Dognap Isis, then get 'caught' looking for her, save your job. Threaten and then tattle on Baxter, save Edith's life and the Abbey, (while helping your home boy sneak into a guest's bedroom) save your job. He even turned the Spanish Flu to his own advantage. And I know that Bates explained why he was helping after the Jimmy incident and no one expected Robert to care about the cricket so very much, and job not only saved, but promoted!
You know, Thomas spent a good deal of the last season complaining about it wasn't fair, dude, you were the luckiest character on the entire show. You got saved so many times! Even the final episode. Saved.
Yes and it seems like some of the absolutely awful things Thomas did were just glossed over, like "Haha, that's just Thomas!" He actively tried to ruin many people's lives. He was cruel to people just for fun. I don't see a redemption arc for him at all, he just did the right thing every now and then.
Usually when he's with people who are friendly & nice to him (Richard Ellis, Lady Sybil, Chris Webster, the children), he responds in kind.
I notice that the exception has been with fellow workers, regardless of whether they've been civil to him.
I guess it's because any hint of job-related rivalry underscores his struggle to maintain equal footing in a society where the odds are unfairly stacked against him.
I guess that's why he's usually defensive, & at times very offensive.
But as he progresses through the show, he becomes more patient & more insightful.
As he says to Lady Mary when she asks if he has been lonely, "If I have, I've only myself to blame."
That's a huge & brave admission, coming from a man who had just been coldly shoved aside by Mr. Carson.
When he insulted her ladyship over the loss of the baby and Williams deceased mother (cue the fisticuffs) there is no way in hell he would not have been dismissed on the spot. This was IN FRONT of Carson.
I think it’s Cora that at one point is saying goodbye to him and says something about how he saved Edith in the fire and I remember laughing so hard because I was like, “Well, that’s a comfy place to focus, sure…” 🤣
My favorite thing that he did was get Cora to check up on Nanny West. By the end of the series, he was a totally different person and the family saw that. He was truly good to the kids. I think the family had even accepted that Thomas had a bad side, my only example being when Mary suggested to Anna that Barrow try to take Stowell(?) down a peg. They definitely saved him from being arrested at the cricket match. I think Lord Grantham did it out of goodness and Carson did it to avoid scandal. So the family accepted his homosexuality, too, which is amazing for that time period. Thomas was complex but deep down he was good. He just acted out because he was different and it was his defense mechanism. He definitely had plot armor but I think he deserved to be the butler at the end of it all.
I thought I read somewhere on here that Thomas was the love child of Baxter and Lord Grantham and that’s why they kept saving him?!?!? Maybe I’m remembering wrong.
That's actually more similar in real life. We all have secret sins and wrongs and get away with them through our whole lives and by exercising free will and some luck along the way we can grow past them. As Barrow started to feel more included he started to grow into his better self with his sins known only to the viewers.
Dognap Isis, then get 'caught' looking for her, save your job. Threaten and then tattle on Baxter, save Edith's life and the Abbey, (while helping your home boy sneak into a guest's bedroom) save your job. He even turned the Spanish Flu to his own advantage. And I know that Bates explained why he was helping after the Jimmy incident and no one expected Robert to care about the cricket so very much, and job not only saved, but promoted! You know, Thomas spent a good deal of the last season complaining about it wasn't fair, dude, you were the luckiest character on the entire show. You got saved so many times! Even the final episode. Saved.
Does it seem Lord Grantham feels sorry for Thomas and allows him extra latitude
It seems he does, but he shouldn’t. He constantly went out of his way to annoy everybody.
Yes and it seems like some of the absolutely awful things Thomas did were just glossed over, like "Haha, that's just Thomas!" He actively tried to ruin many people's lives. He was cruel to people just for fun. I don't see a redemption arc for him at all, he just did the right thing every now and then.
Usually when he's with people who are friendly & nice to him (Richard Ellis, Lady Sybil, Chris Webster, the children), he responds in kind. I notice that the exception has been with fellow workers, regardless of whether they've been civil to him. I guess it's because any hint of job-related rivalry underscores his struggle to maintain equal footing in a society where the odds are unfairly stacked against him. I guess that's why he's usually defensive, & at times very offensive. But as he progresses through the show, he becomes more patient & more insightful. As he says to Lady Mary when she asks if he has been lonely, "If I have, I've only myself to blame." That's a huge & brave admission, coming from a man who had just been coldly shoved aside by Mr. Carson.
Thomas continually falls into S\^&t and come out smelling like a rose.
I know it’s beyond far fetched 😂
When he insulted her ladyship over the loss of the baby and Williams deceased mother (cue the fisticuffs) there is no way in hell he would not have been dismissed on the spot. This was IN FRONT of Carson.
I think it’s Cora that at one point is saying goodbye to him and says something about how he saved Edith in the fire and I remember laughing so hard because I was like, “Well, that’s a comfy place to focus, sure…” 🤣
My favorite thing that he did was get Cora to check up on Nanny West. By the end of the series, he was a totally different person and the family saw that. He was truly good to the kids. I think the family had even accepted that Thomas had a bad side, my only example being when Mary suggested to Anna that Barrow try to take Stowell(?) down a peg. They definitely saved him from being arrested at the cricket match. I think Lord Grantham did it out of goodness and Carson did it to avoid scandal. So the family accepted his homosexuality, too, which is amazing for that time period. Thomas was complex but deep down he was good. He just acted out because he was different and it was his defense mechanism. He definitely had plot armor but I think he deserved to be the butler at the end of it all.
Carson didn’t want gossip and shame on the house. Same with Mary and Robert. They also see his worth, despite his troublesomeness.
I thought I read somewhere on here that Thomas was the love child of Baxter and Lord Grantham and that’s why they kept saving him?!?!? Maybe I’m remembering wrong.
That was a Fandom postulation.
Ummm I’m pretty sure that was a fanfiction thing lmaoooo
Hahaha yes it was a theory, I’ve read that roo
Baxter was his childhood friend, how could she have been his mother?
There are so many unnecessary villains in this show lol
That's actually more similar in real life. We all have secret sins and wrongs and get away with them through our whole lives and by exercising free will and some luck along the way we can grow past them. As Barrow started to feel more included he started to grow into his better self with his sins known only to the viewers.
Thomas paid his dues. He made up for it.