Downton Abbey Recap Series 5 Episode 7: Daisy The Rebel, Edith’s Secret Is Out (Sort Of) & Wedding Bells Will Be Ringing

As usual, this post contains spoilers from this weekends episode. Read at your own risk if you have not seen the episode.

Upstairs

It has been confirmed that wedding bells will be ringing twice. Isobel has accepted Lord Merton’s proposal. While the rest of the family is thrilled, Violet admits that she will miss Isobel’s company with a slight tear in her eye. Dare I say that she has become accustomed to her face? For a recently engaged couple, Lord Merton and Isobel are rather staid, but considering the period, it’s rather acceptable. The biggest hurdle that Isobel will face is her future stepsons. They are just as pleasant and gentleman like are they were the last time we saw them, when Larry insulted Tom and got him drunk the night before Mary and Matthew’s wedding.

Rose and Atticus are engaged. Atticus’s mother likes Rose, but his father is not so keen on having a gentile daughter in law.

Poor Isis has cancer and is slowly dying. Robert seems to be paying more attention to his dying dog than his missing daughter. He also insists on bringing guests in when Edith is still missing. Father of the year, he is not.

Tom is considering moving to Boston. He contemplates the idea with Sybbie as they drop twigs into the river.  It was a sweet father/daughter moment, one that we do not see too often.

Mabel Lane Fox, Tony Gillingham and Charles Blake are all at the house. Mabel is still quite attached to Tony and Mary, is well Mary is talking to Charles Blake about his trip to Poland. It seems that Tony has finally understood that Mary is not going to walk up the aisle with him anytime soon.

Rosamund and Violet tell Cora the truth about Edith. Cora, quite rightly, tells her mother in law and sister in law that they need to let Edith make her own decision in regards to her child.  Rosamund and Cora find Edith in London at the publishing house that Edith has inherited from her late married boyfriend/ baby daddy. In order to prevent a public ruckus, Edith agrees to meet her mother and aunt at a local tea house. Just when you think the entire truth will be revealed, it will not be revealed. Cora suggests that they tell the family that the Drewes are unable to care for Marigold for financial reasons and Edith is stepping in to help. Cora and Edith even go so far as to have Mr. Drewe travel with Marigold to the next station when they get to Downton station and they see Mary waiting for the next train to London. Honestly, if this child grows up to be a normal adult, I will be surprised, considering her first few years of life.

There is still no word of the fate of Princess Kuragin. I suspect that this story line will not end just yet. After years of endless insults against Edith, Violet finally tells Mary to be quiet. About bloody time.

Downstairs

Things are peaceful (for now) in the Bates household as we did not see the police sniffing around, looking for more clues into the death of Mr. Green. I suspect this little pocket of sunshine will not last.

Daisy has become quite the little rebel. She rattles on and on about the Labour government and how the lower classes are getting the short end of the stick. Who knew that the mousy teenager whose only lines in the first few episodes of the first series were “Yes, Mrs. Patmore” or “No, Mrs. Patmore” would take up the cause of politics?

Thomas was Thomas this week, without the drugs in his system. As was Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson.

Mr. Mason invited Daisy, Miss Baxter and Mr. Molesley to his farm house for a meal. Miss Baxter and Mr. Molesley are quickly becoming my favorite downstairs couple. Can we get these two together already?

While we did not see Miss Denker this episode, Spratt put in his notice, claiming that Miss Denker cannot be trained. I don’t think she needs to be trained, Spratt needs to remember that he is simply the hired help.

Analysis

We are third to the last episode to the end of this series. My favorite storyline so far has been Edith. I hope we will go from #PoorEdith to #GoodForYouEdith.

Dowager Quote Of The Week

“He is a man. Men don’t have rights”.

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Downton Abbey Recap, Series 5 Episode 6: Mary Gets A Haircut, Edith Makes A Decision And There is Trouble In Bates Paradise

As usual, this recap contains spoilers. Read at your own risk if you have not seen this weekend’s episode.

