Preview Downton Abbey Season 5, Episode Three with photo sneak peeks. The show airs on Sundays at 9:00pm ET|PT on PBS Masterpiece.
Last week’s episode of Downton Abbey, as usual, was incredibly eventful. After last week’s indiscretion with Lady Anstruther (Anna Chancellor), Jimmy (Ed Speleers) was fired ( đ ) and had a somewhat surprisingly emotional goodbye with Thomas (Rob James-Collier). *sigh* How can Thomas be so kind to one person and then completely heinous to another–he was back to terrorizing Mrs. Baxter (Racquel Cassidy) and spilling secrets about her past indiscretions to anyone who would listen.
Meanwhile, Mr. Drewe (Andrew Scarborough) came up with an excuse to have Edith (Laura Carmichael) more involved in Little Marigold’s life by having her take the baby girl on as a sort of God-child. While this seemed like a good idea for everyone, you could definitely see resistance from Mrs. Drewe (Emma Lowndes). I probably sound like a broken record by now, but I’m so worried for Edith. She won’t be able to keep this secret for long…and if I’m being honest, maybe Edith doesn’t even want to anymore. In any event, Mrs. Drewe won’t make things easy.
But for me, the most interesting (and slightly scandalous) part of last week’s show was the budding relationship between Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and Simon Bricker (Richard E. Grant). As an art historian, he certainly had interest in all things old and beautiful–and I think Cora could tell that she was one of those interests. It was so funny when Robert (Hugh Bonneville) told Cora to ask Mr. Bricker to stop flirting with Isis…he might need to be less worried about his pup and more concerned about Bricker’s intentions for his wife!
By the end of the episode, the World War I memorial committee had settled on a location, (with Anna’s–Joanne Froggatt–help) Mary (Michelle Dockery) was beginning her secret lover’s getaway with Gillingham (Tom Cullen), and a police officer had come to Downton to speak with Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) about Mr. Green’s death.
What I always enjoy about Downton Abbey is this push/pull between tradition and modernity: Daisy (Sophie McShera) is a cook, but should she have a more formal education to expand her prospects? Should women, married or unmarried, have access to contraception? Is the King giving a speech via the wireless radio really a challenge to the mystique and majesty of the monarchy? As we saw, different characters have different perspectives on these matters, which keeps the story compelling.
In tonight’s episode, Season 5, Episode Three:
Mary and Lord Gillingham put their love to the test. Bates also faces a trial. Cora makes a new friend, and Violet is reunited with an old one. (via PBS)
Take a look at these images from the upcoming show…it seems that Mary, Cora, and Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) are all in store for some scandal tonight. Make sure to tune into PBS Masterpiece at 9:00pm ET|PT and join me over on twitter to live tweet as we watch!
