Category: Character Enneagrams

ISOBEL CRAWLEY, FOUR

Matthew’s mother and a trained nurse, Isobel is an opinionated and knowledgeable character who feels no great loyalty to propriety and aristocratic tradition. She’s often written as the foil to the family, especially the Dowager Countess, and will express a more modern perspective on whatever plot trouble is around. In some of my episode breakdowns I complain about this. She feels forced to do things against her nature so that other characters can react and advance a conflict.

If I look past what I consider to be unfair writing for her, who is Isobel? She’s competent and, let’s be fair, bossy. She wants her way with the doctor and the hospital management. She’s very respectful of Matthew’s independence. Whoever he loves, Isobel will love. However involved he wants to be in the Downton estate, Isobel is supportive.

The key to her, as I mentioned under the Dowager Countess’ page, is the friendship between these women. At first, they’re adversarial. Some of that is the writers making them represent different perspectives for the audience. Underneath, though, their antagonism is due to them both being strong leaders. It’s natural they would clash. When Violet becomes ill and Isobel is the one trained and willing to nurse her through it, their friendship advances. Isobel is a genuinely giving person. Although she often disagrees with the Dowager, she will still befriend her.

I’m leaning toward a Four. Envy does eat at her, although Isobel isn’t consumed by it. She is absolutely Heart, needing to connect with family and community. I would say Two, but she’s too confrontational. When she feels she’s right, she’ll fight for it. When Lord Merton’s children are cruel to her, though, she retreats. Their feelings get priority. Isobel doesn’t have the black and white standards of a Six. Her heart rules her reactions, and she is a woman with passion. The world can wound her, but she rallies. Very Four.

ABE WEISSMAN, NULL

What do showrunners do with a genius like Tony Shalhoub? In Season 1, you ask him to play a version of Monk. He’s on-spectrum, brilliant at math, and able to connect with almost no one. He likes his library, playing piano, and being left alone. All of his students are idiots in his opinion. He’s a strange side character, probably an ivory tower Six.

In Season 2, when Rose has her mid-life crisis in Paris, Abe shows amazing sensitivity. When he finally realizes she’s gone (lol) he follows her and lives with her, jumping into French life. His practical self from Season 1 is still there, though. He makes it clear when Rose wants to take an apartment that their life is not here. He’s firm, persuasive, and calm, and Rose returns with him. He’s left the ivory tower and taken a more main character position. He could still be a Six. His coffee time with the French philosophers is very Head Type. When they get back to New York, he schedules dance lessons for them so they’ll be better than they were on the banks of the Seine. He brings Rose into Columbia to study. It’s an intellectual world, still distant to him.

It’s Season 3 that begins Abe’s transformation to a different Enneagram number. (Needless to say, I’m horrified.) He’s no longer a Head Type, but a Heart. He’s quit Columbia, he’s lost his apartment, and he’s surrounded himself with young, restless people. He’s no longer romantic towards Rose, but wrapped up in a rebellious, beatnik lifestyle that is a mid-life crisis on steroids. He doesn’t collect things (not a Two), and he’s not successful (not a Three), which would make him a poorly-written Four.

As you can already tell, I’m labeling him a Null. You don’t change numbers. You don’t upend character. Even if you’ve cast Shalhoub, you don’t ask your actor to make sense of an arc that twirls about and goes nowhere. Everything I loved about him is gone. It’s heartbreaking.

THE DOWAGER COUNTESS, EIGHT

If ever anyone was an Eight, right? She says whatever she likes, which could just be the privilege of age, but it does seem like it’s part of her character. Although she’s proper, she’s also not overly surprised or horrified by sexual impropriety. Edith’s pregnancy, Mary’s affair — she rolls with it. 

We’ll have to take a look at Isobel Crawley, because the friendship between these two, unlikely women is fascinating. Also, I didn’t intend to dig into Spratt and Denker, the Dowager’s household staff, but her complacency with them, with their arguments and petty grievances, seems Eight-ish. Eights aren’t driven by social niceties. The staff can tussle in the dirt for all the Dowager cares, as long as they do their jobs properly when asked and don’t bother her with the details.

When the Dowager must give up her crown of Winner of the Village Flower Show (whatever it’s called, lol) to Molesley’s father, she eventually becomes very gracious about it. It’s hard to lose — that would be her Eight leadership — but when she realizes what’s fair and just, she lets go of any resentment or anger. This is also Eight-like. Move on emotionally when an issue has been settled.

