‘Downton Abbey’ Season 5 Spoilers: Did Bates Kill Anna’s Rapist? Creator Teases ‘Danger About Bates’

Americans will finally be able to (legally) watch “Downton Abbey” Season 5 in the New Year. The PBS series will continue to follow Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and Bates (Brendan Coyle) through their marriage. They’ll still be dealing with the aftermath of Anna’s rape, even though Anna would prefer they didn’t have to.

"What happened still haunts them," Executive Producer Gareth Neame told TV Guide. "As a fan, I hope this couple will get back to the heart of their relationship, which is incredibly strong and warm."

Anna would rather they just move on from the awful event. "She's married to a man she loves and I think she just wants to be happy and be able to enjoy being married and enjoy work until such time as a baby may come their way," Froggatt told Yahoo. "She wants to have children but most of all she just wants a normal, uneventful life, really."

It seems “Downton Abbey” Season 5 will be anything but uneventful for the couple serving the Crawleys. Anna’s rapist, Mr. Green (Nigel Harman), died in Season 4, but no one knows who killed him. The few who know about Anna’s rape worry that Bates killed him. Originally, Anna never wanted to tell her husband that she was raped. She worried that he would do something stupid and illegal.

"There's a danger about Bates," Fellowes told TV Guide, "that goes back to his time in prison when he was falsely convicted of killing his first wife."

At the end of the last season, Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) found a train ticket in Bates' coat pocket. She couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone about it, but she decided to leave the decision up to Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). She threw the ticket in the fireplace. Mary trusted that Bates did the right thing, but no one really knows if he murdered Mr. Green. It seems that the train ticket might not destroy all evidence. Some will find reason to believe that Bates is the killer in "Downton Abbey" Season 5. Fans will have to watch and see if the evidence points to him as the killer.

Do you think Bates murdered Mr. Green to avenge his wife's rape? Take the poll!

“Downton Abbey” Season 5 premieres Sunday, Jan. 4 at 9 p.m. EST on PBS.