August 1913. O’Brien and Thomas continue to spread their malice,ensuring that Lady Edith learns from Daisy where Kemal died and attempting to frame John Bates for the theft of a snuff-box though Anna,clearly fond of John,ensures the plan backfires on them. Thomas’s gossip also discredits Lady Mary’s eligibility as a bride and the family must entertain the middle-aged Sir Anthony Strallen as a prospective husband. Mary is bored by him and it brings her closer to Matthew but Edith seems genuinely interested in him. Mrs. Patmore,the cook,must accept that her eye-sight is failing and Lady Sybil continues to encourage Gwen in her secretarial applications whilst Isobel actually teaches Lady Violet some altruism at the annual produce show.
May 1913. A fair comes to the village and here Mrs. Hughes meets up with an old flame,Joe,who once asked her to marry him and does so again but once more she refuses. Despite being gay Thomas escorts Daisy to the fair purely out of spite as he knows William is fond of her. The gesture is not lost on either John Bates or Mrs. Hughes. Gwen is not called for interview for the secretarial post but Sybil agrees to support future applications. A new chauffeur, Tom Branson, arrives. He is well-read and politically aware. Having got one over on Isobel regarding a medical diagnosis,Violet attempts to talk Robert out of a need for an arranged marriage but fails. Mary,seeing herself as no more than a commodity,unburdens herself to Matthew and they get a little closer.
March 1913. Gwen,one of the maids,has bought a typewriter and has applied for a secretarial post. Most of the staff are dismissive of her aspirations but the family – except Violet of course – are supportive and youngest daughter Sybil offers to supply a reference. Evelyn Napier,considered an eligible catch for Mary, arrives for the hunt,bringing his handsome friend Kemal Pamuk,a Turkish diplomat,who throws himself at her. He goes to her room at night for sex,during which he dies of a heart attack. Mary,Cora and head housemaid Anna return the body to his room and agree to say nothing but are seen by Daisy the kitchen maid. The gruesome twosome of O’Brien and Thomas are also suspicious. Matthew spends a delightful day with Edith,the youngest daughter,whilst Mrs. Hughes literally helps Bates out of a painful situation and they become friendly.
September 1912. Designated heir Matthew Crawley and his mother Isobel arrive and move into a house in the grounds of Downton Abbey but Matthew is uncomfortable with having servants and is not keen on an arranged marriage – something he has in common with Lady Mary. Robert’s mother Violet looks down on them as they are not from her class – Matthew is a working solicitor and Isobel,a trained nurse and doctor’s widow,who nonetheless impresses when she helps at the local hospital and saves the life of one of Robert’s tenants. Cora upbraids the two nastiest servants,O’Brien and Thomas,for sneering at the Crawleys but impresses upon Mary the financial need for the marriage. Carson is blackmailed by Grigg, a man with whom he once had a music-hall act but Robert takes his part and sees Grigg off. Whilst Carson feels foolish for having a less than aristocratic past he is supported by Bates and the two men become friends
Concerned for their safety, the group makes a plan – one that Hershel disagrees with adamantly. He makes it clear the group is fine to stay for now, but not indefinitely.
Shane makes a deadly sacrifice which leads to unusual behavior and self-distancing. The rest of the group tries to hang on somewhere between living to die and dying to live.
The group desperately awaits Shane’s return. Shane finds himself trapped in a school, surrounded by the undead. Daryl and Andrea search for someone in the woods.
Rick discovers a possible safe haven. Shane must go on a dangerous mission to get needed medical supplies.
Rick and the group leave Atlanta and encounter a threat on the highway the likes of which they’ve never seen. Elsewhere, the group search for a missing person.
Rick and the group are allowed into the CDC by a strange doctor, but all is not what it seems in their newfound haven.
