Downton Abbey season 5 episode 1 recap - UK premiere 

Who Set The Abbey On Fire? – Downton Abbey – Season 5 Episode 1

Season five of Downton Abbey premiered in the U.K. on Sunday, September 21, 2014.  The scheduled air date in the U.S. is January 4, 2015.  That being said… now you must make a choice… to read or not to read.

Oh but the power you could wield if you had all of this information before your fellow “yanks”, choose wisely!  Here we go!

The biggest cliff hanger from last season was the impending birth of Edith’s love child.  The baby is here, a girl, named Marigold.  As Edith had previously arranged, her daughter is living with the tenant farmer family down the way.

The family is raising Marigold as their own but the girls “father” has already pieced together that Edith is the birth mother of this child.  With Edith’s constant visits and doting, it seems the “mother” is about to figure this one out as well.  Actually, it seems just a matter of time before everyone finds out the truth about Marigold.  When they do, it is definitely going to cause a ruckus in the Abbey.

Speaking of ruckus… Edith almost burned the Abbey to the ground!  With her baby-daddy, Michael Gregson,  still M.I.A. her frustration boils over when she finds one of his books inside the house.  She takes it to her room and while looking at a picture of her daughter, the pressure of losing Gregson and keeping their secret proves to be too much.

She tosses his book across the room, causing a lamp to tip over setting her room a blaze.  Unconscious, she is rescued from the ashes by Thomas.  Ugh, just when there was hope Thomas could get the boot, this heroic move just bought him a reprieve.

Thomas had been working to arrange a rendezvous between the perpetually lustful Jimmy and the new addition to the cast, Lady Anstruther.  Without must prodding, his efforts are successful and the two end up  in Lady Anstruther’s bed.  However, when the fire breaks out, they are caught in the act by Lord Grantham, which quickly cools Jimmy’s jets and puts him in jeopardy of losing his job.

That wasn’t the only thing that Thomas had his hand in.  He is still continuing to hold something over Baxter’s head.  With how much she cow-towed to him last season, you would think that she killed a man.  Wait that was Bates, not Baxter.

It turns out all she did was steal jewelry several years ago, which landed her behind bars for three years.  O.K. so stealing isn’t right but really?  She sure lead us to believe it was going to be something much more dubious the way she feared her secret getting out.

Having had enough, she steals the upper hand from Thomas when she fesses up to Lady Grantham about her past.  The only one that Cora is upset with is Thomas for strong-arming Baxter all this time.  Hopefully, Thomas will finally get what is coming to him.

Staying with the goings on of those downstairs, Bates’ secret visit to see Mr. Green remains just that, a secret.  There is only speculation (of course on Thomas’ part) into his culpability for Green’s death but nothing further has come from this since last season, not yet anyway!

Another plot line that started out unchanged from last season is that of Lady Mary’s love life.  She is still on the fence about who will be the best man for her Tony Gillingham or Charles Blake?

She remains leery of jumping back into another relationship.  She contemplates changing her vetting process to include a little pre-marital hanky panky, to test the goods a bit.  Could it be that Lady Mary isn’t a lady at all?

Lord Grantham (who has every intention of setting the wedding wheels in motion for his daughter), invites the dashing Tony Gillingham to attend his and Cora’s anniversary party the Abbey.  It seems that Tony is on the same page as Mary and presents her with an offer she cannot refuse (nor would I!).

He wants her to go away with him and he wants them to be lovers.  In what may be the best proposition ever he says “I want us to know all there is to know about each other.”  Mary looks a little startled but intrigued; let the fun begin!

We will see what happens when/if Charles Blake comes knocking, but for now, Gillingham is winning the race for Mary’s heart (and other parts).

The Dowger Countess is not in the mood for love.  When she learns that her friend she loves to hate, Isobel it taking a liking to Lord Merton and vice versa, she hatches a plan to put an end to it.  If she doesn’t, Isobel stands to become higher in the social order than the Countess and you know she won’t allow that to happen without a fight.

The devious plan, to have a tea party and invite another eligible lady to hopefully catch the eye of Lord Merton.  She is kind enough to throw a bone to Isobel by also inviting a single man, her old flame, Dr. Clarkson.  Violet, her schemes, and barbs just seem to get better with age.  She can stir the pot better than anyone a third her age.

Maybe it is just me but I tend to get caught up in the characters and pay little attention to the history of the times.  But since a war has taken place and there is now a new Prime Minister in power, I would be remiss not to mention it.

The new Prime Minister comes from a working class family whose blue collar beliefs are slowly catching on with the masses.  Service workers (like those at Downton) are now turning to jobs in factories.

The change in the air has caused great debate from the well adorned dinner table upstairs to the practical kitchen down below.  Times are definitely changing and everyone is a little unsure of what this means for their futures.

Never one to bite her tongue, Sarah Bunting the school teacher that caught Tom’s eye, shares her thoughts about the politics of the day.  She chooses the inopportune time of the Grantham’s anniversary party to do so and in the process, manages to offend most everyone in the room.

Tom who is so eager to find love again after the death of Sybil, refuses to oust her from his life completely.  Just a hint Tom, if she is this much of a buzz kill at a party, she can’t be that much fun when you are alone.  Run Tom, run!

There was the perfect mix of filling us in on what has happened since we saw the residents of Downton Abbey last and leaving some things still left to be explored.  There is the feeling of change in the air politically and personally for the characters.  The bones of what we love about the show are still very much in tact.  It seems we are on the verge of yet another great season, can’t wait for more!

Who Set The Abbey On Fire? – Downton Abbey – Season 5 Episode 1 was last modified: September 23rd, 2014 by

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