She is a matriarch, and not just by birth. Releasing authority to Cora is very difficult for her. If Cora weren’t truly competent and deserving, Violet wouldn’t step back. Very Eight. As for Isobel, the distance between a Four (which I’ll get to next time) and an an Eight on the Enneagram wheel is a few steps removed. It explains why they took so long to find a camaraderie.

JOEL MAISEL, TWO

As Midge’s husband, Joel is barely tolerable. His character is predictable and pitiful. When he separates from her, though, and begins his own career as a club owner, he becomes much more intriguing.

He’s an unhappy mid-level manager married to someone more clever than he during the first season. At that point he’s probably a Null. He doesn’t do anything fresh or distinct. Later, though, we can see an Enneagram come through.

The show makes a point of stressing his ease at instigating a marriage separation. Midge is socially screwed, and Joel is unaffected. He can walk away with no repercussions. However, he’s a good father, responsible and loving, in an era that didn’t expect such behavior. (This is the first non-Null thing he does.)

Later, he also begins to connect to his father’s business in the garment industry. Now he wants to sharpen the finances and strengthen the family factory. He’s a dedicated worker and a non-fussy, jump-in kind of guy.

When he opens his own nightclub, he starts a relationship with a woman who suits him much better than Midge ever did. He’s striving, he’s a good egg (the club comes with a surprise gambling hall in the basement), and he’s effective. Susie brings him Midge’s earnings to manage because he’s so reliable. All of this money competence suggests a One, but he’s completely lacking in a One’s characteristic wit.

So, where do we end up? He’s an Envy person. Midge’s success ate him alive for a while. He’s not a Three, though. He spent too much time at the beginning knowing nothing about what he wanted from life. You know, he might be a poorly-written Two! He collects jokes. At first, he steals them from Bob Newhart’s comedy album. Then that side of his personality drops from the story. Then he opens a club where he can produce and encourage lively acts.

It’s a stab, I admit it. Joel’s character could’ve been streamlined to make him a solid Two. It would’ve been hilarious! We’ll see where he goes in the next season. He has potential, but so far he’s not a solid Enneagram. He’s trying, though, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

TOM BRANSON, SEVEN

Chauffeur, socialist, Irish rebel. In the end he’s a reliable, beloved son-in-law who happily works for the Downton estate. What an arc!

He feels very strongly about things, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Part of his confrontational style is just writers stirring the pot and creating conflict, but it’s also baked into his character.  When he becomes the backbone of the Crawley family, we believe it. All of his commitment has been redirected into loyalty to the people of Downton.

What number is this principled person? Well, he isn’t afraid to rock the boat or speak his mind. He can’t be intimidated. He’s as successful as a car mechanic as he is an estate manager.

Is Branson a Seven? He remakes himself more than once. His life is full of challenges: master the new automotive tech, woo an earl’s daughter, defy the family, raise a child, completely switch careers, and form a bond with the aristocracy. Sounds Seven-ish to me, lol.

But wait. It’s not his fault he was born a lowly Irishman. He rises and succeeds. Isn’t that Three-ish? His romance with Sybil has always been awkward to me. It feels very “author’s message” in that they’re supposed to be shipped, whether they fit together or not. What if they’re both Threes? That would explain why they seem forced as a couple.

Here’s why he’s a Seven, though: the other women. After Sybil passes, maids and revolutionaries are thrown in his path, tempting him. He’s just too nice to tell them to get lost. A Three wouldn’t put up with it. He would know how these women damage his reputation upstairs and downstairs, and he would stop them in their tracks. Sevens aren’t that ruthless, and they’re not that focused on presentation. Branson has too much sympathy for human foibles to be a Three. It’s not just the writers creating drama by making his character dither, lol. His spirit for adventure, regardless of cost, makes him a Seven.

SUSIE MYERSON, EIGHT

When I grow up I want to be Susie, lol. She’s such an Eight. 

Although she doesn’t have a prominent bosom as a Woman Eight would, Alex Borstein leads with her torso and chin. Whatever the world is going to do to Susie, she’s gonna take it front and center. That’s great acting. Borstein knows Susie so well (and her character’s written so strongly) that she perfectly physicalizes her personality.

The way Susie befriends the men who’ve been hired to kill her is such an amazing sequence, and a great indicator of her Eight-ness. Eights are not intimidated by the unvarnished truth and will face unpleasantness head-on. They’ll also speak out, no matter the consequences. I mean, there it is! Watch Susie, watch an Eight. It’s a consistent, brilliant portrayal. Her lack of sentimentality, and yet her loyalty and deep feelings — again, textbook.

