In the new movie of "Downton Abbey", the best written character was Tom Branson, a romantic, idealistic young man hired here to be the new chauffer. He's handsome but politically rebellious, even though he seems to hit it off with family patriarch Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville). Over the next 5 1/2 seasons, he will go through much suffering even though after the death of his wife had hardly any romantic story. That changes in the movie, and Tom becomes one of the most touching characters of the series as his romantic tendencies are revealed. Here, an instant attraction is felt with Sybil but wisely underplayed to let the situation develop subtly. Mrs. Hughes finds an old flame (showing that even the most sensible of characters can have a "past") which she deals with in a very touching way, offering her gratitude towards her rather gruff but lovable suitor. Thomas continues to flirt with Daisy which causes friction with the love-starved William, and Daisy gets dragged into Thomas's insincere intentions. Mary gets to show a bit more vulnerability with Matthew, but her snarkiness with Edith continues. Sybil helps Gwen with a potential job, and Lady Violet continues to go head to head over situations at the hospital.
The local fair setting sets up some nice little plots in showing how the servants manage to work closely together even though thanks to Thomas and O'Brien they are often at odds. Mary reveals her own inner feelings about herself when she tells Matthew, "You should learn to forget what I say. I know I do." Too bad she doesn't admit this to show some vulnerability or kindness to her sister, Edith, whom she obviously resents for having simply been the second born, even though she adores youngest sibling Sybil. A telling scene between Daisy and Mrs. Pathmore shows the older woman's hidden feelings for her kitchen assistant whom she often berates cruelly out of her inability to share how she feels. This is the first real episode where Sybil has anything substantial to do, especially when she reveals what she really thinks about O'Brien. Jim Carter is also very touching as he reveals to Mary why she is his favorite out of all the girls, although that would never be my feeling towards Mary who can be as equally as odious as O'Brien is. All in all a nice episode where more details about each of the core characters are revealed.
The local fair setting sets up some nice little plots in showing how the servants manage to work closely together even though thanks to Thomas and O'Brien they are often at odds. Mary reveals her own inner feelings about herself when she tells Matthew, "You should learn to forget what I say. I know I do." Too bad she doesn't admit this to show some vulnerability or kindness to her sister, Edith, whom she obviously resents for having simply been the second born, even though she adores youngest sibling Sybil. A telling scene between Daisy and Mrs. Pathmore shows the older woman's hidden feelings for her kitchen assistant whom she often berates cruelly out of her inability to share how she feels. This is the first real episode where Sybil has anything substantial to do, especially when she reveals what she really thinks about O'Brien. Jim Carter is also very touching as he reveals to Mary why she is his favorite out of all the girls, although that would never be my feeling towards Mary who can be as equally as odious as O'Brien is. All in all a nice episode where more details about each of the core characters are revealed.