1. Julian Fellows will not allow our most beloved couples to stay together.
I decided to put this rule first, because it’s becoming one of the cardinal rules of Downton.
Matthew and Sybil are dead. No matter whether you were on Team Tony or Team Charles, it looks like they’re both out of the picture. Anna and Bates have been separated before, and it looks like they’re going to be again.
Who’s next? Truly, Mr. Fellows, I don’t know if I want to keep watching if I have to live in fear that you will be murdering whichever pair becomes my most beloved couple next.
2. When you’re a conniving witch, you should expect decent people to thwart you.
Anyone want to place bets on what in her backstory made Lady Flincher (Rose’s mother) such a bitter hag? I mean, seriously. Even when this woman has a rational justification for her actions (she doesn’t want Rose to live on the fringes of society because of her inter-faith marriage), she has to try to break up her daughter’s marriage by hiring a faux hooker and then announcing her divorce? Has she never heard of talking to her daughter? What made her into a person that would stoop to this?
The only thing that saved this story line was that Tom and Mary convinced Rose not to go to pieces the minute she saw the pictures. Can you believe fictional characters actually talked about something instead of making assumptions and going off in a huff for the sake of contrived dramatic tension?
And did anyone else want to cheer when Lady Sinderby handled both her husband and Lady Flincher so neatly?
3. Everyone close to you will eventually realize that your illegitimate daughter is yours.
I am sure there are secrets people can keep from their loved ones indefinitely. But having her daughter live with Edith without discovery isn’t one of them. How long do you think it will be before everyone else in the house puts two and two together?
Except for Mary, of course, who can’t ever be bothered by her sister.
4. Being with people who love you is better than having a life that “matters”.
Because having people who love is what actually matters. I was so glad Daisy figured this out during the course of the episode. Because the kitchen at Downton wouldn’t be the same place without her being clucked over by Mrs. Patmore.
5. Sometimes, the best romances start slowly.
In some cases, I just want the angst/sexual tension to end. Other times, like in the case of Molesley and Baxter, watching the slow build is more intriguing. I hope we’ll see a lot more of these two.
So what did you think of this episode? Love it? Hate it? Tell me!
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