Downton Abbey - Season 4 Finale - Recap: A Rose in Buckingham Palace
This is a review of the American airing of Downton Abbey – Season 4, Episode 8. 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.”
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
The Downton Abbey Season 4 finale is about what you'd expect from a show that has lately been concerned with the nuances of British high society as contrasted with the working class (some might argue this has always been the case, and they wouldn't be wrong; but it's far more pronounced now than I would say it's ever been). So often, the show is about the scandals that arise from the clashes within those two worlds, and occasionally, the clashes between them. Yet this finale essentially strips away the auspices of class in order to tell a series of stories that illustrate the inherent humanity behind each of these people.
Are there scandals and dilemmas? Of course. But for once, these aren't treated as scandals that are heightened by class, nor are they dilemmas in which the solution is impeded by those same social constructs. In short, Julian Fellowes would rather just tell a story about these people as people first. Because this isn't always the case with the show, I particularly appreciated it here, as this finale is an engrossing ensemble piece, akin to the character study represented in Gosford Park, the 2001 film for which Fellowes won his Best Original Screenplay Oscar. In addition, it's a sumptuous visual feast, as the production design is on-point more than ever. Is it the most pearls-clutchingly dramatic end for the season? Meh, probably not. In fact, last week's episode would have been a better season-ender, most likely. But not every finale has to portend the end of the world. Sometimes, ruin and victory are smaller than all that.
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
Lady Rose (Lily James) is being inducted into high society, which entails an appearance before the royals, His Majesty King George V (Guy Williams), the Queen, and Edward VIII, the Prince of Wales (Oliver Dimsdale). Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) presents Rose before the court, and I'm not sure Lily James has ever looked lovely, nor has the production ever been more beautiful to behold, as Downton Abbey continues to be one of the best-looking shows on TV these days, which is no small feat when you consider the relatively modest budgets even the biggest hits command. But the ostentatious nature of the ceremony is a comment on the class structure itself, as the facade of high society masks a seedier underbelly that suggests even the monarchy isn't all that far removed from the everyday scandals of their subjects. Case in point, Prince Edward's mistress, Ms. Freda Dudley-Ward (Janet Montgomery), is at risk of becoming the subject of public scandal, as her affair with the Prince becomes apparent from a letter that finds its way into the hands of Rose and her friends. Rose has no intention of leveraging the letter for gain, but the same can't be said for everyone else, as the letter is stolen by card sharp/kleptomaniac Terence Sampson (Patrick Kennedy). Thus, the episode becomes a bit like a one-off heist movie, in which a team is assembled to retrieve the letter, including Robert (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Michelle Dockery), Rose and Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle). It's actually kind of thrilling to see these characters situated in a conflict of this magnitude, as nothing less than the honor of the monarchy is at stake. It's not something the show could get away with all the time, but it's immensely entertaining here.
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
And who else would know how to defeat a crook but the ex-con Bates? Bates, whom Robert asked to forge a letter to help with the ruse, recognizes that the most likely place Sampson would keep the letter is on his person, and so the valet swipes the letter from Sampson's coat while helping him into it after a late night game of poker. It would be enough if this were a situation that was introduced, dealt with, and settled in its own vacuum, but what makes it so effective is how the consequences actually reach out into other storylines this week. Primarily, Bates's heroic acts in retrieving the letter is ultimately what convinces Mary to forget about what Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) confessed to having discovered: that Bates was in London on the day of Mr. Green's death, and likely not by coincidence.
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
In one of the more tiresome subplots of the episode, Mary flirts with the idea of turning Bates in for murdering Green, since she's softened on matters of the conscience. She acknowledges that Green was a terrible man who likely deserved what he got, but Mary is apparently obsessed with the principle of the matter, as she isn't sure she can abide having a killer under their roof. I could see where she's coming from here, but I don't think the script really sold Mary's internal conflict about Bates, nor did it necessarily sell the notion that she would seriously consider ratting Bates out on circumstantial evidence. Ultimately, this makes the resolution of the storyline fall flatter than it should have: once Bates comes through for the family in retrieving the letter, Mary decides to burn the tell-tale ticket to London, destroying all evidence that could be used against Bates in a court of law, and hopefully putting this entire Green storyline to bed once and for all. Seriously, let us never speak of this again.
However, one storyline we're certain to be hearing more about in Season 5 is the baby troubles with Edith (Laura Carmichael), who has returned after eight months in Geneva, where she's decided to give her baby away to a well-off husband and wife known as the Schroeders. The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) covers for Edith's long absence, since Edith felt it was best for her newborn daughter to “be weaned by her real mother.” Giving the child up clearly plagues Edith, yet society demanded this be the only recourse, since it's been well over a year since Gregson (Charles Edwards) disappeared, with no sign of him being anything other than dead. Of course, since Edith has Gregson's power of attorney, she stands to inherit his entire fortune, a development that inspires her to try and track down her daughter in order to make sure she gets at least half of her birthright.
But Rosamund (Samantha Bond) doesn't think this is the best idea, and I could see how she'd think so. Edith is nothing if not obsessive, so the constant possibility of having the child in her life makes ever letting go nearly impossible. Yet it's a pep talk from Branson (Allen Leech), of all people, in which he tells her that they need to start standing up to their family, that inspires Edith to truly take charge: she decides to secretly give her daughter to the Drewe family after all, the tenants of Downton whose season four storyline seemed to serve no other purpose than to lead to exactly this moment. The patriarch, Tim Drewe (Andrew Scarborough), agrees to take Edith's child in as his own, with Edith providing for her, and visiting when possible. This leaves Edith marveling at all the goodness still in the world, and has me positively dumbstruck at how good all these people are at keeping secrets, as she and Mr. Drewe come to the agreement not to speak a word about their arrangement to anyone else. As if they needed to actually voice that.
