'Downton Abbey' Season 5 Finale Spoilers, Plot Recap: Marriage Proposal and Conspiracies Feature

The fifth season finale of "Downton Abbey" last Sunday on PBS saw many loose ends being tied up and a marriage proposal to boot.

Episode 9 centered on the Crawleys' visit to Lord Sinderby at Brancaster and the conspiracy between Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Thomas (Rob James-Collier) to bring down Stowell (Alun Armstrong), the butler.

The drama started with Anna (Joanne Froggatt) in prison and John Bates (Brendan Coyle) attempting to get her out. When Mary visited her, Anna revealed that in her youth she used a knife when her stepfather tried to molest her, and that the police were now using it against her in their investigation on the murder of Alex Green (Nigel Harman).

Meanwhile Hughes (Phyllis Logan) and Carson (Jim Carter) looked at properties, but she revealed that she did not have any savings as she was looking after her mentally ill sister and so could not invest in it.

At Brancaster, Sinderby's butler Stowell insulted Tom and demoted Thomas. This promoted Mary to plan with Baxter (Raquel Cassidy) and Thomas to prank him into serving bland food to Sinderby. This led to Sinderby insulting both Stowell and Thomas.

Thomas got back by inviting Sinderby's former mistress. But Rose (Lily James) came to Sinderby's aid and claimed that the woman was her friend. This made Sinderby appreciate her kindness.

Robert (Hugh Bonneville) then finally spoke to Edith (Laura Carmichael) and revealed that he knew she was the mother of Marigold. He then stated that the right thing would be done for her.

Meanwhile, Robert dealt with a pain in his chest and stomach and thought it was angina but found out later it was an ulcer.

In an effort to get Anna out of prison, Bates confessed to murdering Green, which got her out on bail. However, Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle) and Baxter successfully proved that Bates was nowhere near the scene and that he was able to return to Downton in time for Christmas.

As for Violet (Maggie Smith), she reunited Kuragin (Rade Sherbedgia) with his wife Irina (Jane Lapotaire). But Kuragin again proposed to Violet that she elope with him. After Violet rejected him, Irina demanded that Violet leave them alone, and they left for Paris.

There was also a sub-plot as Mary met Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode) who was immune to her charms. Carson then proposed marriage to Hughes and she accepted.

Meanwhile, the engagement of Isobel (Penelope Wilton) to Merton (Douglas Reith) ended when she called off the marriage.