'Downton Abbey' Season 5 Spoilers: Episode 8 Recap - Rose's Mother Sabotages Her Wedding
Last Sunday on "Downton Abbey," Atticus and Rose's parents are against their marriage, and Rose's mother Susan does something drastic to prevent the wedding from pushing through. Moreover, Lord Grantham has an inkling about little Marigold's true identity.
The show begins with plans being made for Rose and Atticus' wedding. But Rose is worried that her parents, the Lord and Lady Flintshire, who are getting a divorce, will somehow ruin things for her on her big day. Her mother, Susan, is opposed to the marriage because Atticus is Jewish. For her, having her daughter marry a Jew could make them social outcasts.
Things aren't so good on Atticus' side either. If there's one thing that his father, Lord Sinderby, can't stand, it's a couple who gets divorced. He also can't believe that his son is about to marry someone who isn't Jewish.
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Atticus' friends throw him a bachelor party. As he's leaving, a woman follows him to the elevator. He tells her no. She comes up to his room, walks around a bit, and leaves.
The next day at a restaurant, Rose gets a letter and with it are some pictures of Atticus with the mystery woman. She thinks that her fiancé may have cheated on her on the eve of her wedding. Tom advises her to meet Atticus and figure out what happened.
Rose and Atticus argue, and Atticus thinks that his father may be behind the blackmail photos. Lord Sinderby is enraged and tells his son that he wants him to marry a Jew, but no, he didn't send the pictures.
Later, Lord Flintshire finds out that it was Susan who was behind it all, and he orders her to stop what she's doing.
At the wedding, Susan makes a desperate attempt to sabotage it — she announces that she and her husband are about to divorce. Lord Sinderby is livid, but Lady Sinderby threatens him, "If you do anything to stop this marriage, anything at all, I will leave you. And then you'll have a scandal worthy of the name."
Meanwhile, Lord Grantham and Cora are still in the process of making up, He tells her that he has decided to sell the family's della Francesca painting, the one that Bricker was so fond of, to raise money to repair the cottages. He tells his wife that he's also selling it because the painting reminds him of the way he has treated her.
At the village, Lord Grantham sees Edith with Marigold, and something seems to click in place for him. He tells Cora that the child reminds him of Michael Gregson.
"You're not wrong," Cora tells him. The she asks, "And you'll love her, your new granddaughter?"
"I rather think I will," he responds.
"Downton Abbey" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. on PBS.