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
Of course, Branson's got a secret of his own, as reflected in his pep talk to Edith: he's worried about the family's approval should he decide to start dating, as he has a thing for local schoolteacher Sarah Bunting (Daisy Lewis). They go out on a dinner date to the local pub, which I guess is as good a first date locale as any in the 1920s when you're not exactly rich. However, they end up being caught together by Thomas (Rob James-Collier) after Branson brings her back to Downton for a grand tour of the upstairs quarters. Thomas tattles at the first opportunity, raising Robert's suspicions about Branson's true intentions, and I'm sure this is all setup for Season 5. Hopefully, it becomes the season in which Branson decides not to be so much of a pushover.
Speaking of Thomas, he has a storyline of his own, as he continues to harass Baxter (Raquel Cassidy) until Molesley (Kevin Doyle) intercedes by convincing her she's a good person. He basically tells her she doesn't have to take any of Thomas's crap, but since the show continues to frustratingly keep Baxter's past a complete mystery, we have no idea of the veracity or falsehood of Molesley's assessment. Serious, we have no idea how she knows Thomas or why she's beholden to him. One would assume he has something on her, but if Fellowes is really going to keep stringing out the mystery this long, it had better be something huge, or it's going to go over like a Crash Best Picture win. I also struggle to find much to get excited about where Daisy (Sophie McShera) is concerned, as she resists the flirtations of the American valet attending Cora's brother. She briefly considers accepting Levinson's offer to cook for him back in the States, but the show never makes it reasonable that Daisy would consider it, in my opinion. Leaving Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) and Mr. Mason just to satiate her curiosity about America would be too radical a departure for such an introverted character. Of course, it's perfectly in character for Ivy (Cara Theobold), who takes the job after Daisy turns it down. Granted, I wasn't all that interested in the stories themselves, but I will say there's a remarkable world constructed here, in which what happens is almost ancillary to how it happens. I actually like hanging out with Daisy and Mrs. Patmore, I like seeing Molesley get back in the win column, and I like seeing Thomas get foiled at every corner. So, ultimately, I don't really care that Daisy's storyline was less salacious, or Baxter's story less illuminating, since I generally like spending time at Downton, no matter what we're doing. And there aren't many shows for which I can say that.
Credit: ITV
With that said, stuff actually does happen this week that wouldn't happen just any other week: Cora's mother Martha (Shirley MacLaine) and brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) arrive, and in an interesting departure from the type of character one might expect Giamatti to play, Harold actually has a chip on his shoulder about how wealthy he is, and spends damn near the entire episode pushing away Rose's sweet, beautiful friend Madeline (Poppy Drayton). Basically, his fear is that she only wants him for his money, since her father, Lord Aysgarth (James Fox), has been embarrassingly unsubtle about tossing his daughter at him at every opportunity. It's another story that illustrates the vast chasm between the wealthy and those who wish to be, and while it could easily have become an off-putting subplot, Harold is an instantly endearing man, and not at all self-absorbed. In addition, Poppy Drayton is a captivating presence as Madeline, to the point where I hope this isn't the last we see of her -- or Giamatti, for that matter. I'd also love Martha to come back on a more regular basis, since her verbal sparring sessions with the Dowager Countess, in which she taunts Violet about the encroaching modernity that threatens to make her irrelevant, are both cutting and insightful. It's just a wonderful scene that plays on the Dowager Countess's horrifying realization that the traditions and values of her society could fall by the wayside.
Credit: PBS
But Harold's love life isn't the only matter of the heart at the center of this episode, as Mary is still caught in this love triangle with Gillingham (Tom Cullen) and Blake (Julian Ovenden). Naturally, Mary feels a certain guilt about how ardently these men are pursuing her, when she's nowhere near over Matthew. She voices the belief that Blake wouldn't be a good match for her since he seems so disdainful of the upper class, although Gillingham later reveals that Blake is actually the heir to one of England's greatest estates, and is, in fact, far more eligible than Gillingham himself. But Mary is far less concerned about finding a proper love match than she is about preserving Downton for baby George, and so she tells Gillingham that although she isn't ready now, it's incredible to think that there's at least the hope of a future, whereas a year earlier there seemed to have been no hope at all. It's a lovely note of punctuation on that storyline, far more so than the flirtation between Isobel (Penelope Wilton) and Lord Merton (Douglas Reith). But the bad taste of that latter, passionless storyline is washed away by the beautiful conclusion to the episode, in which Carson (Jim Carter) takes the staff to the beach, and then wades in the water with Hughes, who leads him out into the ocean with the promise that she'll always be here for him to hold onto. God, this show is so lovable sometimes.
Credit: Carnival/Masterpiece
Is this the best way to have ended Downton Abbey Season 4? Eh, we won't really know until Season 5, when it becomes apparent just how many of the future stories were set up here. But the several months remove that I've had between this airing and the original UK airing has given me a new appreciation for this special. When unburdened by expectations, it becomes a fairly poignant character study that services just about every storyline and every character, and strengthens the depth of this world in alluring fashion.