Aaaaw Shit. Bates knows, man. Gillingham’s valet is back for a visit and reveals to the staff that he thought the opera singer was terrible so he came downstairs during the party. Yep, after Anna and Mrs. Hughes swear to Bates that an intruder broke in and raped Anna during the opera singing, the Slimy Valet unknowingly digs his grave. The death stare from Bates was amazing.
Also amazing? Mrs. Hughes confronting the slime while he slimely buffs some shoes. “I know who you are and I know what you’ve done,” she says. He and Anna were drunk he says and they were both to blame. Mrs. Hughes is not having it. “If you value your life,” she says, you better just “keep to the shadows.” He is relieved to hear that Mr. Bates does not know. But now he does! Thanks to you, Slimy Valet!
(By the way, Mrs. Hughes has been selected as MVP of this season. Voting is closed.)
Bates was very close to being on his way to America with Lord Grantham and would have missed killing the valet slowly with his eyes. Seems LG receives a telegram from Shirley MacLaine asking for his help with Cora’s brother and has to leave right away. But Bates doesn’t want to leave Anna during her traumatic time right now. So Mrs. Hughes the Fixer goes to Mary and asks her to convince her dad to take someone else. Mary insists on knowing why so Mrs. Hughes the Not-So-Great-Secret-Keeper tells her. Mary tells LG to take someone else but doesn’t reveal why because she’s better at it than Mrs. Hughes. So LG takes Thomas instead. They leave but not before Thomas instructs Baxter to find out why.
As family and staff see LG and Thomas off, the Dowager Countess instructs her son to “try not to let those Yankees drive you mad.” She could call me a Yankee all day long and I wouldn’t be offended. That’s why I got a touch concerned when DC became ill. No need to worry because Isobel is on the case! In fact, Isobel stays with Violet night and day to help her recover from bronchitis. Even in her feverishness, Violet is still Violet: in regards to her nurse, Isobel, she says, “…this one talks too much. She’s like a drunken vicar.” Later she’s playing gin with Isobel and asks how long the game goes on for. “Oh ages,” says Isobel. Violet’s reply? “Oh, goody goody.” Which is what I want my alert to be for when I have a meeting at work.
Meanwhile Edith and Rose go to London and stay with Rosamund. Rose runs off to see Jack Ross the bandleader and Edith makes an appointment with a special doctor. Edith confides in Rosamund that she is with child and plans on terminating the pregnancy. She has only received one piece of intel about Gregson: he checked into the hotel in Germany but has not been seen or heard from since. She feels she cannot have the child if he is missing and cannot marry her. Rosamund who could have said, “I told you so!” instead accompanies her niece to the doctor’s office. While waiting her turn, Edith says, “I can’t go back to the nursery. Not with Mary’s son and Sybil’s daughter there.” She then sees a woman breaking down which prompts her to get up and walk out, making the decision to keep the baby.
What else did I learn from Part 6? Downton Abbey has a dehydrated pig! While Mary and Blake are checking out the new pigs, they discover one on the brink of death. While in their fancy dinner clothes, the two of them trot water back and forth to the pen. They even have a short, flirty mud fight. Then she makes him eggs! Both Lord Gillingham and Matthew’s Ghost are politely coughing for attention. In other love news, Ivy is giving Jimmy the cold shoulder while getting excited that Alfred is coming to visit. This causes Carson, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore to make up a story about the flu going around so he doesn’t come by. Alfred stops by anyways and enjoys his new Ivy attention. And Branson once again gets his political on by going to a function and telling the woman next to him that he’s a Socialist. Whatever it takes to get back in the game, Tom.
