‘Downton Abbey’s First Season Finale Embraces the Drama
We can't have him assassinated...I suppose.
The first season of Downton Abbey ends with a literal bang, as Lord Robert announces the start of World War I, but that’s hardly the only world-changing event that takes place across this supersized hour. From a shocking pregnancy and a tragic miscarriage, to multiple proposals, heartbreaks, long-held secrets, and no small amount of petty revenge, it’s... well, it’s a whole lot.
As Cora’s unexpected pregnancy throws the house into turmoil, the prospect of change is in the air. (A change that is narratively reflected in the episode’s – and subsequently the entire series’s — turn towards the decidedly soapy.) But in terms of the show’s story, should Cora give birth to a son, the problem of the entail is essentially moot. That child would become the heir to Downton and Cora’s fortune, effectively bumping Matthew down the line of succession and turning him back into a middle-class lawyer once more.
This is a big deal for the Granthams, obviously, given that Robert’s always wanted a son, and it offers a neat solution to an issue they’ve generally lost hope of fixing. Unless, of course, Mary marries Matthew, which suddenly starts to look a lot more likely than perhaps it once did.
