‘Downton Abbey’ season 5 finale review: Anna’s arrest fears; Rose’s wedding; Mary and Tom’s choices

Tonight’s season 5 finale of “Downton Abbey” is definitely an episode that had quite a bit going on, and there were some legitimate reasons to worry about some of the characters throughout … especially Anna. (Warning: Spoilers ahead for Americans!)

Did she really kill Mr. Green? This is a question that the police found themselves asking of Joanne Froggatt’s character throughout the episode, especially as some of the evidence started to mount. A second witness cleared Bates’ name, but said that the likely killer was in fact smaller.

As the police took Anna away, there was nothing that Bates could do other than watch his wife be carted away, and thanks to this, we have a reverse situation of the story back during season 3.

Rose’s wedding – We had to admit that this took up way too much time, and we could care less about Atticus and most of the other characters here. Why do we care about Shrimpy and his divorce, or the attempts at sabotage? It is really only interesting as a history lesson.

The War Memorial – This was an especially emotional part of the episode, given the timing of it all. Also, we had a chance in here to see Mrs. Patmore finally get what she wanted out of this in the form of a simple name being engraved.

Is Tom leaving? – This is something that was suggested during the episode, given that he expressed more and more interest in taking Sybbie to Boston. He may not have been the only person saying goodbye; Daisy considered taking off to London, but eventually decided that she wanted to stay at Downton.

After all of this, the reveal of Edith’s secret coming out to Robert basically was an afterthought. Who would’ve saw that coming a little ago?

In the end, this was a shocking-at-times episode, but also one that we really wish had went off the air a good 15 minutes early. Grade: B-.

What did you think about the finale of “Downton Abbey” tonight? Share with a comment, and head over here to get some first updates when it comes to the Christmas Special. Also, you can sign up now in the event you want some further TV updates on all we cover right now via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via ITV.)