SueAnn Porter

There are rumors that Downton Abbey will only have one more season.  We are expecting a kick-butt finale. There are also a few plot lines that have been introduced along the way that need some closure. It’s a rule of writing that whatever is promised in the pilot should be sufficiently wrapped up in the finale, so as not to upset your fans. I need only mention Lost and How I Met Your Mother as examples of finales which left the fans angry, upset and frustrated. So this is how I would end Downton Abbey:
1. Thomas will pull another grand scheme to hurt Mosely. It will backfire in his face and he will die a slow, horrible death.

2. The Dowager will confess on her deathbed that she did indeed bare Kurigan’s love child while vacationing in Switzerland in 1875.

3. Captain Obvious: John and Anna Bates will open that Bed and Breakfast they’ve been discussing and call it the “Bates Motel.”

4. Rose will marry Atticus. They will supply housing for the Kindertransport Children who will be coming to England in the late 1930’s to escape Hitler. Her mother is not amused.

5. Carson and Mrs. Hughes will retire together and share a little cottage, separate bedrooms of course. And indoor plumbing.

6. Mrs. Patmore purchases the cottage adjacent.

7. Isobel will marry Lord Merton and secretly spend all his money and leave his spoiled brat sons penniless.

8. Tom will announce he is leaving for America. Robert will refuse to let him take baby Sybil. Tom will punch Robert in the mouth and take off running.

9. Robert dies of a heart attack while discussing finances with Mary.

10. The true heir of Downton Abbey, Peter, who was believed to have died on the Titanic in the pilot (and who showed up in season 2 with a mangled face) will return to Downton, having undergone plastic surgery. He will then marry Edith, who will then inherit her father’s portion of the estate. Due to some legal mumbo-jumbo, Mary and her son will lose their share of the estate also, and Edith gets everything.

11. Mary will be forced to marry for money and position after all. Maybe bring back Sir Richard Carlisle. (Ouch!)

12. Daisy leaves Downton and becomes a sous chef at the same hotel where Alfred works. He finally falls for her. They invent fire together.

Season 6 is probably already written, and mostly filmed. But I wouldn’t be surprised if at least a few of these ideas showed up.
In fact, I expect it.