Downton Abbey: Season Four, Episode Five

There wasn't really much I liked about this episode so that portion of my blog will be brief.
One of the footman, Alfred (Matt Milne), goes into London for a cooking test but does not pass. He is upset about the whole thing but if he had passed on the first time, it would have been too easy.
That was basically the only thing I liked. Everything else, not so much.
Mary (Michelle Dockery) isn't given much to do, except disagree with Robert (Hugh Bonneville) on the fate of a farm where the taxes have not been paid. However, she does finally spend some time with the cute baby George, though not as much time as Tom (Allen Leech) spends with little Sibi. Speaking of Tom, he debates on joining to America, because he feels that he does not belong in Ireland or England anymore. Naturally, Robert and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) are upset over this news. They cannot bare to lose Sybil's child, and I can't really blame them. Losing a child must be the hardest loss ever and they want to cling onto her legacy.
Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is not pregnant. Huge sigh of relief. But her relationship with Bates (Brendan Coyle) is horrible. He finally confronts Mrs. Hughes (Phyillis Logan) and threatens that if she doesn't tell him the truth, he will leave. So she tells him, but doesn't name the cruel man responsible. But Bates, after a devastating breakdown, decides that the man who committed the evil deed, will pay. Though by that time, he had already patched things up with Anna, leading to her moving back into the cottage, I was super upset. Anna doesn't need him to make the man, she just needs his support. And, even worse, all the reasons she didn't want to tell him have come true. Thank goodness, Mrs. Hughes opted to blame a total stranger, because Bates can have a dreadful temper.
Now, while Anna is not pregnant, Edith (Laura Carmichael) just might be. She also goes to London, saying that she needs to check on Michael's business affairs, but instead goes to see a doctor, but then, they don't come back to that, leaving the viewer to wonder for another whole week. I might be right, but then again, I might not be.
Cora also finally has a new lady's maid, Baxter (Raquel Cassidy). Though she seems nice, with no enemies upstairs or downstairs, something is brewing between her and Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) and we all know that never leads to anything good.
And Violet (Maggie Smith) is dealing with a lost letter opener and fears it might be the new gardener Isobel (Penelope Wilton) forced her to hire. That plot line seemed lame, but I love Violet but her and Isobel sparring has been done so many times before that it just seems stale.
Overall, this show disappointed me on so many levels, though the acting still is excellent but even the dialogue is starting to lack the usual oomph it used to have. I can only hope that next week, we get some answers. Grade: B-