Finally–some happy intro music! Yay!
Alfred is Leaving and Jimmy’s Not a Good Boy
One of the four who made it into the Ritz cooking course has dropped out, and Alfred is leaving after all. (Truly, Matthew Milne got a better write off than Dan Stevens. Does anyone want to take a second to fume about that? Ok, got that out of my system. I feel better).
Alfred gives his heartfelt thanks to the Crawley family and Carson. Lord Grantham tells him that if he keeps going, they’re all going to burst into tears. (I, for one, would have enjoyed that.)
Just before he leaves, Alfred apologizes to Daisy. He tells her that he never meant to hurt her, and that she will find someone, but it was never going to be him. After being stiff with him for days, she is able to give him a kind send-off. This whole scene proved Alfred–despite his name–is a sweetheart. Most guys don’t give closure like this to girls they have feelings for let alone the ones they don’t!
On the other end of the never-ending love square, however, are Jimmy and Ivy. After a concert, Jimmy tries to get under Ivy’s skirt while they’re sitting on a bench on the Downton estate. Jimmy’s confused that she doesn’t want to give it up to him (on a hard bench, when he’s clear he thinks she owes him sex for the effort he’s put into courting her). Ivy’s annoyed that he would even think to ask her to put out.
When Ivy tells Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes, she admits that she read both boys wrong, and wishes she’d realized Alfred’s worth while he was still at Downton. Daisy–who was listening in–goes off on her. Mrs. Hughes tells Ivy that she had it coming.But Alfred is gone, Ivy is no longer speaking to Jimmy, and this convoluted, unrequited love story seems to be over. Is anyone else relieved? I think it went on just a bit too long.
Lady Violet and Isobel Head to Head
Lady Violet discovers another missing knick-knack, and again the only person she can think to blame is Peg, her new gardener that she hired on Isobel’s recommendation. She fires him, and Peg takes his confusion to Isobel, who immediately storms up to the dowager house to champion his cause.Isobel tells Lady Violet that she is too materialistic, and Lady Violet retorts that whether or not that’s the case, she shouldn’t have to employ a thief. While they fight, the butler comes in with one of Lady Violet’s missing objects, and Isobel decides that she will find the other.The next day, she arrives at the house just after Lady Violet has left, and pretends to faint so that the butler will let her into the drawing room. As soon as she’s left alone, she starts to search, and finds the missing letter knife under a chair cushion.
When some time passes and Isobel doesn’t hear of Peg’s re-employment, she brings Dr. Clark with her to insist that Lady Violet correct her injustice. As soon as Isobel lets Violet get a word in edgewise, she rings for her butler, who brings in a stocking-foot Peg (because God forbid there be a speck of dirt on the carpet!). Peg tells Isobel that Lady Violet summoned him, apologized for believing him to be a thief, offered him his job back, and asked if he could forgive her.
As Dr. Clarkson said: “Game, set, match to Lady Grantham.”
The Odds and Ends of This Episode That Will Probably Be Important Later:
- Cora’s brother is involved in some sort of financial scandal in America.
- Miss Baxter is telling tales to Thomas, but is already tiring of it.
- Downton is getting pigs.
- Mr. Moseley is–after serving the servants’ tea to prove his humility–hired by Carson to replace Alfred.
- Isobel, Branson, and Mary have a sweet scene in the nursery, talking about what the children will call Isobel, how Mary is not unhappy (but isn’t quite ready to be happy), and how it felt when they first fell in love. It ends with Isobel saying how lucky all three of them have been. (Ok, this probably won’t be important later, but it didn’t fit anywhere else, and it was too cute to leave out.)
