'Downton Abbey' Recap: Season 3 Episode 4

Downton Abbey airs Sundays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream by WTTW Passport members. Recap the previous episode.
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Several weeks have passed, and a bedridden Sybil is in the very final stages of her pregnancy. Dr. Clarkson assures the family that everything appears to be progressing normally. Robert, in true British aristocratic tradition, has decided to bring in a society doctor, Sir Phillip Tapsell, to oversee the actual birth. Clarkson is resigned, accustomed to the slight. Cora objects: Tapsell doesn’t know Sybil whereas Clarkson has treated her all her life. To appease her, Robert reluctantly agrees to allow Clarkson to consult on the case.

Downstairs, to Ivy’s bewilderment, Daisy is still being hateful to her. And Thomas is subtly flirting with the new footman Jimmy, who is, for now, oblivious. O’Brien is not, and later, she encourages Jimmy to let Thomas instruct him on the delicate process of winding the clocks. He does, but Thomas gets a little handsy and Jimmy notices. Later, he shares his concerns with O’Brien, which is music to her ears. It’s nothing to worry about, she assures Jimmy. Thomas is just being friendly.

Matthew tries to impress upon Mary the ill effects of Robert’s extravagances. She doesn’t take it very seriously until they tour some of the dilapidated farms on the estate. After that, she is more receptive to Matthew’s ideas for modernization. They hope to be expecting a child soon.

Sybil, meanwhile, just wants her pregnancy over with – her back aches, her ankles are swollen, and she has a headache, she complains to Mary. She is also fretting about her baby’s christening – she wanted it to happen in Dublin so the family couldn’t prevent her baby being christened a Catholic. Mary promises Sybil that she’ll “fight her corner if it comes to it.”

Bates reveals to Anna that he has uncovered a new clue in Vera’s death: After all the food in the kitchen was tested for poison, the only place it was found was in the pastry Vera was making. She had to have put it there herself after Bates left, to frame him for her “murder.” Anna, furious, hopes Vera is burning in hell. She shares Bates’ conclusion with Robert, who will send his lawyer Murray to try to persuade Vera’s friend Mrs. Bartlett to corroborate the story. Bates isn’t out of the woods yet, though: his former cellmate Craig is plotting against him with a corrupt prison guard who could keep Mrs. Bartlett from cooperating.

Isobel has summoned Ethel to Crawley House now that her son Charlie is gone to the Bryants. Ethel, no longer having another mouth to feed, has managed to avoid going back to prostitution, but still can’t find a respectable job. Isobel offers her a position as a kitchen assistant to Mrs. Bird. Ethel worries about how her presence will affect Isobel’s reputation but grudgingly agrees, knowing it won’t be that simple. And it isn’t: Mrs. Bird refuses to work alongside a former prostitute. She expects Isobel to take her side, but to her chagrin, ends up out of a job.

That evening at dinner, the arrogant Tapsell is pontificating about his successes with past royal pregnancies. Mathew privately asks Tapsell if his war injury and temporary paralysis might have affected his own fertility. Tapsell loftily advises him to be patient: “anxiety is the enemy of pregnancy.”

At breakfast, Edith reveals to Robert and Matthew that the editor of the ladies magazine The Sketch, impressed with her published letter in the Times, has offered her a weekly column. Robert retorts that the editor is interested only in broadcasting Edith’s title and intends to make a fool out of her. Matthew thinks Robert is being too harsh; Edith is bitter about her accomplishments being dismissed.

That evening at dinner, Robert and Tapsell try to talk Cora out of having the lowly Clarkson involved in Sybil’s baby’s birth. Cora politely but firmly insists; she has promised and wants him there.

In the kitchen, just as Alfred is about to go upstairs to serve the hollandaise sauce, Ivy discovers that it has curdled. Alfred quietly instructs Ivy to beat an egg into it, miraculously restoring it. He credits Ivy, and Daisy is forced to thank her rival for saving the day. Mrs. Patmore advises Daisy to stop the rudeness; it won’t work with Alfred.

Not that the sauce matters – just as the main course is about to be served, Sybil goes into labor and Tapsell and the women, save Violet, hastily decamp upstairs.

