The Seasons of Mary

I had quiet time in the car commuting this morning and I quickly started humming, "Graceful and grand is your beauty, tender and soft is your white skin"  It was a song I penned for my love of Mary, and thought about the 4 years of Lady Mary Crawley that I've lived through.

Yes I think my love for Mary was immediate.  The stare from her brown eyes and arched brows did take command, and while she was entirely nasty to her sister Edith and overwhelmingly snooty and self indulged; her beauty was intense.  Her long graceful neck, and her smile when she left her guard down;  I knew she had a heart in that protected royal life.  Pamuk really got her guard down, and the rest of the next two seasons would be haunted by it.  Her vindictive self came out toward the end of the first season, but it bit her hard setting up season two.  I believe Graceful and Grand was written for Season 1 Mary.

Season two brought to us a Mary that was much more fragile, while she held her stoic veneer.  While the once manipulative Mary is getting manipulated and pushed into corners that she did not desire. Tenderly she held on to Matthew memories as we held on to the hope that their love would be fulfilled. Then toward the end of the season we get Mary confessing her sins and a love is blessed with a bend of a knee.  After that season I wrote a piece to recap the season; and it again was started in a drive to work to a tune from the 8th century, so it would have been available to listen during Mary & Matthew's time.

Season three was a joy and ended in such disaster.  I really have never written anything that would hold  up to the highs or the lows; and likely to paraphrase Julian Fellows, it's much easier to write about drama and the desire than Happiness and most of the season found me wishing I was Matthew and as happy as I would be.

Season four with it's dark beginning will find Mary as a strong independent minded lady at the end (yes I've seen all of S4).  Mary's men gets coined in the last show, but these two suitors dwarf in anticipation.  I say bring on a little tension in Season Five; someone everyone wants Mary to be with, but she knows she shouldn't.  I'd say a gypsy type American, and since I won't win the job maybe someone who looks like me.  I'm sure George could pull off being desired, yet not "good" for Mary.  I would try too, just put me in coach.