DOWNTON ABBEY: Change Doesn’t Mean Progress {Recap}

With not much going on downstairs, we’ll start there and then go up to where all the action is.

Thomas went on a trip (for his ill father – how about that lie?) and returns to odd behavior and what looks like vials of some drug.

Mrs Patmore’s still frustrated that her nephew can’t be included in the Downton memorial, but eventually Lord Grantham finds out but isn’t sure what he can do right now.

But upstairs there’s plenty of news and drama to keep everyone intrested.

Shrimpy is coming back to England and will visit Downton. It’s a tough subject about is Susan is coming back at a later date. Shrimpy is planning on telling Rose that he and Susan are getting a divorce. When Shrimpy tells Rose of the divorce, she admits that she’ll marry for love not for a match like he and Susan did.

Robert doesn’t like the idea of the row houses in Pips Corner, but Tom and Mary are more in favor. Rather than using the man from Leeds, Robert wants to build in a way that is in keeping with the estate and the family, so the three of them will need to figure out the best way to get the homes made.

Isobel and Violet go to visit Violet’s old Russian beau and have tea with him and one of his friends. Violet asks about his wife. They were separated after prison and when he was released she was no longer in Russia. Violet also tells Isobel that the beau asked her to run away when they met, but Violet obviously didn’t.

After so many weeks of his attention, Lord Merton proposes to Isobel, and she wants to refuse but concedes to think about it rather reject him.

Bricker is going to visit again to do some more investigation into the painting. He does stay longer than he thought. Robert is not happy about it.

Edith’s life continues to be awfully glum. She hears that the man responsible for Mr. Gregson’s death is going to trial and wants to see Marigold to remember Gregson fondly. Only Mrs. Drewe rebuffs Edith when she arrives and goes on to say that Edith is bad for Marigold.

Mary has a trip to London for a dress show and while she’s there, sees Mr. Blake and Mabel Lane Fox, the woman who Lord Gillingham ended his engagement with to be with Mary. Anna also drops off a letter to Lord Gillingham’s house and is seen by a few men on the streets, who turn out to be police men looking into Mr. Green’s death. The letter was necessary for Mary to meet Tony and tell him she won’t marry him, but he won’t believe it and wants to continue to go after her.

Tom has Miss Bunting over to dinner one night with Shrimpy and Mr Bricker in town and hopefully that won’t end in disaster. Over dinner Miss Bunting says something about her work with Daisy and so she and Mrs Patmore come up to the room to answer her questions. Daisy’s answer is a good one, but Miss Bunting presses again and Robert loses it and yells that he’d like her to leave.