‘Downton Abbey’ season 5, episode 4 (PBS) preview: Allen Leech takes center stage again

Tonight’s new episode of “Downton Abbey” on PBS contained many surprises, from Lady Mary making a key choice in her romantic life to Cora starting to realize just how much value that she truly has.

Next week, though, one specific thing to watch out for is the return of Sarah Bunting (Daisy Lewis) to action, and what her behavior means for Tom Branson. For much of the past season or so, Allen Leech’s character has been suffering through an identity crisis. After all, he is a socialist in an upper-class world, one where he finds himself with a very different political viewpoint from the rest. While he may disagree with them, he does very much care about them. He doesn’t want to see anyone hurt or challenge them.

Therefore, expect some fireworks when Bunting returns to the scene, and in turn cause Tom to think more and more about what he really wants out of his life. Could he be happy with Sarah? There are times in which we think so, but also times where we think that she is almost too extreme for him when it comes to her pure lack of decorum.

While there are some big events that happen for these characters next week, the one major thing we can tease here is that this is hardly the end of the road for these characters. There is something so much greater still to come when it comes to Tom. Stay tuned for more news on that.

Where do you want to see the story go from here on “Downton Abbey”? Share with a comment, and head over here to see our specific spotlight from tonight’s installment. You can also sign up right away to gather up some additional TV scoop on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: PBS.)