LITTLE ROCK — Downton Abbey brings down the curtain on Season 3 at 9 p.m. today on PBS and AETN. There will be tears - stunned, shocked, OMG! tears.
Rabid Downton fans - the ones who have the T-shirts, Tweet the Tweets and devour all the Downton news - already know what happens in tonight’s two-hour finale. The episode aired in Britain as a Christmas special last year.
I won’t spoil it for the rest of you. I’ll just say watch it to the very end and keep the Kleenex handy. Seriously. You will not have seen it coming and it’s a major game changer.
The episode begins in September 1921, about a year from when we last saw the abbey denizens. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) is great with child as the family packs off to a hunting trip to Scotland and to visit Lady Rose (Lily James) and her parents.
Only a few servants are necessary for the trip and that gives the rest time to spruce up the abbey and have a lark at the village fair.
There is not much of a hint of the dark and foreboding drama looming on the horizon.
Elsewhere, we have Edith (Laura Carmichael) wrestling with the possibility of becoming the mistress of her married editor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards).
You’ll recall that Gregson’s wife is in an asylum and no longer knows him, but he’s prevented by law from divorcing.
Meanwhile, the amiable cook Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) has a boisterous admirer from the village and she delights in the idea of a beau after all these years.
Also on the romance front, Matthew’s plucky mother, Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton), seems to be getting closer to Dr. Clarkson (David Robb), and a frisky new maid with eyes on the social ladder sets her sights on Lady Sybil’s widower Branson (Allen Leech). Too soon? We’ll find out.
Much of the episode follows Lady Mary’s pregnancy after she insists on accompanying the family to Scotland. Her sister, after all, died of eclampsia following childbirth and that shadow hangs over Mary’s pregnancy.
I’ll not reveal what happens when Mary gives birth.
Whatever happens in this final episode, at least we got to see Bates (Brendan Coyle)freed from prison this season. Season 4 promises to be better than ever.
Still amazing: Are your bags packed? CBS has rounded up 22 more contestants for another trek around the world on The Amazing Race starting at 7 p.m. today. Best bet: Root for the roller derby moms or John Wayne’s granddaughter.
Hard to believe, but it’s Season 22 for the series that debuted in 2001. Where have we not been? Antarctica? North Pole?
Season 22 kicks off in Bora Bora. In case you don’t know where that is, the Polynesian island is smack between Tupai and Tahaa.
Timely reminder: The fascinating special Killing Lincoln airs at 7 p.m. today on National Geographic Channel. Dig out today’s TV Week cover story for the details.
Too late: If you blinked you missed NBC’s Thursday night midseason tryout Do No Harm. The Jekyll-and-Hyde medical drama aired twice and nobody watched. Well, hardly anybody. The series starred Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me).
Moving on: Christina Applegate has bailed out of NBC’s struggling sophomore sitcom Up All Night. She says the show has taken “a different creative direction.” Translated: from bad to worse.
The move leaves co-star Will Arnett holding the baby as the show changes formats for the rest of its second season. That is if NBC decides to go ahead with the rest of a second season.
Coming back: Robin Roberts is set to return full time (albeit on an abbreviated schedule) to co-host ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday. Look for lots of cheers and hugs as Roberts ends five months of treatment for a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome.
Not coming back: The Ricki Lake Show will not be back for the 2013-14 season. The syndicated chat fest suffered fatally low ratings (under 1 million viewers) in a crowded market. Episodes will continue through September, however.
Morris expunged: Fox News Channel has dumped political commentator Dick Morris. Morris’ obstinate and obstreperous prediction of a huge Mitt Romney landslide in the last presidential race turned out to be an embarrassment for Fox News. To his credit, Morris did provide the most entertaining theater on election night when he chastised his network for calling the election too soon since Romney was still going to pull it out.
Return reminders: For those who keep asking, Mad Men returns to AMC on April 7. Game of Thrones comes back to HBO on March 31.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style, Pages 52 on 02/17/2013