Upstairs Downstairs Episode 7

Martha: Well, Mary is finally pregnant. It seems it wasn't Matthew's problem after all. Carson is being overly protective and doesn't believe she should take the trip to Scotland.

Jill: Tom still is not one of the family completely. He is not invited and left behind when the rest of the family goes to Scotland. The dowager says, "He'll have some freedom, but we can't let it go to his head." So Tom is left at at home with the new mail, Edna.  Edna is relentless in her pursuit of him.

Martha: Another relationship is being forged; Dr. Clarkson shows his interest in Mrs. Crawley, however, he is rebuffed in a not so subtle way.

Jill: One more relationship that we see is Mrs. Patmore and the delivery man. Mrs. Patmore acts like a giddy school girl. The delivery man loves Mrs. Patmore's cooking and "he loves to be in love". Mrs. Hughes finally points out the issues with the delivery man to Mrs. Patmore.

Martha: Thomas follows the drunk Jimmy but ends up having to save Jimmy from some ruffians. Thomas protects him and gets beaten up himself.

Jill: We have the relationship between Shrimpy and his wife Susan. They obviously married for reasons other than love. Susan is quite unhappy and makes everyone else, especially her daughter Rose, unhappy.

Martha: In Scotland, the old ways or traditions are being maintained, i.e., the playing of  the bagpipes. Shrimpy confides that the castle will be lost and Robert appears to see the writing on the wall, change with the times or lose Downton. So empire provided a way to maintain a certain type of life for those aristocrats who were losing estates/

Jill: As Mrs. Hughes stated, "When the cats away, the mouse will play". All kinds of shenanigans were happening at Downton. Edna was very obviously flirting with Tom and wouldn't stand when Tom entered the servants hall. Jimmy gets bold and sits in the chair in the family's rooms; Alfred usually the good kid, decides to join him in the fun. It feels like the young Downstairs is taking a vacation themselves.

Martha: When Carson hears the baby, little Sybil cry, he goes in and picks her up. He seems to be more willing to show his softer side. When the master is out, he feels he can be a little more soft, not as rigid. But I suggest that he would only perform this act of gentleness for a baby belonging to the
Upstairs.

Jill: Mary has done her duty for Downton; she has produced a male heir. This birth is just in the nick of time, just before Matthew dies.

OUR PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT SEASON:

Now that Mary has done her duty and produced a male heir for Downton, she now has more power to do what she wants. She is now a titled widow which will give her more power. With that power, she will take a lover or lovers but will not be looked down upon. She will possibly not marry again and enjoy this new power.

Another romantic possibility is that Mary will connect with Tom and together they will bring up Mary's son and little Sybil. Interesting huh?

The new baby's name will be Robert Matthew.

Tom will have more responsibility for the estate with Matthew's death and Mrs. Crawley will be able to have more say.

Mrs. Crawley, however, might just marry Dr. Clarkson., which would also be an interesting twist of events.

Edith will still keep up the relationship with Michael; although they cannot marry, she will choose happiness over social mores of the time.

What would happen if Anna becomes pregnant?

Daisy will eventually go to work on the farm.

And, hopefully even Thomas will find true love!

Downton Abbey will become more streamlined and business savvy. But who will take over his role at Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey Episode 6

Jill: Bates is released! When he returns, Lord Grantham essentially gives him a vacation, tells him to take it easy, read books. The Downstairs is wondering how they should treat Mr. Bates after his return.

Martha: Mr. Bates get two very different receptions; Thomas is rather cool toward Bates, saying that he now is Mr. Barrow. Lord Grantham on the other hand, treats Bates with great respect, I believe because of their common military experience.

Jill: Edith gets invited to write again, another example of the great time of change that is approaching. It is doubtful that Edith, a lady, would have written for a newspaper before the war. Edith wants to change with the times; her grandmother tells her to do something but she means more "lady-like" pursuits like running a charity or painting with watercolors. The big change coming to house is that Matthew wants to change the way that Downton is run if it is to survive.

Martha:But Downstairs! Poor Thomas, can you imagine the humiliation he must have felt! O'Brien was up to her very nasty tricks suggesting to Thomas that Jimmy had a crush on him. She essentially sets Thomas up. Before he enters Jimmy's room, he is wrestling with whether to go into the room or not. When he leans over and kisses Jimmy, Jimmy awakens, shocked, disgusted, and angry.  Thomas innocently still believes that Jimmy has feelings for him.

