Why did "Downton Abbey" suddenly kill off its biggest star and destroy the relationship
at the center of the show?
Keep watching to find out!
Looking back at Matthew and Mary's first meeting, it's amazing to see just how frosty their
early relationship was.
Even though the pair didn't exactly click initially, the chemistry between the two actors
was still evident from the very beginning.
It's hard to imagine a world where they didn't eventually fall for each other.
However, it turns out when the show was first conceived, Matthew and Mary weren't actually
meant to fall in love.
In fact, actor Allan Leech, who plays Tom Branson, told Deadline in 2016 that Matthew
— not Branson — was originally supposed to end up with Sybil!
The show's creator, Julian Fellowes, had what he called a "bible" — an original document
with all of the plans for the show.
Matthew and Sybil getting together was one of those ideas, but apparently, very few of
the plans ever came to fruition.
Thank goodness Fellowes changed his mind, or we would never have had Matthew and Mary!
It's no secret that "Downton Abbey" is all about the class divide in the U.K.
Upstairs lives the well-off family who spend their days in leisure.
Their work consists of ensuring they don't lose their property.
Downstairs is the troop of servants who scurry around unseen, facilitating it all.
The first time you watched "Downton Abbey," though, you may not have realized how much
this class divide defined the relationship between Matthew and Mary.
However, rewatching their scenes together, it becomes clear that the entire relationship
was underscored by a sense of class warfare.
And in many ways, the fact that the couple were a symbol of battling class values made
them far more interesting.
As one writer put it in a piece for Vox,
"'Downton' made it easy to care about Mary and Matthew when the subtext of their every
conversation was about their warring levels of wealth and rank, when each line was weighted
with the knowledge that the world Matthew was leaving was the world of the future."
Any great relationship should change you for the better.
And that's exactly what happened with Matthew and Mary.
Let's face it — both of them had their fair share of flaws at the start of the show.
Mary had a tendency to be self-centered and snobbish, while Matthew was quick to judge
and, in his own way, equally snobbish.
Although those flaws never completely disappeared, when they were together, they brought out
the best in each other.
As actor Dan Stevens told OnTheBox in 2012,
"Mary was quite a fierce character when Matthew turned up in series one and I think he softened
her and, you know, they were always destined to be together."
Of course, he added,
"She remains quite a fierce monster underneath."
But maybe Matthew needed a little monster in his life.
While being with Matthew certainly changed Mary for the better, being apart from him
was actually even more beneficial for her.
In fact, in Season 2, when Matthew was engaged to Lavinia, Mary realized how much she missed
him — and she became a much kinder person because of it.
Actress Michelle Dockery told the Daily Mail,
"The thought of losing Matthew had a huge effect on her.
It made her a nicer person in the end."
She further explained this idea in an interview with Collider, saying,
"She doesn't always make the right decisions and is, of course, full of regret for what
happened between her and Matthew, at the end of the first series."
So, how did Mary become nicer?
Well, for one thing, she began helping out with the war effort at Downton.
Plus, she welcomed Lavinia into the family with open arms, even though she was technically
her rival.
That shows some serious growth if you ask us!
"Downton Abbey" wasn't always filled with the most believable plotlines.
You probably remember raising at least one eyebrow at the Bates-being-framed-for-murder
arc or the ludicrous Russian-Prince-who-loves-the-Dowager-Countess storyline.
And some of the least plausible plot lines on the show involved medical incidents.
One of them was Matthew's temporary paralysis.
During World War I, Matthew is injured and paralyzed from the waist down.
The local doctor is convinced that his injuries are permanent.
However, soon enough, he miraculously feels a "tingle" and makes a full, inexplicable
recovery.
While fans of the show were undoubtedly delighted to see Matthew leap back to his feet, it's
pretty clear that his injury was merely used as a dramatic plot device to create even more
tension between him and Mary.
As one reviewer wrote in The Guardian,
"The paralysis, it transpired, was in fact spinal bruising, medically possible — just
— but narratively insulting."
During his short stint as a paralyzed war hero, Matthew was cared for by Mary.
It really was the perfect way to reignite some sparks between the couple.
Sometimes, when we fall in love with a TV couple, it's hard to admit that people in
that couple are flawed individuals.
And Matthew and Mary certainly had their flaws.
Both of them could be extremely inflexible, which led to them often being at odds.
The couple actually would have managed to seal the deal a lot earlier if it hadn't been
for their unique flaws.
Mary's self-involvement meant that she didn't always give the relationship the attention
it deserved, and Matthew's self-righteousness meant that he found it hard to forgive Mary
for her past.
No wonder these two took so long to finally get together.
For Matthew and Mary fans, there was nothing harder to watch than the increasingly unhealthy
relationship between Mary and Sir Richard Carlisle in Season 2.
The relationship began after Mary and Matthew called off their engagement at the end of
Season 1.
When Matthew returned from the war with a brand new fiancée, Mary quickly struck up
a romance with Carlisle.
Of course, we say “romance” in the loosest sense of the word.
He was older and crueler than Matthew — plus, he and Mary not only had nothing in common,
but they actually seemed to dislike each other.
While some fans may have thought that this brief rebound affair was about making Matthew
jealous, the truth is, Mary wasn't getting any younger.
Dockery told Collider,
"Mary is 27, by the return of the series.
