HarshBench

I so need a Tom/Larry showdown.

I think Tom will announce he is going to America, but will stay until Rose's wedding is over. Not much time passes between 8 and the CS, I think. He wouldn't be likely to make the journey twice.

Then in the CS I think something will change his mind. And I hope to God it is a potential love interest. After all, he's been thinking about this for three years. Once he's made the final big life-changing decision? It would have to be something important to make him change his mind. Not just "realizing he loves the family" or something because he knew that already. A game-changer.

I think it's possible that the whole scene at the dinner with Larry and maybe his brother being unpleasant (and probably disapproving of Isobel) might push Tom over the edge. Because yes, he feels at home with the Crawleys but their circle of friends? Not so much. They are not "his people" and he's not one of them. And if anyone is going to remind him of THAT, it's Larry.

Andorra

Is it possible that the wedding will take in 5.8 after all?



I think this looks like a wedding picture of Rose and Atticus, doesn't it?

But if the wedding is already happening in 5.8, why is Tom staying if the decision is indeed to leave for America? I thought it was for the wedding.

Maybe it is a whole different decision after all? Or it will be resolved in 5.8 already? I don't dare to hope for that!

I'm really curious.

ClaireK80

Episode 7:
some spoilers about Edith / Marigold in this article: Downton's Laura Carmichael says Edith is determined to keep Marigold | TV | Entertainment

Episode 8:
I don't know if that is Rose and Atticus' wedding picture, she doesn't seem to be wearing a wedding dress. Engagement picture maybe? Also I don't understand why Violet's maid is in London together with "other servants"? Maybe the Dowager is there with Susan and Shrimpie for the wedding?
BTW, episode 8 is 90 minutes, so it's possible both the wedding and the war memorial ceremony are happening. But I still hope the wedding is in the CS, otherwise it's too many things in the same episode!

Andorra

Rose and Atticus can neiter marry at a church nor a Synagoge, so it has to be a registry wedding IMO.

They're ALL in London. We have one picture from episode 8 (the American cover for Jessica Fellows' new book) and it shows them all at Crawley house in London.

So I think they will have both in the episode: The memorial service and the wedding.

ClaireK80

You're right, I hadn't thought about it. Damn, I sooo wanted to see Rose in a very nice wedding gown.


Yes, it makes sense...

But what about the CS then? Maybe the Crawleys are really just visiting some relatives and Rose is already married by then.

Andorra

Considering the wedding dress we saw at the fashion show, I'm actually glad we don't have to see it, lol.



I think "some relatives" are Rose's sister and her husband. They were listed for 5.8 in episode 8, but are not on the cast list. Also the "Butler" at Alnwick said the castle belongs to "some cousin" of the Crawleys.

So I assume they visit Anabelle McClare and her husband and Rose is already married.

But if the "heartwrenching decision" of Tom is to leave, why would he stay if the wedding is already over?

Maybe the whole "Tom will leave" storyline will be resolved in episode 8 after all? I don't dare to hope, it would be too good to be true!!

ClaireK80

They've released like a hundred of episode 8 pics and yes, I think Rose is definitely getting married to Atticus in that episode.

Also, Anna is at the police station for an identification
Anna & John Bates: However, Whatever, Whenever - terriejane: S5E8 -
it doesn't make a lot of sense, didn't the witness say Green was arguing with a man?

So after all I think it's her whom Mary visits in prison. So first Bates and now Anna are imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit? How lame.

There're also pics of Atticus with a prostitute (!!), a new footman, the memorial service, Mrs Patmore with Daisy and Mr Mason, Mary with Gillingham (possibly at Rose's wedding). Very nice clothes for all the ladies, especially Mary

northboundtrain

I just saw the pictures on Tumblr. I'm pretty baffled by the Mary/Tony stuff -- there's no way I think she's going to suddenly change her mind and take him back (especially given the glaring going on in one of their promo stills), so what's going on?

Atticus and the prostitute is a surprise, but I tend to believe it's some kind of bachelor party set-up.


Yes, I think they did say it was a man. This is all too puzzling. There's no way Anna did it, but what in the world would cause the police to put her in a line-up if the police know she can't be the one Green was arguing with?

Andorra

I hope the Atticus pictures are true and he turns out to be a cad! It would be awful for Rose of course, but awesome for the story!

It's so disappointing that they marry one of my favourite characters off in 3 episodes and to a man we know nothing about! So this would be a really interesting twist!

I don't think they said man. They said someone and that he or she must have been shorter than Greene, because otherwise the witness would have been able to soo the "someone".

tvlover92

I still think she will choose nobody.

HarshBench

It would seem they would not release the picture of him with the hooker if there was anything to it other than a trick. That would be a big giveaway. Plus, we know Rose marries him. She is not at the memorial at the end of 5.08 and they are together in the CS as we saw from the filming pics.

