Downton Abbey - Recap: The Mary Diaries

Recap and review of Downton Abbey - Series 5 Episode 3:

I've had issues with the languid pacing of Downton Abbey in the past, as stories seem to take half a season to actually start going anywhere. It shouldn't take any show this long to kick its narrative into gear. Yet, while this episode doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel when it comes to the show's pacing, this was a far worthier entry than either of the previous two episodes -- even though there's still no indication of what this season's big story is going to be.

Not that Downton Abbey necessarily needs an overarching story, come to think of it. This is a show that can exist by simply being one of those primetime soaps that lets us hang out with this characters and have a window into their lives, without any larger narrative framework or purpose. However, while the show could easily exist as this type of drama, I don't think it can thrive this way. Even the Anna rape storyline I hated so much last season was ultimately good for the show, because it provided a unifying influence for many of the characters to be organized under. The stories seemed far more connected, even the tangential ones like Edith's romance with Gregson, because they all felt like they were commenting on a larger theme represented by the Anna storyline: the power dynamic between men and women, and the ways in which romance can be corrupted. But I'm not sure we have any such unifying themes here beyond the usual ones Downton Abbey tends to explore, such as the class disparity, economic conflicts, and the changing nature of courtship (and its attendant sexual mores). These are interesting enough in isolation, but they're too broad to carry an episode. So it doesn't surprise me that the show is looping back around to certain familiar storylines and characterizations, such as Green's murder, Robert's stubbornness, and Mary's indecisiveness in her love life. But these are the building blocks for better stories. They aren't the stories themselves. Hopefully, Downton Abbey has a story worth taking all this time to start telling.

Credit: Nick Briggs/ITV

So Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Gillingham (Tom Cullen) are knee-deep in their love affair, enjoying each other's company in the secrecy of a hotel in town. Of course, it's hard to keep a secret on a show like this, so of course, Violet's butler, Spratt (Jeremy Swift) witnesses them leaving the hotel together. The news gets back to the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) herself, and it results in some rather interesting and frank conversations about the brazen nature of what Mary's doing. Sure, by our own, conventional standards, what Mary is doing isn't that scandalous. But Mary's actions with Gillingham are unfathomable to someone from the Dowager Countess' generation. What's more troubling about all of this is that now, after spending the better part of a week locked at the crotches together, Mary isn't so sure Gillingham is the one. Granted, I can't exactly blame her for being hesitant, given how presumptuous ol' Tony is being about his status as Mary's future husband. For example, he spends their last morning together watching her prepare for the day in order to acclimate himself to the routines he's going to spend the rest of his life watching. Mary can't handle the pressure she's being put under, and her only confidante is her grandmother, who couldn't possibly understand her plight.

Or could she? During an event hosting several Russian dignitaries, the Dowager Countess tells the story of meeting a man while at a ball in Paris, and for a moment, it's as if the Dowager Countess reverts back to her girlhood, in the spring of her marriage to the elder Lord Grantham. It's a wonderful performance from Maggie Smith, and all the more effective when a man at the gala reveals himself to be the man from that evening, Prince Kuragin (Rade Sherbedgia). She has this wordless reaction to his appearance that's just divine, and I wish we had more moments of the Dowager Countess being unnerved like this, as Prince Kuragin flusters her completely with his stoic charm. Even Isobel (Penelope Wilton) makes note of it, finally getting Violet back for all the months of teasing by asking her when they'll be seeing her "Romeo" again. Mary notices, through her interactions with Prince Kuragin, that the Dowager Countess isn't as ill-acquainted with her situation as she leads on. Granted, it's a bit of a leap to assume that Violet and the Prince had an affair just from those few moments in the parlor, but one look at Smith's performance, and it's not that big of a leap at all, as there are hints at a history that never faded for her.

But not every story could be as effective...

Credit: Nick Briggs/ITV

While I suppose the notion of marriage trouble for Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) is interesting in theory, I can't imagine it's going to be all that thrilling in execution, if only because it's such an implausible story from a character perspective. They argue plenty, sure, but I don't think I'll ever be able to buy that either one of them would have an affair. I didn't buy it when that maid was into Robert a few seasons back, and I'm not sure I buy that anything is going to happen between Cora and Simon Bricker (Richard E. Grant). Granted, the show doesn't even seem to be saying that an affair with Bricker is even possible, particularly since it'd be so out of character. She just enjoys the compliments, the attention, and the company Bricker provides while she's away in London. However, the show does seem to be using this connection with Bricker as a foundation on which to base a story centering on marital discord between the Granthams. Yet I don't feel that's a particularly worthwhile story to pursue, given that Cora isn't all that interesting, and Robert isn't all that likable. At least not here: when Robert arrives to surprise Cora, only to discover she went out to dinner with Bricker, he's irrationally upset, as if he expected her to know he'd be stopping by.

