'Downton Abbey' Recap: Season 3 Episode 6

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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Dawn, a few weeks later. As Anna waits in a car outside Bates’ prison, Bates emerges into the courtyard, dressed in a smart suit – he is now free.  He and Anna have an emotional reunion. Back at Downton, Thomas and O’Brien are less than thrilled to see him.

Upstairs at breakfast, Edith has received another note from the editor of The Sketch, who is still interested in hiring her to write a regular column; he has invited her to visit his office in London. Matthew is supportive, but Robert, in a sour mood, is still cynical. He is also unhappy about Matthew having arranged a meeting with Jarvis, the estate’s old-school agent. It’s going to be an uphill climb to convince Robert to make changes. Tom, observing this, is glad to be packing up baby Sybbie and moving to Liverpool.

Robert’s mood lifts instantly when he encounters Bates in the hall, free at last. Bates broaches the subject of getting his old job back, currently held by Thomas, who is clearly on edge about being displaced. Robert assures him he will sort it out, and he promises to arrange a cottage on the estate for Anna and Bates.

Cut to Crawley House, where Isobel has an unexpected guest: Violet, who has come to talk about Ethel working in her house – she believes Isobel has set herself up for scandal and that Ethel is paying the price in the village. Isobel thinks Violet is overreacting; Violet insists she is not. Indeed, later in her car, Violet observes Ethel returning from the grocer in tears – the townspeople have been treating her badly. Learning of this, Isobel is livid.

Edith and Violet discuss the editor’s offer and Robert’s opposition to it. “You told me to find something to do,” Edith reminds her. Violet meant something safer and closer to home. But Edith is adamant – if she likes the editor, she’s taking the job. Violet agrees to help her persuade Robert, who resents her intervention. Cora and Isobel, not surprisingly, stick up for Edith.

In the servants hall, Alfred asks Ivy on a date to see a film in the village. Ivy reluctantly agrees, disappointed that Jimmy won’t be accompanying them. Jimmy isn’t interested in Ivy but doesn’t mind baiting Alfred about her. And Daisy, still crushing on Alfred, can’t understand what he sees in Ivy. Later, Jimmy seethes as Carson favors Alfred and sabotages him while serving at dinner, and O’Brien continues to imply to Thomas that Jimmy is interested in him. (Scorecard needed.)

In the library, Matthew is presenting his bold modernization plans to Robert and Jarvis, who is clearly in Robert’s corner. Matthew insists it’s the way forward if they want to avoid getting back into debt. Robert is very much for maintaining the status quo. Jarvis patronizes an insulted Matthew, who accuses Robert of bailing out Downton with Cora’s fortune. “Downton must be self-supporting if it has a chance for survival,” Matthew declares, frustrated. Dismissively, Jarvis and Robert tell him they will think about his ideas. On his own and to Robert’s ire, Matthew decides to bring in Robert’s lawyer Murray, knowing he will have an ally. Two more allies are Mary and Tom.

Upstairs in Sybbie’s nursery, Mary asks Tom about the baby’s christening. Given that it will be a Catholic ceremony, Tom didn’t think the family would want to attend, except for Mary and Matthew. Tom asks Mary to be Sybbie’s godmother – his older working class brother Kieran is coming from Ireland to serve as godfather. Mary agrees and insists that Kieran stay at Downton. Predictably, Robert wants nothing to do with anything related to Catholics or Catholicism. Later that night, Mary and Matthew discuss their fertility issues. Mary feels that Matthew is worrying needlessly; Matthew is convinced his war injury is to blame.

Doubting Thomas' Career at Downton

As Alfred, Ivy, and two chaperoning maids walk back to Downton after the film, Jimmy and Thomas are left alone in the servants hall. Jimmy confides that he knows Carson doesn’t like him and favors Alfred. Thomas, sympathetic, asks after Jimmy’s family; Jimmy admits he has none living. O’Brien, overhearing, privately lies to Thomas that Jimmy is attracted to him. Thomas, aware that all the other servants are out, decides to take a chance. As Jimmy is sleeping, Thomas slips into his room and tries to kiss him. Unbeknownst to him, Alfred is ascending the stairs, and as Jimmy wakes in a panic, Alfred sees it all. He flees before Jimmy can explain and Jimmy threatens Thomas with bodily harm. Breakfast in the servants hall the next morning is awkward, to say the least.

