Downton Abbey: S05E03

Mary and Gillingham are in the midst of the most genteel love affair of all time. On the one hand, it's nice that Mary is happy and relaxed, on the other, it's clear that this whole thing is a train heading towards a collapsed bridge. He's pushing too hard for marriage and she's still being coy.

Then there's this:

 Not a good post-coital look.

"I've been tarnished once, I won't be tarnished again." Does that mean she's told Gillingham about Pamuk?

Violet and Isabel give me life. I know I say it every week, but they really are the reason I'm still watching. I wish they had more love: if they were young and male you know fandom would be all over this dynamic.

Mrs Patmore's plea to Mrs Hughes over the war memorial was fairly heart-breaking. That was a nice bit of continuity regarding her nephew, and naturally Mr Carson decides to be an ass about it despite the growing awareness of shell shock.

If I was Violet I couldn't bear to have Sprat in the house. He creeps me out. But in another demonstration of just how good Maggie Smith is, Violet's Bad Bad Acting in creating a cover-story for Mary on the spur of the moment was actually quite good; but just strained enough so that the audience could see a little crack in her veneer. All the awards to Dame Maggie.

Lily James's breathless hesitation before she tackled that mouthful of Russian was rather amusing.

Poor Anna. Recently she's been up there with Edith in the bad luck department, and now she's going to have to go through the whole rape trauma again because her husband took matters into his own hands (instead of Anna feeling confident enough to go to the police because she knew her husband would take matters in to his own hands). And what are the odds that Bates is going to find Mary's diaphragm and go berserk?

And I can't believe that Fellowes going over this "is Bates a killer?" thing all over again. Surely he's going to have to prove that he was in York or else it's a total re-tread of season... three? I actually forgot what season all that took place in.

Mary and Violet in a room together – priceless! "A young woman of good family who finds herself in the bed of man who is not her husband has invariably been seduced." Then they have a face-off:

 

Every woman deserves a flirt outside of marriage every once in a while, but naturally Robert manages to spoil Cora's good mood. Still it was nice to create that thematic resonance between Violet, Cora and Mary.

Edith's story is going downhill, not just because it's veering back into depressing territory, but because the whole thing could be resolved if they simply told Mrs Drewes what's really going on.

Mercifully the Baxter drama seems to have played itself out. I like Raquel Cassidy's performance, but I don't think any other subplot has ever dragged on this long. Not even Bates.

I laughed at off-screen Rosamund, which I assume means that Samantha Bond is again busy with other projects.

Tom and Mary as confidants! I've missed their quiet rapport with each other, and there was even an acknowledgement of love in that conversation.

Damn it Miss Bunting, I was in your corner! But upsetting overemotional Russian visitors in somebody else's house was not cool.

That final moment when Violet is confronted with Prince Kuragin ... I have to admit I got a little emotional. Now, finally, Fellowes strikes gold! So much history demonstrated with so little words between these two characters, topped off with a simple but weighty "I don't know" when Violet asks after Kuragin's wife. Beautifully done.

This episode had a bit more energy than the previous two, with an added bonus of delivering up some of my favourite interactions: Mary/Violet, Mary/Tom, Isabel/Violet. The last few minutes were pure gold, almost enough to make up for the entire season so far,  so I guess I'll stick around for the final stretch.