It should go without saying but this video contains spoilers, sweetlings.
For American fans of sweeping Edwardian soap opera Downton Abbey, it may feel like a cruel and/or evil trick to post the contents of this story. After all, the series has yet to make its debut on US shores — that’s saved for PBS on January 5, 2014 — let alone tease what’s to come from its finale episode. But England is not like America, where the fourth season has already come and gone: they’re already prepping for the annual Christmas Special, marking the end of a year of wistful glances, fretful gasps, and mysterious loverboys with drama to spare. And we’ve got the video to prove it.
So for those with a fear of spoilers, take heed: this is not the post for you. And really, you probably should’ve known that just by looking at the title, so I’m not sure what compelled you to click on this in the first place. But, should you need anymore warning, here it is: reading on will force you to come face-to-face with details about Downton’s fourth season. Though with a fifth helping of the series already confirmed, you might just feel safe enough to spoil yourself.
“Well the gang’s all here, I see,” states Martha Levinson as she and Cora’s brother — played by Paul Giamatti — Harold Levinson enter the fold. “Is that American for ‘Hello’?” quips the permanently Real-Talking Dowager Countess. Though true it may be: the teaser points to serious arcs for everyone involved in the House Crawley doings.
Though it’s not all as dour as that: the whole trailer swells with twinkling music and equally-as-enchanting scenes from Buckingham Palace in a romantically charged London. Though, to be sure, it isn’t all gathering of ye rosebuds for everyone: Edith — who has been pregnant for a while and must be post-baby at this point in the story — is heading for something seemingly dire in London. Could there be word of Michael Gregson? Was the baby given up for adoption? Did she end up going to Switzerland? Or was her pie-in-the-sky dream of handing the baby off to farmer Brown down the road made a reality? There are only questions for our little tide-turning Edith.
But it isn’t all wary travelers: there’s also a potential new love interest for Daisy, and that teacher Tom seems to fancy has shown up again.
Of course the biggest cliffhanger of all — that evil Mr. Bates, who totally murder Lord Gillingham’s valet Mr. Green for raping Anna — is still in question. Lord knows how or why. Bates, who’s totally been a murderer this whole time (I stand by that one, for sure, no matter how terrible Mrs. Bates was), has done it again and now he’s going to get caught for it. At least, that’s the impression we got and we’re hoping and praying its true, because we're terribly over his wannabe-gallant martyr schtick.
The two-hour long episode is set to air in the UK on Christmas day, picking up the storylines and time-jumping them six months into the future following the events of season four’s end. It will air as the season finale in the US in early 2014 on PBS.
