BWW Recap - A Night at the Opera Takes a Dark Turn on DOWNTON ABBEY

This week on Downton Abbey we finally see the house returned (nearly) to its former glory as Lord and Lady Grantham play host and hostess to some of their upper-class friends for a party. The arrival of these well-to-do guests and their servants causes a stir amongst the inhabitants of Downton, both upstairs and down.

Carson seizes this long awaited opportunity to prove that Downton Abbey is still the embodiment of class and hospitality as it once had been before the war. However, as has been the case in the past few years, he is met with changes and complications at every turn. First, he is dismayed to find that the guests themselves seem to be understaffed and he must make special arrangements for them to be well taken care of by his own men and women. Additionally, there are the added social intricacies of how to treat Dame Nellie Melba, a famous Australian opera singer who has been invited to perform at Downton, and her accompanist- as members of staff or along with the other wealthy guests. Upon discussing this sticky wicket with Lord Grantham they agree that the most appropriate course of action would be for the pianist to stay in the male servant's quarters and dine downstairs and for Dame Nellie to take her meals on a tray in her room and not with the guests.

During this conversation, Lord Grantham also tells Carson to include The Kitchen staff in Lady Cora's gracious invitation to attend the performance, a courtesy that would not have been extended to them before the war. However, for the sake of "modern times and all that," Robert decides this small allowance can be made. Cora, however, does not see her husband as modern a man as he thinks himself, and in fact she questions if she is "the only member of this family who lives in the twentieth century." When she discovers that Dame Nellie has been forced to eat alone in her room she is horrified by Lord Grantham's snobbery and insists that the performer not only join the guests for dinner, but also that she sit directly next to him. In the end, Lord Grantham's old-fashioned view of the world is tested once more when he realizes that Dame Nellie is quite a refined individual who even has a steady grasp of clarets. Carson is faced with yet another hurdle when Jimmy injures his wrist showing off in front of Ivy and Daisy and cannot serve at the meals. Carson enlists Molesley to take over Jimmy's footman duties for the time being, a task he eagerly grasps despite the position being below his training. His struggle for work has landed him as a mere delivery boy for Bakewell's and he is eager for the opportunity to get back into service.

Alfred also takes on an unconventional role in the group's effort to make Downton as accommodating a place as possible. The job of entertaining takes a terrible toll on Mrs. Patmore and during the final dinner of the house party, she is overcome by her anxiety and has a sort of panic attack. As the rest of The Kitchen staff is preoccupied with their own tasks, Alfred is forced to jump in and finish the sauces for the evening. The success of his coking reaffirms for Alfred that his future does not lie in waiting at table, but in putting food on it.

The male guests of the Crawleys create some excitement upstairs. Rose seems to be taking an interest in a rather more "suitable" suitor, one Sir John Bullock. Meanwhile, Edith invited Michael Gregson to attend the house party in hopes of him winning her parents favor. The plan does not seem to be going off well, for Lord Grantham continually dodges Gregson's company. He finally gets the Earl's attention by joining him and some other guests in a game of poker. One man, Sampson, has been notorious over the course of the party for robbing the other men of their money. Robert himself loses a "packet" and pleads with those around him not to tell Cora. For someone who was recently on the brink of losing his family's fortune, he certainly throws his money about quite recklessly. However, Gregson suspects foul-play and challenges Sampson to another game the next night. "[Reviving] a dubious talent from [his] misspent youth," he wins back his money and that which is owed to the other men and threatens that if Sampson does not pay up he will tell Robert about his cheating, which would ruin is reputation in the London clubs irreparably. Finally, when Gregson returns his "bacon," Robert seems to take an interest in this man and even hints that he may be coming around to him. While talking with Cora, he admits that though he still doesn't think him an ideal match for Edith, he finds him "a decent cove" and consents that "he did behave in a way that [he] thought was...really quite gentlemanly". With her parents' tentative stamp of approval, Edith's next step will be to break the news that she will be moving to Germany.

