As a member of Slate Plus, you’ll get early access to our Spoiler Special podcasts—including our newly launched series about Season 5 of PBS’s Downton Abbey! This Spoiler podcast will be available for Slate Plus members the moment each Downton episode ends, at 10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday nights. 

Each week, Slate’s culture critic and Outward editor June Thomas will chat with contributor Seth Stevenson about the drama, relationships, and intrigue in Downton Abbey.

In this installment of the podcast, Thomas and Stevenson dissect the Dowager Countess’ third-wheeling skills, Lady Mary’s birth-control spy mission, and why the Mr. Bates storyline keeps bringing Downton Abbey down.

This podcast contains major spoilers, so listen after you watch each episode.

Listen to the other episodes here.

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For info on how to subscribe to the Slate Plus podcast feed, go here.