Tonight’s Downton Abbey season 4 episode brought an ending to a difficult situation at the estate – or did it?

Anna’s acknowledgement. Downton Abbey season 4, episode 4 kicked off with Bates leaving his home alone – now that Anna is living at Downton – and heading off to work. His wife, meanwhile, is still visibly shaken as she prepares for the day in her new room at the estate. They see each other, and once again Bates asks for her to explain what’s wrong. After viewing the confrontation, Mrs. Hughes approaches Anna and begs her to give a story to Bates, but she of course says no. After their conversation, viewers see that Bates was listening in on their private talk.

Bates later goes to Mrs. Hughes about Anna’s problem, and says that he can’t stay at Downton if things continue this way. This surprises Mrs. Hughes, so she agrees to reveal what happened to his wife because she knows that Bates leaving would break Anna. She tells him that the rapist was someone who broke into Downton, but Bates thinks it was Green. She denies it (and swears on her mother’s grave), but knows full well it was. In case you forgot: Bates can’t know Green did it, because he’ll kill him and possibly get thrown back in jail.

Bates goes to Anna and tells her that he now knows what happened. He tells her that he suspects it was Green, and if it was, he’ll kill him. She denies the allegation too, and later Anna agrees to move back into the cottage, which pleases Mrs. Hughes. When the latter goes to Bates to express how happy she is about Anna’s decision, Bates tells her that he’s still determined to find (and kill) the rapist.

Alfred the cook. Carson grants Alfred permission to train in Downton’s kitchen for his cooking opportunity in London. Daisy assists him in his cooking, though she tells Mrs. Patmore she’s uncomfortable with it because she’s essentially helping him leave Downton. After being invited to be tested by a place in London called The Ritz, he ultimately doesn’t receive it. Carson has some encouraging words for him and thinks he’ll have more opportunities in the future.

A big move for Tom? Mary and Tom spend some time playing with each of their children and discuss what it was like to be children when they were growing up. A couple days later, Tom tells the family that he’s considering moving to America to start a new life for him and Sybbie. Naturally, Mary and company don’t want him to go.

Business as usual. Mary and Tom present to Lord Grantham a decision to farm some land themselves after the passing of a tenant. The deceased caretaker’s son, Mr. Drew, meets Robert at the funeral and asks if he can take it over, which goes against what Mary and Tom had in mind. However, after a couple of meetings, they all decide to go forward with it anyway to continue the partnership between the farmers and the high family.

Evelyn Napier has his eyes on Mary. Napier comes to Downton to see Mary, and he’s pleased to see her in better spirits. He’s also in town to do some work with the royal economy and assess the damage of the war years. Napier and his boss are invited to stay at Downton while they’re in town, and Lady Mary hopes to get some of his economy knowledge out of him over some dinners.

Isobel versus Violet. Isobel helps a local young man named John to get a new job with Lady Violet, though she’s not thrilled with having someone join her home. She even asks Isobel if her halo ever grows heavy to wear, and it’s clear Violet is tired of her kindness. Despite this, she agrees to employ John. Things start turning sour pretty quickly, though, because Violet notices a valuable paperknife has gone missing from her desk.

Elsewhere on Downton Abbey season 4, episode 4…

– Baxter is fitting in well with her new job as Cora’s lady maid and thoughtfully offers her orange juice for breakfast because that’s what Americans do. Barrow tries to get close to Baxter so they can be in cahoots like he was with O’Brien, but Baxter doesn’t seem too interested.

– The ladies of Downton plan a party for Robert, whose birthday is coming up. The party hasn’t taken place yet.

– Lady Mary learns that Lord Gillingham is now engaged and tearfully writes a congratulatory letter. The family is surprised by this news because he appeared interested in Mary.

– Lady Edith goes to London to visit Michael’s office.

– With Alfred on his way out, Carson suggests Molesley could become the new footman. He offers this position to him, but Molesley is against it because it’s a step down from his previous job. He ultimately decides to take it, but since Alfred doesn’t get the cooking job, Carson joyfully tells Molesley the position is no longer available.

What did you think of tonight’s ‘Downton Abbey’?

Are you pleased to see the tension between Anna and Bates is over… for now?

Check out a preview of next week’s episode below: