Baby Momma Anna and Hughes cleaning out Edith’s room after the fire, find a picture of a small child Tim Drewe suggests Edith be Marigold’s godmother - sort of. Mrs. Drewe doesn’t look very pleased. Edith asks Robert if she can “take an interest” in Marigold.


Get Away With You The committee/village is trying to find the best place for the memorial. Robert says center of the village, but they want somewhere quiet: the old cricket pit. Hughes agrees with Robert - memorial should be in town. Carson: I was disappointed in his Lordship, but I’m more disappointed in you. Hughes: Every relationship has its ups and downs. Carson to Hughes: I don’t like it when we’re not on the same side. Hughes: We’re different people. We can’t always agree. C: I know, but I don’t like it.  A widow convinces Carson about the memorial site. Her son pays respects to her husband on their day. Carson tells Hughes he decided on the village for the memorial. He only wanted to be convinced. His walk convinced him.  Carson: There’s a bonus. It puts us back in agreement. I’m not comfortable when you and I are not in agreement. Hughes: You’re very flattering. You talk like that, you make me want to check the looking glass to make sure my hair is tidy.  Carson: Get away with you. Hughes: I mean it.
Stop Flirting with the Dog Mary says she’s going away with Annabelle Portsmith to drive around. Anna tells Mary to choose clothes carefully that she won’t need help taking off. Mary: Well, I’ll have his help. Anna nervous about if they call Lady Portsmith. Anna: Honestly, m’lady. You should hope I never write my memoir. Mary asks Anna to buy contraception. Blake is coming before Mary leaves. At the shop, Anna takes off her glove to reveal that she’s married. She lets a gentleman go first. Points to what she needs in the book. The shop keeper gives her a hard time. “I can see you’re married. But you don’t want any more children. There’s always abstinence.” Anna pays quickly and leaves without instructions.   Bates asks Anna why she’s not going with Mary. Anna says it seems unfair that they treated her like that at the shop. Suppose she was a working woman with 8 kids and isn’t want any more. Wouldn’t I have the right? I feel like going back and ordering a baker’s dozen. Mary: One’s enough for now. Blake tells Mary she should have told him he wasn’t the lucky winner. Mary: Well, I don’t seem to have broken your heart. I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. It’s only lately that I’ve begun coming out of the mist. Blake: That’s why I came here. To wish you luck in person. Brixton is flirting with Cora. Cora showing Simon painting. Robert sees them. Blake tells Mary to be sure before she makes a decision. But that she is cleverer than Gillingham, and that won’t work anymore in this century. Mary says she’s not a housemaid drooling over him. Blake says Plantagenets are as susceptible as housemaids when it comes to sex. Mary tells Anna she wants to marry again, and she absolutely does not want to divorce. Her grandparents lived in vast quarters, but things are going to be closer for her. She wants to be sure she wants Gillingham as a friend, lover and husband.
Stirring the Pot Clarkson tells Isobel about insulin. DC: I’m glad you’re back to your old interests. Clarkson: Why do you say that? DC: Mrs. Crawley’s been distracted lately. Isobel: You make too much of it.  DC: Do I?
Mama Patmore Patmore asks Rose to ask Sarah Bunting if she would tutor Daisy. Sarah agrees to tutor Daisy. Robert: So every time we entertain, we must invite this Tin Pot Rosa Luxenbourg? Sarah turns down dinner because she doesn’t want to put herself or Robert through another test of strength. She tells Branson he may have been in Rome too long. “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.” She tells him he can’t have a future there with those people. He tells Robert she couldn’t stay, and he says, “What a relief.” Mary: I have a feeling Branson is turning back into who he really is. What will happen with Sibby? Branson can’t stay there. Robert says that Tom is a ventriloquist dummy. Cora: If he feels he has to go… Robert: He’s not taking Sibby.
Mopey Molesly Molesly asks if he is first footman now that Jimmy is gone. Hughes tells him there’s coming a time when a house will not boast any footmen. We’re coming to the end of those distinctions. Carson: You are first, second, third and last. Make what you will of it. Thomas tells Molesly that Baxter is a thief. Baxter tells Molsely that she was a common thief. Baxter tells Molsely she’s changed. And she won’t tell Molesly who she was working with.  Baxter: I’d give a limb to rewrite that whole chapter of my life.
What’s Rose For? Robert says a wireless (radio) is a fad, and it won’t last. Rose is talking about helping the Russians. Robert says Bunting would have lectured them. Branson defends her. Rose tells Robert that the king is speaking on the wireless. He can’t believe her. Robert: If the king wants to use the wireless to speak to his people, maybe we have to listen.  Carson: I wouldn’t say that. Daisy: Why is it called a wireless when there are so many wires? Hughes: Downton is catching up with the times we live in. Carson: That is exactly what I am afraid of.
Cliffhanger Thomas brings in a policeman to see Carson. Announces it. Carson: Thank you, Mr. Barrow. Your scaremongering has not succeeded. That will be all. Thank you.
The policeman tells them that a witness has turned up that has to do with Mr. Green’s death.
Dowager Countess' Lines DC: I’m glad you’re back to your old interests. Clarkson: Why do you say that? DC: Mrs. Crawley’s been distracted lately. With Lord Murton frisking around her skirts and getting in the way. Isobel: You make too much of it.  DC: Do I? Isobel: Maybe you’re the real quarry. And he’s only including me to throw off the scent. DC: I may be older than I was, but I can still tell when a man is interested. Clarkson tries to change the subject to gardens. DC: The promise of gardens in the summer will be the final worm on the hook. Isobel: Hearing the king’s voice makes him more real. DC: Is that a good thing? The monarchy has thrived on magic and mystery. Strip that away, and people may think the royal family is just like us. Isobel: Would that be so wrong? DC: Well, only if they want to stay at Buckingham Palace.

