Let's cut Cora some slack here. She had just found out that her daughter had had a child out of wedlock and kept that child hidden for years. She also found this out while she was worried about that daughter who had run away. Is it really wrong of her to be more concerned about her own feelings at that point than…

Incidentally, did Sybil convert? I don't recall the issue ever being mentioned.

A rudeness showdown! Winner gets the 'Bitch of the Season' award, and the permission to be an asshole at all dinner parties for the rest of the year! The award is shaped like a butler's boot kicking a guest's behind out the front door.

The Jewish thing is not so random. Rose likes forbidden fruit - after all, last season she was involved with a Black man.

I agree it was a bit out of character. But then again, she told Mrs Hughes, who's an even better secret keeper, and sort of a surrogate mother figure for the maids in the household. Not to mention, the smartest person in the household (including the upstairs folk).

Basically, Anna realized that the kid had been in the train with Edith and Cora - which was weird, as why would Edith have the child with her when coming back from London?

It's a soap opera … so, no.

Well, Miss Bunting had three goes at that title, so we can't compare them until someone at Downton thinks that Larry would make a great dinner guest at least twice more.

The kid playing Sybbie is adorable. And the scene between her and Tom was so sweet too. It's nice seeing someone in that family act like a loving and responsible parent.

The fact that Sybil was his daughter, while Rose isn't may have something to do with it. Sure, Rose is living under his roof, so he bears some responsibility for her, but ultimately, she's her parents' problem, not Robert's.

Yes, Anna was officially head housemaid initially, but she also 'took care of' the girls.

In Mabel's mind, Mary is like some drug that Tony is addicted to. She probably thinks that once she gets him off it, he'll return to being a nice chap who cares about her (Mabel).

I agree - it all seems so ridiculous. This makes it the, what, fourth time this season that someone has been thrown out of the house for making a scene at a party. I don't think even in today's ill-bred times any household would encounter such a series of jackasses in such a short period of time. That so many abounded…

That too, Anna suggests going to London - the scene of Bates's last crime.

So is the Bates/Mr Green horseshit over?

Are the reviews back for good? I've fallen behind on my SaB viewing - I'll have to catch up to this episode. It seems really interesting.

Tom and Lorenzo's Downton Abbey recap is particularly hilarious this week: http://tomandlorenzo.com/20…

Yeah, when Downton Abbey began, I used to think of Mary as Susan Sto Helit. She was pretty good in Hogfather. Not great or anything, but quite decent.

Then again, throughout season 2, Matthew managed to show up at Downton in every episode, though he was supposed to be fighting in the trenches in France. For all we know, Lord Merton actually lives in Timbuktoo, but manages to pop over to Yorkshire every other week.

This is rural England in the 1920s, not 21st century America. People did not just automatically take other people to court unless they had the money for it and were sure they had some chance of winning. In particular, tenant farmers did not take their noble landlord's daughter to court, especially when they knew they…