‘Downton Abbey’ season 4, episode 4 preview: The future for Joanne Froggatt, Michelle Dockery

On tonight’s “Downton Abbey” episode, there was clearly quite a bit of action that took place, including (SPOILER ALERT for Americans) quite a devastating sequence in which Mr. Green raped Anna while Bates was upstairs listening to a performance from Dame Nelly Melba. As horrendous as this sequence was to watch tonight, it will only be getting much more emotional from here on out.

In the first preview for the episode airing on ITV next week, you can expect to see even more tension between Anna and Bates as they try their best to move beyond the circumstances that befell them at the party, but there is still a major problem. In fear of him becoming violent himself, Anna has not admitted what happened, and instead of looking towards Bates as a source of comfort, she is instead pushing him away, and saying that both living and working together may be too much of a chore for them to bear for much longer. Please, Julian Fellowes, don’t do this to us!

As for everything else that you can expect to see, Edna for one is going to continue her evil ways after dropping what appears to be an Edwardian roofie into Tom’s drink, and Lady Mary will meet up again with Lord Anthony Gillingham. Just in case this wasn’t enough to get excited about, be prepared for the arrival of the show’s first black character! Gary Carr’s Jack Ross, a jazz singer who spends time with Lady Rose, will be making his debut next week, and is sure to have quite a few interesting scenes as he explains his life to some of the other characters.

Also, more romance for Edith and Gregson; they have a nice story, but in the midst of the other drama right now, it is almost an afterthought.

Is there anything in particular that you are hoping to see next week? Be sure and share below! Meanwhile, click here to see our full review of what happened tonight.

Photo: ITV, video via SpoilerTV