You're pretty much on the shelf, at that time.
She needs to get a move on."
So, even though Mary still had feelings for Matthew, she felt she had to settle down with
someone to secure her future — even if he was a horrible monster.
We're certainly glad things have changed in the last hundred years or so!
"What on Earth's the matter?"
"I'm leaving in the morning, Lady Grantham.
I doubt we'll meet again."
"Do you promise?"
It's impossible to talk about the Matthew and Mary of it all in "Downton Abbey" without
spending some time gushing about that proposal scene.
After all the ups and downs in their relationship, the couple finally put a ring on it in the
Season 2 Christmas special.
While fans of the show definitely took note of the scene at the time, looking back now,
we think it's fair to say that this proposal was one of the most romantic TV proposals
ever.
The fairytale moment happened outside of the beautiful Downton estate during a light snowfall.
Matthew followed Mary outside, and when she told him she planned on leaving for America,
he said:
"Would you stay … if I asked you to?"
Then, he apologized for blaming her for the affair with Pamuk.
"You've lived your life and I've lived mine.
Now it's time we lived them together."
He got down on one knee as the music swelled and they kissed in the snow.
It really doesn't get more romantic than that!
We think this proposal scene beats even the sappiest Netflix holiday rom-coms and easily
earns the title of most romantic on-screen proposal ever.
After the snowy proposal, things continued looking up for Matthew and Mary.
Their wedding was one of the most memorable, extravagant moments in the show's history.
In fact, it was such a big occasion, the stars even compared it to a royal wedding.
Dockery told the Daily Record,
"I felt a bit like Kate Middleton with all the security but we didn't want people seeing
the dress before the day.
I had never worn a wedding dress — I've never filmed an on-screen wedding before.
I loved it."
Apparently, on the day the wedding was filmed, huge crowds of fans gathered near the set
to catch a glimpse of the TV couple.
Dan Stevens added,
"There was quite a lot of security and it was crawling with paparazzi.
I didn't actually see Michelle in the dress till she walked down the aisle which was pretty
realistic."
Sounds like they might as well have filmed the wedding at Westminster Abbey!
Most of us know that any healthy relationship needs to be based on honesty and truth.
Keeping secrets from your partner almost always leads to problems.
While Matthew and Mary were usually truthful with each other, she did keep some pretty
critical secrets from him during their marriage — namely, she decided not to tell him about
her fertility treatment.
Instead, when she visits a fertility doctor, she tells her husband that the trip was about
hayfever.
She then gets a small operation in London without telling Matthew.
When she returns, she lies again, telling him she doesn't feel like sleeping with him
because she's tired.
Matthew finally discovers the truth when he sees Mary at a fertility clinic.
She explains,
"There was something wrong … with — actually I can't talk about this sort of thing — even
to you."
Apparently, she was too prim to discuss her fertility with her own husband!
We have to say, this type of lie could have easily resulted in a much bigger problem between
them than it did.
Even though Mary sometimes struggled to discuss things openly with Matthew, for the most part,
they actually had pretty good communication as a couple — especially when it came to
money.
Shortly before their wedding, Mary discovered that Matthew's ex-fiancée's father had left
him his entire fortune.
This comes at the perfect moment, as her family has just lost all of their money to a bad
investment.
Mary assumes that he will accept his inheritance and save Downton, but Matthew is too proud
to do so.
She almost decides to call off the wedding, but in the end, they get married, knowing
that they are in disagreement about the money.
As therapist Elisabeth Joy LaMotte explained in a piece for HuffPost, their disagreement
may initially look like a pretty big red flag for the couple.
However, the way they dealt with their money disagreement was actually pretty commendable.
LaMotte wrote,
"The lesson lies in the extent to which they fully enjoy their early marriage in spite
of this ongoing disagreement.
One moment, they speak openly about how much they completely disagree with one another.
The next moment, Mary says, 'Now kiss me and let's go to bed!'"
It's quite impressive how this couple manages to work through their problems.
Just when everything was looking rosy for Mary and Matthew, "Downton Abbey" fans were
treated to the devastating Season 3 Christmas special.
Shortly after the birth of his first child, Matthew was killed in a shocking car accident.
As actor Dan Stevens later revealed to "Today," his character was killed off because he had
wanted to leave the show to pursue other projects.
"Something in my gut told me that it was time to explore."
Show creator Julian Fellowes told Radio Times that he had hoped Stevens would return for
one episode in Season 4, but the actor declined.
That left Fellowes with few options.
"Dan only decided to leave when we were about to start filming, [I had] already written
five episodes and cast them.
[...] I didn't want his death to dominate the Christmas special, so that's why we killed
him at the very, very end."
Even though Matthew's death was incredibly heartbreaking for many fans of "Downton Abbey,"
there is one silver lining — their story has always been one of true love.
After his death, Mary grieves and eventually moves on, marrying Henry Talbot.
However, her love for her first husband has always remained constant.
It's clear that Mary was forever changed by their relationship.
Dockery told HeyUGuys,
"The thing about Matthew is he — he changed her in a lot of ways.
[...] Like she says in series four, he, you know, it's almost like she's mourning the
person that she was when she was with him."
As Mary says in Season 6 while visiting Matthew's grave after becoming engaged to Henry,
"Remember, however much I love him, I will always love you."
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