White Weddings, Red Rooms, and Frozen Hearts (S6 E2)

Wedding bells are ringing on the horizon in Downton's second episode, though they're chiming on the very distant horizon as Mrs. Hughes and Carson continue to grapple over the locations for the wedding and reception. Mrs.Hughes has revealed her hopes for a simple celebration that reflects their roots and values, not the gilded lifestyle of their employers. Carson, with his sentimental ties to the abbey, continues to get reeled in by the Crawleys in having the reception in the house, though Lord Grantham's lackluster offer to gussy up the servants' dungeon fell short of British hospitality. Mary, however, saved the day in extending any of the abbey's rooms to the happy couple, and in turn cut Mrs. Hughes down at the knees. Given that Mary has never quite made it to Mrs. Hughes' list of 50 favorite people (and she only knows 37 people), I suspect that this usurpation of the woman's own wedding day will only result in a bitchfest battle to end all bitch battles. I, for one, cannot wait for it. I hope it's a mud fight.

While the clanging song of matrimony fills the head servants' world, one idiophone has fallen silent, and it appears it may not ring out again. Isobel and Lord Merton seem to be a lost cause. Though Lord Merton remains devoted to winning her over once more in spite of his schmuck sons, Isobel keeps a cold distance. Their friendship still simmers, but the agony of maintaining one another's company appears painfully torturous for both. Then again, perhaps Isobel just goes for that kind of masochism. Maybe she's a red-room kind of girl. The reality is she could end this now with just a few simple words, live out the rest of her life being loved and adored, and vanquish their loneliness and suffering in one fell swoop. But, like dangling a doughnut in front of my treadmill, she teases him along and breaks her own heart in the process. Maybe if he changed his name to Lord Grey and took the reigns (or whips) they'd finally get somewhere, but for now such is the winter of their discontent.

Sadly for Thomas, the ice has glossed over his world too and the icicles cling to his lonely heart like he pissed off a PMSing Queen Elsa. His friendly exchanges with Andy are met with chilly acknowledgments and hasty departures, leaving Thomas looking like a wounded puppy. Determined to make a friend who's fully potty-trained, Thomas extends the olive branch time and time again to Andy, only to have it swatted away, whether it's taking a jaunty walk, helping with the clocks of the abbey, or a simple game of bowling, he can't seem to win. While Thomas has never been Mr. Friendly to the members of Downton's service team, Andy was fresh meat who really shouldn't have much awareness of Thomas' shady past. Has someone filled him in, warned him of the Evil Butler's track record? Did his Gaydar zero in on Thomas, detecting high levels of Rainbow Disease? Maybe he's just Team Bates. Either way, the way things are going for Thomas, he may be on his way out anyways. Under Butlers are so pretentious these days.

One frozen heart that seems to be melting, at least in part, is dear Lady Mary's, though she had once lamented she didn't have one to begin with. And she seems to be warming for none other than her arch enemy, Edith. The two have battled it out since that season one with contemptuous dig that Poor Edith "needed all the help she could get" in catching the eye of a suitor, prompting a scathing letter disclosing Mary's lustful assassination of a diplomat. They have never been friends and even poor Sybil's death couldn't quite mend their relationship. However, in the absence of Tom, perhaps Mary is growing accustomed to being left behind with Edith after all. The two shared a glance of agreement across the breakfast table when Robert made the embarrassing reception offer to Carson, and Mary even invited Edith to join her and the children to visit the Drewe farm pigs. Of course, this visit backfired brutally as Mrs. Drewe's wounds were ripped open after seeing her lost foster child once more. Deciding that Sunflower would be better off in her care, Mrs. Drewe gathered up the little sapling at the local farmers' market and snuck her back home. Edith was able to retrieve the child, but not without the reminder that giving a child to a family to love, then reneging on the adoption comes with devastating consequences. Of course in spite of Mary's slow warming to Edith, she wasn't so much concerned with the disappearance of Gladiolus as she was with having to walk home, but I sense the secret of little Buttercup will soon surface and Mary might just have to cope with being called Auntie soon. Will Mary bring down the fury of her judgment, neglecting her own fall as a pariah?

Sadly, Edith still can't seem to catch a break in this season, and she continues to struggle with managing Michael's publication and her hired editor. Multiple shouting matches over the phone and reverberating through London have left Edith exasperated as she is forced to recall that she too has a uterus, and thus is unfit for a position of power. Why she hasn't fired the bastard and hired another fully capable set of ovaries is beyond me, but hopefully her future will soon go the way of Mary as the agent of Downton, who, for the most part was accepted in her new title after the initial shock wore off.

And in this week's tidbits, Daisy's education has taken flight as she begins to lash out against the caste system of 1920s England and screams out "Damn the Man!" protesting Mr. Mason's eventual evacuation from his farm. Up next for Daisy: Occupy Darnley Estate! The board of the hospital have made little progress in their decision to allow the buy-out of the independent medical facility, but for a brief moment, Dr. Clarkson seemed to stray from the safety of the Dowager's skirt in leaning towards Cora's argument for advancement. And after months of grief, Anna has learned with a simple procedure, she may in fact be able to bear a little Bates after all.