Downton Abbey, 5:1

Season 5 is here! And the first episode did not disappoint! Here is a breakdown of the podcast episode we go over for episode 1.
Secret Mama Edith visits her baby, Marigold Tim Drewe was asked to be chief fireman. Tim’s wife doesn’t know Marigold is Edith’s. Hughes found one of Gregson’s old books Edith agrees to meet Mr. Drewe. He wants to propose something because his wife is getting suspicious of Edith having a crush on him.  Margarie, Drewe’s wife - thinks Edith has a crush on Drewe. Drewe: We need a way for you to live the truth without telling the truth. 

Stop the World
1924 The king has to deal with a labor government - Mr. McDonald - the servants are glad he’s worked before - the prime minister is the son of a crofter. Robert: Government is committed to the destruction of people like us and everything we stand for. Mary: We should wait and see what happens. 34th wedding anniversary  - tidbit - Robert’s working hard to keep his marriage together. Mr. Carson is asked to be chairman of the board by the village and want Robert to give them land for the site of the memorial Carson to Hughes: The nature of life is not permanence but flux Robert tells Mary, they don’t want him for the school or the memorial. Would they have asked his grandfather’s butler to head something…? Robert okays Carson being the chair. Robert tells the girls to invite some young girls over.
Slow Learner Daisy’s upset because they didn’t replace Ivy. Daisy ordered books to learn math so she can run the farm. Has a hard time following.
Match Making - or Breaking? Lord Diffy Murton asked DC to give another luncheon party so he can see Isobel. DC asks Dr. Clarkson about Murton. Tells him Murton and Isobel are friendly. She invites him to luncheon. Wants to matchmake him with Lady Shackleton. Cora tells Robert that DC would be jealous. Isobel is jealous of Lady Shackelton with Murton.
Mismatched Jimmy has a letter from Lady Anstrather… He sent her Valentines.  Thomas: It’s pathetic for a lady to be pining over a footman. Jimmy: Excuse me. I think it’s in very good taste. Lady Anstrather invited herself over for tea. She is staying over because of car problems, but Tom couldn’t find anything wrong with it.
Another Scandal Tony Gillingham - coming to visit. Robert: That’s okay. I want to see him. In private to Cora: I want to inspire him with thoughts of marriage. Mary tells Anna she hasn’t made up her mind yet. We do these things so weirdly. You have to decide without having spent in real time with them much less the other thing. Mary: Do you dread the future? Gillingham: Only if I have to live it without you. Mary: I do love you in my cold and unfeeling way. I don’t want to get it wrong. I intend to be as happy with my next husband as I was with my first. Gillingham tells Mary he wants them to be lovers.
Another prisoner Thomas asks Baxter what she knows about Anna and Bates. Bullies her.  Molesly is putting on fake hair paint. Baxter tells Molesly about a journey Bates took and something he did that he wouldn’t want known. He would deny the journey. Mosely tells her to report him. Baxter: I can’t. Molesly is tilting his head trying to get her to see his hair. How old do you think I am? Baxter: 52. Molesly: I’m 51. Baxter says to Molesly it’s ironic for Mr. Bates to dress Gillingham because she knows about the scandal. Thomas overhears. Thomas tells Baxter he’ll tell Lady Grantham her story if she doesn’t tell him the connection between Bates and Gillingham’s dead valet. Molesly tells Baxter to tell Cora her story. It will be worse if Mr. Barrow tells her first. (Would be the most nerdy (and uncomfortable) hookup on TV.) Baxter was a friend of his sister’s growing up. She stole from a previous employer. Went to prison for three years. Thomas goes to tell Cora about Baxter and it backfires. She asks why he let a convicted felon in her house, in her bedroom when he knew every detail of her past. If you’ve been using your knowledge against her, I’ll have to consider your future here, Mr. Barrow, whether indeed you have one at all. Baxter is a Bates - won’t give Cora all the details to exonerate herself. Carson to Molesly: I don’t know why you have treated your hair, but the effects are not what you wanted. Take steps, Mr. Molesly. Take steps. You will remain downstairs until you do.
DC Lines DC: There’s nothing simpler than avoiding people you don’t like. Avoiding one’s friends - that’s the real test. DC: He just wants what all men want. Isobel: Don’t be ridiculous. DC: I was referring to companionship. As I hope you were. DC: You should write a book: Daughters in Law and How to Survive Them. DC: It’s time he decided whether he’s fish, flesh, fowl, or good red herring. Edith: Aren’t you being quite snobbish? DC: We’re being realistic. Something your generation has such trouble with. DC: Principles are like prayers: noble, of course - but awkward at a party.

