BWW Recap: Schemes, Revenge & More on DOWNTON ABBEY Season Finale

As the fourth season finale begins, we are informed that eight months have passed. Edith has spent the time away in Geneva, and according to Ivy, appears to be very tired; we know she must have had her baby while away on this trip, and chose to return to Downton without the child. The family is also preparing for Rose's debutante ball, which will take place in London. The family will be staying at the Grantham House in London in anticipation for the ball, minus Tom, who prefers to avoid the pre-ball hubbub; he plans to join the family once the day of the ball has arrived.

Unfortunately, the housekeeper at the London home has fallen ill, so Mrs. Hughes will need to accompany the family to London to keep things in order. She asks Daisy to accompany her to help out.

Edith visits Violet at the Dower home, and reveals to her grandmother that she gave birth to a daughter while in Geneva. She left the baby with a family there, and looks more distraught than ever about the whole situation. Violet's attempts to comfort her fail in the most heartbreaking manner.

Soon afterwards, we finally get a glimpse at the famous Grantham House in London. As the family (apart from Edith, who will join them in a day or so) settles in, Cora pulls Carson aside and asks that he plan an outing for the servants during their stay in London as a thank you for working so hard in preparation for Rose's ball. Rose also begs Cora for permission to go to a nightclub with a friend that evening, which Cora agrees to after Mary urges her to accept that her niece is becoming "a flapper".

Rose and her friend, Madeleine Allsop (Lord Aysgarth's daughter), go to the nightclub as planned. There, they encounter Lord Aysgarth, who is surprisingly sitting with the Prince of Wales and his mistress, Freda Dudley Ward. Rose strikes up a friendship with Freda almost instantly and hits it off with the Prince as well.

Back at Downton, Mr. Barrow expresses to Ivy his resentment towards Tom. He figures that if Tom was still the chauffeur, he would be above him in the ranks, and resents having to serve him. Ivy says that Tom has been nothing but nice to the staff, and doesn't understand where Mr. Barrow is coming from. Barrow leaves the room in a huff.

Tom decides to have his dinner at the village pub, and runs into Sarah Bunting on his walk over. Though a romance has been hinted at during the previous few episodes, Sarah questions why he's been avoiding her. Tom claims that he's been busy, and invites her to have dinner with him at the pub. During the meal, Sarah asks to see the Downton home, and despite initial hesitation, Tom agrees.

Meanwhile, Edith, Mrs. Hughes, and Daisy arrive at the Grantham House in London. Simultaneously, Cora's mother and brother, Martha and Harold Levinson, arrive at the House. Martha is almost offended to discover that the family is out for the day and won't be available to greet her at her arrival. Edith attempts to play host, and listens to her lament about her staff issues- apparently her maid quit just before the trip. It is strongly implied that her maid grew sick of Martha's demanding nature. She and Harold give off the impression that they will certainly be a handful! Along with them is Ethan Slade, Harold's valet, an energetic young man who takes a quick interest in Daisy.

After entering the House, Daisy finds Mrs. Baxter and relays a message to her from Mrs. Barrow; he is anxious to hear the stories she will have for him when he arrives. It seems she is still working in cohoots with Mr. Barrow and delivering any secrets she may overhear to him, but now she seems to be almost afraid of him.

Mary and Charles Blake go to an art exhibit together, where they run into Rose, Freda, and Lord Gillingham. Blake and Lord Gillingham appear antagonistic toward one anther, and it is a tad uncomfortable to see the two both in the same room as Mary. Both assure her that they will be attending the party scheduled for this evening.

At Downton, Tom gives Sarah a tour of the home. Sarah is overwhelmed by the size and majesty of the estate, and asks to see The View from the upstairs balcony. Before Tom can really protest, she runs up the stairs to the bedroom wing, where she is certainly not allowed. Unfortunately for Tom, Mr. Barrow spots them upstairs, which looks incredibly bad on Tom's part. This prompts Tom to hustle Sarah out and drive her home. It is clear Mr. Barrow has found his outlet to get his Revenge on Tom.

