The Follow Through

"But not only Downton. Us. We must never take us for granted. Who knows what's coming?"

The trick to good narrative storytelling is the follow through. Action is exciting, but the aftermath is always the best payoff. If things reset at the end of each episode, then there's no narrative to look forward to (although there may be other benefits, re: most sitcoms pre-2000s). How does the show deal once someone has died? How do we get back to status quo/what changes are caused by the death? At the end of Episode Five, all these questions immediately come up and remained to be answered. Episode Six delivers, giving us a quiet, introspective installment, but also one of the most involving and emotional episodes of the season.

Because of the soapy roots of the show, viewers are allowed to wildly speculate about any number of twists coming up. Will Branson go insane with grief? Will Mary and Edith ever be so compassionate towards one another again? Will Lord and Lady Grantham tape off areas of Downton in a fight for territory? If one plot gets settled by the end of the episode, the others can only be hinted at for future use. Sybil's death is in some way a catalyst for the show to have the characters re-examine themselves and look to the future. The most forward-thinking and independent woman of the show is gone, as well as the most un-impeachable, so now it's up to the rest of the characters to fill the void in her memory.

On top of that, we get three extra plots: Ethel as a cook, the complicated love quadrangle (with weird arms sticking out all over the place), and the extended Bates-in-prison plot. It makes for a very packed episode, the likes of which we haven't really seen since season one.

The love squid situation is especially notable for how the writers are exploring and deepening the characters. Apparently the only way to characterize the footmen and scullery maids is by whom they want to sleep with. Granted, there might not be many aspirations much beyond marriage for the life of servant in that time, but it's interesting that we're presented with these complications first, and then learn that the new maid likes the foxtrot and wearing rouge. And then there's poor Thomas (and honestly, it's a credit to the writers that I ever even wrote the words "poor Thomas"). Combined with his open grief for Lady Sybil, and apparent new friendship with Anna, we are getting to the point where any time he blatantly hits on Jimmy, I put my head in my hands in commiseration. Now we have ourselves a well-rounded character. All he has to do next time is prove he's still evil at heart by murdering a farmer or something and he'll be all set.

This is also the episode where Lord Grantham's vendetta against change also comes to a head. First there is the subject of religion (and I quite enjoyed everyone ganging up against the priest, way to go pragmatic Crawley's!), then the estate's finances, and finally a clever dovetail into the Ethel plot line that moves Robert's frustration forward and nicely confirms Ethel's place in the village. And honestly, at this point, all the women in Downton should just buy themselves NOW pamphlets and wear jeans around the house.

In the past the team at Fellowes Inc. hasn't been too great on giving us the on-screen dialogues we need to hear, particularly regarding Mary's confession of her "damaging" to Matthew. And while I was initially very wary of the fact that the episode begins directly after Sybil's funeral, the rest of the hour was packed with enough rewards that I didn't find myself minding at all.

Viewer's Voice Award goes to Mrs. Patmore:

"You know the trouble with you lot? You're all in love with the wrong people."