Gentleman Jack: Oh is that what you call it?

May 6, 2019 8:18 PM - Season 1, Episode 3

Lister confides her hopes for a future with Ann Walker to her aunt, as Mrs. Priestley's inkling about the two women's relationship presents a threat. Meanwhile, John Booth is surprised at his own romantic success.

Vulture Recap: An Immodest Proposal

posted by oh yeah! (9 comments total)

I love this show so much. When she was like "What are you looking at?" I laughed so hard it was more like a scream. I look at myself like that all the time.

Also I knew Booth looked familiar, and it's bc he played William on Downton Abbey.
posted by bleep at 9:44 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Ho. Ly. Shit. That move onto the bed?! I had to rewind and see how she pulled that off.
Anne's got some hella moves. My my.
(also, poor auld Thomas, hope he gets the lease now that his dad has run away...)
posted by Iteki at 12:37 PM on May 7, 2019

Awww, I'm rooting for Awkward Footman and French Lady's Maid!
posted by TwoStride at 9:44 PM on May 7, 2019

My mind immediately worked out the logistics of that fire in that little hunter's shelter (for hunters who are really wealthy landowners) that Anne had prettied up for her assignations. Ie - since Anne knows how far it is to the shelter, how fast Miss Ann can walk, and how long a fire will last without being tended, it's easy enough to tell Not-Lumiere to hike out and set a fire at such-and-such o'clock, knowing as she does what time she's planning to take Miss Ann for a walk. She moved pretty quick to add fuel to the fire (hee!), though, so I'm guessing they arrived a few minutes behind schedule.

On that theme, what the heck was that gadget she used to burn the letter?
posted by Mogur at 7:07 AM on May 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mogur: It looked to me like a "permanent" or "everlasting" match.
posted by sacrifix at 10:02 AM on May 9, 2019

Neat! That's high tech for the era. She must have brought it with her from London or the Continent.
posted by Mogur at 11:44 AM on May 9, 2019

My hubby and I got into an argument about whether or not Lister is manipulating Walker (with 3 Annes on this show it makes it hard to use their first names like you normally would). To me it seems abundantly clear that she's acting in a loving way towards Walker because she wants love in return and that's what you're supposed to do, and as long as Walker is into it, which she has extremely been from day 1, it will work, and that's a good thing. She treats everyone around her the way she wants to be treated by them. She even treats Marion with respect even when she isn't feeling very respectful, like when she put her book away at the table. But at the same time she's a human being of her time & place, and doesn't behave perfectly all the time, otherwise she wouldn't be a human being and there wouldn't be much of a show.
posted by bleep at 9:16 AM on May 10, 2019

I just gulped down three episodes in a row and have stayed up much later than I ought to have done. I’m loving this. I’m loving that she gets away with everything.

And I especially loved when Mrs. Priestley huffed away and Ann Walker laughed. How joyful and unafraid.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:35 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

With regards to Anne's treatment of Ann, I find my brain going in these circles:

1. Anne seems to sincerely want love and companionship, but she chose Ann based only on circumstances (her wealth, how easy she is to manipulate, the weird circumstances that led her to be in some ways free of meddling family and surrounded by meddling family)...I don't get it. Does she even like her?

2. If this character were male, especially in this time period, I wouldn't give it that much thought. It would be a given that he would want all of those things in a wife (except the weird family stuff) and that as long as they didn't dislike each other, he would assume or at least hope that the love and companionship part would come naturally from making her his wife. It's not a good thing, per se, but I don't have to wrack my brain figuring it out.

3. OK that's settled, keep watching.

4. #1 starts to claw its way into my brain again
posted by lampoil at 8:34 AM on August 13, 2019