Downton Abbey Episode That Aired on 2/10/13 – I Wasn’t Impressed

* SPOILERS * SPOILERS *

STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LATEST EPISODE

!!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

This week’s episode of Downton Abbey was both a relief and an irritation. It was a relief because we got the answers to a couple of outstanding questions. It was an irritation because I felt like the storytelling was so incredibly weak. Did the original writer take a break and get a high school student to take over for him? I was truly baffled by all the ridiculousness.

Now for the specifics:

• I’m so very glad that the whole Thomas/O’Brien storyline has resolved itself. Now we know what O’Brien’s endgame was – to get Thomas imprisoned and heartbroken. Well, she got 1 out of 2. I didn’t particularly enjoy the back and forth of whether or not Thomas would be reported to the police. And Bates coming in to help was surprising. But making Thomas under-butler? Oh, come on! 
• Speaking of promotions, we now know that Tom is staying at Downtown as an estate manager. Ah, to go back to the days when you could get a plush job without any sort of education whatsoever.
• Mary and Matthew – YAWN.
• Robert is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But that comment about the boys at Eton? I laughed out loud.
• I’m done with any storyline having to do with Edith. I had high hopes that the poor girl would now be pursued by an eligible bachelor. But Downton Abbey has gone all Jane Eyre on us by having Edith pursued by a married man with a crazy wife. Puh-lease! After that revelation, my eyes rolled so hard I believe I saw my optic nerve. What’s next? Wait, don’t tell me. The wife dies in a fire! Yeah, that’s it! I made that up just now. Really. I should be a writer.
• And how about Ethel getting a job that just so happens to be near her son in what’s supposed to be a happy ending for her? Clearly written by a man. No woman would consider continual separation from a beloved child a happy ending.
• As if these riveting storylines aren’t enough, we now have some random teenager having an affair with a married man. I feel like the writers are throwing cliche storylines at us like we’re in a game of TV dodgeball. If only I could avoid getting hit by “it’s been done” and “haven’t I read that one somewhere?”

So, clearly, I wasn’t impressed this week. I’m hoping that next week is better.

How about you, what did you think of this week’s episode?