Downton Abbey - Recap: Marigold's Mothers

I suppose my biggest bone to pick would be with the Edith (Laura Carmichael) storyline. I don't think there's much doubt that Edith has long been the show's punching bag, and it isn't much different this week. A man arrives with news that the remains of Gregson have been recovered in Germany, having been torn apart by a gang of Hitler youths. Of course, everyone speaks with such certainty about Gregson's death when news that a messenger will be arriving with word on his fate, that it seemed impossible that it wouldn't turn out that Gregson was still alive. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced the show won't still have him turn up anyway, since it's not as if we've seen a body or anything. But Edith is operating under the assumption that he's dead, and although she inherits Gregson's publishing company, it doesn't do much to assuage her grief. In attempting to cling to the last piece of Gregson she has left, she returns to the Drewes to reclaim Marigold, and this is where the story loses me. I get that the Drewes aren't Marigold's real parents, and I understand that Edith does have a certain claim on the child as her mother, since no official adoption papers were filed. But the scene in which Edith tears Marigold away from a hysterical Mrs. Drewe (Emma Lowndes) while Tim (Andrew Scarborough) holds her back is utterly heartbreaking, and somewhat erodes the sympathy I had for Edith.

It comes back around to the same problem I had with her storyline last week: what, exactly, did Edith expect would happen when she gave away her baby to someone else? Did she think they were just going to keep her, feed her, raise her, and then hand her right back to Edith with a smile on their faces and thank her for the privilege? Did she really think there would be no complications? And to keep the rhetorical questions going, does she even think there's anything wrong with what she's doing? Or is she simply that entitled? She made a choice to give up the child so as not to ruin her family's reputation (or her own), and while there is absolutely a stigma surrounding single, unwed mothers with children born out of wedlock in that time period, it's not as if this wasn't something that could have been kept inside the family had Edith just owned up to it. But she didn't. She chose the harder path, and suddenly (YEARS LATER) wants to renege? I find myself wondering if Edith even realize the damage she's possibly doing to this kid by yanking her away from the only home she's ever known? The closing scene of the episode, in which Edith rents a hotel room and then joyfully talks to Marigold about how happy they're going to be together, is an utter indictment of Edith as a character, because it sounds as if she's every bit as desperate to convince herself of this as she is desperate to convince the child. She comes across as a woman completely unhinged by her grief, clinging to a child that has no idea who the loving hell she is. I suppose that's an interesting direction to take the character, but it erodes whatever fondness I might have had for her. I get that she was put in a tough situation, but these were all born of her own choices, for the most part. It rarely ever seems as though she has Marigold's best interests at heart. Rather, it seems she's desperate for a totem to keep her grief over Gregson at bay. And while that might not be what Julian Fellowes is going for here, that's simply how it comes across to me. And, frankly, it's kind of messed up.

Hell, it's every bit as obnoxious as the story centering on Mary (Michelle Dockery) this week. I've mostly liked Mary the past two seasons, the character having shown a considerable maturation from the first two series. But now she's right back to being the superficial, painfully self-absorbed Mary of old. She decides to get a modern haircut, and then holds a gathering in the parlour to unveil it. When Edith flips out on Mary for once again making everything about her, since it's barely been a day since she learned Gregson was dead, Mary responds by wondering why Edith is so upset. Her rationale is that since Gregson has been missing for years, she should have known he was dead by now, and should have dealt with that grief already. I mean, hey, they all knew he was dead, right? Why is Edith so slow on the uptake? I can't believe no one in this family took Mary aside to tell her she was being a bell end, especially since even Robert (Hugh Bonneville) notes early in the episode that the inevitability of an outcome doesn't mean you don't hold out a shred of hope that things might end differently. But Mary only gets more insufferable from there, arriving at a horse racing event where Gillingham (Tom Cullen) and Blake (Julian Ovenden) will be, in order to "show them both what they're missing." This flies directly in the face of her stated mission to get Gillingham off her back, and Mabel Lane Fox (Catherine Steadman) even calls her out on it. To which Mary responds that while she wants nothing more than for Tony to choose Mabel over her, she doesn't want to make it easy on him.

Um...WHAT?!

