Hang on until the end, because this episode is a tear-jerker.
ONE
Amiens, 1918. Establishing shot of a wasteland battlefield with shells dropping in the distance. Inside the bunker, William outfits Matthew. They prepare, it appears, for a horrendous campaign. The troops smoke, pray, and take a last look at letters from home. The mood is grim and fatalistic. As the English charge, the Germans in their own bunkers mow them down.
TWO
Cut to Daisy in the kitchen. She pauses, a goose walking over her grave, as she says.
Back to the fighting. Matthew in the vanguard. Cut to Mary in the parlor as she drops her tea cup. She also has a premonition. And back to the war. An explosion. The camera moves over a rise to show us Matthew in a ditch, William sprawled on top of him. Alive or dead is unknown. It appears that William knocked Matthew out of the way, saving him, but the footage is too chaotic to tell for sure.
Moon over Downton. O’Brien, in mobcap, enters the master bedroom to awaken Cora and Robert. Downstairs, Molesley waits. He’s had a telegram for Mrs. Crawley (who’s still away) and brought it to the big house. Matthew’s not dead. He’s patched up and coming to Downton hospital. We see Cora’s and the daughters’ reactions. Carson in robe enters, and behind him is the rest of the staff, wanting to hear the news. Matthew’s seriously wounded, and William’s fate isn’t known.
THREE
The next day Anna and Bates in the courtyard discuss the news update: William is in hospital and it sounds bad.
Haha, next scene is Violet elegantly ripping into the Doctor. It doesn’t matter if Downton hospital is for officers, get a bed for our village lad. The Doctor stands firm, though, behind military order.
FOUR
At the servant’s table the evil smokers wish Matthew and William well. In comes Daisy with the news William’s father must travel to Leeds to see him, leaving his farm and spending money he doesn’t have.
Mary prepares to go to the hospital to wait for Matthew. (Err — I thought their house was the hospital? The show gets these locations a little mushy.) And Lavinia must stay with them when she arrives, Mary says. We get a moment of Robert staring at his daughter, recognizing the change in her.
Bates and Anna walk to church to pray, but inside they only discuss Mrs. Bates. She’s gone for good, says Bates. (Well, that seems like a doomed statement. Tempting fate in front of the cross, and everything.)
And, as Patmore in the kitchen comforts Daisy, in walks the woman herself, Vera Bates.
Meanwhile, Granny is still on the William case, wielding influence with the aristocracy on his behalf.
Vera, speaking privately with Bates and Anna, says she’ll spill the beans about Mary and the Turkish gentleman. “You gave me your word,” says Bates, surprised. (Oh, sweetie.)
Sybil asks Branson to drive her to the hospital so she can wait with Mary. Branson’s a snotty jerk as he puts on his jacket. (I guess this moves their eventual romance forward, but the passive-aggressive tone is not appealing.)
Finally, we see one of our lads. Mr. Mason sits with his son, William, who doesn’t look too bad. Violet meets with the Leeds doctor; she’s arranged it and an ambulance is on the way to transport him. What’s wrong with him, she asks. His body has sustained too much damage. He may look fine, but he won’t survive. His lungs were fatally injured in the blast.
Matthew’s stretcher has arrived. Mary wants to help, and the Doctor asks her to hang back. His condition may distress her. Nope, she won’t. Push in on Mary as Matthew’s settled. His face is pretty beat up, especially his eye sockets. He’s breathing, but he hasn’t regained consciousness. The tag on his chest says, “Probable spinal damage.” Sybil says, “It can mean anything,” and lifts his uniform pile away. Wow, out drops Mary’s little snuggly toy. I guess it wasn’t lucky, Sybil says. “He’s alive, isn’t he?” says Mary. Sybil suggests Mary should leave as she’s going to bathe away the blood. Mary asks, “How hot should the water be?” Massive trooper. Great arc. Terrifically played.
Sunrise. Daisy watches, tears in her eyes, through the window as William is carried into a room.
The evil smokers sit on the back stairs and discuss Vera. O’Brien won’t stand by and let her hurt the house (even though she’s the one who informed Vera that Bates was back, lol.)
