DOWNTON ABBEY: “Season Six, Episode Eight” {Recap}

This episode contains some disturbing themes and might trigger some.

Edith has to figure out how or if she can tell Bertie about Marigold being her daughter. Everyone who knows about Marigold’s true relationship is worried about the possible marriage. Bertie’s cousin died in Tangiers, and Bertie is now the heir and if Edith does accept his proposal she’d outrank everyone in the house. Will she or won’t she tell him the biggest secret of her life? Mary’s the one who reveals Marigold’s true identity – or spurs it on – just after Bertie was ready to announce their engagement. If there is no trust between them, are they truly right for each other? It seems that without that trust, Bertie is rescinding his offer. In her own shining moment, Edith finally tells Mary off and leaves for London.

Turns out that the first guests that Mrs. Patmore had were adulterers, and now the B&B might have a bad reputation as a house of ill repute. All of the other bookings at the B&B are cancelled after the news and it doesn’t seem that how Mrs. Patmore wanted to retire are coming to fruition. The family will make a trip to the B&B for tea to help her out. Despite what Mr. Carson would like the family to do, the family is going to tea at Mrs. Patmore’s, scandal be damned. The tea turns out well for everyone.

Poor Isobel can’t figure out what to do with Lord Merton and his family. One more visit with Larry’s fiancee leaves her without a clear picture as to what to do.

Molesley wants to try out being a school teacher in the afternoons between lunch and dinner. Much to Carson’s dismay. His first day of class goes poorly, with kids passing notes and being uruly by the end of it all. His second day is much better because he tells the students about his past and how he didn’t give up on learning even in service.

Mary is being rather pigheaded about everything with Henry Talbot and resisting what she feels and how to make it all work. Henry does pop into visit the family and Tom is doing his best to get Mary to not be so sensible. She thinks that he’ll regret being outranked by George and living her her family home, but he’s not bothered by it all. Tom finally tells Mary she’s a bully and a coward – both for what she did to Edith and to Henry. To figure out what she wants, she goes to visit Matthew’s grave to say a farewell of sorts.

Barrow’s lack of luck in finding a new position finally comes to a head and he attempts to kill himself because he hasn’t made much of his life to this point. Mary and George come to visit Barrow in his room, and the two of them are really two peas in a pod, with schemes and machinations all around.

In a pique of curiosity, Edith and Ms. Edmunds are meeting their advice columnist, complete with a password on if they think it is the real woman in question. The real woman is Spratt, which is a surprise and then not at all.

Tom had written to Violet about Mary and Edith, and finally gets Mary to realize that position and rank aren’t everything in a match. Turns out that Mary worries about losing another husband in a car wreck and that love is more important than everything society expects. Violet also gets Mary to maybe make peace with Edith and then with herself. With the visit to Matthew’s grave and Henry’s arrival, Mary finally admits that she loves Henry and that they’ll be equals in strength and passion. Henry had come with a wedding license the last time and they’ll get married soon enough.

So the episodes ends with a wedding, another of Mary’s, and maybe a resolution to the years of fighting between Edith and Mary. Edith takes a very high road of saying that they’ll always be sisters and that will trump their dislike of each other most of the time.