Edith arrives in London to meet with the editor of The Sketch, Michael Gregson, a handsome man in his early 40s. Gregson commiserates with her about Sir Anthony jilting her at the altar; for his part, he says, he is glad she isn’t married. Sparks fly, and that settles it: Edith takes the job.

The meeting with Murray is explosive, with him and Matthew on one side and Robert and Jarvis on the other. Matthew, having familiarized himself with the books, insists that the estate has been run wastefully for years. Outraged, Jarvis resigns. Robert is furious. Mary is alarmed by the news, and Matthew works hard to reassure her.

That afternoon, Tom’s brother Kieran ensconces himself in the servants hall, where he is holding forth to the vast amusement of the servants. Tom and Mary try to convince him to go upstairs where he belongs. Kieran is insolent, preferring to stay where he is. Tom icily reminds him that he is a guest of the family. Reluctantly, Kieran decamps, and later he hits up an aghast Carson for a beer.

Upstairs at dinner, the family politely inquires about Kieran’s auto repair business, and what Tom and Sybbie’s accommodations would be. “Rooms above the garage,” they are told. Cora is clearly distressed at the thought of her granddaughter growing up in such conditions. Mary asks who is coming to the christening. Everyone agrees to except, predictably, Robert. But Tom movingly convinces him that Sybil would want him there. And later, Violet proposes hiring Tom to replace Jarvis – with a grandfather who was a sheep farmer, Tom has more practical experience than any of them. Cora is in favor of any plan that keeps Sybbie (and Tom) at Downton.

Edith announces that she has taken the job with the newspaper. Reactions are mixed. Later, Isobel is appalled to learn that, without consulting her, Violet and Edith have advertised for a replacement for Ethel. Mrs. Hughes concurs with Violet and Edith – Ethel will be happier working far away from Downton where nobody knows about her past.

Meanwhile, things are still frosty between Jimmy, Alfred, and Thomas, and O’Brien – wanting to doom Thomas for good and indifferent about what happens to Jimmy – urges Alfred to tell Carson what he saw that night; if he doesn’t, Carson might find out on his own and assume Alfred was in on it. Alfred is conflicted but finally does. Carson, outraged, swears Alfred to secrecy and calls Thomas on the carpet; homosexuality is still illegal and Jimmy could report him to the police. Carson decides that Thomas needs to resign; generously, he will provide a reference. O’Brien, unable to settle for merely getting Thomas dismissed, urges Jimmy to press charges so that Thomas will also be arrested. Jimmy is reluctant – he just wants to move past the incident. But O’Brien keeps hounding him, so he approaches Carson to demand that Thomas be given a bad reference. Carson refuses, and Jimmy threatens to go to the police, thereby plunging the family into scandal (Carson’s biggest fear). Thomas, devastated, suspects that O’Brien is behind Jimmy’s betrayal and his withdrawn referral.

A Cricket Match

Robert is caught up in his annual obsession: the house vs. the village cricket match. The village players regularly trounce the house team, but Robert is determined that this year will be different. As Thomas is the best player on the House team, he won’t let him leave until the game is over. He also tries to persuade Tom to play, but Tom (the family outcast as always) has never played cricket and has no interest in learning. Mary, listening to all of this, appears exhausted. She has just returned from a mysterious trip to London and only Cora appears to know the reason. That night, Matthew tries to initiate relations with Mary, but she claims to be “tired.” Matthew is worried that she’s lost interest in him.

Downstairs, Molesley is expounding on his superior skills as a cricketer; everyone is tolerant but sniggers at him behind his back. Meanwhile, as Edith toils away on her column for The Sketch, Violet announces that she has invited her lively 18-year-old grandniece Rose (her cousin Shrimpy’s daughter) to Yorkshire, as the girl “hates London” and will be visiting before her family takes their annual trip to Scotland. Once she arrives, it’s clear that Rose is going to be a handful. At dinner, Edith informs the family that she will need to go to London the following day – suspiciously, Rose immediately begs to accompany her. Edith reluctantly agrees, and Matthew decides to join them as he has business to tend to. 

