Edith is at least 50 years too early to be slapped with a restraining order for stalking her daughter, but she got as close as she could and will now belabor the ordeal for the rest of this season and into the next. Oh and Shrimpy is visiting. Because why the hell not. In the world of Downton Abbey, marriages are often strategic, not romantic. Throughout the series, many couples came together because they made a good, proper match. In some cases, love grew-but not always. This episode explores that fragility in relationships, but it also looks ahead, optimistically. Much of season 5 has been about changing times, and you can bet your bottom quid that that translates to the world of love and marriage.
Hugh "Shrimpy" MacClare, Rose's father and Robert's cousin-in-law, visits Downton to tell his family that he and his wife, Susan, are getting divorced. And, you know, in 1924 Edwardian society, divorce is kind of a big freaking deal. Rose takes the news as a valuable learning lesson and tells her father that she won't be bullied into a suitable marriage. (Basically, she doesn't want to end up like her parents.) Rather, she only wants to marry if she's totally, absolutely in love. It seems Mary is in this camp as well. Just a couple episodes back, she thought Tony could be the one. She even decided to go on a romantic rendezvous with him, risking her reputation to explore her feelings. The trip made her sure all right-sure that he's not the one. This episode, Mary headed to London to attend a dress show with Rosamund. While in town, she met with Tony to call things off, and he doesn't take it well at all. He thinks Mary's trying to tell him he's bad in the sack, but it's quite the opposite. Mary doesn't think he's a bad lover. Instead, she thinks that there isn't much there between them aside from sex-they just don't have enough in common. Not to mention, he's too vanilla, too nice, until he isn't. "I refuse to believe that a woman like you, a lady, would give herself to a man without first being certain that he's the one," Tony says, shocked by the blow. He declares that they'll just have to work through it. And the discussion ends there, but odds are this can't, and won't, be resolved.
Hugh "Shrimpy" MacClare, Rose's father and Robert's cousin-in-law, visits Downton to tell his family that he and his wife, Susan, are getting divorced. And, you know, in 1924 Edwardian society, divorce is kind of a big freaking deal. Rose takes the news as a valuable learning lesson and tells her father that she won't be bullied into a suitable marriage. (Basically, she doesn't want to end up like her parents.) Rather, she only wants to marry if she's totally, absolutely in love. It seems Mary is in this camp as well. Just a couple episodes back, she thought Tony could be the one. She even decided to go on a romantic rendezvous with him, risking her reputation to explore her feelings. The trip made her sure all right-sure that he's not the one. This episode, Mary headed to London to attend a dress show with Rosamund. While in town, she met with Tony to call things off, and he doesn't take it well at all. He thinks Mary's trying to tell him he's bad in the sack, but it's quite the opposite. Mary doesn't think he's a bad lover. Instead, she thinks that there isn't much there between them aside from sex-they just don't have enough in common. Not to mention, he's too vanilla, too nice, until he isn't. "I refuse to believe that a woman like you, a lady, would give herself to a man without first being certain that he's the one," Tony says, shocked by the blow. He declares that they'll just have to work through it. And the discussion ends there, but odds are this can't, and won't, be resolved.