Downton Abbey: The Final Season Episode 7 – A Christian Perspective

I will be analyzing each episode of the final season of Downton Abbey from a worldview perspective. I will be doing them two at a time to make space for my series on “The Expanse.” There will, of course be SPOILERS for each episode, and I will assume readers know about each previous season and episode’s content as well. It will be assumed that readers are familiar with the characters and circumstances. I will not be summarizing the plot of the episode; I will merely interact with the content from a perspective of worldview. BE COURTEOUS AND DO NOT BRING UP LATER EPISODES THAN THE ONE DISCUSSED HERE IN YOUR COMMENTS.

Episode 7

It is easy to get caught in the trap of demanding perfection from other human beings–despite knowing we can never meet the same standard ourselves. Lady Mary seems to have this kind of demand in her relationships: she wants perfection, and she is rarely able to forgive or see past people’s faults. The question is: will she be able to do this both in regards to herself (by allowing herself to come to terms with some of her own past) and others (particularly Edith). I am concerned with how Lady Mary has been reacting to her suspicions about Lady Edith and Marigold. Will she ever demonstrate anything towards Edith other than a kind of sniping attitude that they have each perpetuated throughout the series?

There was an intriguing point made about Mr. Mason. Daisy has been concerned about sharing him and the love he has for her. But it was stated here that love is not something finite, rather it is something infinite. It is not a zero-sum game in which as love for one person increases, it must decrease for another. Instead, love can keep increasing in an ever-flowing stream. This is a beautiful way to state it, and one that points to the reality of God, who is love. The love of God is abundant, and we need not fear that it will fade away from us.

Finally, not so related to worldview, but can someone explain to me why a man is spying on Mrs. Patmore? He looked like a private detective or something, but there seems to be no possible reason why anyone would ever be spying on Mrs. Patmore. She has no connection to anything I can think of that would make her a person of interest. Any ideas? Don’t spoil if you’ve already seen the next one!

More!

Be sure to let me know what you thought of the episodes, and what worldview-level issues you saw them raise, in the comments below.

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SDG.

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