Three Up, Three Down: Downton Abbey, Season 5 Episode 5

Three Up

1. Lady Rose. Struggling to get from a shop to the church that's hosting the Russian refugees, Rose is assisted by Atticus Aldridge, a young lawyer whose family emigrated from Russia in earlier times. She eventually learns from the refugees that Atticus' family emigrated during the pogroms. That Atticus is Jewish doesn't seem to faze Rose at all, and it's clear that the two of them are hitting it off, which is nice to see for once.


2. Tom Branson. While he's sad to see Sarah Bunting leave the village (she's taken another job, though her rough relations with the local gentry can't have helped), he is happy that she's reminded him of who he is. It's good to see Tom gaining some direction, even if it means he's going to move to America.

3. Baxter. She finally tells Molesley about her past, and he's as understanding as you might expect. It also helps Baxter continue to get out from under Thomas's influence, so a win-win for Baxter.

Honorable Mention: Charles Blake. He apparently has a plan for getting Tony Gillingham to finally give up on Lady Mary. And if it means he gets a shot with her, so much the better.

Three Down

1. Lady Edith. Things continued to deteriorate with the Drewes, and the situation is made worse when Lady Rosamund visits and learns that Marygold is no longer in Switzerland. And then the dowager countess learns of her secret great granddaughter, which just turns things up to 11. But we may finally learn that Gregson is dead, which is... good news?

2. Lady Cora. The inevitable advance by Simon Bricker comes to pass when he comes back to Downton to finish his work on that painting. Making it worse is that Robert, who has returned early from a dinner, catches Cora and Bricker in their bedroom. Cora wanted no part of Bricker's plan, and even to the extent that she can get Robert to believe that he still blames her for what's happened and being too blind to see it. There's a modicum of truth in that - Bricker's been walking the line of being appropriate with a married woman for quite a while - but she's taking too much of the blame, I think.

3. Tom Barrow. His anti-gay treatments aren't going well, and everyone at Downton is noticing that he's in a bad way. He continues to say he's fine, but that's obviously untrue. Whether or not he'll admit to feeling poorly before he collapses is to be seen.

Honorable Mention: Isis. Random mention of how she's feeling poorly. Hopeful that it's puppies, but concerned it's something worse.