Back in London, Daisy has received a letter from Alfred. He has completed his training at the Ritz, and they have hired him as an underchef. Ethan overhears this conversation, and approaches Carson about the subject. He inquires whether or not Daisy and Alfred are in a relationship, which Carson is hilariously offended by. However, he informs Ethan that nothing is going on between Daisy and Alfred.

Mrs. Hughes tells Anna that she is collecting clothing for the Russian refugees, and Anna gives her one of Mr. Bates old overcoats. She innocently took the coat without asking, but assures Mrs. Hughes he will be fine with it. Later on, Mrs. Hughes checks the pockets of the coat and finds a train ticket to London, dated for the day Mr. Green was killed. Mrs. Hughes brings this to Mary's attention, and Mary believes they need to do the right thing and possibly consider suspecting Bates of Mr. Green's murder.

Later on at the party that evening, Rosamund shows up with Sampson, whom everyone is horrified to see. As you will recall, Sampson is the fellow who cheated during the game of cards some of the men played at the last house party at Downton. It is clear no one has his trust. It appears Sampson is an old friend of Lord Asygarth, and as they chat, Sampson reveals that Martha and Harold are incredibly wealthy. This information sparks something in Lord Asygarth, and he schemes with his daughter (Rose's friend Madeleine) about the two of them pursuing Martha and Harold respectively, obviously only after their money.

After the party, Rose and Freda decide to go to the nightclub again, and Sampson tags along. At the club, Freda shows Rose a love letter the Prince of Wales had written for her, and the two gush over it at their table. Rose mentions the letter again with Sampson in earshot; when the women leave the table to dance, Sampson snatches the letter from Freda's purse, and we can only assume his intentions are less than honorable.

At the Crawley home, Isobel is visited by Lord Merton, who asks if she will be attending Rose's debutante ball. Isobel originally tells him that it isn't her place, but a few days later, she changes her mind and decides to go to the ball. She writes Lord Merton and tells him of her decision. It seems a romance could be budding between these two!

The day of Rose's presentation finally arrives. The affair goes over very well; Rose curtsies to the king, and they even have a small back-and-forth about Rose's father. However, afterward, Rose runs into Freda, who tells her that the love letter has been stolen from her purse. Rose immediately assumes Sampson is the culprit.

At the dinner gathering that night, Harold admits to Madeleine that he knows of her and Lord Asygarth's plan to court both himself and his mother for their money. He warns her that her father is wasting his time, for when Martha dies, all her money reverts back to him. Madeleine is embarrassed to have been figured out, and Harold feels sorry for her; he can tell that this scheme was more her father's idea. He invites her to a picnic the next day as an apology of sorts.

The following day, Rose approaches Robert about the letter ordeal, and her suspicion of Sampson. Robert feels that if the Prince's affair were to go public, the family would be responsible, for they introduced Sampson to Freda and Rose mentioned the love letter in front of him. Therefore, he believes it is their duty to keep the Prince's secret under wraps, and steal back the letter from Sampson before he goes to the papers with the story. Robert suggests they somehow go to Sampson's flat and search the place for the letter. To do so, Robert asks Bates to hire a forger to write a note in Sampson's handwriting to his landlord that allows the family into his flat. To get Sampson away from his flat for the night, Robert will host an after-dinner card game, all the while Mary, Rose, and Charles Blake will search his place. To avoid having Edith, Violet, Martha, and Isobel discover their plan, they plan for Rosamund to take them to the theatre.

Meanwhile, Edith visits Rosamund to give her some news about Michael's whereabouts. Apparently, Michael had been attacked by a gang of sorts in Germany, but nothing else is known. Edith says that if he is dead and money has been willed to her, she feels she must give half of it to the baby. Rosamund continues to urge her to forget about the child, but it is clear Edith will not abandon the situation for some time.

That same day, Harold and Madeleine have their picnic, and are joined by Violet, Isobel, and Martha. Over lunch, Harold laments about his love life to Madeleine- it seems he only has brief entanglements with women who are only after his money, and then lets them go without another thought. Madeleine is sympathetic towards him, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship.