As Anna undresses Mary in her room they discuss Vera’s secret. Mary prepares to go to London and tell Sir Richard and ask his help. She’ll take the consequences.
William is tucked in a nice bed with Edith attending him. He won’t be alone for a moment, she tells Mason. He looks so perfect, they say. Just a few little cuts on the face. (Is this diagnosis of lung damage a real-life thing? It feels like a dramatic device.)
Whoo, boy. Robert peeks around the privacy curtain at Downton as the Doctor examines Matthew. We see his back, absolute meat, as Doctor palpates. Lavinia arrives, and Mary greets her. Doctor comes out to tell them the spine is damaged and Matthew won’t walk again. Otherwise, he should recover. Lavinia breaks down crying. Whoa! While Mary comforts Lavinia, Doctor pulls Robert aside. Matthew will not be able to father children. (Oh, the drama over who will inherit Downton continues.) Lavinia sits with him and he calls her, “My darling.”
SWITCH
Hard cut to Hughes catching the village bus. She’s bringing a basket for Ethel and the new baby. The father wants nothing to do with the child. Hughes tells her the Major is coming to Downton for a visit. Ethel goes off, wanting to see him, wanting Hughes to intervene. No way, Hughes indicates. She’s already feeding her from the house’s stores. Hughes obviously disapproves, yet she continues to help.
FIVE
Patmore drags Daisy down the hall to William’s room. He’s sitting up and Edith tends to him. Daisy takes his offered hand, all the while trying to get out. William has a question, though: Will you marry me now? Edith jumps in with, “You need rest.” Daisy grabs onto that.
Hughes interviews a woman. (Boy, Hughes is used with no transition to change plot points. Jarring.)
Matthew rests, his face still quite cut up, and dreams of Mary. He wakes, and there she sits at his bedside. Lavinia’s gone to unpack. How’s William, he asks her. Not so good. I can’t feel my legs, he says. Mary tries to dissemble, but he keeps saying, “Tell me.” So she does. She’s so brave and smooth. Only when she walks away does she fall apart.
Oh, crap, here’s Hughes approaching the Major in the Downton mess hall. He’s perfectly polite and firm. He won’t take the letter from her, and he won’t continue the conversation. It’s as humiliating for Hughes as she predicted it would be.
Cut from that scene to a leather glove and the corner of a red velvet hat. It’s Mary with Sir Richard. When I’ve saved you, he says, am I still expected to marry you? That’s up to him, it seems. Oh, he likes the notion of the high and mighty Lady being more socially and morally equal to him. (He’s pretty toadish. Run, Mary!) “As my future wife you’re entitled to be in my debt.”
Ah, and now Carson speaks to Robert about the housemaid situation. (Hughes’ interview starts to come together.) The woman who applied is a local widow with a son. Her husband died in the war, and now she must earn. After it’s settled, Cora breezes through. She’s too busy to handle the household affairs, and she can’t attend an event they’d scheduled together.
In the kitchen Patmore works on Daisy, who doesn’t want to marry William. I can’t lie to a dying man, says Daisy.
Lavinia, strong and supportive, sits with Matthew. He tells her something she may not have considered: they can never be properly married. Lol, she doesn’t seem to understand what he’s saying. Ah, now she gets it. He offers to release her from the engagement. Whoa, no, it’s stronger. “Go home. I won’t steal away your life.”
And here’s Sybil in the garage again, this time to give Mary’s arrival instructions to Branson. He asks after William, then he says, “They shot the czar and all of his family.” Okay, we remember how idealistic he was about the Russian Revolution a few episodes ago. Oh, dear, he defends the action. “The future needs terrible sacrifices.” As she moves to leave he touches her. While they’re close, he turns the political news to their personal choices: A hard sacrifice for a future worth having. For a moment they might have kissed, then Sybil leaves.
Back to Richard. He’s meeting with Vera over exclusive rights to her story for his newspaper.
