After 'Downton Abbey' Finale, 8 Lady Mary Crawley Highlights Help Say Goodbye
After six seasons, Downton Abbey finished its run last Sunday for American viewers (the finale aired on its native United Kingdom on Christmas Day), leaving a Crawley family-shaped hole. While Dowager Violet (Maggie Smith) got some of the best one-liners in the series, it was Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) who took the lead throughout the series -- and here are 8 of her highlights to help say goodbye.
1. Mary's Fling with the Turkish Diplomat
Within the first episodes of the show, an Ottoman diplomat, Mr. Pamuk (Theo James), visited Downton and he and Mary liked each other from the start. At the time, Mary, the oldest of the sisters and the one engaged to the presumptive heir who died on the Titanic, was being pushed to find a suitable husband -- but she still allowed herself one night of passion with the exotic gentleman.
Things went sour because he kind of dropped dead in the middle of the act and she had to drag her mother, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and Anna (Joanne Froggatt) into the whole thing to avoid a scandal.
This was the first time we got to see Mary's rebellious nature in all its might!
2. Mary's Horrible Relationship with Edith
Mary was undoubtedly horrible with her sister, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), but that was one of the reasons she was so interesting to watch. She somehow managed to make her sister's life miserable time and again, and really, Edith, while she could also be quite mean to Mary on occasions, was one of the people who had the worst time in the entire series.
By the end of the show, Mary and Edith made their peace, but they were at each other's throats for years and it was rather like watching a trainwreck.
3. Mary's First Husband
Mary and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) were the core of Downton Abbey for the first few seasons of the show. Mary was mean and petty to him at first, only realizing she loved him when it was too late; in all, some of the best dramatic moments from the show came from their seemingly doomed relationship.
Of course, they eventually got married and became the most nauseatingly happy couple in television, so he had to be killed off for the sake of decent storytelling. Still, those first tumultuous years, when they were all Atonement with each other, were precious.
4. Mary's Second Father
Mary was close to her father, Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), but she had a second fatherly figure that was just as powerful: Mr. Carson (Jim Carter). Mary was the daughter the stubborn Downton butler never had, and Mary, who was mean as a whip to most of the people on the house, always had kind words for him.
Sure, Carson may have disapproved of Mary's actions on occasion (he didn't do it more often because she did things secretly), but his heart melted for her, and so did hers in return. It's one of the sweetest relationships in the series.
5. Mary's Brother
Although she disapproved when her little sister, Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay), decided to marry the Downton chauffeur, Tom Branson (Allen Leech), in the years after Sybil's death, nobody was closer to him than she was.
Sure, Edith loved Tom like a brother, too, but Mary was his biggest protector and as they ran Downton together, also her most important ally against Lord Grantham's stubbornness to move forward.
Besides, Tom was the biggest champion of her second marriage, so he's a true bro.
6. Mary's Groundbreaking Sex Views
Unbeknownst to most in the house, Mary was actually a champion of women's rights when it came to reproduction and choice of partners.
Not only did the eldest Grantham daughter use contraceptives (quite shocking for a noble woman in the early 20th century), but she was also convinced she had to figure out her compatibility with a man before marrying. While that sounds like an everyday thing nowadays, women didn't get those kinds of luxury back in the day -- and a woman certainly couldn't have been with a man and then refuse to marry him, the way she did with Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen).
You go, girl!
7. Mary's Hairstyle
Behind all the melodrama and Edith's seemingly never-ending suffering, the whole theme of Downton Abbey was the fall of traditional British aristocracy on the wake of the 20th century. Part of that was visible through clothing: as the '20s roared, the only person who wanted to catch up with the style of the times was young and lively Cousin Rose (Lily James).
Eventually, Mary assumed the identity of the flagship style lady, as she went for more daring looks -- including a bob cut straight out of Louise Brooks' head. She shocked everyone when she chopped off her long locks for a more current 'do, embracing the flapper look and becoming the only person in the whole cast who didn't look like she was still stuck in the 19th century.
8. Mary's Second Husband
After years of widowhood following Matthew's death, Mary took a husband in the second-to-last episode of the series. Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), a racecar driver, was finally a match for the strong-willed lady.
After years of suitors coming in and out of Downton, as Mary was apparently the only woman with a title available, finally she found a man who was both nice and unwilling to take any of her outbursts.
Mary and Henry will probably grow painfully corny, too, but we at least won't have to watch that happen!