Ooooh I hates them, precious!

By that I mean O’Brian and Thomas on Downton Abbey.

I recently became hooked and hooked hard on Downton Abbey this past weekend and as each show progressed I hated, hated, HATED O’Brian (Lady Grantham’s ladies maid) and Thomas (Footman, aspiring to be valet).

They conspired. They had nothing pleasant to say. They were sneaky and down-right mean, but damn were they ever fascinating.

They are characters I love to hate. They’re also characters I want to know more about.

Especially now Season 2 is over.

Season 2 had me pitying Thomas. He was stuck in the trenches of WWI as a medic, trembling in fear because he was at the mouth of Hell. I didn’t envy him and his fear made him all the more real. His desperate action to get out of the war was cowardly, but again I don’t blame him for his moment of cowardice that got him discharged (I don’t want to say because I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I was cringing when it happened). World War 1 was horrific and sad as any war is.

It gave another layer to Thomas and as much as he was still a bastard as Season 2 went on there were moments where I loved him as well. I found him more interesting than the “hero” of the servants Mr. Bates.

O’Brian was the same for Season 2. She did something horrible in Season 1 and she was so pinched faced and nasty I really, really loathed her. From the author stand point I couldn’t help but wonder what made her tick.

She never has anything nice to say about any one. Nor is she particularly loyal, maybe loyalish to Thomas, but that’s about it.

Until a certain Mr. Lang came to Downton suffering from PTSD. She was the only one who had any feeling for him. The only one who comforted him because her brother suffered from it and he was sent back before he should’ve been and was killed.

O’Brian’s past had been a bit of mystery up until that point.

As for her dreadful deed in Season 1, when her ladyship was on her deathbed she tearfully apologized, which surprised me. Again emotion so different from the cold fish, deadpan we received in Season 1.

I want to know more and more about them and I hope we see learn more about them as Season 3 progresses.

They’re truly fascinating and interesting villains. I think if they left, it wouldn’t be as interesting. These two have moved up the list on villains I love to hate.