It’s Rose and Atticus’ wedding day and she makes a lovely bride! Preview tonight’s Downton Abbey, Episode Eight, airing at 9:00pm ET|PT on PBS Masterpiece.
Last week’s episode of Downton Abbey (“Episode Seven“), as expected, signified significant changes in relationships between our favorite members of Britain’s Ton.
At the end of Episode Six, Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) found out that Edith (Laura Carmichael) had taken Marigold and run from home. Episode Seven began with Lady Violet immediately calling for Lady Rosamund (Samantha Bond) and making the decision to come clean to Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) about Edith’s situation. But it was too late—Mrs. Drewe came to the big house to meet with Cora and express her dissatisfaction at being so badly used. Cora agreed, and was particularly upset with Dowager and Rosamund for keeping her in the dark about her daughter and grand-daughter.
Thanks to a suggestion made by Atticus (Matt Barber), Cora and Rosamund eventually found Edith in London working at Mr. Gregson’s publishing house. Cora then presented a new plan to bring both Edith and Marigold home to Downton—the Drewes could no longer afford to raise the little girl, and Edith would bring her to the Downton nursery as her ward. Edith agreed, under the condition that neither her father or Mary could ever know the truth. There was a potential snag in the plan when Cora, Edith, and Marigold returned to Yorkshire. Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Anna (Joanne Froggatt) were at the train station (Mary on her way to meet Charles Blake in London); luckily, Mary didn’t see Marigold, but Anna did. However, after talking to Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) and confessing what she’d seen, Mrs. Hughes encouraged Anna to mind her own business, so long as the child in question was being cared for. (GOOD ADVICE!)
Speaking of Mary, she received a phone call from Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden) inviting her to join him in London to execute a plan that would finally convince Tony Gillingham (Tom Cullen) to move on. After a semi-public kiss at the theater, one that Tony and Mabel (Catherine Steadman) walked in on, Tony and Mary officially called it quits. We’ll likely be hearing of Tony and Mabel’s nuptials in the near future!
In other wedding developments, since Isobel (Penelope Wilton) and Lord Merton (Douglas Reith) were engaged, the Crawleys hosted a celebration dinner for the couple. We saw the return of Larry Grey (Charlie Anson) and he was just as rude and sinister as before (when he drugged Branson at dinner and laughed about it). Larry didn’t think very highly of Isobel and made his feelings known in the most insulting way. Larry also admonished the Crawleys’ choices on in-laws—first Branson (an Irish chauffeur) and soon Atticus (a Jew). *sigh* It was awful to watch, but through it all, Isobel was kind and elegant, the opposite of Larry and his brother!
Larry’s comments seemed to be the catalyst Rose (Lily James) and Atticus needed to solidify their relationship, and the two were engaged!
While there was lots of good news, the episode ended on a sad note with darling Isis dying of cancer ( 🙁 ) and Branson (Allen Leech) potentially moving to America with Sybbie.
In tonight’s “Episode Eight”: Someone tries to derail Rose and Atticus’ happiness. Mrs. Patmore gets a surprise. Anna is in trouble. Robert has a revelation. (via PBS)
Click on the photo below to watch a sneak peek of the upcoming episode (scroll to the bottom of the page, “A Scene from Episode 8”). In the clip, Dowager and Prince Kuragin (Rade Serbedzija) are in the midst of a heated conversation. He’s trying to convince her to be with him. Rather than focussing on finding the Princess, Kuragin would rather spend his final years, in love, with Lady Violet. On the other hand, Dowager seems incredible distressed by the proposition:
Well, we’ve known from the beginning that Kuragin isn’t too thrilled with the idea of being reunited with his wife. Though I am curious to find out why Lady Violet is so determined to find Princess Kuragin.
Take a look at these fantastic images from Episode Eight—it’s Rose and Atticus’ wedding day, and there’s lots of celebrating to be done. And goodness, Rose makes such a stunning bride, don’t you think? However, we know from the episode’s synopsis that someone might be trying to stop the wedding from going on. Hopefully they don’t succeed!
Remember to tune into PBS Masterpiece at 9:00pm ET|PT for the new Downton Abbey, and come live tweet with me while we watch!
