Season 5 of Downton Abbey has returned, after a long year of waiting. With more romance, rumors and drama expected, the characters we once thought we knew might be very different than we expected.
The episode begins with Lady Edith’s daughter, a year after being born, being raised by a local farmer, Timothy (Tim) Drewe and his wife, as the child was born out of wedlock. Lady Edith visits often, observing her daughter, with only Tim aware that she is indeed the mother of the child.
With Downton Abbey tackling struggles of females during the century along with controversial issues, the writers do a nice job of balancing the dynamic of the show to include small quantities of humor. An example being Mr. Mosley, the footman, hitting a mid-life crisis, dying his hair black, unfortunately resulting in blue hair. Yet no humor can be beat, than the humor of arguments between Dowager Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley, and Isobel Crawley, which in my opinion cannot be summarized in words.
Daisy, the cook buys books in the hopes of returning to school, and one day becoming an accountant.This highlights the changes yet to come in the decade as well as the series, as it was a time when servants began jobs in other industries, leaving aristocrats with few to no servants available. Sophie Mcshera who portrays Daisy, does an excellent job in portraying the desire of women to get educated, only to be put down by men.
We also see the disappearance of status, as Mr. Carson a servant is offered the position of Chairman of the War Memorial, with an aristocrat such as Lord Grantham being disregarded. Yet the worst damage caused to the Lord Grantham is the humiliation from a friend of Tom’s, Miss Bunting, who puts the idea of a war memorial to shame. Disappointed in Tom, once a servant for returning to his previous ways, shows that aristocrats are surely not ready for such a change.
The premiere was a slow and easy start, yet drama was not lacking. We see Vera Bates, a maid to the Countess of Grantham, Cora, reveal, after being harassed by Thomas, a servant,that she was a thief who stole jewelry from her previous employer. Cora was disappointed in Thomas’s actions, but all is forgiven after he saves Lady Edith, who sets her room ablaze. It is known that such an action was the result of a plan in order to get her daughter back, but the details of the plan are still unknown.
Downton Abbey has not failed to impress, as it no longer is a show for the mere entertainment of it’s audience, but has began to highlight the changes that surround us in our everyday life today. As for what is yet in store for the remaining of the series, is unknown, but regardless one can expect great things.
Downton Abbey airs Sundays at 9/8 c on Masterpiece on PBS.
