Episode five answered many questions from last week: Is Edith pregnant? Will Mary get another chance at romance? What will happen to Alfred?
Edith is, as we feared, pregnant. As this is no surprise to any loyal fans who know that things always go amiss when it comes to Edith, we all have to wonder just what she will do. It is still the 1920s and illegitimate children are not easily grafted into upper-class society.
Rose’s “surprise” for Cousin Robert’s birthday is none other than Jack Ross and his band. Ross’s arrival causes chaos in the servants’ quarters, but goes uncharacteristically well upstairs. Lord Grantham takes it all in stride, dancing with his beloved Cora. (It is beautiful to see them happy and in love, particularly after their marriage almost fell apart with Sybil’s death.) Later, Mary catches Ross and Rose passionately kissing downstairs, but doesn’t tattle.
Mary invites Napier to stay at her house (perhaps out of kindness, perhaps out of romantic interest), but he brings along his boss, Mr. Charles Blake. The truth comes out—they are on a mission—not to advise the wealthy, but to see how the government can profit off of the lost estates of the once rich and somewhat famous. Mary, who desperately desires to hold on to Downton (so much so that she and Branson decide to try pig farming), shares a few heated one-liners with Blake.
Downstairs, Alfred hears that one of the other cooks dropped out, so once again he is off to London (so yes, Moseley gets his job back). Daisy finds herself heartbroken watching Alfred leave again, and Jimmy sees this as a perfect excuse to ask Ivy on a date. On their way home, Jimmy pushes Ivy too far physically and she backs away. He retorts that he treated her kindly and took her out—he deserves a little something in return. Ivy has none of it and goes home to complain to Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes.
Ivy and Alfred’s date isn’t the only one that goes wrong. Bates and Anna try to go out for a fancy dinner to bury the past. The maître d’, full of snobbery, informs the couple there is no place for them. That is, until Cora comes by with an enthusiastic welcome and Mr. maître d’ does everything he can to smooth the wrinkles he just made. Nonetheless, not even high-class food can fill Bates’s desire for revenge and Anna can’t forget her misery.
More drama unfolds between the old matrons: Pegg gets fired after another precious item goes missing, but lo and behold, both the paper knife and the figurine reappear after Mrs. Crawley does some snooping. When she arrives at the Dowager’s to reprimand her, the Countess has already apologized to Pegg and given him his job back.
Some curiosities still linger (What will Edith do? Will Bates find Mr. Green?), but there were no horrid tragedies this time around. In fact, Branson, Mrs. Crawley, and Mary shared a deeply sentimental moment when they shared how much they loved their late spouses and how their children were a precious reminder of their former love. And now, back to the 21st century…