Upstairs

Mary gets a stylish new haircut. The man who cuts her hair fools her with a fake French accent, but makes a bitchy remark in an English accent once Mary is out earshot. It’s a rather nice haircut, the bob really suits her. Do I predict that this will be the new Rachel? Later in the episode, Mary and her nemesis Mabel Lane Fox are racing in a horse race and are trying to one up each other not just in the race, but in nasty comments. Mabel Lane Fox has no idea whom she trying out to out bitch, Mary wins this argument every time.

Edith receives a telegram about Michael Gregson. When a character receives a telegram on Downton Abbey, it’s never good news. Michael is dead, killed by the Nazis in the Beer Hall Putsch. Feeling even more emotionally isolated, Edith runs away against Tom’s advice, but not before she takes her daughter with her. Mrs. Drewe was visibly upset (wouldn’t you be?), but she is a mother at the end of the day and understood. Where Edith has gone, we do not know, but she tells her daughter (who looks different than the child who played Marigold earlier in the series) that they will order champagne and ice cream. If nothing else, Julian Fellows knows as a writer when to amp up the drama and Edith’s story line last night was full of drama.

Cora demands that Robert return to her bed. Robert, still smarting from Mr. Bricker entering his wife’s bedroom is ready to sleep in his dressing room. Cora asks him if he ever led a woman astray. Remember Jane Moorsum? The housemaid that Robert kissed several seasons ago? That jogged his memory and send him quickly back to Cora’s room.

Isobel has made up her mind about Lord Merton. What that decision is…we don’t know yet. But, I get the feeling that Isobel is ready to become Lady Merton. She has become rather smug around Violet and the idea that Violet, at one point in her life, was not the prim and proper society matron that we now know her to be. Violet visits Prince Kuragin and tells him that Shrimpy has a lead on where the Princess might be.   The Prince tells her that he is not over her.

The relationship between Rose and Atticus is going strong. So much so, that we are introduced to his parents. Isobel remarks that if this marriage were to take place, there might not be a need to convert. Violet is unaware that Atticus is Jewish. First comes the meet cute, then meeting the family and the finally the inter-religious wedding bells.

Downstairs

Mrs. Patmore takes Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes on a tour of the cottage she intends to purchase as a future retirement home.  The idea of Mrs. Patmore purchasing a home for her post Downton life inspires Mr. Carson to ask Mrs. Hughes if they should do the same. Who knew under that old school, stoic old heart was a semi romantic?

While Miss Bunting is finally gone (yay!) her spirit lives on in the confidence that she gave Daisy.  Mr. Molesley offers to help Daisy with her studies by letting her borrow his books.  If only there were more like him.

Thomas reveals his secret to Miss Baxter. He has been injecting himself with saline in hopes of changing who he is. Miss Baxter insists on taking him to see Dr. Clarkson. In an indirect way, Thomas admit the truth about who he is. Dr. Clarkson basically tells him to be himself.   That’s well and good, but homosexuality was on the books in England and other parts of the world at that time as a crime with a jail sentence usually attached to it.

Violet has a new ladies maid. Miss Denker (Sue Johnston) does not see eye to with Spratt (Jeremy Swift), Violet’s butler. Good, it’s about time that Spratt received a dose of his own medicine.  Methinks the gentleman has forgotten his place.

And finally, the boat is a rockin in the Bates household and not in a good way. Bates finds the contraception that Anna hide for Mary and assumes that she has been trying to prevent their future child from being born. While protecting her employer and defending her own actions, Anna scolds her husband for going through her things. Then we learn the truth about Bates’s visit to York the day that Mr. Green was killed. He bought the train ticket, but never got on the train. He has an alibi, but that alibi is in a coat that was donated to the Russian refugees last season. The police also interview Miss Baxter, holding what was left of her unfulfilled jail sentence, to share what she knows about Anna and Bates. The saga and the damage that Mr Green left behind continues.

Analysis

I loved this episode, especially Edith taking charge of her own life. My Sunday nights will not be the same when this series is over in a few weeks.

Dowager Moment Of The Week

All this endless thinking, it’s very overrated…I blame the war. Before 1914 nobody thought about anything at all.

