TV Show Review

TV Review: DOWNTON ABBEY: Season 3, Episode 5

Jessica Brown Findlay Allen Leech Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey Season 3 Episode 5 Review. Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 5 was one of the most emotional episodes of the series. Three coterminous things happened during its most pivotal scene: 1. Lady Sybil Branson (Jessica Brown Findlay) goes into labor, 2. Dr. Richard Clarkson (David Robb) and Sir Philip Tapsel (Tim Piggott-Smith) argue about the symptoms that present themselves during it, 3. Lady Sybil’s parents, but ultimately Tom Branson (Allen Leech), must decide whose opinion to follow.

These three factors made the eventual birth the most exciting and the saddest aspect of the episode. Everyone rendered helpless, including Dr. Richard Clarkson, who has known the Crawley children since they were born.

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Tom was a ship at sea during a storm. Everyone wanted Sybil to live, no matter who was right but none more so than him. He and Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern) were being being pulled in the direction of what is right for Sybil. The doctors felt the same but also, some small part of the them, wanted to prove themselves right in front of the Earl of Grantham and his family.

Everyone is sad when Lady Sybil dies, but the glacier in Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) breaks. For someone who projects so much frigidness towards others, his display was the most heartfelt.

The viewer probably never expected Lady Sybil to die, she is too nice, too sweet to everyone, much like Miss Lavinia Catherine Swire (Zoe Boyle) was. On top of that she has been a main cast member since the beginning of the show.

Class warfare was always present on the show in discrete forms, not just between lords and servants. It also existed between lords and amongst the servants. This is how Downton Abbey has set itself apparent as a TV program: one world is just as important as the other in the show’s multiple narratives. This shows up from a surprising source when sympathy and disgust erupt over Mrs. Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton) hiring Ethel Parks (Amy Nuttall) from Mrs. Crawley’s cook, Mrs. Bird (Christine Lohr). Though there is a household hierarchy in place, a cook looking down on a maid, even a maid that was formerly an “unfortunate”, is humorous.

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Source: Wikipedia

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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