Lady Edith looking lovely. She really needs to catch a break.
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

Can we talk about Lady Edith for a second?  Why can’t this girl catch a break?

As much as I disliked her in past seasons (because she always whined ‘Woe is me. No one likes me. Not even my own family.’) this season I feel she has had just about enough heartbreak.

And tell me, why do the Downton producers feel obliged to kill off a character every time a baby is born, i.e., Sybil, Matthew, possibly Michael Gregson.

I don’t know if we are cut out to be single parents in the early 20th century.  Even with nannies, governesses, cooks and ladies maids.
Photo credit: Carnival Films & Television for MASTERPIECE

The Dowager Countess has figured out Edith’s secret and supports Aunt Rosamund’s plan to take her to Switzerland.  She seems supportive of her granddaughter, but how much is that is due to the desire to avoid scandal and save face?

Granny knows best?
Photo credit: ITV for MASTERPIECE

She tells Edith that trying to hide the baby in the village and have it brought up by one of the estate’s tenant farmers is like ‘having the Sword of Damocles’ at your head.

I had to look this up:  “The sword of Damocles comes from Greek myth and is frequently used to allude to an imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power, a peril in which the onset of is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance.”

Whew.  Sounds like a fabulous plot-line of an Austen or Bronte novel. Or a “Die Hard” movie.

In the midst of the secret baby drama (in which Edith not only does NOT show nor has any signs of morning sickness or fatigue), there is the Church Bazaar to plan and execute. 

And there are many more love triangles and duets playing out:  Molesley and Baxter are flirting; Lady Mary has a posse of suitors, all handsome; Daisy, Alfred and Ivy finally wind up their puppy love; and even Isobel (Mrs. Crawley) has found an admirer in Lady Mary’s godfather, Lord Merton.

Of course Lady Rose and Jack Ross are doomed.  I’m glad he figured that out before he let that silly girl drag him through a torrent of heartbreak before she dumped him.  I absolutely believe as Mary does, that teenage Rose does not know what love is and is looking for the best way to shock and stick it to her mother.  Still, Jack takes the high road and admits he loves her and wants her to have a happy life.

The season 4 finale airs February 23, 9pm ET on your local public television station.  They are already announcing new cast members for season 5 (which is currently in production in the U.K.)

Here’s a fun link to a slideshow from The Daily Meal, “Throw A Dinner Party Like Downton” for your viewing pleasure in the meantime.

Instead of you making dinner like Downton, let me make it for you! Ha!  No, you had better order in so you have time to polish your silver and iron your napkins. Or not.  Okay, pizza and sweatpants it is, then.