#we don't see them interact enough to establish it. I do appreciate Dominic West looking like he wants to devour him though

[flowersandfashion]

no one asked but here's why I hate Thomas's relationship with Guy Dexter in the last film

it's just so rushed and forced. Guy basically proposes after one conversation, which was just Thomas hyping him up. He doesn't know anything about Thomas as a person nor does he care, Guy only views Thomas in relation to himself, as someone to serve him

and I can't believe that Thomas would stand for that. even just going from a butler to a valet is a major demotion for him, but to have to act as his lover's servant is absolutely not the basis of a healthy relationship

that's what Thomas wanted with the Duke in the pilot episode, but he has matured so much since then. he fought so hard to gain respect, climb the ranks and hold his position at downton (god knows why he was so determined to stay, but he was)

for him to throw all that away to be some hollywood actor's 'wife' undermines his entire character arc. it puts him right back at square one where his highest aspiration is to lick his sugar daddy's boots

sorry let me rant about downton abbey 10 years later

Thomas's conversion therapy plot pisses me off so much. firstly, it's incredibly out of character. he never wanted to change to conform to society, he wanted the world to change to accomodate him. the man who said "it's not against the law to hope is it" and "I'm not foul, Mr Carson, I'm not like you, but I'm not foul" would NEVER

secondly, from a storytelling perspective, the only 'problem' is that he used infected needles. did we forget that Thomas was a sergeant in the RAMC? he knows how to sterilise needles and how to recognise and treat infection. this also shifts the blame to Thomas himself for getting sick and implies that the conversion therapy itself is harmless (Dr Clarkson says it's just saline solution)

thirdly, it's not historically accurate. I'm not an expert but conversion therapy was not at all common in the 1920s, even Sigmund Freud was against it. hormone therapy and chemical castration were barely developing let alone available to the public (I can't imagine what else the 'treatment' was supposed to be). the only practices that I can find evidence of were psychoanalysis and electric shock therapy

Thomas also mentions that he did electric shock treatment - if you really want to make a point about homophobia in the 1920s (and make Thomas suffer as much as possible), show that instead. watching him be literally tortured for his sexuality would have been far more impactful than him just... looking sweaty for a few episodes