew Goode, you are a delight, and I need you to appear in the final season, please.) -- I'm going to refuse to acknowledge any of this "Tom and Sybbie go to America" nonsense, and spend my final thought squeee-ing that Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson just got engaged! And then my heart exploded. -- p.s. I heart Matthew Goode.

**(The Blacklist, 3x18 Mr Solomon (The Conclusion)) Who is that guy talking to Solomon, how did he know Liz escaped and how is he tracking her?? -- There's something you don't see every day. Very pregnant bride hanging out of the window of an old Buick, shooting. Also, Aram's dad isn't getting his car back. -- Mr Kaplan is...not pleased with Red. -- Red almost never looks scared. The fact that he does now? Terrifies me. I wonder if he's thinking "what have my lies by omission caused...?" -- Don't snap at Dembe, Red. It isn't his fault. Your're projecting your own feelings of guilt. -- "You're Having My Baby" while a disco ball glitters over your ex-wife/amost-wife's impromptu O.R.? Seriously, Tom?? LOL -- A teary-eyed Mr Kaplan nearly did me in. -- Agnes?? -- Solomon is way too calm. It unnerves me. -- I thought it the #BlacklistBombshell NBC promoted with a heavy hand all week was going to be a dead Dembe. -- Red was very painfully believable getting into the car. I gasped. James Spader is a genius. -- Reasons I remain skeptical:

1. We didn't see everything that took place in that ambulance. They cut to the gunfight outside. They totally could have revived her heart, and she's in a medically induced coma, so she'd look lifeless without the machines. This could totally be a plan hatched outside our hearing.

2. Red has faked Lizzie's death before in order to protect her. Earlier this season in fact.

3. Red asked Mr Kaplan not to let Liz be taken to the morgue...because he can't stand the thought of her there and he wants to take care of her himself? Or because SHE ISN'T DEAD??

4. Megan Boone is nearing her real life maternity leave and this is an excellent way to "stage" it for the show.

5. There is a spinoff supposedly coming, keying in on Mr Solomon and...Tom. This would be quite a way to get Tom out of the picture, making him believe Liz is dead, and provide both an exit from this show and context for why Tom would be after Mr Solomon in a spinoff. So...make Tom think Liz is dead so he's away from her forever, but get the baby back to Liz somehow? (If anyone can make that happen, it's Red.) Think about it: Mr Solomon was shocked by the person who employed him (Red, perhaps??  or Mr Kaplan, acting on his behalf?). The orders were always to make sure Liz was unharmed. Red knew Liz as Masha. Mr Solomon somehow always had some sort of leak on secret information. Could Red have hired Mr Solomon in order to get Liz away from Tom, and then this took a turn and he's just running with it?