But I am trying to figure out who would play such a trick on him. I would have guessed Larry, but he's not in the episode. There are no younger guest stars either. There is a "Basil Shute" and a "Mr. Evans" but both are played by older men. Basil Shute is in his late forties and has gray hair. Mr. Evans is supposedly a friend of Robert.

It appears he is in bar or some sort of mens' club in that picture, and not with any of the other cast members. So he went for a drink or whatever. They're all in London so maybe he just stopped by.

So maybe some stranger does send her up to his room. Could be Basil Shute, but not as a bachelor party trick because he's just too old to be a mate of Atticus. I don't know what his motive would be though, other than he doesn't approve of the family (Jewish) and Atticus marrying Rose. So he tries to set him up.

Or perhaps there is a misunderstanding. She ends up in the wrong room somehow, so Atticus just sends her out. Then maybe this Mr. Evans sees him and tells Robert? But of course then Rose marries him and Robert wouldn't allow that. UNLESS he only finds out after the wedding.

I personally would find it much more interesting if he turned out to be a cad. He seems nice but the whole thing is so boring. And I really don't care about him or the romance. Plus they are marrying in a civil ceremony so it's not like divorce would be as big an issue.

Also, there is supposedly conflict between the families which would seem to be about the religious issue. We know his father is disapproving. There doesn't seem to be any need to be this mess to complicate things even further. Unless they find out, Susan believes it, Atticus' father is offended, big fight, etc.

But for my sake I hope he is a cad!!!

Andorra, fingers crossed that Tom decides to stay by the end of 8. It says that he "has reached a heart wrenching decision" which sort of makes it sound like he has already decided at the start of the episode, as supposed to at the very end. Plus, why WOULD he stay for months after deciding that? You'd think he'd leave after the wedding.

I hope the hear wrenching thing isn't to leave Sybbie there while he goes to test the waters and get settled in America before sending for her. My heart!

But Allen said he has a story with Sybbie that involves her education. So....does he think she'd get a better one in America? Because of course there were good schools here but he wouldn't be able to afford a private one, and that could limit her options. At Downton she could have private tutors, which would set her up to get into an elite grammar school and from there to university. And she has connections there too, big ones.

So IDK. I just hope he decides by 8 so I don't have to be tortured until Christmas. But I just know they would do that to me.

northboundtrain

I just had a couple of crazy theories. They're probably wrong and may have been mentioned in this thread, but I can't remember.

Theory #1: Mabel killed Green. Because she was engaged to Tony, she and Green would have had reason to interact. What if they have some kind of ugly history -- either an affair gone wrong or, more likely, he raped her as he did Anna -- and she pushed him?

See, my thinking is that if Anna is in a line-up with all those other women then that means that the police have reason to believe the killer is female. But all of the Downton women involved in this story (Anna, Mary, Mrs. Hughes, Baxter) have been shown as suspecting Bates, which they wouldn't do if they were the real killers. Mabel's the only female character who could have a connection to Green who also hasn't given us a reason to rule her out as a suspect.

Taking this a bit further, JF could tie in Tony's weird behavior and his backstory with Mabel. For example, what if Tony was cagey with Bates because he suspects Mabel was romantically involved with Green? (Or knows Mabel killed him? Or suspects it?) Heck, what if Tony didn't break up with Mabel because of Mary, but because he thought Mabel was cheating on him? And he just let Mary believe it was about her because, well, why not?

Of course, JF could have it turn out not to be a woman and the all-female line-up is a red herring. He could also bring in some random new female character in the final episode, which brings me to theory #2....

Theory #2: It's the prostitute. It would be pretty anti-climactic, but if it turns out that Green raped her then JF could write a scene where Anna would really, finally be able to talk to someone else who knows exactly what she went through.

What do you guys think? Crazy? Or plausible? I prefer Theory #1 because it's a lot meatier and adds so much to all of the quadrangle weirdness, but I don't know if JF would go there.

2verynicelearning

The questions remains.
However sorry for Isis, the dog - in the 5th season it will be his turn …

HarshBench

If the prostitute killed Greene, how does that explain her being in the room with Atticus? He is like the one person who has nothing to do with the Greene storyline at all and doesn't even know about it probably. I mean, surely he is not dumb enough to overhear her say something and then invite her up to discuss it in his bedroom?

northboundtrain

No, I didn't mean that that's why she's in Atticus's room...I just meant that maybe that'll be the "twist" -- that the prostitute in Atticus's story wouldn't just be there for his scenes, but that we'll find out that she'll coincidentally be the same person who killed Green (whether she'd be aware of Atticus's connection to the Crawleys and the Crawleys' connection to Green, who knows).

It's a stretch, absolutely. But if the killer is a female then we're running out of suspects.