'Downton Abbey' Series Finale Recap

— -- It was weddings, babies, love matches and happy endings all around for the Crawley clan and all their friends and relatives on Sunday night's finale of "Downton Abbey," the PBS series that made us experts in underbutlers, ladies' maids and valets. Here's a rundown of what happened with all the characters:

Lady Edith: She made plans to take her daughter Marigold and move to London permanently, as she was now, as she put it, a "spinster." But thanks to some plotting by Mary, she came face to face with her ex, Bertie Pelham, who'd broken up with her after she lied to him about Marigold.

Admitting he couldn't live without her, he proposed again and she accepted. The next task was getting Bertie's mom on board, since she was obsessed with Bertie, the new Marquess of Hexum, being incredibly "moral," without a stain on his reputation. However, she was impressed with how honest Edith was about Marigold and gave her blessing.

The two were married New Year's Eve at Downton Abbey, and as she left on her honeymoon, Edith, the new Marchioness of Hexum, said, "It's so strange. I feel completely happy. I've never felt like that before."

Lady Mary: Having married Henry Talbot, she arranged for Bertie and Edith's reunion. Henry decided to give up racing, which delighted Mary, but he realized he now had to find a real job. He and Tom Branson decided to go into business together as car dealers and eventually planned to start manufacturing them. Mary was proud and delighted, and revealed that she was pregnant with the couple's first child.

In very un-Mary-like fashion, she refused to announce the news until after Edith's wedding, so as not to steal her thunder. She and Edith also buried the hatchet, with Mary telling Edith, "We're blood and we're stuck with it...we must do better in future."

Mrs. Isobel Crawley: Her friend Lord Merton, whose proposal she had once rejected, told her he was dying from pernicious anemia. His horrible son and daughter-in-law attempted to keep him locked away from Isobel so he wouldn't be tempted to change his will. But Isobel and the Dowager Countess stormed into the house, with Isobel announcing that she, not they, would be caring for Lord Merton, and furthermore, that she intended to marry him. They did marry, and then learned that Lord Merton's anemia wasn't the fatal kind after all, and he wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

Anna & Mr. Bates: Anna went into labor with the baby on New Year's Eve, the night of Lady Edith's wedding. Her water broke in Lady Mary's bedroom, so she ended up giving birth to the couple's son in Mary's bed. Robert and Cora brought champagne up to the room so they could toast the New Year and the new arrival.

Thomas Barrow: After recovering from his suicide attempt, Barrow found a new job at a nearby estate, but hated it because there were only three servants and the couple who he was working for was old and utterly boring. When Barrow returned to Downton for Edith's wedding, Robert offered to hire him back, only this time as head butler. It seems Mr. Carson had developed palsy, which made his hands shake too much to carry out his duties, and he was about to resign. Of course, Barrow accepted.

Mr. Molesley: He accepted a job teaching at the school, and moved into a cottage occupied by a former teacher who'd retired and moved away. He returned to Downton to lend a hand for the wedding. He and Baxter hinted at a mutual attraction, but we didn't see anything concrete between them.

Daisy, Mrs. Patmore, Mr. Mason & Andy: After initially giving Andy the cold shoulder, Daisy realized that she actually liked him, which was fortunate, since he had a crush on her. Daisy agreed to move into Mr. Mason's farm, where Andy had been helping out, and Mr. Mason told Mrs. Patmore that he wanted to see her at the farm more often as well, finally spelling out his romantic interest in her.

Lord and Lady Grantham, aka Robert and Cora: Relieved at finally seeing Edith married off, Robert and Cora settled in for a long and happy future together, once Robert got over his resentment of all the time that Cora was spending at the hospital because of her duties.

Violet, the Dowager Countess: After helping Isobel with Lord Merton and inspiring Lady Mary to bury the hatchet with Lady Edith, the Dowager had the last word of the whole series. On New Year's Eve, she turned to Isobel and said, "It makes me smile, the way, every year, we drink to the future, whatever it may bring." "Well, what else could we drink to?" Isobel replied. "We're going forward to the future, not back into the past."

"If only," the Dowager quipped, "we had the choice."