‘Downton Abbey’ season 3, episode 5 preview: Tom Branson faces the aftermath

We are back with yet another preview for Sunday night’s new “Downton Abbey” episode on PBS, and this time, the focus is just on how Tom Branson faces some of the pain and the heartache following what happened with Sybil. (Is anyone else surprised that PBS is even airing a new episode against the Super Bowl?)

Sadly, the passing of Jessica Brown Findlay’s character is not necessarily going to bring the entire family together; and instead, there will be a major rift that forms when it comes to religion. Being that he is Irish and also a Catholic, Tom wants to have his young daughter christened as such. However, Robert objects to the notion based largely on his family’s own religious views, and pressed him to have the child instead welcomed into the Church of England. Robert will be alternating between dealing with this and his fractured relationship with Cora, who blamed him in part for not listening to some medical advice that may have saved Sybil’s life.

As if this was not enough, there is also going to be plenty of other major events unfolding at the Abbey. Without giving away any spoilers for those of you who have not yet seen the final episodes, here are some assorted teasers:

-There will be much more movement on the Bates storyline this week, including both some happy and sad events.

-Cora is going to receive an invitation to a fancy lunch, but someone very close to her is going to object to the person preparing the food.

-Let’s hope you enjoy watching very messy romantic subplots, since one involving some of the servants is going to be so convoluted you may want to write everything down.

-Finally, Tom’s child will officially have a name.

Want some more episode 5 resources? You can click here to watch a preview for the episode, or if you absolutely cannot wait to see what happened, the review from the British airing on the show is at this link.

Photo: PBS