By: Brian Boone
14 Spoilers for Season 4 of ‘Downton Abbey’
‘ Last season, Lady Sybil shockingly died after complications of childbirth. History will repeat itself as this year the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) will perish after a difficult delivery of triplets.
‘ Scandal rocks Downton when Lady Cora opens a door for herself.
‘ Anna and Bates stare lovingly at each other for a solid 45 minutes.
‘ Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) will leave the series halfway through the season, wanting to move on to other roles. Fortunately, since British lords have the ability to “regenerate,” another actor can step into the role. Bonneville is actually the tenth actor to portray Grantham; he'll be replaced by The Thick Of It star Peter Capaldi.
‘ Daisy leaves Downton and is replaced with a cartoon mouse. Few notice.
‘ Lady Edith informs her surprised family that she has an attractive male suitor who wishes to marry her. When her parents ask to meet him to determine if he is a proper gentleman, Edith refuses, saying, “You probably don't know him. He lives in Canada.”
‘ It's England, and it's the 1920s, so that means one thing: Beatlemania!
‘ Newly hired footman Jack “Cowboy” Kelly (portrayed by special guest star Young Christian Bale) convinces the staff of underpaid servants to protest their low wages. The servants strike! The servants sing! The servants dance! (Except for Bates, who is a cripple.)
‘ The nefarious Thomas becomes a local hero when, during a walk in town, he saves a baby that fell into a well, a baby that he pushed into the well for looking at him funny.
‘ Episode 7 is just the cast sitting around watching an old episode of Upstairs, Downstairs.
‘ A traveling Frenchman, a purveyor of a new entertainment called cinema, demonstrates the technology at Downton. The ultra-realstic moving images delight the family ‘ except Tom. When the film depicts a locomotive speeding outward, a terrified Tom jumps out of the way. He bruises his ankle; gangrene sets in and he dies three days later.
‘ The north wall of the Abbey crumbles, leaving the grand estate vulnerable to Walkers.
‘ Mary sits on Carson's lap for a full hour while he has to pretend like nothing's weird about it.
‘ Dragons. You fuckers like dragons, right?