I’m cracking up thinking about her “job” as a plumber at the summer resort in the Catskills. She bullies and bullshits her way in, and maintains a ludicrous position until the lie becomes real. Employees scour the woods looking for her when they think she’s lost! Oh, my God, I’m dying as I remember it. Every Susie moment is perfection.

I could go on and on. (I won’t.) I had some difficulty with aspects of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but Susie kept me coming back. 

LADY GRANTHAM, SEVEN

The genteel American with an abrasive mother, lol. Mostly I forget that Cora wasn’t born English. The aristocracy suits her.

She’s kind and easygoing. She does like to work, to get involved, and she’s good at it. Her role on the hospital board is a bone of contention in the family, but she’s insistent in a very mild way. Peace is important to her.

I want to say Nine, but that’s not possible. Robert is a Nine. Numbers don’t marry each other; it’s too much like marrying yourself. Also, Cora isn’t a Body Type. She doesn’t engage in the world physically. If anything, she’s social, although I can’t think of her showing envy.

She’s a Seven. It’s that calm effectualness. She has zero interest in drama. When trouble strikes, though — think of Mary and the Turkish diplomat — she gets the job done. (It’s possible that’s why she and O’Brien are a pair. They understand each other without trying.) Cora will go along, content to stay in the background, and then become super competent when the need arises. That’s quite Seven.

MIDGE MAISEL, ONE

Any comic who does live shows will be very quick-witted, very spontaneous. (Do all comedians fit into a certain Enneagram slot? Wow! There’s a thought!) Midge, however, has something more than a gift for stand-up: an impulse control problem. She should push the boundaries, of course. Like Lenny Bruce, she goes to jail for saying forbidden words. It’s more than that, though. She damages her career and her friendships by blurting out jokes that she regrets in hindsight.

Immediately I go to One. They are some of the funniest people and some of the quickest. A One is not afraid to shock. (How many professional comics are Ones or Eights, lol? They are the most willing to speak bald truth in a way that surprises and delights.) Is Midge an Eight? No, she’s not aggressive enough. Her weapon is her incredibly fast brain. Her best routines are when she riffs rather than when she goes with prepared notes.

Also, as Body Types, Ones can cultivate an unhealthy obsession with their physical shape. When Midge measures her thigh circumference, it’s creepy. It’s supposed to be. In the show it represents her focus on being the “perfect little wife” trope, including her nighttime cold cream and curlers that she hides from her husband. She breaks free from these restrictions, which is the point. But, lol, it’s also a One indicator.

However, a One will not necessarily sabotage their own professional life with loose lips. That trait belongs solely to Midge. It’s her fatal flaw. It bugs me, actually, that she doesn’t seem to learn from her mistakes and adapt her behavior. A One is extremely competent. I would like to see Midge in future seasons get a handle on her carelessness. It would help her to have an Enneagram character that rings true. And it would help me to not curse at the TV. Heh.

LORD GRANTHAM, NINE

My first instinct is that Robert is a Nine. He likes to keep the peace and avoid conflict. He also tries to be a fair manager of his household staff and his tenants. Every now and then he’ll go off, but mostly he likes it calm. Isis the dog is one of his coping mechanisms, and his ulcer is a sign that he doesn’t always succeed.

He kind of snaps into place, doesn’t he? I suppose he could possibly be a Two. All of the above traits could also fit. I’m going to say no, though. He attends and gives parties without a social person’s joy. His attitude is more one of duty. A Nine is always a good host, hoping to put people at ease and give them a good time. He’s also the only other family member who rides with the hunt.

Daughters who are an Eight, a Two, and a Three align with a Nine father, as well. Now I wonder about Cora!

URSULA, FOUR

We lost another great this week. RIP to Pat Carroll, the fabulous pipes of The Little Mermaid’s villain. I vaguely remember her, with that contralto voice, as a guest on different TV shows. She was tiny! Nothing about her looked anything like Ursula. Carroll resembled someone who was here to prepare your taxes.

So, what Enneagram is that audacious and larger-than-life? Well, lol, I’ve got to start with an Eight. Oh, no, wait! Hahaha! She’s an Envy Person. Ursula’s a Four.

We don’t see her ride a low wave of depression. It seems like she probably did a lot of that when she was younger, and she’s over it. She battles the defeats, the failures, the sadnesses. As a mature being (mer-squid?) she’s learned much, including where she wants to invest her energy. By now, the marks are easy to spot. 

I’m just guessing at her mindset, judging by the performance Carroll delivered. She packed a lot of backstory and subtext into her one showstopper. That’s what happens when a studio casts a master to inhabit a cartoon.