Why is mr. bates in jail

Charles Carson grew to befriend him, and he sees Bates as his most reliable subordinate. Despite Thomas' attempts to get him framed for theft, not once but twice first Thomas took a snuff box; and then tried to frame Bates for stealing wine , he persevered.

He went through a very tough time, when Anna had been arrested for killing a nasty valet who raped her. It turned out that she had not killed him, but someone else had, and the witness was proven to be a liar. After many tries, he and Anna finally became parents, when she gave birth to their son, John, Jr, while she was in Lady Mary Crawley 's room.

Of all the complicated relationships in the Crawley house, the Bates were the most stable couples, aside from Robert and Cora. Soap Opera Wiki Explore. Actors Actresses Characters Shows Writers.

Top Content. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? I mean, I know it is in Texas. If logic must go out the window to make that happen, then logic shall be chucked. And boy, is it chucked when Anna finds out that Green was actually a serial rapist. Before the trip to London, Vyner notes that several women have come forward and admitted to being attacked by Green, which seems like the kind of information that would introduce more, not fewer, potential murder suspects into the mix.

All of them must stand there, Usual Suspects —like, while the male witness eyeballs them to figure out which of them supposedly committed murder. I mean, Fellowes is basically trolling us at this point, right? Where is Gloria Allred when you need her in s-era London, I ask you? She clearly does not belong there. Which raises the question: Who does? Is it … Mary? Again, I have to say, for the record, that I am watching these episodes in advance, but not proceeding to the next episode until after my recap is written.

The big one is that conversation near the end of the episode, when several characters are doing the Downton Abbey equivalent of a West Wing walk-and-talk. Then Mary points out that Anna will not be convicted because the police have nothing to go on.

Which, again, raises the question: How is Anna in jail?? Also: Does no one at Downton have bail money??? Bates is a demonstration of how such legal practices were carried out in England during the early s. At the trial, the juries unanimously voted that Bates was guilty. Bates was immediately sentenced to execution. Today, when the death sentence has been so fiercely debated, it was shocking to watch a man so quickly sentenced to death on circumstantial evidence.

However, a death sentence was not an irreversible act. In fact, there were many reasons for it to be commuted. As soon as the death sentence was given, lawyers began to work on changing the sentence to life imprisonment. Looking back, it seems rather counterproductive to issue a death sentence if they could be overturned. For Bates, the flaw in the case was the matter of premeditation. Thankfully, his lawyers were able to change his sentence to life imprisonment.

Therefore, Bates and Anna can now work to prove his innocence. In a heartbreaking scene, Anna goes to visit Bates in prison after his sentence has been changed.

Carson addresses to the servants and decrees that Bates has left "without a stain on his character. In order to improve the servants' opinions of him, Bates goes to a a shop that has devices that will supposedly correct his limp.

The device is an utter failure, and it causes him great pain until Mrs Hughes finds out and persuades Bates to get rid of the device, and he does it by tossing it into a pond.

Thomas and O'Brien still mercilessly try to sack Bates, while the most of the staff ignore him, he gains an ally in William Mason when he observes Thomas bullying the younger man who is suffering with severe homesickness.

Thomas also ruins his attempts to kindle a romance with kitchen maid Daisy. Bates shoves Thomas to a wall, calls him a "filthy little rat," and threatens to "punch your shining teeth through the back of your head. Bates can do nothing to stop him. Thomas, despite this, still remains smug downstairs, but he learns one thing: Bates, despite his disability, he is not to be underestimated - and he has a temper.

Thomas then steals some wine and Bates has caught him red-handed, although Bates pretends not to notice the theft. Although when Bates makes a statement that questions Thomas' right to property, both O'Brien and Thomas know that Bates saw him steal the wine. Because of this, Thomas steals a snuff box from Lord Grantham's room and hides it in Bates' room. With Anna's help, he finds the snuff box in his room as Anna predicted , and Anna offers to put it in Miss O'Brien's room if he wanted to.

Anna and Bates, in front of the servants, ask Carson and Mrs Hughes , the housekeeper, to conduct a search on the servant's rooms. She also asks them to do it immediately, so that none of the servants have a chance to hide the box.

Carson and Mrs. Hughes agree, and begin to search the servants' rooms. Hastily, Thomas and O'Brien run to their rooms to search for the box as they speculate that Bates and Anna put it in their rooms. Bates and Anna, to the bewilderment of the servants, are left laughing as they run up.

He and Anna also grow closer, and she admits that she loves him. He says "he is not a free man". Thomas and O'Brien try to frame Bates for the wine theft that Thomas actually committed.

Thomas gets Daisy to lie to Carson saying that she saw Mr. Bates coming out of the cellar. Although when Daisy witnesses Thomas bullying William even worse than before, the confesses to Carson that she lied and did it as a favor for Thomas. Bates was found innocent of the wine theft, but he confesses to Anna, Carson, and Mrs. Hughes that he was a drunkard "until a couple of years ago," and that he went to prison for theft. This leaves all three of them shocked. John Bates returns to Downton Abbey after his mother's funeral.

He believes he can finally divorce Vera and therefore proposes to Anna. But Vera shows up at Downton and blackmails him with the threat to publish Lady Mary 's scandal involving Kemal Pamuk , which could damage Anna's reputation since she helped cover it up.

He is forced to resign his job Robert Crawley is not happy to learn this against his will and return to live with her. Anna is heartbroken. Anna finds him working in a pub in Kirkbymoorside. Both she and Lord Grantham visit him there. John reveals he may have information about his wife having an affair, which means he can sue for divorce. He is convinced to return to Downton, where he is welcomed back by Carson and Mrs Hughes. However, Vera has compromising information that will delay the divorce.

John offers Vera money to keep quiet about the story that she was blackmailing him with and to leave them alone. However, she lies to him. Mary in fact has gone to Carlisle and persuaded him to buy the story. Mary later thanks John for what he did for her. Vera on the other hand is angry and swears John will not escape her wrath.

He goes to confront his wife about this and returns with a scar on his cheek. The next day a telegram arrives informing Bates that Vera has died by eating a pie containing poison. It is suspected that the death was suicide, although lack of a suicide note suggests there was no premeditation.