After the unexpected death via car accident to Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) brought Downton Abbey Season 3 to a close, many of the period piece's loyalists have surely been wondering what lies ahead next for the now widowed Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery).

According to TVLine, the fourth season of the British-American drama will feature a grieving Mary that will repossess many of the earlier traits she had before getting involved with the late Matthew.

Downton executive producer Gareth Neame explained the respective dynamic of the single mother to the site.

"She mellowed with Matthew [and] opened up a lot more. But I think [after losing Matthew and little sister Sybil], she would be just so devastated that I think it would lock her down and [she would] go back into a lot of the traits that she had before - that very difficult to read characteristics she's got," he said.

"I think we'll see a lot of those very dark and complex things about Mary," Neame continued.

Interesting to note, Mary is also set to garner her fair share of romantic interest moving forward, although she may not be quite ready.

Downton Abbey, which airs in 219 countries across the world, follows the ups and downs of the royal Crawley family and their staff in the 1920s.

The series is set to premiere its fourth season in the U.S. on Jan. 5, 2014, according to The Huffington Post. Keep checking back for more of the latest details on the popular series.

Tags
Downton abbey, Television