Downton Abbey has been a hit on television screens for quite some time now. So much so that I can hardly remember when it officially ended, though it feels like it’s been about ten years. Which certainly makes me feel old. I remember being shocked when they released the first movie, but I wasn’t too surprised when the last one came out. I saw both in theaters, and I was a little worried that, because of my wife’s surgeries, I might miss it. But I treated my gorgeous wife to the movies yesterday.

The story keeps moving forward through time, and I’m not entirely sure of the exact years, but it seems as though they may now be closer to the beginning of World War II than the end of World War I. Still, not much time has passed since the death of the family’s beloved (and feisty) grandmother, Violet Crawley.

Unfortunately for Lady Mary Crawley Talbot, her husband, Henry Talbot, grew distant as he spent more time touring the racing world. He eventually decided to cheat on her, leading the couple to divorce. But this is England during the reign of George V, and most of the country still considers divorce taboo. Mary becomes much like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, though through no fault of her own.

Meanwhile, Robert “Lord Grantham” Crawley faces his own challenges despite the family scandal. He wants Mary to take over the Downton estate, but once again, this poor man stumbles when it comes to finances, and the family accounts don’t look promising.

With the Great Depression in full swing, his brother-in-law in America lost a great deal of money and arrives in disgrace, forced to explain how he managed to squander a large portion of his mother’s fortune to his sister.

The staff experience their own changes as well. Mr. Carson plans to retire as head butler once more, and Mrs. Patmore is married and ready to step away from the kitchen for good. But old friends (both upstairs and downstairs) return to the house before the story finally unfolds.

It’s sad to think this is truly the last chapter of Downton Abbey… again. But this time, I might actually believe Julian Fellowes. He has crafted a remarkable masterpiece of storytelling, even though this final film may be my least favorite part of the saga. It’s well-acted, beautifully produced, and visually stunning, though the story doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch. It feels more like a melancholic tying together of storylines, for better or worse. I almost cried at the end. If this truly was The Grand Finale, then it’s certainly a franchise that won’t be forgotten or remade for a VERY long time.