Downton Abbey - Recap: Still the One
This is a review of the American airing of Downton Abbey – Season 4, Episode 4. There will be slight differences from the original UK airing, necessitating a different approach. However, reviews for the original episodes can be found by clicking the “Downton Abbey” tag. Episodes from UK airings are tagged as “Series 4,” while American airings will be listed as “Season 4.”
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Downton Abbey is bringing it all to a head as we reach the midway point of the season. Anna's rape remains one of the most controversial things the show has ever done, but it now feels like it's heading somewhere substantive. I still hate the idea of "rape as plot device," but at a deeper level, progress is finally being made: the story turns from being about the individual ways in which Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and Bates (Brendan Coyle) handle the tragedy, and instead becomes about a married duo facing that hardship together. I mean, yes, it's still hard to be optimistic about how this thing is going to end, but one would presume that in reaching a point where Green (Nigel Harman) can face justice, we first have to deal with how Bates will learn of what happened, and how he will respond once he does. There are stakes here that go beyond whether Anna and Bates can keep their marriage together, as this episode makes it very clear that Bates could find himself in a fair bit of legal trouble if he's unable to let this go. And, as we know, Bates isn't really in the business of letting bygones be bygones.
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So this is the week in which Bates finally learns the truth about what happened to Anna. And it's Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) who spills the beans, as he corners her and forces her to tell him the truth after overhearing Hughes admonish Anna for not telling him what happened the night of the concert. It seems to be the intention of the series for the Bates-Hughes confrontation to be powerfully uncomfortable, as we see the darkness of Bates's character resume. Coyle deserves all the credit in the world for how he can effortlessly switch between friendly, characteristic warmth, and foreboding, slightly sinister directness. In every respect, Bates is like a dog with a bone once he definitively learns that Anna is keeping something from him, as he refuses to let up in his questioning, strong-arming Hughes into revealing the truth. And so she does, but with a clever twist: while Hughes sadly confirms that Anna was raped, she doesn't actually name Green as the attacker, but instead claims the rapist was simply some intruder who'd broken in. This lie allows Hughes to tell Bates only what he needs to know (that Anna was raped), without forcing her to completely violate Anna's confidence (as her lie makes the rapist unknown and unobtainable to Bates, thus keeping him safe). Of course, Hughes's story strains credulity in Bates's eyes, so he forces her to swear on her mother's grave that it wasn't Green, as Bates has essentially deduced, without much effort, who the true rapist was. And so Hughes is forced to defend a rapist by swearing to his innocence on the grave of her own mother. Hughes is pretty much my favorite character on this show, even without her honorable lie. In essence, she's a woman of indefatigable goodness, who often manages to find the best possible compromise in one terrible situation after another.
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Of course, the confrontation leaves Bates completely and utterly wrecked, as he quietly breaks down in the hallway afterwards. Armed with the knowledge of what happened, Bates confronts his wife with what he knows, and disabuses her of the notion that she's been ruined or made unworthy to him in any way. He tells Anna that he loves her even more now because of her strength in the face of everything she's endured, and although Anna initially shrinks away from her husband's touch, she gradually breaks down her resistance as he reaffirms his dedication to her. Basically, this entire episode is one long, majestic showcase for the talents of Coyle and Froggatt, who are quietly devastating in a storyline that would normally call for histrionics and over-the-top dramatic excess from its actors. Their restraint is as moving as it is heartrending, and I'll be shocked if Coyle or Froggatt are forgotten come Emmy season. But it goes beyond that, as the narrative is handled with a fair amount of delicacy and honesty.
I know I've often given the show a hard time for making this storyline more about Bates's reaction than about Anna's recovery, as she ultimately has no agency over her own emotional well-being (given that so much of her psychological wellness is couched in how Bates will view her if/when he finds out). But with this episode, I feel that choice is really the more honest one: given the nature of gender roles in the 1920s, much less those in a society as stratified as late Victorian/early Modern era England, one could easily imagine that Anna likely would see her victimization not in terms of what happened to her, but rather in terms of what it would mean to her husband. I mean, it's not that unrealistic a response in any era, to be honest. So it's fitting that it was addressed here, and in such an honest fashion. But while everything seems back to normal in the end (or as close to normal as can reasonably be expected), we find out that Bates has no intention of letting go of the matter. He confesses to Hughes that he's only allowing Anna to think the matter is settled for her own sake, but warns that he's not as quick to move on. And I suppose it's just as well, since we really can't have Green getting away with this. I'm just hoping the repercussions moving forward (not just in this season, but in future seasons) will justify having taken the story in this direction in the first place.
