Previously, on Downton Abbey: Bates (FINALLY) got out of prison, Thomas made a move on the Hottest Footman in Northern England and got shot down, sending the house into a tailspin of drama, Bates saves the day by blackmailing O’Brien with her ladyship’s soap, Matthew and Tom join forces to run the estate, Mary has some unidentified surgery for some unidentified lady problem, Edith finds out Dishy Editor has Mr. Rochester syndrome, and also there’s a cricket match.

How is it possible we’ve reached the end of Series 3 already? It seems like we just started! The finale will take us through a time jump, a trip to Scotland and what’s possibly one of the most shocking moments in Downton to date. Obviously, we’re going to have a lot to talk about. So, let’s go. 

Previously, on Downton Abbey: Tragedy drives a wedge into Robert and Cora’s marriage, Isobel tries to make a kind gesture, everyone gets in arguments about a variety of topics from religion to Ethel’s PROSTITUTE ways, I am the only person in America who is apparently on Team Robert, Violet awesomely brings her son and his wife back together, and Bates is finally going to be released from jail, for reasons that really don’t bear looking at too closely.

We arrive at the penultimate episode of Series 3 tonight (can you believe it’s almost over?), but at least it’s a two-hour installment so there are plenty of new things to discuss. This is also probably the part where I should apologize for the length of this post in advance. (Just remember, it is two hours! A lot happens!)

Previously, on Downton Abbey: Everyone cries. That’s all. Oh, all right, fine – tragedy strikes the Crawley family when Sybil has unexpected complications following the birth of her daughter, Thomas gets a little too up close and personal with the Hottest Footman in Northern England, Isobel’s crusading ways leave her stuck having to eat Ethel’s cooking, and supersleuths Bates and Anna finally clue in to the fact that Vera killed herself (keep your day jobs, kids).

As Series 3 rolls on, it’s not quite clear how Downton is going to manage to top the emotional rollercoaster of last week’s episode, but you’ll have to read on to find out.

Previously, on Downton Abbey: Tom’s behavior means he and Sybil have to flee Ireland, Ethel gives her son to his grandparents, Anna and Bates have a whole episode where their main storyline is whether they get letters from each other (zzzzzzz…), Carson hires the most attractive footman in Northern England, and Robert should not be trusted with Monopoly money, let alone an estate fortune.

Series 3 rolls on this week with an episode packed with emotional moments large and small and one shocking, unexpected twist. Click through and let’s get to chatting.

Previously, on Downton Abbey: Edith has the worst wedding ever, Carson is a supersleuth, Vera Bates had a super creepy neighbor, Matthew got a letter from his dead almost father-in-law, Isobel went on about prostitution a lot, Mrs. Hughes turned out to be okay so everyone can breathe again and apparently we won’t be needing that dreadfully tiny Downton Place after all.  

How is Downton going to top all this? Let’s find out, as Series 3 rolls on with another exciting episode. We meet some new faces, new storylines begin and Carson finally gets to hire more staff. (Huzzah!) Click through and let’s discuss all the dramatic twists and turns from this week’s episode.

Series 3 of Downton Abbey rolls on this week with a (sadly) shorter second episode that was (amazingly) packed with almost as much drama as last week’s premiere!

We had another wedding, a mysterious letter, downstairs squabbling, downstairs sleuthing, lots of adorableness and some sadness too. Whew.  You know what to do – click through and let’s discuss all the twists and turns from this week’s episode!

Wow. It’s finally here – the long-awaited and highly-anticipated premiere of Downton Abbey Series 3 has made it to America at last and we can see what all the fuss is about for ourselves, talk about plot twists until we’re blue in the face, swoon over Matthew and Mary and just, well, everything.

The two-hour Series 3 premiere introduces us to life at Downton after the war – and the family and estate look a bit different. There are new faces downstairs, wedding planning is underway, Cora’s very American mother arrives and the family faces a financial setback. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot going on!

Click through for a rather embarrassingly in-depth look at all the twists and turns of the Downton Abbey Series 3 premiere and then let’s dish everything in the comments!

Downton Abbey Season 2 officially concluded this weekend in wonderful fashion and I hope everyone is officially ready to wail and gnash their teeth with the rest of the world while we wait for word on Season 3. (As far as I’m aware it’s set to start filming any day now, which is some comfort, I suppose.)

This week’s finale brought us a little bit of everything – and I’m assuming that quite a few of you were possibly screaming over very pleased with the episode’s ending.  So click through and let’s talk about it – the good, the bad, and the somewhat odd. And then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do while we wait for Series 3.

We officially finished the technical Series 2 of Downton Abbey last night – though, don’t worry, we’ve still got the Christmas special to come next Sunday – and I don’t know about you guys, but I am just having emotions all over the place about everything.

So all over the place that I feel the need to caveat going in to this installment of Downton Discussion – that despite some (major) problems with some (multiple) things that went down in this episode, it was all around supremely enjoyable television. I was glued to the screen for two hours and sorry when it ended and I just shamelessly loved watching it, even when I didn’t love everything (a lot of things) that happened. I imagine a lot of folks may have felt that way too.

There’s a lot to talk about, of the positive, negative and “Wow, did that really just happen?” variety, so just click right on through and we’ll get started on that. (I think I should probably apologize in advance for the length of this. It’s…not brief.)

The second series of Downton Abbey rolled along through its fifth episode this week, bringing with it some good and some bad – but nevertheless all very major - plot twists. As we reach the end of the war, there are adjustments and consequences for all our favorite characters – and it will be incredibly interesting to see how these events shake out over the last few episodes.

Click through for a look at some of the big moments from Downton Episode 5 and a rundown of all my (occasionally run-on) thoughts on the night’s major developments. Chime in with your opinions in the comments – on some of these bigger plot twists, I would dearly love to hear how other people reacted!