‘Downton Abbey’ Recap: Season 6, Episode 8
Previously on Downton Abbey: Mary’s boyfriend Henry Talbot invites the whole Crawley clan and their various hangers on down to the Brooklands race track to watch him and his friend Charlie Rogers drive. They all go and make a day of it, but, sadly, there’s a terrible accident during the race, a car catches fire and Charlie is killed. Henry is devastated, and somehow this is enough of an emotional catalyst to convince Mary that the two of them have to break up, because their lives are too different or some dumb reason. Tom, who has apparently been spending most of his free time writing Henry/Mary fanfiction, is pretty upset about this, and repeatedly attempts to mansplain to Mary that she’s making a terrible choice with her dumb female emotions that are blinding her to Henry’s perfection. (Shut up, Tom. We all know he’s right about Henry, but he could stand to not be such a jerk about it.) In happier news, Molesley passes his special exam, and is offered a job as a teacher at the village school (YAY!), Bertie Pelham proposes to Edith (even though she hasn’t technically said yes yet) and Mrs. Hughes teaches Carson a lesson about his constant complaining regarding her cooking. Oh, and ROBERT GOT A NEW PUPPY OMG.
(If you need a more in-depth refresher, last week's recap is right this way.)
Edith Finally Catches a Break. Not only does a nice boy finally want to marry Edith, but that nice boy just got a major lifestyle upgrade. It turns out that Bertie’s cousin whose name I don’t even remember has died in Tangiers, and because he was a “confirmed bachelor” who hadn’t yet bothered to make a marriage for convenience’s sake, Bertie’s now the heir to Brancaster Castle and set to become the next Marquess of Hexham. This means that Edith is about to marry her way into a serious title, and will outrank her entire family, even Robert and Violet! So, you know, good for her.
