‘Downton Abbey’ Mini-Cap: Gwen Came Back And Turned The House Into Awkward City

Downton Abbey is finally coming to an end. To salute the internationally-acclaimed drama, we’re examining one particularly potent scene or storyline from each episode in the sixth and final season.

It’s not uncommon for show’s to bring back old favorites for their farewell season, but Downton Abbey used the return of one of its original characters as an opportunity for nuanced class commentary. That’s right: Gwen finally came back to Downton and turned the big house into Awkward City.

Gwen Dawson (Rose Leslie) was one of the very first characters introduced on Downton Abbey and her story was defined by the struggle for upward mobility. While the other servants all assumed they were stuck forever below the stairs, she wanted to get out. She saved all her money and spent it on a typewriter and slaved over correspondence classes. In modern America, we’d applaud such tenacity, but the staff at Downton Abbey found it suspect, laughable, and potential cause for termination. Lady Sybil, that sweet progressive dove of a girl, became Gwen’s cheerleader. Sybil lent Gwen clothes and helped her set up job interviews. The first season ended with Sybil cornering a telephone operator looking for a secretary and introducing him to Gwen, thus giving the girl a way out.

Flash forward to season six. The farewell season of Downton Abbey takes place eleven years after the first. In that time, Gwen has married a Mr. Harding, a trustee of a ladies college that Rosamund wants to patron. And so, Gwen returns to the house as a legitimate lady and welcomed visitor. The one problem? The Crawleys don’t recognize her — but the servants do.

Now there’s a lot of interesting stuff packed into these few short scenes. We have Gwen’s triumphant return, Thomas’ simmering jealousy, Daisy’s increasing spite, Lady Mary’s self-flagellation, the resurrection of Sybil, and, you know, some happy reunions. But what overwhelms every moment is the understanding that Downton Abbey is a show that is nostalgic for a very specific version of the past, and Gwen was always leaning towards the future. Her reappearance is a sobering reminder that the world no longer cares about the hierarchy of butlers or the proper way to serve lunch. When Anna has to remind Gwen that Lady Painswick is Lord Grantham’s sister, Leslie uses a chipper tone to say, “I’d forgotten that!” That very blitheness undercuts how little most of modern Britain cares about the names and titles that once stitched its society firmly together.

Thomas is fuming. We always saw Carson as the most conservative member of the household staff, but Carson is old enough that he will retire along with the traditions he held dear. Thomas has been screwed by the system. He very fairly complains that he’s devoted his life to the family and will receive nothing in return. Gwen, Branson, and every one else who dared to defy the “natural order” are better off than he. We’re meant to cheer when Lord Grantham chastises him for his “lack of generosity,” but it is the family who is on the verge of leaving him in the lurch. Showrunner Julian Fellowes has always been quick to point out that when the aristocrats lost their under butlers, they didn’t just lose a trapping of old world comfort; they let a member of the lower class go. For many, that means more freedom, but for others, it’s a life without home, work, stability, or purpose. When a society moves forward, someone must always be left behind.

There’s an added layer of gossipy nuance to these scenes, too. Just as Gwen has surpassed her old co-workers in worldly success, so has actress Rose Leslie. Downton Abbey has made many stars over the last few years, but very few are better known for the work they got after being on the period drama. Leslie is one of the only actors to leave Downton Abbey for greener pastures — or at least the world of Game of Thrones. Come on, admit it! You know Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary, Joanne Froggatt as Anna, but Rose Leslie is Ygritte. Just as Thomas simmers about not being rewarded for his loyalty to the house, you have to wonder if just one of the remaining Downton cast members is jealous they didn’t jump ship after the first season and land a spot on HBO’s behemoth. Oh, am I the only one wondering about that? Okay, then just me.

[Watch Seasons 1-5 of Downton Abbey on Prime Video]
[Watch Season 6 of Downton Abbey on PBS]

[Photos: PBS]