O'Brien literally cranes her neck so she can look up high enough to give her nephew a pep talk, as he's going to be serving in the dining room for the first time. Thomas floats by to point out Alfred's lack of experience and Alfred nervously admits that he's right, but O'Brien tells Alfred he's got a nice manner. Raising her voice, she adds that he's not "vain like Thomas," and oh my, isn't this rift between two onetime partners in crime interesting? For me, O'Brien's fierce devotion to her nephew -- especially given how guileless he seems -- does her credit...

...while Thomas continues to earn the opposite, as in the kitchen he asks Daisy what the matter is. She complains that she was promised a promotion to Mrs. Patmore's assistant and a kitchen maid under her, and nothing's happened so Thomas tells her to go on strike. With someone else I might think there was some shred of genuine caring here, but given how often she's been his marionette in the past, I think he's just amusing himself idly. Then again, Daisy's not good for much else.

At dinner, Mary lets everyone know that Sybil is coming and Isobel VERY SUBTLY is like, "Will she be coming alone?" Hee. I love her ability to pierce propriety at every turn while still managing to preserve a genteel air. Matthew warns her not to make trouble, and she looks at him all "Who me?" Meanwhile, Alfred is not making the greatest first impression, as he's trying to dole out food onto people's plates like... well, a waiter, to Carson's chagrin. I'm more interested in the talk of Lady Cora's mother, as the Dowager Countess says she's looking forward to her visit, as it reminds her of the virtues of the English. Matthew, ever the straight man, asks if she isn't American, and the Dowager Countess isn't too good to spike that beach ball: "Exactly." Her first line could have stood on its own, but the gusto with which she delivered the punch line made it worthwhile. Talk then turns back Carson's way, and when Lady Cora asks if he has the help he needs, he does admit that he'd love a second footman; he makes the statement reluctantly enough, but the look he casts in Alfred's direction lets us in on his state of mind. Matthew pipes up with his all-too-familiar refrain about simplifying their lives, seconded by his mother, but the Dowager Countess informs them that it's their job to provide employment to the community. "An aristocrat with no servants is as much use to the county as the glass hammer." I bet the writers of this show wish they could put the Dowager Countess in every scene; when she's there, you never have to struggle to find a line off which to leave.