Back at the Grantham House, Robert's plan is in full swing. Bates gives the landlord's note, which he forged himself, to Rose, and the invited gentlemen arrive for the card game. Rose, Mary, and Blake have no problems getting into Sampson's apartment, but are unable to locate the note. When they return to the house, Mary gives Robert the thumbs down.

Tom finally shows up at the Grantham House, with Ivy and Mr. Barrow in tow. He attends the card game that evening. However, Mr. Barrow pulls Robert aside and tells him that Tom had Sarah over at the estate, and he found the two in the upstairs bedroom wing together. During the card game, Robert makes a crack about Tom having "friends" over to the estate, but he never mentions the situation again. Looks like Barrow's plan didn't effect Robert as much as he'd hoped.

Carson approaches Bates and gives him a message from Robert: they were not able to retrieve the letter. Bates, deciding to take matter into his own hands, offers to help Carson check coats at the end of the card game. He immediately goes for Sampson's coat, and finds the letter tucked away in his upper breast pocket. Bates slyly gives the letter to Robert, claiming that if he had stolen something of importance, he would always keep it on his person.

The family is more than grateful to Bates. As Anna helps Mary get ready for bed that night, Mary tells Anna to thank Bates again for his kindness. Anna remarks that Bates will always be loyal to the family, Mary replies that in Turn the family will always be loyal to him. She then realizes that she could never Turn Bates in assuming he had killed Mr. Green, and burns the London train ticket.

At long last, the day of the ball has arrived. The Prince of Wales makes a shocking appearance, and asks Rose if she would honor him with the first dance of the evening. Rose now already has an incredible reputation as a debutante! Freda later admits to her that while the Prince doesn't know of the situation surrounding the letter, she told him that he owes this family greatly.

On the other side of the room, Lord Asygarth is still heavily pursuing Martha. He asks her to move to America and marry him, which she refuses. The last thing she wants to do is join a society where everyone thinks she's loud and obnoxious. But, she does promise to fix him up with some rich American widows. Harold and Madeleine also say their goodbyes, but it appears the two are parting as good friends.

Lord Gillingham takes Mary into the library so that they can talk privately. He and Charles Blake have been attempting to woo her for almost a year now, and he wants the battle to be a fair fight; therefore, he tells her that Charles is heir to his cousin's estate, which is one of the largest in Oster. Mary is shocked by this information, and admits that this changes some of the stakes. She also proudly states that she is ready to continue living her life fully for the first time since Matthew's death, and will devote her every minute to preserving Downton.

During the ball, Edith has a spark of courage and returns back to Downton before the rest of the family. She speaks with Mr. Drewe, a long-time tenant at the estate, about adopting her baby, for she wants to be close to her child. Her and Mr. Drewe devise a plan in which Mr. Drewe will tell his wife that the baby's parents were old friends of his, but are now deceased. The pair agree that this secret will remain between them.

After the ball has ended, Mary walks Charles Blake to his car. She tells him that she knows of his future inheritance, and inquires as to why he kept this secret from her. It turns out he wanted Mary to fall for him for himself, and not his inheritance. Mary is visibly touched by this.

After a few failed (and slightly boring) suggestions to the staff, Carson decides that the staff outing will be a trip to the beach. Ethan speaks with Daisy about moving to America to cook for Harold, who has loved her food during his visit and now desires an English cook. Daisy denies him, but Ivy steps in and asks if she could go to America in Daisy's place. She insists that she knows the same dishes that Daisy does, and that Harold will not notice the difference. Ethan agrees, and it appears we will lose Ivy in the upcoming season.

On the beach, Baxter makes a stand against Mr. Barrow. She has befriended Mr. Molesley, who has shown her more kindness than Mr. Barrow ever had. She tells Barrow that she will not be passing information along to him any longer, and spends the remainder of the afternoon with Mr. Molesley.

The season closes with a heartwarming scene between Carson and Mrs. Hughes. Carson is afraid to go into the sea, and Mrs. Hugh tells him that he can hold her hand for support, adding that he can hold her hand anytime he needs a friend. The season ends on a lighthearted note, although we can expect more drama to return in season 5!

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