‘Downton Abbey’ season 4, episode 7 spoilers: What’s next for Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith

The latest -Two episodes before the “Downton Abbey” season 4 Christmas special, and it is already starting to feel somewhat like the producers are doing their best to try to set up the story for it with (spoiler alert!) the arrival of Harold (Paul Giamatti), the brother of Cora, to the Abbey. As a matter of fact, Robert is already on the way to America to help him out. That is going to be the first takeaway that you can get from the synopsis below for the upcoming seventh episode of the season … otherwise known as the last one before the traditional finale.

Before we do our analysis, let’s just start by sharing the synopsis itself:

“Cora’s playboy brother Harold is in a fix and Robert must travel to America to help bail him out, whilst a new farming venture at Downton sees Blake and Mary forced to put aside their differences … When Violet is taken ill she finds help comes from an unlikely corner … With romantic tensions causing disharmony downstairs, things don’t quite go to plan when Mrs Hughes, Mrs Patmore and Carson conspire to keep the peace.”

Robert’s story is attention-grabbing, but you know how that is going to end given that Harold eventually visits Downton. The more interesting stories revolve around Violet and Mary.

When it comes to Maggie Smith, the instant gut-check reaction is to wonder whether or not she has decided to leave the show. While we are sure it is a somewhat-fluid situation with the legendary actress, creator Julian Fellowes has hinted already that there are no major deaths this season. She is the sort of character that we cannot imagine the show without, and so we figure that she will somehow find a way to get out of this illness alive.

As for Mary, we suspect that Michelle Dockery is going to be finding herself playing the part of a woman in the middle of a love triangle. There has already been suggestions that Blake could end up becoming a love interest to her, and there is no guarantee that Lord Anthony Gillingham’s story is over, either. As a matter of fact, the promo for Sunday’s episode suggests that he will be back.

Stay tuned: We’re likely to have a sneak peek from this episode soon, and we will post it once it is available.

Photo: ITV

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