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October 30, 2011 By jonathan Leave a Comment

It’s now 1919 and our characters are trying to get back to normal after the turmoil of The Great War. As normal as normal can be. But everyone has been changed by the war, including the dowdy Dowager Countess.

I don’t want to give away what happened to Mrs. Bates for the sake of American fans who won’t see it until January – so I’ll leave that topic well alone but we haven’t seen the last of that plot thread and it goes down a new route.

Lord Grantham finds himself tempted by the help. I’m a little disappointed that they take him down the route – but it rather makes sense because his character feels lost and out of control in the new post war world.

Sir Richard is back on the scene and he’s as shady as ever. He’s makes it ever more clear that he’s not a man of principle and this does not impress Mr. Carson who changes his mind about a major decision. I feel bad for Mr. Carson as Lady Mary says some rather hurtful things to him in exchange – something she just loves to do when she doesn’t get her way.

Lady Cybil and Branson get up to no good – predictable no good but I just don’t see the chemistry between them so I don’t see how it’s going to work. Matthew’s situation doesn’t appear to be as dire as everyone thought it would be – which is good but I won’t spoil it further.

There were a few moments that bordered on soap opera when the grandparents of Ehtel’s illegitimate child come onto the scene. Thomas has a new scheme to make a life for himself and it had a rather interesting conclusion.

The most surprising scene of the episode is when the Dowager Countess reveals herself to be an old romantic.

We have one more episode to go before this second series of Downton Abbey is over and many of the season’s plots are starting to wrap up. I hope they save a few for the Downton Abbey Christmas special!

What did you think of Downton Abbey Series 2 Episode 7? Let us know in the comments