Seven Predictions for Season 5 of Downton Abbey

Warning: Contains Spoilers!

So, March is right in the middle of  what I like to call the TV doldrums. Game of Thrones and True Blood haven't started yet, Big Bang Theory is still on its season break, but perhaps most horribly, I'm going to have to wait another whole year for the new season of Downtown Abbey. I mean, I think the only way I can console myself is to watch all seven seasons of Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Amazon Instant.

However, in between binge watching 'best of Salem the talking cat' videos on YouTube and reliving the episode when the Backstreet Boys guest starred on Sabrina, I decided to make a couple of predictions about Downton Abbey season 5 to make the waiting time go faster. Here it goes:

#teamgillingham

Prediction Number 1: Something horrible happens to one of Mary's suitors. A few months ago I wrote a blog entitled Who Will Mary Marry? I think that's one of the primary questions going into season 5. I mean, this question is going to have to be resolved fairly quickly or people are going to start getting annoyed. It's not really fun to see Mary drag two perfectly nice guys along on the end of a string, yet at the same time, no matter who she picks, there's going to be a group of people very upset that she didn't pick the other person. I make no secret of the fact that I'm Team Gillingham all the way, but even I have to admit that Charles Blake is a compelling character, and it would be hard to watch Mary have to let him down. That being said, I don't think the producers of the show can let Mary make that choice unless something happens to totally disqualify one of them. Like, maybe Blake kidnapped Mr. Gregson? That would make things pretty awkward at family dinners.

Prediction Number 2:  The return of Mr. Gregson. Speaking of Mr. Gregson, he's another big question that needs to be addressed. I think he needs to reappear in the first episode of the next season or it will be conclusive proof that the universe hates Edith. I know that there's all this speculation that Gregson is going to become a Nazi and I hope for everyone's sake that that's not true. In any case, I can't imagine that some sort of explanation is not offered for Gregson's absence. I mean, this isn't Game of Thrones where beloved characters are callously killed off every episode...or maybe it is (cough, cough, Sybil, cough, cough, Matthew).

Prediction Number 3: Tom Branson finds someone to be happy with. I mean, I find Sarah Bunting as annoying as the next person, but I think she's looking like Tom's best chance at a love interest right now. Tom Branson just has this perceptual air of sadness that makes him look a little like a weepy puppy. I mean, you can't help but want him to be happy, even if it's with someone who makes snarky comments about our beloved aristocracy. I think season four made it clear that Tom is looking to make some sort of change in his life and getting remarried may be that change.

Prediction Number 4: Rose faces some sort of serious crisis in her life. Continuing with the theme of annoying women, I think we have all cringed at some aspect of Lady Rose's behavior at some point during season 4. As much as you have to admire her enthusiasm for life, Rose can be ridiculously annoying and selfish. While her rejection of racism was commendable, I think it's important to remember that she was only going to marry Jack Ross to shock her mother. I predict she finds herself in a situation that causes her to grow up (much as Edith did in season 2). I think her character would really benefit from a little more depth and a little less jazz.

Prediction Number 5: Daisy finds a nice man. To say that Daisy has been unlucky in love would be an understatement. After four seasons, we've seen her go through pretty much every sort of personal crisis, several of them romantic. She's had such a difficult life and grown so much as a person, I think it's only fair that something works out for her for once. I predict she  goes to live on Mr. Mason's farm and falls in love with a handsome farm hand and lives happily ever after. I think she deserves it after all this time.

Prediction Number 6: Bates fights the law (again). As justifiable as Bates' actions were when he killed Green, I don't think it's quite Downton style to let him get away with it. I'm not sure what form that plot device would take, but I sense we haven't heard the last of the revolting Mr. Green.

Prediction Number 7: Thomas does something nice for somebody. What? Stranger things have happened.

Just sayin'