Tis the season for both new love and old regrets. There was a lot of promise in last night’s episode of Downton Abbey, but most of the fans are left feeling a little disappointed. There were a few happy endings here and there and yet for Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes we were left only with question marks. Was last night the start of a romance for these two?And does that question really matter when so many have surprisingly started to ship them?
Although the two have begun to grow closer and were actually quite sweet to watch; Mrs. Highes is sitting on a large secret and the only person she’s willing to let it on it is Lady Mary. Be warned there is more than spoilers ahead. Please be advised: the upcoming news resolves last season shocker.
Towards the end of last season, we saw the unfortunate rape of Anna Bates. For a while it didn’t seem as if Anna was ever going to find a reason to be happy again. That was until her husband finally learned the truth and was there to support her through her difficult time. He was comforting and she thought she handled his legendary temper very well. She told him she never knew her attacker, but she never expected he would find out so easily. It wasn’t long afterwards that the offender, Mr. Green, was found dead. Now Bates has already been accused of murder though he escaped a life sentence because he honestly didn’t kill his former wife. He might not be so lucky if he were accused for Green’s crime. Why? Well, he actually did the crime this time.
Mrs. Hughes found his ticket to London in his jacket pocket. Bates denies haven’t been in London since his mother’s death during the war. She knows he lied and she told Mary about the ticket. The two women at first wondered what they should do next when Bates’ life on the dark side managed to come in handy. Lady Rose accidentally introduced an old enemy of the family/scam artist to Mrs. Fred Dudley Ward. Most may not have heard of her but she was the Prince of Wales’ mistress for a while. Rose’s supposedly insignificant introduction would have lead to embarrassment for the Royal Family. And for the staunch monarchist also known as the Crawley Family. Thankfully they have Bates.
When all of their plans to retrieve a certain love letter failed; they had very skilled Bates who manage to steal right off their villain. No one asked Bates to do it. He did out of love for the family while Mary and Mrs. Hughes will keep his secret out of love for him. Family is everything and still no one paid any attention to what’s happening to Lady Edith. She went to Geneva for 8 months and all anybody could say is they hoped she had fun. Even the people who know the truth. Edith had her baby, a little girl, and she gave her to a family under her aunt Rosamund’s advisement.
Edith regrets giving up her baby, but neither Rosamund or the Dowager wants her to raise the child or embarrass the family. Edith understands where they’re coming from. She does, truly. Yet the baby will probably be the last part of Michael she’ll ever have. He went missing after getting into a fight with what we now know is the future Nazi party. So Edith got her baby out of Geneva and instead went back to her original plan. She gave the baby to one of the tenants on the family land. This way she’ll be able to watch her daughter grow up.
As for Lady Mary. She did make a choice (sort of) between all of “her” men. She wanted to be with Mr. Blake and stopped herself this long because she thought he would never understand how far she’d go to protect Downton for her son. It wasn’t until Lord Gillingham mentioned Blake was the heir to a wealthy estate did she realize he was part of “her” world. All very neat, but she must not remember she loved Matthew enough to not even care about his background. Maybe Blake isn’t the man for her as much as she thought?
The American arrived and cause trouble among the nobility. We all sensed that would happen and at best we could say it was funny to watch. However no part of their arrival was a completely unforgettable moment. Sure, we loved Cora’s brother starting a romance even if it’s with a fresh face debutante and he’s (much) older. We’re glad for him and his mother. For she turned down a title with full knowledge she wouldn’t be happy with that and a husband that loves her money. It was nice and if we’re lucky then we might see the extended family again.
While the episode was good, it had all the key players to be great and simply decided not to. Was all the best saved for next season or will this be like Season 2. Too crowded for its own good!