We break this episode of the Downton Abbey Reflection into these segments:
To America
Maximize and diversify
Lost in Munich
Taking a stand
Oh, Alfred
Old Friends
The Dowager Countess' lines

Enjoy!

In this episode, we talk about:
Vigorous baking,
Cora to the rescue,
Jazz it up,
Game, set and match,
Hard decisions,
Business decisions,
Another Downton baby, and
the Dowager Countess' lines

This episode brings new innovations to the Downton household, surprise doctors' visits, and some catchy zingers from the Dowager!

Witness the aftermath of the attack in this episode of the Downton Abbey Reflection.

The shocking and heart-breaking house party episode.

Welcome to season 4 of the Downton Abbey Reflection! I'm hoping we'll get to hear some early British jazz in this season :)

Well, episode 1 had us missing O'Brien, hoping she found a better place to be and make others miserable. Hopefully she won't get jealous and start using bars of soap as revenge weapons on her new lady.

Six months after Matthew's death, and Mary is still grieving (I would be, too). But she does have who I can only assume is an adorable little son to dote on, so here's hoping she snaps out soon! Plus, it looks like her relationship with Branson (purely platonic) will have her fluent in estate management speak soon enough.

Mosely is still down and out. Mrs. Hughes is still nosy and meddling. Alfred, Daisy, Ivy and Jimmy are still... Alfred, Daisy, Ivy and Jimmy.

Listen to this week's
podcast recap to get the inside scoop on the new season and on the rest of went down in this two-hour season premiere!

We discuss the tragic ending of the third season in this episode of the Downton Abbey Reflection. Along with these topics:
Mrs. Hughes saving Mrs. Patmore from that sleazeball

O’Brien and Wilkins – kindred spirits? 

Thomas and Jimmy Kent make up

Shrimpy and Rose and Susan

Edith and another unsuitable suitor

Branson and Edna

Robert and Branson modernizing Downton alone?

Dr. Clarkson and Isobel - will that happen? Mary and Matthew

The Dowager Countess' lines
In season 4, who do you most want to see in a new relationship? Mary, Edith or Thomas and why? Let us know by leaving a comment, Facebooking us, let us know on Twitter, or call in at 816-379-6956.

Brought to you by It Takes a Village to Write a Book

In this episode of the Downton Abbey Reflection, we talk about:

Thomas and Jimmy and O’Brien;

Alfred and Daisy;

How Edith has a thing for married and totally unavailable dudes. And they have a thing for her;
The estate, Matthew and crickett;

Anna, Bates and O’Brien;

Branson;

Ethyl; and of course

The Dowager Countess' lines.

This episode is brought to you by the audio program It Takes a Village to Write a book. You have a book in your head. You want to hold it in your hands. For more information on the how-to self publish guide, go to beatnikbudget.com/village.

In this episode of the Downton Abbey Reflection, we talk about:

Ethyl and the Carson/Hughes traditionalness scandal;

Jimmy Kent and Thomas;

Alfred and Daisy;

Cora and Robert and Tom; 

Anna and Bates; and

The Dowager Countess' lines.

Find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter at @downtonpodcast, rate us on iTunes and call 816-379-6956 to leave a voicemail to share with other listeners!