DOWNTON ABBEY: It’s the Fall That Gets You

This episode, like the last, makes reference to sexual assault that may be triggering for some. Please read with caution.

Fallout from last week’s episode is still in the air as Anna tries to avoid Bates, who seems to think that he has done something wrong while everyone else is confused in the staff. Denial is one powerful motivator. Mrs. Hughes tries her best to hide the truth from Bates, as she should, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know anything’s wrong. For all his part in the process, Mr. Gillingham gives nothing away and looks as if he is a normal valet. By the end, Anna has decided to move back into the house.

Mary and Isobel both seem to be moving on, with varying degrees of results. Isobel is being roped into interests with the village hospital, and looking into early looks at preventative care. If only Isobel knew how powerful her work would be.

Mary, on the other hand, has a trip to London to talk to the taxmen about how to pay off Matthew’s death tax. That means that Tom and Rose are along for the ride, to varying degrees of success. Tom’s still avoiding Edna and the fact that they slept with each other and Rose is looking to see if things with Sir John from last week will go along towards getting her a husband. As always, they are staying with Lady Rosamund, who is also playing matchmaker for Mary and Lord Gillingham. That means a date to the Lotus Club for some jazz. The Lotus Club has a nice Black lead singer, Jack Rose, who ends up saving Rose from a very drunk Sir John. By the end of the episode, Lord Gillingham had returned to Downton to propose to Mary, who turns him down as gracefully as she can since she still thinks of Matthew.

Back at the mansion, there’s more drama between Daisy and Ivy and Alfred and Jimmy. Ivy is trying to improve her skills, Alfred’s interested in a training program put on by the Ritz, Jimmy has no grand ambitions besides drinking and Daisy looks as if she wants nothing to do with the two men and their intentions towards Ivy.

After the reveal that Mr. Carson had a life, he seems to be humanized even more when Mrs. Hughes gives him a framed copy of the photo of his lost lady love. The more moments they have, the more I want something to happen between them.

In the sage of Tom and Edna, Thomas is trying to play sides and get all the information he can, but it won’t work out for him in the end because Edna leaves after Mrs. Hughes divines what Edna’s plan was: pretend that Tom was the father of her baby and get money from the whole family, even if the baby was from some man elsewhere. Because Edna leaves, Anna has the cover she needs to move back into the house so that she can attend to both Cora and Mary.

On the side of the less desirable child of the family, Edith has one of her nights with Gregson, especially since it’s a week before he leaves for Munich to start the work on his divorce. He has papers for her to sign that give her some authority over the paper. Rather than go out, they spend the night in, and they have a very good time of it if Edith’s arrival back home is any indication. Rosamund has plenty to say about Edith staying with Gregson all night, but Rosamund does have serious reservations about what might become of Edith if she’s caught in the affair.

Thomas has a suggestion for a replacement for Cora’s new lady’s maid. Tom at least has a lots to say about the idea that the new maid will be older than Edna, but at least he feels better about lots of things at Downton without her there.