The show's costume designer Anna Robbins gave me some intriguing details about her wedding gown, too. So good on it for offering up a new episode opposite the Hollywood awards show. (We would have loved for her to bring Kuragin around for dinner just to see Lord Grantham try to grapple with the idea of his mother entertaining a suitor.) The old man drifts around the ravaged manor waiting for prosperity to return, and his heirs with it. Daisy being pressed into service to replace the usual maid is plausible enough, considering the manor’s ever-shrinking staff, but Cora’s repeated failure to set her straight about the farm stretches credulity. While we would have preferred a more appropriate send-off for Isis—a hymn, the Lord Grantham wearing black, etc.—we were pleasantly surprised to see L.G. 3. This is what Downton Abbey does best, capturing a sense of something grand and glorious, even foolhardy, that’s gone forever.

(For the purposes of maximum drama, apparently Mr. Shouty also made up the entire design and layout department.) Now if only she could find a nice single fellow. By Brooke Bob b. Grand standards imposed from outside can turn a celebration into a chore, and joy into dread. Edith has newfound confidence and a new admirer. The dust at Downton Abbey and the scandal of a respectable woman alone in her flat are nothing compared to the shambles awaiting Thomas Barrow. And then there’s Thomas Barrow’s sad, almost surreal interview at Dryden Park. Oh how we are enjoying this new and improved Barrow. We must issue a correction regarding last week’s recap—in it, we suggested that Larry Grey was the worst dinner guest Downton had ever seen. The Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. John Bates. And she means well, too, when she promises to arrange for Mrs. Hughes to borrow one of Cora’s evening coats to smarten up her dull day dress.

Created by Julian Fellowes.

The religious bigotry that exists on both sides of the family casts a bit of a pall over the event, but there are enough … The Cold War is at its peak and the opponents are hostile. He’s the ghost of a world that no longer exists, rattling around his decaying estate, standing amid squalor as he declares, “We can’t let our standards slip.” Violet Crawley would agree with him as much as she would pity him.

Either way, it was all about Rose this week, and she wore many things.

), Edith’s Motherly Instincts Annoy Mary to No End (Believability: 6). Robert mentions “a bit of indigestion,” which could just be a recurrence of his ulcer trouble, but it looks like the bleakest of foreshadowing.

The family face a shocking turn of events at Brooklands racetrack while Molesley and Daisy are put to the test.

An old acquaintance comes to Edith's aid, while Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes' big day brings an unexpected arrival. But (as Prince Kuragin tried to tell her) grand standards without the means to maintain them are more than than outdated; they’re disastrous.

Where it isn’t empty, it’s cluttered, piled with books and newspapers, dirty crystal glasses littering every surface, Lord Reseby’s underthings drying on the fire grate. Spratt’s drama of the fugitive nephew hidden in the potting shed starts and finishes offscreen, serving only to join him to Denker under the weight of his secret. Granted, the Lord Grantham has spent months not realizing that Marigold—the child with whom Edith is obsessed who bears an uncanny resemblance to Edith—is her child. Anna lets her hope blossom, just a bit. do something touchingly thoughtful for Mrs. Patmore, by commissioning a memorial for her nephew Archie. We can remove the first video in the list to add this one. The Wedding of The Hon. For once, Lady Edith does not have the worst luck in the household. The Wedding of Mr. Henry and the Lady Mary Talbot. “It’s a long time since I’ve been on the brink of anything, except maybe the grave,” Mrs. Hughes jokes to Mrs. Patmore, but when her groom comes to confer about the last details, they flutter with subdued excitement. Closed Captioning.

Lady Edith, who had a secret child and was once jilted at the altar, finally got the fairy-tale romance she deserved, and also managed to outrank her not-always-so-kind sister, Lady Mary, in social status—a major accomplishment within the plush walls of Downton and among the members of the Crawley clan. So without further ado, let’s look at the episode’s most interesting plot points and rank them on our Downton Abbey Believability Index.

Mary means well, in her limited way.

Even Downton Abbey itself, like its residents, has risen to …

Your report has been successfully submitted. Use one of the services below to sign in to PBS: You've just tried to add this video to My List. Part One/Two.

So, back to "Downton Abbey," where were treated to a wedding! 2. © 2020 Condé Nast. With all the dithering and minor stories of mundane suspense, it would be easy for the joy at the heart of this episode to be obscured. A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.

Ever since Anna married Bates, the lady’s maid has been besieged by tragedy, scandal, and sadness. There's no shortage of scheming, romance, melodrama and a bit with a drunken maid. . Sir Michael is the logical extension of the doomed attempt to cling to the old ways in a changing economy and a changing culture. 5. Ad Choices. Then romance gives way to tragedy. Lady Mary tries to pack for a week-long booty call.

But Rose’s mother Susan McClare proves tonight that her own brand of villainy is more wicked than anything that amateur dinner drug slipper could have ever orchestrated.

With Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle. ), Anna Is Suddenly Treated Like a Criminal (Believability: 1). Lord Grantham Figures Out That Marigold Is His Grandchild (Believability: 2), Since when does Lord Grantham notice the obvious right underneath his nose?

Episodes ( 10) 1. After a long day wrangling with Isobel and Violet over the hospital merger, Lady Grantham walks into her bedroom to find Anna, Mrs. Patmore, and Mrs. Hughes pawing through her wardrobe, and remonstrates them sharply. Atticus wore a fantastic pin-striped suit.

Ever since he kinda sort of came out to Baxter, Barrow has been a bit more of a team player. Spanish flu reaches Downton and a desperate Thomas looks for a way to re-establish himself.

© 2020 Condé Nast. Sean Barratt made the headdress and bouquet.

In days gone by, well-wishers offered congratulations to the groom but best wishes to the bride, to avoid the implication that landing a husband took some effort. We love that the Dowager has a romantic interest, but wish that her interactions with Kuragin would have plumbed more interesting depths than him repeatedly suggesting they flee Downton, and she repeatedly reminding him of his wife.

As we’ve learned over the course of the last season, Mary’s hands-off mothering style involves minimal interaction with and discussion of her son George, who is more of an occasional hip ornament than a human being that she actually birthed. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. 6. Full episode guide for Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 8 Rose gets married.