Jill: I know that in the past, I have been a little harsh on Mary, thinking that she is cold-hearted, selfish and controlling, but I did see a glimmer of her humanity. When Tom tells her that his brother is coming and he is a bit of diamond in the rough. Mary replies " I'm very fond of diamonds", so maybe I will look at Mary in a different light. And indeed, his brother is a diamond in the rough, maybe  " lump of coal". He is like Tom was in the past, but maybe Tom on steroids, anti-English.

Martha: Well, the baptism of little Sybil takes place, and she is baptized a Catholic. The entire family attended included Robert and the Lady Dowager. When the photographer puts the priest between the Dowager and Lord Grantham, each looks quite uncomfortable. Cora lightens the mood a little by smartly saying, " What's the matter Robert? You think you are going to be converted?"

Jill: The Dowager takes it upon herself without asking Mrs. Crawley to find job offers for Ethel.
She desires new employment for Ethel because according to the Dowager, "she brings a miasma of scandal to this house". We know that the Dowager is doing this for selfish reasons, she is doing this for the family, not Ethel, but when she sees Ethel crying, for a moment she appears to something for Ethel's plight.

Martha: Kudos for Bates! Even though he and Thomas have been at odds. He comes to Thomas's aid. Bates suspects O'Brien of being the instigator . Bates goes to Thomas and asks why he doesn't fight for himself; Thomas says he's beaten and Bates gets from him the weapon to use against O'Brien. The weapon is "her ladyship's soap" and only Thomas and O'Brien know the true meaning of those three words.

Jill: With all the angst in this episode, it ends nicely. Ethel gets a new job and will be near her son Charlie. Thomas's indiscretion is handled by Lord Grantham and results in Thomas being the under-butler and Jimmy being first footman. At the end of the cricket game, Tom, Matthew, and Lord Grantham come together. Perhaps, this foreshadows  what the future holds for Downton, the three men working together to ensure the success of  Downton and the Crawley family.

Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 5

Jill: Cora is blaming Lord Grantham's snobbery for Sybil's death. She has separated herself emotionally and physically from Lord Grantham.

Martha: But the Lady Dowager introduces her own brand of marriage counseling. This crisis again shows the importance of appearances to the aristocratic class. According to Violet, "People like us are never unhappily married.".  The Dowager talks to Dr. Clarkson and suggests that he has created a division between Robert and Cora; her intervention involves Dr. Clarkson essentially lying about the consequences of failing to act when he recognized Sybil's serious condition.

Jill: Ethel asks Mrs. Pattmore for help to prepare a luncheon for the Downton ladies. This flies directly in the face of Mr. Carson's directive to go to Crawley house or have anything related to the "fallen woman". Mr. Carson sees her leaving the house and proceeds to tell Lord Grantham about he invitation. It is his duty to ensure that the family's good name is not dragged through the mire.

Martha: When Lord Grantham slams in and demands that the women leave, Cora, choosing to stay as part of her passive-aggressive behavior in regards to Sybil's death  failed to budge and even Violet suggested "that they must not waste a good pudding."

Jill: There seems to be a tribal war going on at this point. Lord Grantham says " that a Crawley has not been a left-footer since the Reformation". Lord Grantham says that the baby must be baptized into his "tribe", meaning she must be Protestant". Tom says "no she'll be baptized in my tribe, I 'm her father, I'm Catholic and she will be Catholic". Mary steps into the fray and supports Tom by saying" Sybil wished the baby to be Catholic". This defuses Lord Grantham's argument immediately, then and there.

Martha: We are starting to see changes in the attitude of the Downstairs When. Mrs. Pattmore admonishes Ivy for wearing make-up, Ivy replies in a smart way, "It's not like the old days, all the girls do it now."Earlier, when Carson complained that mothers used to train servants how to act, Mrs. Hughes suggested that "perhaps their mothers don't want them [their children] in service". To which the very class conscious Carson replies, "What are they supposed to do? Become bankers and lawyers" Mrs. Hughes volleys back,"maybe so, what's wrong with that?" Carson is a traditionalist and Mrs. Hughes a realist. Carson  believes in the old and finds change unnecessary. Mrs. Hughes sees times are changing and so they too must change.

Jill: The changes Upstairs include Matthew and Tom's belief that Downton has been badly managed. Lord Grantham is threatened by the changes that must take place. Mary steps up to bat for Matthew by basically dressing down Lord Grantham. "You are always upset when the world is not going your way."