Daisy sifts flour and thinks. Oh, Hughes and Patmore talk in the kitchen: William knows his diagnosis. And he wants to see you, Daisy. Patmore bullies her and Hughes just says, “Shall I tell him you won’t come?” Up she goes, and William asks his father to give them a moment. He rasps out that she must marry him now because she’d be a war widow with a pension. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Daisy’s honesty and reluctance meet William’s purity and concern. Well done.
A crying Lavinia sits on her bed. In comes Mary, who must have heard her from the hall. Lavinia berates herself for not understanding sooner that she and Matthew can now never be lovers. Mary hadn’t put that together, either. As Lavinia explains Matthew’s reactions, we get Mary in foreground focus as she takes it all in. Lavinia’s final statement is: “I’ll die if I can’t be with him.”
At breakfast Robert reads the paper. To the shock of all, he reads out the announcement of Mary’s engagement to Richard. Carson breaks in to ask if staff can attend William’s wedding this afternoon.
SIX
Oh, dear, the reverend has concerns that the kitchen maid is manipulating the young man. Lol, he speaks of this to Violet. (Bad move, guy.) Again, she’s quite polite as she reminds him that his entire living is due to the Granthams, and she expects to attend William’s wedding.
SEVEN
Hughes brings her basket to Ethel and makes clear the Major wants nothing to do with her. She muses how they’re about to hire a war widow with a child. Ethel is struck hard by it.
A loud woman’s voice, and it’s Vera storming into Richard’s office. “You tricked me!” He threatens her, and she realizes she has no recourse. But Bates she can still go after, and she will.
EIGHT
The new widow maid accidentally bursts in on Robert in the library. (Oh, okay, it’s this plotline. I’d forgotten. Sigh.) They’re interrupted by Hughes, although they do exchange a little moment of sympathy.
Daisy has a curly hair-do. (The over-tight bun gets a break on her wedding day.) She’s obviously overwhelmed by the event. Oh, Mr. Carson offers his arm. That’s sweet. Oh, my. First we see the vicar read the vows, then the camera pulls out to show William in bed, Daisy at bedside. The canopy bedframe is bedecked and the quilt is embroidered satin. We get close-ups: a struggling William, a teary-eyed Violet, the rest of staff, Edith, Mason next to Daisy. As William places the ring on Daisy’s finger, the emotion level goes higher. Anna’s lip quivers. It’s very tender. When it’s time to kiss the bride, Daisy leans in. William looks peaceful, and Daisy lets no regrets show.
Mary sits with Matthew. He pities himself and Mary listens, then holds the pan as he vomits. As they talk, we see a view from the door, and into frame walks Isabelle. She’s frozen at the door until Mary, holding the sick pan, startles and greets her as she passes by. Isabelle walks to the bed — tight angle on her face — and we get the reverse angle on Matthew’s emotional face. (Okay, I’m bawling.) Damn, those two killed it.
NINE
As Mary goes upstairs she meets Bates. She updates him on Richard’s silencing of Vera. A threat hangs in the air, but for now Vera seems handled.
Patmore enters the sick room and offers to sit with William so Daisy can rest. She won’t leave him, not while he needs her. “He doesn’t need you no more, Daisy,” says Mason. (Oh, boy, more tears.) The last shot is William’s peaceful face.
CRITICAL NOTES
Like I said, a good cry. Just solid, human emotion during trial and turmoil. Well done.
However, now I see why the Hughes scenes feel so abrupt and disconnected from the rest of the storylines. She’s serving as a beat marker. In a way, what are you going to do as the writer? Matthew’s spinal injury is a plot, William’s impending death is another. They don’t have a natural transition. Inject Hughes doing things — visiting the baby, hiring a new maid — in order to advance the story. Frankly, it’s more clumsy than I would like, but it works.
I absolutely adore that the Dowager bullying others are the Three/Six mirrors. What’s the point of being an aristocrat, especially an older one, if you can’t throw your weight around?
And the Eight comes at us full force. The wedding, and the return of Isabelle Crawley, are delivered with a light touch, not too maudlin, yet they hit. The acting is superlative, the writing is gentle, and the climax is very moving. Whatever imperfections happen earlier, this episode is worth every moment. Beautiful work.