A Difficult Birth

Later, Clarkson, with Tapsell glowering beside him, confronts the family: he is worried about Sybil’s symptoms, noting that in addition to the conditions Sybil complained of earlier, the fetus is unusually small and she is “muddled.” Tapsell insists that everything is normal. Robert is firmly on Team Tapsell, but the others worry that Clarkson has valid concerns. Tapsell takes Clarkson aside for a private conversation, during which Clarkson vehemently shares his opinion that Sybil may be “toxemic with a danger of eclampsia.” Tapsell thinks Clarkson is just trying to impress the family with his medical knowledge and warns him not to interfere – Sybil is perfectly fine. Clarkson seethes.

Over at Isobel’s, Ethel is clumsily attempting to fill in for the departed Mrs. Bird. But she can’t cook and has burned yet another dinner. (Horror of horrors: Ethel can’t make tea either.) Isobel is having buyer’s remorse. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bird has written to her friend Molesley at Downton, and now Carson is scandalized to learn about Ethel’s employment at Crawley House. Mrs. Hughes tries to defend Isobel’s kind action and thinks the whole thing will blow over. Carson forbids any of the staff to visit Crawley House while Ethel is there, so as not to be tainted by association.

Upstairs, Tom is at Sybil’s bedside. She is in excruciating pain, sliding in and out of delirium, and is convinced she’s shirking her nursing duties. Tom is alarmed and Tapsell is complacent. But Cora appears with a determined Clarkson, who insists on doing another test. He and Tapsell argue but Cora prevails. After testing, Clarkson makes his case to the family: Sybil is at strong risk of eclampsia, and if so, her baby needs to be delivered immediately via caesarian section (a then-highly risky procedure) – otherwise a natural birth will send Sybil into seizures and almost certain death. Tapsell vociferously dismisses Clarkson’s diagnosis and Robert takes his side, with Cora on Clarkson’s. But it’s not his decision: as Sybil’s husband, it’s Tom’s. Both doctors argue their case to him, Clarkson pleading desperately for Sybil’s life. But a scream from the next room means it’s too late – fate has taken over.

Hours later as Robert, Tom, Matthew, and Violet wait impatiently in the library, Mary breaks the good news: the baby is a healthy girl and Sybil is fine. As everyone is leaving after admiring the baby, Sybil pulls Cora aside: Tom intends to take her and the baby to Liverpool to accept a job as a mechanic. Sybil argues that it would be wrong for Tom and asks Cora to intercede with Robert to keep them at Downton. Cora encourages Sybil to sleep – they will talk about it tomorrow.

But they won’t. In the middle of the night, the family is suddenly roused from sleep…something is very wrong with Sybil. As family quickly gathers in Sybil’s bedroom, she thrashes on the bed, shrieking. She begins to seize, unable to breathe. Robert demands to know what’s going on. As a stunned Tapsell retreats to the corner of the room, Clarkson grimly informs them, “This is eclampsia.” Once the seizures begin, he tells them, “there’s nothing to be done.” While the others stand frozen in place, a weeping Tom, Mary, and Cora beg Sybil to try to breathe. But she can’t, and as they watch in horror, she dies. As everyone tries to absorb what just happened, off in the distance, Sybil’s baby howls.

The downstairs staff is devastated (including, perhaps not surprisingly, Thomas), and Cora sits alone by Sybil’s bedside, promising to protect Tom and the baby. She demands that Robert sleep in another room – she wants nothing to do with him.

The next morning, Robert’s lawyer Murray, unaware of the tragedy, arrives to speak with Anna about next steps in Bates’ case. Afterward, Matthew pulls Murray aside to discuss the sorry state of Robert’s accounts, but Mary walks in on them and is furious with Matthew for what she sees as a betrayal of her father at such an inappropriate time.

As the undertakers arrive to take possession of Sybil’s corpse, Mary and Edith bond over her body and try to comfort Tom, who is adrift and in shock. That afternoon, a somber Violet arrives in full mourning to be with the family. Cora, brimming with grief and anger, is off to write an apology to Clarkson for their behavior – if they had listened to him, she tells the family, Sybil might still be alive, but “your father and Sir Phillip knew better, and now she’s dead.” Violet tries to assure Robert that he is not to blame – lots of women die in childbirth. But Robert, heartbroken, knows Cora is right.

At an upstairs window, Tom, now alone and a widower, cradles his motherless baby and wonders what comes next.