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Unfortunately, the rest of the episode doesn't really rise to the level of the Bates/Anna/Hughes storyline: After last week's proposal, Mary (Michelle Dockery) is somewhat dejected to read the engagement notice in the newspaper for Lord Gillingham, but she doesn't really have much time to dwell on it, as this episode sees the return of Evelyn Napier (Brendan Patricks), her Season 1 suitor, returning on business. Of course, Mary and Evelyn somehow have even less chemistry now than they had way back when, so the storyline is ultimately a bit of a dud (although that may have been the point, in order to contrast the connection she has with Gillingham by showing us the complete non-connection she has with Napier; once again, Napier serves as a measuring stick for chemistry in much the same way he did when Mary was trying to decide whether a life with Matthew was something she might someday want).
However, Mary's love life isn't all that's going on upstairs, as Robert (Hugh Bonneville) talks business with the son of a tenant whose family has tended the Downton land since the Napoleonic Wars. In short, the son wants to take over his late father's tenancy and assume the debt, a deal which Robert is all too happy to grant, over Mary's stringent objections. Once again, this storyline seems to make a comment on the gender disparity, as well as Robert's belief that Mary isn't ready to take control of her share of the estate. I'm still having trouble finding any worthwhile investment in this storyline, as Robert just continues to come across as a completely unlikable pill. And, to make matters worse, the storyline is simply boring. Ditto the subplot in which Violet (Maggie Smith) accuses new gardener Tom Pegg, hired at the suggestion of Isobel (Penelope Wilton), of stealing a beloved Crawley heirloom. It's a storyline that makes no real use of putting Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton in the same room, and it just comes across as a missed opportunity.
Thankfully, there's plenty going on downstairs: Alfred (Matt Milne) prepares for his chef's exam at the Ritz by studying under Daisy (Sophie McShera) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), who get him up to speed on the finer nuances of culinary expertise. Jimmy (Ed Speelers) teases the hell out of Alfred, but it's hard to ignore that he's proving himself a promising candidate. Of course, Daisy comes to realize that by helping Alfred prepare for the exam, she's essentially helping to send him away, provided he manages to earn one of the four open spots available at The Ritz. And at the rate he's going in the early stages of the episode, it's becoming likely he actually will, meaning that not only will Daisy be losing the object of her affections, Carson (Jim Carter) will be down a footman. And so he goes about searching for a replacement, taking Molesley (Kevin Doyle) under consideration. But despite spending half the season so far working menial tasks around town, Molesley is offended by Carson's offer, since the job is beneath a man who's a trained and experienced valet and butler. But beggars can't be choosers, so Molesley opts to consider the offer -- but takes too long in deciding whether he'll take the job or not. So when Alfred is ultimately rejected by The Ritz, Molesley's services are no longer needed. But hey, Daisy is more than fine with that, since this means her crush isn't leaving. But still, poor Molesley.
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In other developments, Edith (Laura Carmichael) may or may not be pregnant. I mean, one would presume that's why she takes a car to London to visit a doctor. And since this is Edith we're talking about here, it's hard to imagine this ends in any other way than with Gregson (Charles Edwards) either vanishing completely, or turning out to be a total scoundrel. Possibly both. But then, maybe it's just that I always expect the worst to happen to Edith. For all we know, this union could end in loving, harmonious monogamy. I mean, Gregson certainly seems like a stand-up guy. But then, so did Sir Anthony Strallan. Either way the wind blows, it seems like it's going to be a lousy result for poor Edith. But then, not everyone has Edith's lousy luck: Thomas (Rob James-Collier) finds himself a new ally in the form of Cora's new lady's maid, Mrs. Baxter, a woman whom Thomas has drafted to become his personal spy, because apparently Thomas needs help in getting the goods on people now? Thomas really hasn't had much to do this season, but I suppose having nothing to do is better than being given a storyline in which you basically just spin your wheels every week, as is the case with our favorite (and only) Irishman. Tom (Allen Leech) declares he's considering moving to America to raise Sybil among the handful of family members he has there, and while I suppose it's not really the most random development in the world (since Branson has consistently insisted that he just doesn't belong in the stratified English society), I don't know if this is a storyline that will make best use of Leech. But hey, it's better than having him banging Braithwaite, or something similarly awful.
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Ultimately, the episode wasn't perfect, but I found myself enjoying the meat of it. Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt turned in some of their best work in the entire series, while Phyllis Logan continues to be one of the key pieces of the Downton machinery. Even though the ancillary storylines didn't entirely work for me, I still found this to be a worthwhile installment, simply for bringing the Anna/Bates plot to a fairly satisfying midpoint climax. Now, it's all about whether the show is able to stick the landing. It should be interesting to see what Julian Fellowes has in store.