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Anna and Bates Eat Out
Bates and Anna are reunited, and life is better for them, if far from perfect. Mary still wants Anna to tell her what happened, but Anna isn’t about to bear her soul to her employer. Bates is still trying to figure out the identity of her rapist. which lends itself to theory some of you have going that he meant what he said–he does actually want to hunt down the guy and kill him. Not that I blame the sentiment, personally, but it does seem like a selfish one. If he finds out it’s Green, is he really going to risk going back to jail and leaving Anna alone?In the midst of all of this upheaval, Anna suggests that they go on a date. She wants to make new memories, and doesn’t want to feel like all their happiness was before. Mary agrees to this plan quickly, telling them to stay out as late as they would like, because it won’t kill her to put herself to bed for once!Their dates starts badly, with the maître d’ telling them that they don’t have a reservation, despite the fact that Anna made the booking. After a short debate, they decide to name drop, telling him that they know the Countess of Grantham. The maître d’ calls them on it, as Cora happens to be dining at the hotel that night, expecting to embarrass them and turn them away, freeing up a table on a busy night. Much to horror, Cora greets Bates and Anna warmly, telling them that she wishes she could join them and assuring them special treatment all night.
Unfortunately, things go south from there. Neither half of the couple can really forget about their problems for the night, and there is obvious tension between them. Anna tells her husband that she doesn’t want him to see her as a victim, that that isn’t who she is. Just as she says this, and their tension breaks, Cora stops by their table to offer them a ride home.
Even reconciled, Anna and Bates have some work to do to get back to the relationship they want. And while it’s hard–and sad–to watch, I love that the show has left room for that event to truly change both Anna and their marriage.
Edith is Preggers! (And It’s NOT a Shock)
Lady Mary’s Has Another Admirer and Meets a Man Who (Might) Hate Her
Charles tells Evelyn that he doesn’t see Mary’s appeal, thinking that she demands luxury as a right of being born into the upper class, and that her type doesn’t deserve to survive. When Mary tells Evelyn later in the evening that she feels similarly about Charles, he laughs and shares Charles’ opinion of Mary with her.
And while the two of them are not on friendly terms right now, I can see Charles Blake as a love interest for Mary much more easily than I could see Evelyn being one. Do you agree? Because sometimes all the passion being poured into fighting with each other can turn into passion elsewhere.
All that said, I liked Anthony Gillingham best. And I hope his engagement to Mabel Lane-Fox is short-lived.
Jazz Comes to Downton…as Do Differing Views on Race Relations
Rose wants to surprise Cousin Robert for his birthday, and thinks that the best way to do so is to bring in the jazz band from the Lotus Club. She manages to finagle this by not telling Cora what her surprise is (but that there is a surprise) so that Mrs. Hughes will go along with her plans and both feed and hide the band until the dinner is over.When the band gets there and Jack Ross walks into the servants’ hall, Carson nearly breaks his tea cup. (I know these things truly happened back in the 20’s, but it’s hard to believe that people were really that racist!) Once he’s regathered his wits, Carson asks Jack Ross if he’s ever considered visiting Africa. Mr. Ross jumps into the verbal fray, asking why he should–as he’s no more African than Mr. Carson….or at least not much more. His ancestors left Africa in the 1790’s, although he doesn’t think they should get into how. Mr. Carson agrees to leave the discussion there–and Mrs. Hughes congratulates Mr. Ross in finding one aspect of the past that Carson does not prefer to modern day.
The band starts playing as soon as dinner ends (having set up sneakily in the hall while it was in progress), and the aristocrats don’t exactly know what to do or how to react. But Robert gets Cora dancing, and everyone else soon joins in.
Edith asks Lady Violet her opinion, and Violet warns her not to be provincial. “Let you time in London rub off on you a little.” (And I loved that they showed the inconsistency of most people in that scene. Edith’s carrying a child out of wedlock, but what’s inappropriate is for Rose to hire a London band with a black lead singer? Really?) Later on, though, Lady Violet voices her disbelief that the members of the band are aware of what the others around them are playing, so it doesn’t look like she’s going to become a true fan of jazz.
Downstairs, Mrs. Patmore wants to dance to the music. Carson–while admitting that he thinks Jack Ross is a decent fellow–cannot be tempted that far out of his personality, Or, at least, the personality he’s adopted since leaving his life on the stage.
When the night ends, Mary goes downstairs to tell Mr. Ross to send Lord Grantham the bill. To her surprise, she finds Rose making out with the band leader. To my surprise, she didn’t walk in on them, opting instead to call out and pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
Which begs the question–where is this relationship between Rose and Jack going to go? And is Mary going to help them if they choose to move forward with it?
