With the war in full swing, life at Downton is less than cheerful, and when Matthew returns during leave with his new fiancé, Lavinia Swire, for a concert to benefit the hospital, Mary does her best to hide her disappointment. Edith is her usual catty self, and Sybil feels useless, so she decides to go to a nursing collage, much to her mother’s immediate dismay and eventual pride.
Downstairs, Miss O’Brien tortures the new housemaid, Ethel, because she’s being a twit about making more of herself. Mr. Bates returns from his mother’s funeral with news of his wife’s return and the possibility of divorce and proposes to Anna, but her happiness is short-lived as his wife arrives shortly thereafter and forces Mr. Bates to return to London with her, else wise she will scandalize the family.
My Thoughts:
The sisters haven’t changed much in between seasons. I’m sad for Mary, now that Matthew seems lost to her. Though, she did do this all to herself, I can’t help but feel bad for the girl – especially when Edith won’t take a moment to stop being a bitch. Sybil of course is just wonderful in all of her wanting to help and realizing she’s utterly useless. And I do love just how proud their mother is when she watches Sybil in the kitchens.
I think Anna is my favorite character in the entire show, so to make her so happy and then dash her hopes on the rocks was just heartbreaking. I’m interested to see how this all plays out in the end. I have a feeling they’ll leave Mr. Bates out of a few episodes to prolong the suspense, but who knows?
I’m really annoyed that O’Brien doesn’t seem to have changed much – if at all. I realize time has passed since she screwed Lady Crawley over with the soap, but I don’t feel any more remorse from her, as though that’s been forgotten. Now that she doesn’t have Thomas to be snippy with she seems less of a twit, but I think that’s just because we don’t get her being a harpy on smoke breaks.
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