‘Downton Abbey’ season 4 spoilers: Michelle Dockery’s Mary back to her former self

Michelle Dockery’s “Downton Abbey” character of Mary is going be starting off season 4 mourning the loss of her longtime love Matthew Crawley, but for fans who are hoping to see some of that light return to her eyes (and her demeanor) this season, you are probably going to be pretty disappointed. Instead, what we are more than likely going to see here is the return of a certain cold, calculated Mary that shined through the early seasons. With so much gone from her life, the interest in staying positive may no longer be there.

This sentiment was echoed first of all by executive producer Gareth Neame, who said the following in an interview with TVLine about just what sort of change we should eventually expect to see out of the character:

“She mellowed with Matthew [and] opened up a lot more, But I think [after losing Matthew and Sybil], she would be just so devastated that I think it would lock her down and [she would] go back into a lot of the traits that she had before – that very difficult to read characteristic she’s got. I think we’ll see a lot of those very dark and complex things about Mary.”

Eventually, Mary’s journey could lead to her developing a new love interest, but Rome (or her heart) is not going to be built in a day. Finding love again could be a season-long struggle, if not longer based on what the writers decide. We know that the last thing the show wants to do is make viewers believe that she has suddenly moved on too quickly from her past relationship, especially given the affection that is out there for the Matthew character.

Speaking of Dan Stevens, be sure to also head over to the link here if you want to check out some of his latest comments about his exit from the show.

Photo: ITV