‘Downton Abbey’ season 3 spoilers: New episode 6 photos highlight Ethel

To go along with some of the images that we shared earlier in the day featuring the struggles of Robert, Cora, and Bates, we now have a few more images from Sunday night’s new episode of “Downton Abbey” that certainly yield towards some more speculation about some characters who typically spend most of their time serving others.

As for this first image, it’s just another reminder of the possible romance blooming here between Thomas and Jimmy, something that we are mostly excited about in that it gives Thomas something finally to do that does not really involve him angering or offending anyone else. Frustrating behavior has in many ways become his calling card, and anything that can make this change is all right in our book. (After all, we love multiple dimensions to our Downton characters!)

Meanwhile, our other photo here of life for some of the staff really just show us yet again that Ethel is not going to do that well in her transition from “lady of the night” to cook … especially when it comes to the sort of expectations that her employer in Isobel has for her. She did not exactly start off this job on the right foot, and judging from this photo, it does not particularly appear that things are going to get any better for her. Our primary hope here is that she does somehow manage to figure out a spot in this world that suits her skills, since the last thing we want to see is her out on the street again, especially after what she has already been through when it comes to her child.

What storylines are you hoping for the most when it comes to episode 6?