Three Up, Three Down: Downton Abbey, Season 6 Episode 2

Three Up

1. Mrs. Hughes. Now that there's a wedding date, it seems like the Abbey will host at least part of the event, either in the servant's hall (thanks for nothing, Lord Grantham) or upstairs (thank you, Lady Mary). Or will it? Mrs. Hughes is very determined to have her wedding be something independent from the Crawley family, come hell or Carsten's sense of duty. It's nice to see her stand her ground.

2. Anna Bates. Turns out her inability to carry children to term is a physiological problem, one that can be addressed by surgery when she's next pregnant. Not only does this remove her continuing guilt over not being able to give her husband the family he wants, it also frees all of us from the interminable gloom that hangs over these two.

3. Lady Edith.  The kidnapping of her daughter aside, it was another episode where Edith continued the path towards independence. She got into it with a stroppy editor, and looks closer to making London her permanent home. It would be entertaining if, in the end, Edith winds up with the happy ending while Mary get stuck delaying the inevitable at home.

Honorable Mention: Mr. Mason. He wasn't in the episode, but I get the sense that much of what transpired is going to help him land on his feet once he loses his tenancy.

Three Down

1. The Drewe Family. Speaking of losing one's tenancy, the Drewe's are out after Mrs. Drewe kidnapped Marigold during a livestock fair. And while it's hard not to feel that Mrs. Drewe was done wrong in the affair, it's not a defense to abduction. I do feel bad for her husband, who got caught up trying to do his best for everyone but wasn't quite up to the challenge.

2. Thomas Barrow. Continued concern over his position at Downton leads Tom to interview for a position at another house. Turns out they want one man to do about a half-dozen jobs, which Thomas is not interested in doing. He's also continuing to get the cold shoulder from the new (footman? underbutler? I have no idea what the guy's title is), who was warned about Thomas and is taking the warning seriously.

3. Lady Mary. She's facing a little resistance from the tenants about being the estate manager, more for her station than her gender, I think. She's handling that OK. The real problem here was that she didn't fully understand how difficult it would be for Mrs. Drewe to see Marigold, and it's hard not to think she inadvertently caused the kidnapping. She does help Anna sort out her baby issues, so it wasn't all bad where children were concerned.

Honorable Mention: the oldsters. are we really going to have the senior set spend this entire season squabbling over the local hospital? What a waste of Lady Violet's bon mots.