Downton Abbey, Episode 7

Wow, Downton, where do I ever begin?

First of all, to the plot that consumed the downstairs staff. Thanks to O’Brien’s scheming, Thomas decides to pursue his interests in Jimmy. But it is the way he does it. With Alfred seeing a film with Ivy, Jimmy has the room to himself, and Thomas goes in and kisses the sleeping Jimmy. Yes, while he was sleeping. I freaked out, it was the weirdest thing ever and wrong on so many levels. Number One, Jimmy isn’t interested in him and even if he was, you don’t kiss someone while they are sleeping. Alfred walked in on this and naturally, was disgusted. Jimmy is furious and likewise disgusted so things are incredibly awkward downstairs. Finally, Alfred tells Carson what occurred. Carson is grossed out by the events that happened and even tells Thomas that he is crude and other mean things but he doesn’t want to ruin Thomas’s life so he says that if Thomas resigns, he will still provide him with a good reference. Thomas agrees to this but O’Brien continues to interfere and insists that Jimmy decide to press charges so no one would think that he actually enjoyed it. Jimmy tells Carson that he will press charges unless Carson withdraws the good reference. Thomas is devastated and you almost feel sorry for him, even Bates (released from prison, but I’ll get to that later) feels sorry for him and takes pity on him and figures out that O’Brien is behind everything. He is the one to get O’Brien to convince Jimmy to drop the charges. O’Brien manages to convince him to do so and life momentarily seems restored downstairs though Bates is somewhat that he was kind to Thomas (because no one deserves to spend time in prison) but now Thomas will be underbutler, so no one really wins. When Anna asks Bates what he told to O’Brien, he merely says, “Lady Grantham’s soap.” This is a reference to O’Brien leaving the soap outside of the bathtub, causing Cora to slip and fall and subsequently miscarry the baby. Naturally, O’Brien doesn’t want this to be heard and regrets it severely. However, in the end, Alfred has decided to press charges though Lord Grantham manages to talk him out of it. So problem solved there at least.

Now to Matthew and his dealings with the estate.This is still a sticky issue between Matthew and Robert, with basically everyone against Robert except for the old overseer, Jarvis. In the end, because of all the crazy changes which will make the estate more effective, Jarvis decides to resign. Instead of Matthew coming up with the idea, Violet broaches the idea to Robert. She believes that Tom should be made overseer, Robert, surprisingly, agrees on two conditions, that Matthew agrees (which he does, in fact, he is ashamed that it wasn't his idea) and that Violet and Cora admit that they are wrong if things don't go wrong. Violet says that that won't be a problem because she is never wrong (or is she?). Tom does take the job, and even decides at the very end to continue to live in the house which pleases Cora greatly as she still wants to be close to her granddaughter (another issue I'll bring up later). He even persuades Robert to jump on board with the whole scheme of changing the estate and even learns cricket for the town match which ends the show. Life is good for Tom; he has changed massively throughout the season and is accepting the wealth and his wife's lifestyle, too bad Sybil isn't around anymore.

More on Tom. The baby is baptized Catholic and Mary is made the godmother, which is allowed as Tom's weird and crass brother, Kiernan (Ruairi Conaghan) arrives. That man is a piece of work and is even more against the lifestyle than Tom ever was, but Tom sticks up for the Crawley's and insists that Kiernan join the family for dinner. Thank goodness Kiernan is barely in the episode and luckily Tom is not going to live with him.

Now back to Matthew. Worried that Mary isn't pregnant yet, he journeys to London (on the interesting trip that will come next) to get checked but there he runs into Mary who is there for her follow-up visit. (When she went to London in the first place is never shown, only referred to, by her extreme tiredness.) She was the one with the problem which is why she needed a minor surgery (which is why she and Matthew haven't had sex in some time) but everything is fine now, thank goodness. However, Violet mentions to Isobel that she was a doting mother, despite spending only a mere hour with them daily. Tom may love his daughter to death, but he appears to spend little time with her. Even Cora and Robert, who claim to love her and I'm sure they do, walk the grounds at the same time a nanny is pushing the baby around, so they also spend little time with her. And the baby is a perfect British baby as she never cries.

Now to the crazy London trip. Violet has a guest come to stay with her, her great-niece, Rose (Lily James). Rose decides to come to London with Edith, who must visit her editor and decide if she will take the column job, and Matthew for his doctor's visit. Here, Rose wanders off and goes to a nightclub with her married lover. They are disgusted but Matthew manages to convince Edith and Rosamund (Samantha Bond), Robert's sister to say nothing if Rose goes quietly. Though that happens, Violet overhears stuff and manages to punish Rose anyway. I don't know if the whole Rose plot line was necessary but it does have importance. 

Edith develops a crush on her editor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards) and he certainly likes her as well. But then she discovers that he is married and nearly quits her job. Gregson says that his wife is in an insane asylum, I scream no, get away Edith, he will say anything to keep you in his life. Though he may be telling the truth, he cannot get a divorce and I kept thinking of Jane Eyre over and over again and that sort of thing is just overdone. They should have come up with something different, but I did totally guess that he was married. The plot is just too similar and though Edith was disgusted when Rose was seeing a married man, she might start doing the same thing. Poor Edith, she's had too much heartbreak and needs to leave him alone. 

Briefly, Bates is out of prison and busy setting up a house with Anna. Despite the hell he endured in prison, he seems to be settling in to the normal life quite easily. While setting out the house, he literally rips bolt of fabric out of Anna's hands and begins making out with her. It was hilarious, and funnier than anything Violet had to say, which is saying something. 

Now to the last plot line. Violet posts an advertisement in the paper so Ethel can find a new job. She receives several answers but the only one she is interested in is in a town close to where her son now lives and that would be too close. Luckily, the Bryants (at least Mrs. Bryant) doesn't have a problem with that so Ethel takes the job, leaving the Crawley household free of scandal. 

Overall, tons of stuff happened and luckily, I'm actually not angry at anyone, which is a nice surprise. However, I wonder how Bates knew about the soap for O'Brien and would have liked for the show to really mention that Mary went to London. Though I know women didn't discuss such things, I also am curious over what her issue really was. Also, what about the Daisy plot line? She received next to no screen time in this episode and that annoyed me; they need to give her more to do. Ditto for Mrs. Patmore, who hasn't had a good plot line since season one really. Grade: B+