Nice recap, and I agree with a lot of it. And I'm glad to see a post about Downton. I'm lucky to see anything about it on my reading circle.

Yay for Molesley (somehow) becoming a great teacher. I loved his bravery in admitting the first day hadn’t gone well even if I have no idea how he learned classroom control overnight.

Yeah, how did he go from laughingstock to someone charismatic enough to keep the kids' attention? I thought for a moment that Daisy might storm in and teach the little heathens to shut the hell up. I think Daisy would be a tyrant of a teacher. But even if we were never shown, it's far more satisfying that Molesley is a good teacher all on his own.

Mary is settled this episode, which makes me so glad, because the series will end on Edith's story! I hope it'll be a good one. Married or not, I want to see her continue on the magazine. I like your idea of a spin-off.