‘Downton Abbey’ season 4 debate: What should Michelle Dockery’s Mary do next?
Based on what the title for this article is alone, we should preface this article by saying the following: if you want to be surprised by what happens in the rest of “Downton Abbey” season 3, now is the time to stop reading. Spoilers are ahead.
Now that we’ve heard the news that both Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith are each returning for another season of life in Edwardian England, there is of course a major question left to ask: what happens next? While we don’t expect the role for the Dowager Countess to change much, it’s a very different sort of situation for Lady Mary. With Dan Stevens’ Matthew Crawley out of the picture, she is tragically going to be going back to square one: she had married this great love, and now he’s gone.
We already know how the series addressed Stevens’ exit, but how they address Mary’s future is just as interesting. Should they make her find love again? This is something that executive producer Julian Fellowes has suggested will be the case for the character moving forward, though he has not said just what this will entail. If she ends up dating Tom Branson, we will go ballistic as though we were Carson when someone arrives to a party without tails. Knowing the realism that Fellowes tries to portray with this show, we have a feeling instead that it will be someone new who turns up a given period of time after Matthew’s death.
Then again, there is also the case to be made for Mary to try and find love in something else other than a man. She has a child to raise, and Edith is paving the way for career women in the Grantham family. Would it be interesting if she goes this route? Certainly, at least depending on what the career was. It is also possible that she could leave the Abbey altogether and try to start a new life somewhere else.
Even though Lady Mary may not always be the kindest person in the world, it’s still hard to sit here and say that we wish for anything other than happiness for her. Therefore, we hope that whatever Fellowes comes up with for the character will be something that brings a smile to our faces.
What do you think should happen to Mary next? Be sure to vote in our poll below, and you can read some more surprising “Downton Abbey” news about another character over at the link here.
Photo: ITV
Anonymous
January 25, 2013 @ 12:46 pm
when will next season start?
Carter
January 25, 2013 @ 1:23 pm
In America – Likely Jan. 2014
In Britain – September
Liadan
January 24, 2013 @ 12:05 pm
In the story, the reason that Tom could not be paired with Lady Mary is that Tom liked Sybil for the fact that she was different from the other Ladies in the house. Mary loved a middle class man, true, but it took her years to realize it properly.
Tom is not middle class, nor will he ever be. He doesn’t want to be.
As such, they are not suited for one another. Yes, they could make this work, but they would both have to want to make it work. I just don’t see Mary being interested. Tom, on the other hand likes his women more down to earth.
Anonymous
January 22, 2013 @ 3:30 pm
That is alot and become so much drama. every born brings grief and began to be boring. tom and mary would be so silly what a tragedy.
anon
January 22, 2013 @ 6:46 am
Why not Mary and Branson? That would be interesting.
Buddi
January 21, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
I agree with you that Mary should run the Downton in the manner that Matthew would have like to. If Mary remarries and has children with the second husband, if the second husband is not the heir of Downton, Mary may have to move out of downton to follow the new husband. It will defeat the purpose of downton become her legacy. If the second husband is the new heir, If she has a son with the second husband. Who will the next heir, Matthew’s son or the second husband’s son. I don’t understand the British entail law. For Mary remarry makes the entail and the story very complicated.
RITA
January 21, 2013 @ 7:10 am
I was totally shocked and screaming frantically when I could see what was going to happen to Mathew before it even did – my grand-daughter thought my dogs were fighting!!! I am so sorry to see Mathew go they made a lovely couple and it took so long for them to get together albeit typical series programmes, but just having the baby. losing Sybil at the beginning of series 3 and Mathew at the end was just too much. I think she will go on to run Downton Abbey alongside her father in the manner in which Mathew would have like it run.
J
January 20, 2013 @ 9:17 pm
Someone seems to have a real crush on Napier, Delia…I don’t think he’ll be the one coming to be with Mary, but one never knows. To be honest, I think her new love interest won’t be appearing at least for half a season and it might even be a completely new character, which I expect is most likely.
Delia B.
January 20, 2013 @ 9:08 pm
Please, please let Evelyn Napier come back into Mary’s life and let her find him more interesting this time. He is a catch— smart, intuitive, titled, beautifully mannered, and a hunting gentleman from her own world. Most importantly, he has been besotted by Mary since childhood and will cherish and adore her always. (His unconditional love includes full acceptance of the Mr. Pamuk affair) With Mary, Evelyn will father a brood of impishly adorable little Napier-Crawleys who will fill the Abbey with laughter and mayhem for generations. Mary will come to love him more and more and begin to realize how very “wet” Matthew actually was. Go Evelyn!!
By now, Evelyn has travelled to the warm dry climate of Egypt to recover from his wartime injuries where he has met archaeologist Howard Carter and become his patron – just in time for the spectacular discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. Evelyn has become a “more interesting” man for time spent with Carter on archaeological digs. He brings many of the treasures back to Downton for installation in the newly inaugurated “Egyptian Room” and thus the Abbey is forever linked with Tut. The now dashing and deliciously attractive Evelyn, with a twinkle in his eye, opens for Mary a wider world of art, archaeology, and adventure as she joins him for the expedition in Egypt (where she can also be seen swanning about the Winter Palace Hotel at Luxor and the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan).
Julian Fellowes are you listening? This is a great ending.
Buddi
January 20, 2013 @ 6:21 pm
I saw some posts about other actors said bad things about Downton Abbey. I think the fans should be the ones who judged the show not the other actors. I like the downton abbey becuase the storylines moves fast and includes some history. The acting is super. I am sad that Dan decides not coming back. It will hard to see Mary with another guy. Matthew and Mary was such a lovely characters. I wish the story make them go to other place instead of killing Matthew.
DApper
January 20, 2013 @ 11:14 am
Interesting question. I think Mary will grieve, but be typically Mary, with a stubborn strength and stiff upper lip–at least publicly. She hopefully will tear down the barriers with Anna, or perhaps one or both of her parents. Robert surely will grieve, though we don’t know how he will react. Not hoping for a relationship with Tom, though they will likely bond, just as I hope Tom grows closer to Robert. I’d like to see the two men at the accident scene dealing with things together. Fellowes suggested a foreigner joining the cast a while back, perhaps someone representing the British/India link will romance Mary. And a foreign love interest would shake up Robert and Carson. We don’t know how tied to the estate Matthew’s money is, and whether there will be complications with his will in any way. Could Isobel somehow inherit a piece of Downton to keep her nose in the family business?? Yipes! I firmly hope Mary takes her place at Robert’s side running the estate with the belief she will keep it going until her unnamed son takes over. And, Mary, please don’t call him Matthew, and I’m not crazy about naming him after Lavinia’s papa either, even if his cash did save the estate. How about some version of Charles & Robert after the two papas in her own life? Won’t happen, but I’d like it as a symbol of uniting upstairs and downstairs while moving forward to a very different future.