There's a meeting of the hospital board underway where the Dowager (Maggie Smith) tells of how their hospital will be taken over by the larger Yorkshire hospital. This will mean their patients will suffer and Dr Clarkson (David Robb) is in agreement with that, he's seen it happen. Isobel (Penelope Wilton) is in agreement with Lord Merton (Douglas Reith) however and thinks it will mean more equipment, as well as more up to date procedures, which can only benefit the patients. The Dowager found out by a friend who is on the board and Isobel thinks as she's in charge of their hospital she should've been told beforehand. The Dowager adding they will all be informed in due course. Seems they've both got a fight brewing over the hospital which will no doubt take up much, if not all of the series.
Carson and Robert discuss the downsizing of the staff and how they have already lost a lot over the years as he discusses the possibility of letting more go since they simply won't have enough money to pay that many, especially in 1925. To back this up we're told of the Darnley's selling their house and moving to London as they can't afford to maintain it. Thus they're having an auction and Mr Mason (Paul Copley) is in fear of his job as continuing tenant on the land. Asking Robert for help in seeing if he can get the owners to keep him on. Robert wants to attend the auction since his father was a friend of theirs and he may find something belonging to them and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) feels they should all go. The Dowager later confides in Denker (Sue Johnston) about the staff being reduced and asks her to keep it quiet. Perhaps confidence wasn't a good word to use, cos of course she rushes straight over to Downton announcing their jobs are in peril. Thomas (Rob James-Collier) attempts to ask Carson about this, but he fobs him off as this not being the right moment to discuss it. The new servant, Andy (Michael Fox) thinks he'll be first out as he was last in. Yet nothing is certain. Can't trust Denker with anything. Also she's still snooping around the Dowager's desk. She also tells Spratt (Jeremy Swift) of the same and that she won't have any use for a butler.
Mary is spooked by Miss Bevan, the woman at the hunt and she falls off her horse. As her ego takes a battering and she gets muddy, but nothing's broken. Bevan is here to blackmail her and has the page of the register from the hotel showing she was there with Gillingham and demands £1,000 for her silence or she'll take it to the papers. Mary is insistent she won't get a penny and confides in Anna (Joanne Froggatt). Who tells Mary she shouldn't give in and pay. Bevan later sneaks in again and this time is taken to Mary's room by Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) under the pretext of being the Dowager's new maid and having a message only for Mary. Wouldn't think she'd have been allowed to go to her bedroom, maid or no maid. She tries her best to blackmail her again and Anna has to drag her out. Why didn't Mary just ring the bell instead of asking Mrs Hughes to get Anna.
Edith (Laura Carmichael) can't decide what to do with her life and the editor at the paper is having trouble dealing with her cos she's a woman. She thinks she might move to London as Michael's flat is still there. Then she can treat Marigold as her own and no one will bat an eye or ask awkward questions. Mary still sniping at her when she later tells Robert that Edith will get up to all sorts of mischief by herself in London. Yes, like you in Liverpool, oh wait, there was also mischief right under the very roof of Downton in series 1 with Pemuk.
Mrs Hughes has worries of her own and a delicate question she needs to ask Carson, but takes Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol) under her wing and gets her to do the dirty work for her. Viz, will Carson want a "full marriage" or will he be happy in a companionship/relationship where they abstain. She hasn't let a man see her in years and he might not like what he does see. Mrs Patmore suggests turning the light off! Ha. Also that he wouldn't exactly have taken his togs off for anyone in a while. She tries to ask Carson but it doesn't go quite so well, until the second attempt, where he replies he loves her and he does want that sort of a marriage, where a wife performs "wifely duties." Well now that we got that sorted, he even thought Mrs Hughes might call the whole thing off, which she doesn't do.
Spratt blabs to the Dowager about wanting sufficient notice before he's let go and adds how Denker told everyone of this. The Dowager later thinks Denker should be leaving since Isobel doesn't have a lady's maid or a butler. Denker can't believe she'll be fired, of course as the Dowager tells Isobel, it doesn't hurt to rule with some fear. They think the fight over the hospital is about power and she's even at odds with Dr Clarkson about this, who thinks that she must've got lots of advice from Merton about it. Isobel still thinks it's best for the patients.
At the auction Darnley (Adrian Lukas) says they hung on too long and now they have no choice but to sell everything, including all their furniture and ornaments. Daisy (Sophie McShera) is appalled by Mr Mason's treatment, especially after he shows her a trinket box which he had to pitch in half a crown for. She's very vocal with the new owner Henderson (Rick Bacon) that she's disgusted how Mr Mason can be just gotten rid of so easily, particularly after his grandfather and great grandfather farmed the land for so long. Henderson's disgusted at the impertinence and won't consider keeping Mason on now. Even when the others told her not to say anything, she ignored them without thinking as usual.
Bevan returns again when Mary's out and goes into the library after she sees Robert to spill to him. When Mary arrives s sees him give her a cheque and tells her to leave. Bevan adding Mary's luckier than most. He gave her £50 and also got a confession from her which she signed, or no money. If she reneges on it she'll be prosecuted. Mary is pleased he did that for her, well he would wouldn't he but also asks why she did it. Since they were going to get married and he thought he could convince her of this. He reminds her that Tony and his wife were also involved in this. Mary doesn't think she'll find anyone who's right for her and how she'd "rather be alone than with the wrong man." But Robert wants to see who she will eventually find. Which means now that he's said it, she will find someone. He can also see how his daughter has grown up and can handle things so well. Yeah it looked like she could. Mary also wants to take over Branson's job and manage the farm. He's mentioned as doing fine over in America and Isobel says there's plenty of Irish people over there too. Robert deciding to raid the fridge and feasting on a rather scrawny drumstick. The remains of which is then placed by the fridge and then finds itself back in Robert's hands again!
Anna is moody cos she can't have children and thinks they won't ever have a family. Especially when she hears about Marigold after Molesley (Kevin Doyle) mentions how she was a farmer's daughter and has it made after Edith took a shine to her. She's also given news that a woman confessed to pushing Green onto the road after an argument. He was horrible to her and a witness is found to corroborate that they met in a pub earlier on. So she's no longer a suspect. She asks the Sergeant to convey her forgiveness to the woman for not coming forward sooner and how Green has ruined lives. Mrs Hughes adding that hers is no longer ruined. Robert decides they should celebrate the news with champagne and Daisy still has her job, only cos Cora didn't want her fired as Carson intended. Now I said that about Bevan when Mary asked what they should do about her. Throw her under a bus! Ha.
A rather boring start to the final series with not much going on. Downsizing and firing the staff who aren't needed and the homes being mere institutions in later years has all been mentioned before. If this was what's left of the stories them I'm not surprised they called it a day on Downton.
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