The three of them arrive at Aunt Rosamund’s London home, and Rose steals away to the study to make a mysterious phone call. Later, we see her outside surreptitiously hailing a taxi, dressed far less demurely. More sparks fly between Edith and her editor Gregson – he likes her work, and her, too. As he grows increasingly flirtatious toward her, Edith decides to have him investigated.

Bates, despite his adversarial relationship with Thomas, is bothered by what has happened to him and wants to help him. He gets the whole story out of Mrs. Hughes and watches as Jimmy, further ginned up by O’Brien, angrily demands that Thomas be cast out immediately.

Edith and Matthew are at Rosamund’s dinner table, waiting for Rose, who is a no-show. Rosamund’s butler ushers in the driver of Rose’s cab to deliver a scarf that she left, and then to report on her whereabouts. She spent two hours with a man at his apartment and they are now at a jazz club. The three of them show up at the club to find Rose dancing, drinking, and canoodling with a friend of her father’s – a married man named Terence Margadale. Matthew draws Rose aside, and she is full of excuses. Margadale wants to marry her, Rose insists, as soon as he can get a divorce from his “horrid” wife. “Married men who wish to seduce young women always have ‘horrid’ wives,” Matthew observes. And with that, they ferry Rose out of the club, leaving Margadale behind.

The following day, Matthew has gotten a clean bill of health from the same fertility specialist whom Mary has been seeing, and he accidentally encounters her arriving as he is on his way out. Over tea, she reveals that she recently had “a small operation” to clear the way for conception. Matthew is initially alarmed but is relieved that the procedure was a success. “Now we can start making babies,” he says happily.

Upon arrival back in Yorkshire, Violet overhears Edith and Rose talking and is now wise to Rose’s affair. She shares the news with Rose’s mother and they arrange for Rose to travel to Scotland in the custody of her aunt Agatha after the cricket match. Rose is furious.

Bates asks a defeated Thomas privately if he knows anything about O’Brien that he can use as leverage to help him. Thomas considers…actually, he does.

The next day, Bates invites O’Brien to tea with him and Anna at their new cottage. There, he asks O’Brien to convince Jimmy to back off from having Thomas arrested, and to allow Thomas to receive a reference. O’Brien scoffs, until Bates whispers something in her ear. Thoroughly spooked, O’Brien runs off…she has a limited window before Bates reveals what he told her, which was: “her ladyship’s soap.” (Neither he nor Anna know what it means.) Later, O’Brien frantically backpedals with Jimmy, who eventually agrees to back off. But Alfred is angry…he wants Thomas to get his comeuppance. But because Robert wants Thomas to play in the cricket match, he is not dismissed and in fact is promoted to underbutler. Jimmy is outraged by this news but is then appeased by his sudden promotion to first footman. And Bates, outranked now, regrets helping Thomas.

Edith’s investigation of Gregson leads to an angry confrontation. Gregson comes clean: he is married, but a divorce is impossible because his wife is permanently housed in an insane asylum and no longer knows him. He is trapped in a loveless marriage. Edith is conflicted but concludes it would be unfair to cut him off entirely.

Among the responses to Violet’s advertisement for a new servant for Isobel is one from a Mrs. Watson who lives very close to the Bryants. Ethel is reluctant, despite her yearning to see her son. But Violet contacts the kind Mrs. Bryant, who has felt uneasy about separating them. Everyone, including Mrs. Bryant, urges Ethel to accept Mrs. Watson’s offer.

Matthew tries and fails to get Robert to come around to his plans, but it is Tom who reminds Robert that he has an important role to play as he is familiar with the estate and its farmers. Robert agrees to consider it, but Tom must play in the cricket match. Exasperated, Tom agrees, and Matthew teaches him how to play.

At the hotly contested cricket match, as Molesley’s much-vaunted skills appear to be nonexistent, the local police suddenly appear. Alfred has reported Thomas’s behavior to them and it takes all Robert’s diplomatic skills to get Alfred to recant his story. The cops aren’t buying it but can do nothing as Alfred won’t be pressing charges.

For the first time in years, after Tom surprisingly makes the winning catch, the House team wins the match.