Downton Abbey Series 5 Episode 1 Recap: Sex, Poor Edith And A Hint Of Jane Austen

Like all recaps, these posts contain spoilers from last night’s episode. Read at your own risk if you have not see the episode.

Upstairs

Julian Fellows continues with his semi-sadistic hatred of Edith. The episode opens with Edith bicycling over to the Drewe farm to see her baby girl, who is being raised by Mr. and Mrs. Drewe. While Mrs. Drewe has swallowed the story about Marigold’s “dead” parents, Mr. Drewe knows more than he lets on.  Back at the Abbey, Mrs. Hughes finds a book with Michael Gregson’s name written in it. At the end of the episode, she nearly burns the house down, when, in grief, she throws one of the letters from Michael into the fireplace, but it misses the mark.

Robert and Cora’s 34th wedding anniversary is fast approaching, but Robert is blase about the fact. What starts as a simple anniversary dinner with the family nearly turns into a rumble when Rose invites Sarah Bunting (Daisy Lewis), the schoolteacher from the village, who Tom met last season. Miss Bunting is not shy about sharing her political views, especially her approval of The Labour Party and the leader, Ramsay MacDonald.

While Charles Blake has yet to appear this season, Tony Gilllingham is back and still pursuing Mary with a vengeance. His latest scheme is trying to convince her to go away with him for a few days. He even goes so far as to boldly enter her bedroom when she is only in her dressing gown. We all know what happens to single men who dare to enter Lady Mary’s room.

Tom has not yet completely warmed up to the idea that he is part of the family. The mere presence of Sarah Bunting re-awakens his old political ideas. I have a feeling that Tom will be doing a balancing act this series between his former self and his present self.

We see briefly, the youngest and cutest members of the Crawley family, Sybbie and George. Sybbie’s nickname for her grandfather is donk. All together now, awwww.

And finally, Violet is playing matchmaker, a la Mrs. Bennet. Her co-conspirator is Lady Shackelton (Harriet Walter, Fanny in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility) The person she is matching for is Isobel. The the two men are Dr. Clarkson and Lord Merton. While Isobel tried to gently turn them both down last series, I have a feeling that Dr. Clarkson may need to up his game if his competition is a peer of the realm.

Downstairs

In this week’s mid life crisis moment, Mr.  Molesley tries to impress Miss Baxter by putting dye into his hair and trying to cover his slow balding. The person who notices is not his intended target, but Robert, who asks if Mr. Molesley is Latin.

Speaking of Miss Baxter, we know something of her secret. In an effort to get the monkey known as Thomas off her back, Miss Baxter tells Cora that she stole jewelery from a previous employer and was in jail for three years. When Thomas tries to tell Cora, she reads him the riot act (Go Cora!). But then Thomas saves Edith from death by asphyxiation from the fire and is the hero once again.

Daisy is convinced that because of all of the years she has spent in the kitchen, she has missed out on years of school and has an urge to return to schoolroom. Mrs. Patmore does not agree with her.

Bates and Anna are back to their pre-rape relationship. In fact, I think, if he would have, Bates would have taken his wife home for a little private time. But it is only the first episode, so we may see another roller coaster that is the married life of John and Anna Bates soon enough.

Jimmy’s old employer and Downton’s newest cougar, Lady Anstruther (Anna Chancellor, Caroline in the 1995 miniseries and a descendant of Edward Austen, one of Jane Austen’s brother’s) has come to Downton for obvious reasons. And it’s not just for visiting Cora.

And finally, Mr. Carson is appointed to lead the committee to build a war memorial in the village. The traditional choice has always been the Earl and not his butler. The times, they are a changing.

Analysis: First episodes of any season usually require some catching up (not that we need it), but it felt like it was a little too much re-hashing of the end of last season. But it is only the first episode, so only time will tell.

Dowager Quote Of The Week

Lady Shackelton: Of course, a single peer with a good estate won’t be lonely for long if he wants to be.

Lady Grantham: You sound like Mrs. Bennet.