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New Show Recap: Downton Abbey, Episode 5×05

Hello, all! Time for this week’s recap of Downton Abbey. We’re on episode five of the season, and the drama just doesn’t stop. Some of it is a little deja vu (fisticuffs over the love of a woman, perhaps), but we get rid of dreary old Miss Bunting!

Rosamond arrives at Downton Abbey to stay for the week. Really, she has come to do some damage control and make sure that Edith hasn’t let too much slip about the baby. All Mary has mentioned is that Edith is fixated on Farmer Drew’s little girl and seems very attached to her, and Rosamond seeks to talk some sense into Edith concerning the little girl’s future.

Robert is supposed to go to a party that Thursday for the army lieutenants, and Cora has invited Mr. Bricker to take a further look at the painting. Robert is cranky about this, but you should pay attention to your wife, Robert, and treat her like she means something to you! There’s supposed to be a huge cocktail party that Friday, which is a new thing, because cocktail parties are so much shorter than seven-course meals and not so formal. Yay for moving along with the times when it comes to entertaining your guests!

Robert also wants a local company to come in and develop the land they were planning to sell. He wants to make it a sound investment, because there’s a real estate boom right now. But it’s more like a bubble, and we all know that bubbles eventually burst.

Baxter is still very concerned about Thomas and his injections. He believes that the injections and other aspects of his treatment can help to “cure” him of his sexuality. He often appears ill and is irritable. The supposed treatment is taking a toll on his health. Thomas, being the smarmy little bastard he is, remarks that he might have something to tell the police, but Mrs. Hughes reminds him not to make trouble.

Robert and Branson have a little talk about Miss Bunting, and they have a friendly talk about their political differences. Tom tells Robert that he thinks the company is heading in a good direction under the guidance of the left, but Robert reminds him that he has seen both sides of the political spectrum and that he needs to remember what he has achieved since becoming a member of the Crawley family.

Mary goes to London again and has dinner with Charles and Elaine Fox, Gillingham’s former fiancee. Charles informs Elaine that Mary wishes to break off her engagement to Gillingham, and it would work out for Elaine because Gillingham would go back to her. Elaine is shocked at Charles’s audacity and she makes it very clear that she is not a fan of Mary at all, and that she won’t have Mary’s sloppy seconds now that Mary is done with Lord Gillingham. She leaves in a huff, and Charles laughs and informs Mary that this is only the first step of his plan to help her get rid of Lord Gillingham for good.

Lady Violet receives a letter from Shrimpie, and it seems that Princess Kuragin may be among a group of Russian nurses in Hong Kong. Lady Violet is going to refrain from telling Prince Kuragin until she hears that Shrimpie has confirmed the lead.

Baxter tells Moseley the full story of her past. He sees her as just as much of a victim as her previous employer was, and he forgives her past sins, whatever they were.

The police — and Scotland Yard! — are back and are asking more questions about Mr. Green’s death again. They want to know why Anna had been in London on the day of Mr. Green’s death, and they question Anna and Mary. They also ask about Anna’s reaction when she discovered Mr. Green was dead, and Mary says that it was a shock to Anna and all of them. Anna and Mary assure the police that going to London often is normal for a lady’s maid, and that Anna had nothing to do with Mr. Green’s death, even though they aren’t sure of Mr. Green’s movements that day. Bates tries to pry the information out of Mary, but she is sharp with him and tells him that the police haven’t asked them anything untoward. Later, he speaks with Anna and tells her that he loves her and will protect her and will do anything to keep anything horrible from happening to her again. She and Bates make plans to have a family.

We have a resolution to the Bunting storyline! Branson basically ends all contact with Miss Bunting because of bhow much she hates the rich, and he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. Miss Bunting has taken another teaching position at a grammar school, which will lead to far more money and is more prestigious. She seems sad to go, and she and Branson meet for one last time before she leaves and she does tell him that she loved him. He tells her that he returned her feelings and that she made him remember what kind of man he was and what kind of politics he believed in. It also seems Miss Bunting has indoctrinated Daisy, as she tells Branson in regard to the Crawleys, “We’re the future, they’re the past.” All of this leads him to come to a decision, which he mentions to Mary, though we don’t know what that decision is.

