Downton Abbey Episode 5 Season 4 Recap: Mr. Barrow expects a report from Miss Baxter and she relays the conversation she overheard between Lady Rose and Lady Cora. Lady Rose appears to have a secret she wants Mrs. Hughes to keep. Miss Baxter believes that the secret is trivial, but Mr. Barrow thinks otherwise that he persuades her to gather more information about it. Unbeknownst to him, the secret revolves around the surprise birthday party they have planned for Lord Grantham. Lady Rose had hired a band to play after dinner on the night of his birthday. She wants Mrs. Hughes to keep the band members downstairs while the family is having dinner so as not to ruin the surprise. Lord Grantham, however, learns of the dinner party his family is throwing for him through friends who could not keep a secret. Fortunately, Lady Rose has kept hiring a band to play at the party from everyone except Mrs. Hughes.Continue reading...
Lady Violet notices that the Netsuke ivory carving of a fisherman has gone missing from her desk and suspects young Pegg of the theft. Mrs. Crawley learns that young Pegg has been dismissed from his job as gardener without knowing the reason for it. She confronts Lady Violet about the young man’s termination and reproaches her for her penchant for materialism at the expense of justice. Mr. Spratt’s arrival with news of having found the Netsuke in the maid’s cleaning bucket confirms Mrs. Crawley’s suspicion of young Pegg’s unjust dismissal. Lady Violet, however, maintains her belief that the young gardener took the valuable letter opener. Mrs. Crawley takes it upon herself to investigate. She purposely drops by the Dower House when Lady Violet is not around and feigns dizziness that the butler, Mr. Spratt, may allow her to sit in the drawing room. Mrs. Crawley begins to snoop around the room in search of the valuable letter opener Lady Violet insisted young Pegg pilfered. Her search bore fruit for she found the letter opener stuck down the side of an armchair. Later, Mrs. Crawley returns with Dr. Clarkson keen to reproach Lady Violet for the unjust dismissal of young Pegg. She is surprised to learn that Lady Violet had already hired young Pegg back. In fact, she had explained to him of the reason for his dismissal and apologized for falsely accusing him of theft.
Alfred Nugent has lost his desire for cooking following the rejection from the Ritz Escoffier. He, however, soon receives a letter from the prestigious cooking school offering him a slot after one of the chosen candidates dropped out of the course after receiving a job offer. He is to leave Downton Abbey as soon as possible so as not to miss any more classes. Daisy Robinson could not contain her tears at the news of Alfred’s departure. She blames Ivy Stuart for driving him away. All the same, Alfred is leaving Downton and the family has been informed. He expresses his gratitude for their kindness towards him and also of Mr. Carson’s generosity in being his mentor. Everyone but Daisy bids Alfred goodbye and he knows why. Alfred makes it a point to say goodbye to Daisy. He apologizes for the hurt he has caused her, but explains that he can never be the man for her. Daisy accepts his apology and wishes him good will. Mrs. Hughes asks Mr. Carson about hiring Mr. Molesley as Alfred’s replacement now that they are short of a footman, but Mr. Carson does not intend to hire Mr. Molesley after he hesitantly accepted the job offer. Mr. Carson finds that Mr. Molesley’s hesitance to accept the job of a footman showed ingratitude. Mr. Molesley learns that Downton is in need of a footman and speaks to Mr. Carson about it only to learn that he is no longer being considered as a candidate after he had expressed his disinclination to accept a permanent inferior position. Mr. Molesley speaks with Mrs. Hughes, who is sympathetic to him. Mrs. Hughes comes up with a plan to persuade Mr. Carson to take him on as a footman. She sends for him the day of Lord Grantham’s birthday that he may serve the servants’ tea, a task that shows Mr. Carson his humility. Mrs. Hughes’ plan worked for Mr. Carson gives in and offers Mr. Molesley the position Alfred left vacant.
Lady Edith learns that Michael Gregson has gone missing. To add to her grief, she receives a letter from the doctor she visited in London, which confirms her pregnancy. Lord Grantham finds her in the library in tears. He correctly supposes that his daughter’s grief stems from the disappearance of Gregson and offers to send someone to look for him in Munich. Lady Edith, however, informs him that Gregson’s office already sent a detective to look for him. She just wants to know what has happened to her lover regardless of the dreadfulness of the truth.
Jimmy Kent and Ivy Stuart make their way back to Downton after seeing Rudolph Valentino’s film, The Sheik. They extend their date a little longer and sit on a bench under the moonlight. They begin to kiss passionately, but Jimmy has something else in mind. This disgusts and upsets Ivy, but Jimmy is equally upset for he expects a reward in return for his supposed generosity. Ivy leaves Jimmy after learning of his ulterior motive. Ivy reports the incident to Mrs. Hughes and Ms. Patmore in Daisy’s presence. The incident made her realize of Alfred’s decency, which upset Daisy enough to go into a tirade about how Ivy caused them grief by choosing Jimmy over Alfred.