When Cora tries to explain that it was merely a platonic dinner in which she and Bricker discussed paintings, Robert scoffs at the notion that anyone would want Cora's opinion on high art. In essence, Julian Fellowes writes Robert as an irrational, vindictive jackwagon here simply to move the story forward, even though I'm not sure it makes sense of Robert to be as upset as he is that she wasn't prepared to spend time with him, since he never let Cora know he was coming in the first place. I just fear that a "trouble in paradise" story for these two would be packed with these sorts of obnoxious, irrational responses, all so we can work back to the status quo of Robert and Cora being happily married. Of course, I could be completely wrong. Maybe Cora and Bricker do have an affair. Maybe Robert and Cora will need to rethink their marriage. Or maybe Bricker makes a move, forcing Robert to demand fisticuffs or something. Either way, I just feel that any possible direction this story can take can only ever end with Robert and Cora remaining happily together, since I can't imagine a version of this show in which they're ultimately not. And that makes this story a bit of a waste. I'm more than open to Julian Fellowes surprising me though. It's just that I don't really expect him to.

That said, the stuff with Robert and Cora is far more interesting than many of the subplots going on downstairs this week: Daisy (Sophie McShera) is ready to take her test; Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) asks that her late nephew's name be added to the war memorial, a request which Carson (Jim Carter) refuses to honor since the young man abandoned his post during the war; Thomas (Rob James-Collier) learns of the death of his father, and his bitterness grows when Baxter (Raquel Cassidy) offers her condolences, noting that his father had always been kind to her -- which reminds Thomas of just how unkind his father was to him. However, we do get a decent story with Baxter, as her backstory is finally revealed. Yes, she stole those jewels from her last place of employment, and no, she didn't have an altruistic reason for doing so. But, as she explains to Cora, she was in love. She had met a charismatic man named Peter Coyle who gradually changed her through his criminal attitude, warping her into a completely different person with his cruelness. It had been his plan to steal the jewelry, and he'd wanted to steal them all. But Baxter only took some of the jewelry -- not that her restraint makes her theft any less wrong. Yet she atones, somewhat, by taking all the blame onto herself, allowing Coyle to escape law enforcement. Cora suggests that Baxter should explain this to the police, but she states that the past is in the past, and it's best to just leave it at that, since Coyle will "never know happiness" as it is. Satisfied with Baxter's explanation, Cora allows her to stay on, and it's a surprisingly emotional moment, as it's clear that Baxter is not only grateful to Cora for the second chance, but resolute in making the second chance stick. That alone made it worthwhile.

Credit: Nick Briggs/ITV

The episode also updates us on the situation with Bates (Brendan Coyle), as the sergeant from last week questions Bates about his day in the city at the time of Green's murder. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) realizes that Bates has listed alibis that place him in the vicinity of the murder scene at the time of Green's death, and although she doesn't expect the sergeant to be smart enough to puzzle it out, both she and Anna (Joanna Froggatt) are nervous all the same. However, neither leads on to Bates, which leaves Bates more than a little confused, since Anna seems like she's putting him off. For her part, Anna doesn't know if Bates knows it was Green who raped her, and we still don't know definitively whether Green was even murdered at all, much less if Bates was the one to murder him. It could have truly been an accident for all we know, hence all the trepidation between all the characters here, as the storyline is informed by uncertainty. But it's a mystery that's enough to compel interest, however minimal, since this is a story with far-reaching implications. Will Downton really stand up for Bates if he's accused of a second murder? Is Bates even guilty to begin with? These are questions that take a back seat to another storyline with a secret at its center, as Edith (Laura Carmichael) continues to visit the Drewes, only to finally push Mrs. Drewe a bit too far with the frequency of her visits. Edith doesn't realize that her status as a Lady doesn't entitle her to an open adoption, especially since the Drewes are raising this child as their own. In essence, all Mrs. Drewe sees is a woman who thinks her money entitles her to claim the child for herself, like a kind of doll she can buy to amuse herself for a little while. Mrs. Drewe's resentment is palpable and understandable, every bit as much as Edith's angst and longing. It's hard to blame Edith for her tears when Tim Drewe (Andrew Scarborough) tells her she must stay away from Marigold, for the time being. Her dilemma in giving the child up in the first place was one of social necessity, and there's little she can do to ease the unfavorable circumstances of the situation. So, as always on Downton, it sucks to be Edith.

Downton Abbey is back on track, even though I can't really say I see where they're headed with all this. Still, Downton Abbey has always been patient in its storytelling, so I suppose I might as well be patient with it as well.