‘Downton Abbey’ Recap: Thomas Finally Puts The Moves On Jimmy

Sadly, Thomas’ first encounter with Jimmy didn’t exactly go as planned. Could he be fired from the abbey?

Bates (Brendan Coyle) returned to Downton Abbey a free man on the Feb. 10 episode, but in true Downton fashion, his return was interrupted by scandal of a most scandalous nature.

Let’s start with the most scandalous of all: Thomas (Rob James-Collier) finally put the moves on Jimmy (Ed Speleers)! It wasn’t quite as romantic as I’d hoped it would be, though, considering it was basically rape. After O’Brien (Siobhan Finneran) filled him with false hope, Thomas crept into Jimmy’s room while he was sleeping and kissed him.

But their Sleeping Beauty moment was interrupted by Alfred, who had just returned from a super-awkward date with Ivy. Jimmy awoke with a fright, screaming at Thomas and insisting to Alfred that the encounter was not as it seemed. Jimmy ended up reporting Thomas to Carson, who reacted just as angrily and homophobic-ally as you’d expect.

Robert Vs. Matthew Vs. Fertility

Meanwhile, Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Matthew (Dan Stevens) spent most of the hour squabbling about how to run the estate. It was mostly a lot of boring gobbledigook, but it did allow Mr. Jarvis to say this amazing line: “I am the old broom, you are the new. I wish you luck with your sweeping.”

Then Matthew asked Mary (Michelle Dockery) if she should see a doctor about his seemingly malfunctioning peen. She told him not to worry.

Oh Tom’s Brother, Where Art Thy Mustache?

Tom’s brother — who the Dowager Countess aptly described as a “drunken gorilla” — paid the abbey a visit this week. There’s really not much to say about him, other than he had a mustache and was very rude. He actually looked like a skinny Ron Swanson.

Edith Crawley, Journalist

After accepting the newspaper editor’s proposition, Edith formally announced at dinner that the Crawleys now had a journalist in the family, clearly forgetting they already have one — and he was sitting right across from her.

I leave you with this incredible exchange between Edith and Violet, re: Ethel being treated like Hester from The Scarlett Letter:

Violet: “What is The Scarlet Letter?”
Edith: “A novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne.”
Violet: “It sounds most unsuitable.”

What did you think of this week’s episode? Will you be disappointed if Thomas is fired from Downton? Do you think Matthew & Mary will be able to have kids? And when will this family stop dumping on poor Edith? Drop a comment with your personal review of the episode!

— Andy Swift