Can Mary's ego really not countenance letting a man think of another woman as more appealing than her, without at least first forcing him to think long and hard about it? Is she really going to risk her plan over vanity? My God, I have no idea what the point with Mary even is anymore, and this entire episode seemed engineered to undo whatever progress she's made over the last three series. I had been interested in her storyline before, and maybe that'll change next week. But right now, I'm actively dreading having to spend time with Mary Crawley again, and that's a horrible feeling to instill in your viewership.

That said, even with these negatives, there was actually far more that worked about the episode than what didn't. I thought it was great to see Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) shut Robert up about Bricker by essentially saying, "If you've never allowed a flirtation in this marriage, then by all means, stay in your own room. Otherwise, I expect you back in our bed." Robert, recalling the kiss he shared with a maid several series back, is put in his place, and decides to forgive Cora by returning to her bed. It was a great little bit of storytelling that resolves a lingering arc that may or may not proceed, going forward. Also interesting -- in a poignant, tragic way -- was Thomas (Rob James-Collier) revealing the nature of his illness to Baxter (Raquel Cassidy) and Dr. Clarkson (David Robb). He's developed an infection due to an adverse reaction from injections he's been giving himself in a desperate attempt to cure his homosexuality. It's a heartbreaker of a storyline that provides Rob James-Collier with a great platform for his talents, particularly in the scene where Dr. Clarkson reveals to Thomas that there is no cure for such a state. Baxter tries to assure Thomas that he's brave, but he just thinks she's daft. However, his jocular, borderline contemptuous attitude with Baxter belies the depth of his pain, and his desperation to "be normal, like other men."

We also got some incremental development on Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), whose decision to invest in a cottage of her own has Carson (Jim Carter) proposing a similar real estate investment with Hughes (Phyllis Logan). On the subject of proposals, Isobel (Penelope Wilton) has decided to accept Lord Merton's proposal, feeling it's her last shot at adventure. This, however, doesn't appear to sit well with the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith), as Violet seems to fear the loss of her only companion. For her part, Violet has issues of her own this week. While reporting that her people are potentially close to tracking down his wife, Prince Kuragin (Rade Šerbedžija) confesses that he's always loved Violet, and still does. It gives her pause, but Violet is able to control her emotions and firmly rebuff him -- but not without seeming regret in her eyes, as evidenced by the look on her face once Isobel announces her intentions to wed, and similar news that Rose (Lily James) and Atticus Aldridge are getting pretty serious. I wish Maggie Smith had more to do each week, but she excels at what little they give her, even if it's just a quick one-liner about how thinking is overrated. She really earns her stature on the show with each second of screentime. She even gets roped into the Edith storyline, attempting to track down where her granddaughter has run off to by questioning the Drewes. Oh Violet, you're this season's gumshoe.

Another thing that made this a worthwhile episode: a semi-resolution to the longstanding Anna (Joanna Froggatt) and Bates (Brendan Coyle) arc. Or, at the very least, progress. Anna learns that Bates is actually innocent of killing Green after all, although not before learning just how badly Bates wanted to off the guy -- since he knew Green was the rapist all along. Bates and Anna are neck-and-neck with Edith for the show's most mistreated characters, yet their dilemma inspires greater sympathy, I think. Bates is an innocent man and a husband willing to be there for Anna, if she'd only let him in. Anna, meanwhile, is made insular through no fault of her own: she knows what can happen to men accused of murder, and she knows exactly the kind of man her husband is capable of being against someone who threatens their future together. So Anna isn't necessarily wrong to be so guarded, nor is she all that wrong to presume Bates may have committed murder, which is why it comes as such a relief to her that Bates is innocent. Granted, they don't have the untorn return ticket to London to prove it, but I'm sure those crazy kids will think of something. Unless we're in for a shock and Bates ends up in jail anyway. There's always been something about Bates to suggest he isn't long for this world, much like Isis the Seemingly Immortal Dog, who is apparently now feeling the crunch of time (or unfortunate comparisons to current world news).

This was the best episode of Downton so far this series, which may not be saying much for such a subdued collection of episodes, but I still think it's worth putting out there. Fellowes is beginning the process of tying things together, and hopefully the coming weeks bring a resolution that's worthy of our patience.