Downton Abbey Asks, When Is A Letter A Will?

My Baby Wrote Me A Letter (That's Probably Legally Non-Binding)

Alert Type: "The Estate" Alert.

Issue: Someone cleaned out Matthew's old law office and sent over a box of his effects, including a letter in which he stated that he wanted Mary to be his sole heir.

Complicating Factors: Instead of going straight to Mary as it probably should have, the box makes a pit stop with Lord G so that he can make sure there's nothing in it that might make her cry, so he's the first one to see the letter, and hesitates to show it to her in case it's not actually legally binding and therefore might raise her hopes for no good reason.

Resolution: The Dowager C is like, "Uh, obviously you have to show the letter to Mary, you idiot," so he does, and she's mad that so many other people have gotten to look at it before she has.

On The Road (Crew)

Anna's on an errand in town when she spots Molesley working on a road crew, which I guess is a gigantic step down from being a valet? He's not trying to hear her attempts to put a good face on things by saying that it's skilled work, at least, and says he can't wait for a better job because he has debts around town. She offers to give him some money, but he's not trying to hear that either. So when she reports all this to Bates, he hatches a plan to trick Molesley into taking some money by producing a fake IOU and "paying back" the money he "borrowed" from Molesley "in the past," and Molesley falls for it, probably because he wants to. Apparently the main thing Bates learned in prison was how to be nice to people who are too proud to accept help, which is not exactly how it seems if you watch Oz?

Dignity = £30

Accessory After The Fact

Alert Type: Sketchy Maid Alert.

Issue: Edna's somehow ruined something of Cora's, and this transgression is so mind-blowingly shocking that we never actually get a good look either at what the item is or what Edna did to it.

Complicating Factors: Edna has lately struck up a friendship with Thomas, so now that she's under his wing, shenanigans will ensue.

Resolution: Thomas tells Cora that Anna wrecked the...thing — "There's no one so jealous as a lady's maid," after all; Cora complains to Lord G; Lord G scolds Anna through Bates; Bates passes this on to Anna, who's like, "Huh?" And Edna and Thomas are bonded IN DECEPTION!

Canned Heat In Her Heels

The Symbol: Rose's jazz records (and her flyer for a "thé dansante" in the village).

The Scene: Rose invites Anna into her room to ask if she'll chaperone Rose to the dance; she hasn't bothered asking any of the Crawley ladies if she can go because she's pretty sure she'd need to have a chaperone lined up for them even to consider it.

The Meaning: Rose is a free spirit, and her excitement about mixing socially with farmers and servants means she is part of the changing world that is changing!

Alice Doesn't Live Anymore

Alert Type: Love Triangle Alert.

Issue: Grigg's still around Downton, getting his strength back from the mold and grossness of the workhouse, which means he's still on Carson's mind.

Complicating Factors: Grigg married Alice Neal, the girl Carson loved, and Carson still can't forgive him.

Resolution: Carson decides to get over himself and see Grigg off to the theatre manager job Isobel finds for him, whereupon Grigg tells Carson that (a) Alice died, and (b) she told him that she should have chosen Carson; then Carson tells Isobel he wants to reimburse her for any Grigg-related expenses, which as we all know is the purest expression of love that an Englishman is capable of.

Getting Even With Dad

Who called the meeting? The Dowager C.

What's it about? Since there's a chance that Mary is going to end up inheriting half the estate once this letter business is sorted out, she wants Mary to get more confident in opposing Lord G where he's wrong, and thinks it will help if Tom basically tutors her in estate management.

How'd it go? Pretty well, probably because everyone pretty much agrees that Lord G is kind of a tinpot dictator.

Teutonic Love Story

Michael's still planning to move to Germany so he can get a divorce, schnell; Edith still wants him to come to Downton so that her family can meet him and possibly get used to the idea of the two of them hooking up in the eyes of the Lord. Then he's like, "Why not stay and Do Sex to me?" and she's like, "It's getting harder and harder to say no." (Is "harder and harder" the first TWSS in history?!)

This Dude Sam vs. Some Bro From The Village

Rose having managed to get Anna to get Mary's permission to chaperone her to the dance, Rose the stupid idiot passes herself off as a Downton housemaid so that she won't scare off any of the local himbos who want to dance with her. Of course, she takes a shine to this guy Sam, and of course when some other dude tries to cut in, a fight breaks out, probably because Rose is the only girl in the place with access to face cream that's not made entirely of sheep by-products, and Jimmy, who also happens to be there, has to hustle to get Rose and Anna out of there.

Winner: Rose, the reason a couple of lowly-born boners started punching each other!

This dude Sam shows up to make sure Rose is okay and she has to put on a housemaid's uniform and let him down easy by claiming she's already promised to a farmer!

Edith arrives home for dinner VERY LATE — so late, in fact, that she's going to have to dine in her DAY CLOTHES. WHAT HAS SHE BEEN DOING OR SHOULD I SAY WHO?!

Lord G reports that Matthew's letter is, somehow, legally binding, meaning that Lord G and Mary are equal owners of Downton Abbey, and that Matthew, the world's worst lawyer, actually did one thing accidentally right! Mary immediately tells Lord G she doesn't think, as he does, that they should sell some of their land and use the proceeds to pay the death duties off in full, and now before any decision is made about it, he's going to have to talk to Mary and they'll have to come to civil agreement between them!