‘Downton Abbey’ season 5, episode 5 review (PBS): Robert’s move on Lady Cora, Simon Bricker

Tonight, we know that the majority of the viewing public was watching the Super Bowl. However, we do like to think that there was also some other programs worth watching, and “Downton Abbey” is definitely one of them.

As always, we choose to focus in our PBS reviews on a singular subject, and for Sunday, that was the very dramatic confrontation between Robert and Simon Bricker in the Earl’s own bedroom! This was a very different scene than the series is used to producing, which is probably one of the reasons why it stands out so much. There are not many opportunities where we get to actually see Robert get physical, but he definitely did here in making sure the art historian did not have any further interactions with his wife.

With this being said, can we really blame Simon entirely for this? Not exactly. While Cora never consciously wanted to be with him romantically, we do feel like she led him on into believing something due to the intellectual connection that the two parties shared. Men and women can be friends, but he made it very clear, especially for the time period, that he had some sort of deeper interest. We have a hard time imagining that she was completely oblivious to everything that was going on here.

Still, we feel like this scene is an important wake-up call to Robert; all of this happened because he belittled her and made her feel unintelligent. Meanwhile, Bricker flattered her and made her feel special.

While the rest of the episode somewhat lacked in drama (read our review of it here from the fall), this moment does more than make up for it to us.

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