‘Downton Abbey’ season 6, episode 2 reaction (PBS): The shocking moment with Edith, Mrs. Drewe

For our first “Downton Abbey” analysis piece this season, we looked at the show’s decision to conclude the story of Anna and Bates’ attacker (finally) after a very long stretch of time where we were left to sit around and speculation. With that, we are bringing you today with our second piece another article about tying up loose ends, specifically on the subject of Mrs. Drewe and Edith.

It was established far before Sunday’s episode the amount of affection that Mrs. Drewe had for Edith’s biological daughter Marigold. She cared for her for quite some time, and it was a gut-wrenching situation seeing Edith opt to take her child back and care for her on her own. At this point in time, it may have benefited all parties to move the Drewe family away from Yew Tree Farm. Nothing good was going to come out of leaving them there, since we had already seen examples of her not being able to handle the close proximity.

With this in mind, we cannot be someone to viciously judge the actions of Mrs. Drewe tonight, but at the same time she has to understand what she did was categorically wrong, kidnapping the child in a moment of vulnerability and anger over no longer caring for her. These actions deserve consequences, and in this case it was removing the family from the farm once and for all.

Yet, we have to say that this was an event that the family in some ways had to anticipate given the fact that they allowed the Drewes to stay at the farm, knowing the extend of Mrs. Drewe’s attachment to Marigold. They want to certainly believe the best out of people, but this was a possibility they left open. We feel for all members of the family, but cannot say we are shocked.

What we are ultimately is glad that this story is wrapped up, and at least rather quickly compared to all that happened with Mr. Green. It was a lesson in some ways that Edith needs to learn for the future of not just herself, but also her daughter: You have to treat every moment with the utmost care, and realize that sometimes, there are difficulties that cannot be overcome unless through dramatic measures.