Lady Violet goes to Dr. Clarkson and tells him about how Lord Merton proposed to Isobel. Violet believes that Lord Merton is only studying medical issues to impress Isobel, and that he is really a boring person and that he and Isobel have nothing in common. Violet, Lord Merton, Isobel, and Dr. Clarkson have lunch together, and Dr. Clarkson remarks that not only do Isobel and Lord Merton seems suited for one another, but that they also seem to have a genuine affection for one another. And Isobel accepted Lord Merton’s proposal.

Mrs. Patmore has come into an inheritance from a late family member and she asks Carson’s advice about what she ought to do with it. Carson really doesn’t know about this, and Mrs. Hughes points out that Mrs. Patmore ought to consult Branson about this. After much hemming and hawing, Mrs. Patmore does take Carson’s advice and invests in real estate, after a fashion. She buys her own cottage and decides to rent it out, and when she retires and moves to the cottage, she can take in lodgers and have some kind of income.

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Rose meets a very nice man in town by the name of Atticus Aldridge. Atticus is from a wealthy banking family that ended up buying a title and can now be considered nobility. He tells Rose that he is also Russian, but that his family changed his name after moving to England from Odessa in the 1850s and 1870s and has tried their best to assimilate into British culture. He goes to help Rose with teatime for the Russian emigres, and when she introduces him to Prince Kuragin and Count Rostov, Count Rostov spits out, “But their family wasn’t Russian,” and leaves the conversation. Prince Kuragin is far more polite to Atticus — which says a lot for his character. Atticus explains to Rose that his family was Jewish and emigrated to escape the pogroms in Russia in 1859 and 1871, and to people like Count Rostov, being Jewish brands him as an “other.” Rose, of course, is dreadfully sweet about it, and says that it shouldn’t matter. Atticus asks to take her to dinner the next time she’s in London.

And it’s bye-bye to Sumner Bricker. With Robert away for the night, he goes to Cora and makes a move on her, declaring his love for her and remarking on how the family bascially treats her like shit. Cora tells him to leave twice, but — uh-oh — Robert has returned home unexpectedly because the party has ended early. He enters the bedroom and sees Cora trying to reason with Bricker and loses it. Remember the fisticuffs between Matthew and Sir Richard Douchepapers in season 2? Yup, deja vu! Edith hears the scuffle and checks on her mom, but Cora is able to brush her off by laughingly telling her that she and Robert are playing a little game. By then, Robert has gotten a few good punches in, and Bricker leaves. Cora sighs over the whole incident, but Robert is very angry with her and sleeps in his dressing room that night. Later, things are tense between Robert and Cora at the cocktail party, and Lady Violet notices, because nothing escapes the dowager countess.

Edith takes Rosamond to the Drew farm to see Marigold, and Rosamond is pleased to see how sweet the little girl is and how she has grown. Mrs. Drew is not pleased at all that Edith and Rosamond came to see Marigold, and she talks Farmer Drew to forbid Edith from coming around again. The family is starting to notice that Edith can hardly keep it together, and Violet corners Rosamond and demands that she tell the truth. Violet is shocked at Edith’s folly, but sadly, Edith can’t afford to bring the child into her home without the truth getting out. Violet and Rosamond sit down with Edith and advise her to take Marigold away from the Drews and send the child to school in France. She could visit as much as she pleased without telling Marigold the truth, but Edith doesn’t like that idea and wants to have Marigold brought up in London. Violet and Rosamond do not agree with this, but Edith has made up her mind. She goes downstairs to Mr. Carson’s office to make a private phone call, but she doesn’t shut the door, because guess who’s sitting up late reading by the kitchen fire. You guessed it, Daisy, who seems to overhear everything! How will she handle this secret?

And that’s it for this week! Looking for more drama next week and hoping that they wrap up the Mr. Bates, serial killer storyline — it’s getting old!

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