Anna suggests that she and Mr. Bates go on a date as part of their effort to live past her horrible ordeal. Mr. Bates insists that he is happy whenever he looks at her, but Anna knows this to be a lie. She believes that her rape overshadows everything they do. Mr. Bates agrees with her and begins to understand the necessity of their date. They are to have an evening together where they vow not to think of the ghastly violation done to her. Anna and Mr. Bates arrive at the Netherby hotel where Anna booked a reservation at its restaurant. The arrogant maître‘d who had judged them with the clothes they are wearing refuses them entrance feigning not having their reservation. He adds that there are no tables available for the Countess of Grantham is at the restaurant with a large party. Lady Cora sees Anna and Mr. Bates with the maître‘d and speaks to them with familiarity embarrassing the obsequious maître‘d for behaving rudely to the friends of the Countess of Grantham. By some miracle, he has found Anna and Mr. Bates a table at the restaurant, once he originally said was unavailable. Later, Anna is once again reminded of the violation done to her despite her promise to put it behind for at least one evening. She tells her husband that she is not a victim, while her husband intimates his guilt of failing to protect her. Unfortunately, Lady Cora arrives at their table before they could discuss further. She generously offers them a lift home. The strain between husband and wife did not go amiss with Lady Cora. She conveys her observation to Lady Mary while Miss Baxter is in the room. She had heard that Anna was hurt somehow and that Mr. Bates feels guilty for failing to protect her. Miss Baxter reluctantly relays the information she gathered to Mr. Barrow despite Lady Cora’s request to keep it to herself. Soon, Mr. Barrow learns of the secret Mrs. Hughes is keeping for Lady Rose when the young mistress informs them that a London band from the nightclub, The Lotus, is coming to play after dinner as a surprise gift for Lord Grantham. She asks for their confidence in keeping it a secret so as not to ruin the surprise. Moreover, she asks that they extend hospitality to the musicians who will be staying with them. Mr. Carson assures her that they will behave as expected, but betrays his assertion when the black bandleader, Jack Ross, arrives much to everyone’s shock.
Evelyn Napier arrives with Charles Blake at Downton Abbey after accepting the Crawleys’ invitation for them to reside there for the duration of their project. Lady Mary learns that her understanding of the goal of their project is the opposite of its true objective. Mr. Blake explains that they are to analyze the situation in order to determine whether their society is shifting fundamentally. Their work is not to provide advice to landowners that will allow them to save their estates, but simply to ensure food production for the kingdom. Mr. Blake bluntly relays Mr. Lloyd George’s priority of feeding the population over rescuing the aristocracy. Mr. Blake manages to annoy Lady Mary in the few minutes he has spent at Downton.
The dinner party for Lord Grantham commences. Mr. Blake sits beside Lady Mary giving him another chance to exasperate her. Lady Cora notices her daughter’s annoyance and shares her observation to Evelyn Napier, who explains that Mr. Blake finds people with a sense of entitlement a challenge. Therefore, Lady Mary’s annoyance only encourages him. Evelyn, on the other hand, confesses his enthusiasm for Lady Mary, one Mr. Blake claims he does not share. Mr. Blake finds Lady Mary a person who expects to reap rewards without lifting a finger. He does not find people like her deserving. Evelyn states that the feeling between Mr. Blake and Lady Mary is mutual. Mrs. Crawley hears of Tom’s plan to immigrate to America and speaks to him about it. Tom surprises himself after coming to a realization that he has come to love the Crawleys. Nonetheless, he could not see making a life at Downton especially if he is to marry a commoner. Soon, Lady Cora concludes the dinner and leads the ladies to the drawing room, leaving the gentlemen to drink and converse. However, Lady Rose announces a deviation from the custom and instructs the band that is waiting outside to begin playing music. This surprises everyone and pleases Lord Grantham until he comes across the black bandleader. Lady Edith utters what is in everyone’s mind, but Lord Grantham decides to see past the color of Jack Ross’ skin. He takes Lady Cora for a dance as a gesture of graciously accepting his niece’s birthday present. Even Lady Violet shows progressive thinking when she advises Lady Edith to put aside her provincial mentality. The hosts and the guests dance to the jazz band at Downton Abbey, the very first one to perform at the estate. Mrs. Crawley uses the appearance of a jazz band at a formal dinner party in telling Tom that unexpected changes can come to Downton. He should know for his marriage to a woman of nobility remains the most startling change in the history of Downton Abbey. The dinner party was a success. Lord Grantham enjoyed it so much that he agrees to Lady Mary’s suggestion to cover the bill. Lady Mary goes downstairs to inform Jack Ross when she finds him and Lady Rose kissing passionately. She gives them the courtesy to become aware of her presence, allowing them to compose themselves. Lady Mary says nothing of the incident she had just witnessed.
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