Things seem to maybe, just possibly, be looking up for Lady Mary as well. Among the guests at Downton Abbey is Lord Gillingham, Anthony Foyle. His late father had been a friend of the family, but he had not been to Downton in quite some time. The two seem to get on well from the start. Mary is even cheerful enough to go riding with him. During this excursion they discuss her loss and Anthony proves himself to be both comforting and sympathetic to her grief and his kind words seem to give some solace to her. He also offers advice on how to address the issue of the inheritance tax that she faces on Matthew's share of the estate, which in the end is quite helpful. Though as ever, Mary's love life is never without complication. First and foremost, Lord Gillingham is already promised to another woman, Mabel Lane Fox, though he does not seem terribly thrilled about the arrangement and is even so bold as to ask Mary to dinner when she is in London. And then of course, there is always the memory of her belovEd Matthew to contend with. Though it has been over half a year since his tragic death, she still wonders if it is appropriate to consider moving on. Even when she agrees to dance with Anthony, her brief happiness is interrupted by her distress when she realizes the gramophone playing the music is the very same that she and Matthew had danced to mere days before he was to marry Lavinia Swire, when they both realized they were still in love with one another. This new man and her feelings toward him seem to have taken her by surprise and she struggles to balance them with her ever-present sorrow.

Isobel too has difficulty grappling with her loss and Mary's apparent attraction to Lord Gillingham seems to add salt to the wound. Though she wants Mary to be happy and hopes very much that both she and her daughter-in-law can recover from their tragedy, the idea of gaining any true enjoyment from life seems at this point still to be an offense to Matthew's memory. She even resists going to the party at Downton because to her, any minor pleasure she may take makes her feel that she is forgetting her son. The Dowager finally convinces her that it is alright to forget just a little if it means that happiness can return to her life again, and Isobel decides to attend the final night of the house party and the performance of Dame Nellie.

Tom seems to be drowning among the sea of wealthy visitors. Though since Sybil's death the Crawleys have made every effort to make him feel welcome and included in their family, his upbringing has left him quite unprepared for such an event. His "small talk is very small indeed," and he constantly missteps in his efforts to adhere to the proper codes of decorum. By the end of the party he feels completely like "a fish out of water" and turns to an old "friend" for comfort. Since the beginning of the episode, Edna has been worming her way back into his world. This house party provides the opportune moment to remind Tom of same fact she had insisted upon last season- that he is more a servant than a member of the family. She makes him feel that she is one of the only people who understands him. At the end of the episode, she suspiciously slips into what we assume is Tom's room, though the details of what takes place behind the door is left to the imagination for the moment.

Another troublemaker lurks downstairs. As Mary sparks with Lord Gillingham, her lady's maid Anna encounters a full-fledged inferno with his own valet Green. Green first starts problems when Bates catches him flirting with his wife. The tension culminates when Anna takes part in a round of Racing Demon with Green and the rest of the staff. Bates calls an end to the card game because he finds it inappropriate in light of Mrs. Patmore's illness and embarrasses Anna for participating in the frivolity. Later during the concert, as Dame Nellie begins a song "[dedicated]...to love and to lovers," Anna slips away to the servants' quarters to tend to a headache. In the deserted hall, Green approaches Anna. At first it seems that he is just continuing to playfully pursue her, but the situation quickly escalates when he attacks Anna with a forced kiss and then, when she resists his advances, he hits her and drags her into a side room. Her screams of desperation go without notice as the entire house is upstairs at the concert and poor Anna is left without hope of rescue. Only later that night does Mrs Hughes discover Anna cowering in the corner her room, her face badly cut and bruised and her dress torn. Anna begs Mrs. Hughes not tell tell anyone, most of all Bates. She fears his anger would get the best of him if he were to find out about the rape and he would get himself into great trouble by hurting, and maybe even killing Green. When Anna meets her husband in the hallway later she excuses away her disheveled appearance by saying she fainted in The Kitchen and hit her head on the sink. Bates seems not to believe her completely and appears disconcerted as she leaves to take a walk by herself. He calls after her as she walks away, crying, into the black night.

What will go down at Downton Abbey next week? Will Mary's dream become Anna's nightmare as Lord Gillingham and Green become more of a presence at the house? Will Edith soon be singing the German national anthem? Will Edna's scheming bring Tom back to the servant halls? Tune in Sunday, January 19 at 9 PM ET on PBS to find out.

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