‘Downton Abbey’ season 6, episode 8 reaction (PBS): A wedding; Mary’s joy; Edith’s heartbreak

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times for characters on Sunday night’s new episode of “Downton Abbey,” but the end results of the course of events depend very heavily on who you are talking to. All in all, this was a heck of an integral episode that sets up perfectly the series finale.

As always, let’s start out with a reminder that there are SPOILERS ahead of everything that happens on this episode; be sure to head over here if you want our full review of this installment. This article is more of a quick-snapshot for our PBS viewer friends focusing on two subjects that are inter-linked.

1. Edith’s heartbreak – Why in the world would Lady Mary choose to do something as drastic as to blow up Edith’s spot when it comes to her relationship with Bertie? Think of it largely as a byproduct of her own jealousy and heartache over her Henry Talbot. It shows, one more time, that Mary is a woman still dealing with matters of great immaturity. She couldn’t stand to see Edith happy without the truth coming out about Marigold, and as a result of that, she spilled the beans and Edith seems to have lost the man she loves the most after he felt lied to. Poor Edith … again.

2. Mary’s eventual joy – Why include a Mary wedding after what she did to Edith? It was hard to be that thrilled for her, but at the same time she did show great remorse for what happened with Edith, even before Tom Branson thoroughly reamed her out over her actions. Edith did still show up her wedding, proving that she valued the bond they had as sisters even after everything had transpired. With Henry at her side, the story for Mary is closer to complete, and she has a chance at a happier future. Now, we have to see if she can fix things with Edith.

As we said, this article is mostly about these two women, but we’ll include in here that our heart hurts for Thomas.