The second season of All Creatures Great And Small draws to a close with a Christmas special that nonetheless includes a year round message about finding love and support from a chosen family or the greater community. Fun fact: the MASTERPIECE tradition of airing Christmas specials after the holiday is because of the staggered airing schedule between the UK and the US. Let’s find out what happens.

Final episode? Say it ain’t so! Alas, it is so, and we return to good old NYC where our friends have finally landed after their eventful visit to the American west. A scrum of reporters surround the trio and start asking them personal questions.

The All Creatures Great And Small Season 2 finale resolves almost all of the biggest plotlines this season. Everyone is looking forward to what the future will bring. Some find love, others find a purpose, and others are concerned that life as they know it will be interrupted by events abroad. Let’s discuss what happened in this action-packed episode.

Last week our heroes were marooned on an island, so surely nothing more dangerous than that can happen this week, right? Wrong: our trio is galloping across the American plains in a stagecoach in an attempt to outrun the train (which had to stop for repairs). Now sure, that doesn’t sound too bad, but once you factor in the uneven potholed track, the lack of snacks, and the extreme levels of unresolved sexual tension between M. Master Key and Ginge Nellie Bly, I might take the island.

The big cricket game Mrs. Pumphrey teased earlier this season is finally here! The farmers and vets of Darrowby are fighting for the honor of the village against the men of property. On another level, the game is a proxy match for Hugh Houlton to win back his pride after the breakup with Helen. Who wins the match? Let’s find out!

Last week we left our man Purple Haze in the distinctly dangerous position of being led away at gunpoint by Disreputable Bowler Hat Guy, and I’m sorry to tell you that his circumstances have only gotten worse since. To wit: this episode kicks off with Purple Haze, M. Master Key, and Ginge Nellie Bly stuck in a lifeboat in the middle of a stormy ocean as their ship steadily chugs away from them.

We’ve officially crossed the halfway mark for All Creatures Great And Small Season 2. This is a rare episode where the human drama outweighs the animals with medical issues. Who ruined Tristan’s special day? Here’s what happened.

Having made it through India, our semi-fearless trio find themselves, finally, in Hong Kong, mostly not the worse for wear. Arriving at the bank, Purple Haze sets off to get enough cash to cover their hotel for the night, tickets to their next stop (Japan) and anything else they might need. And while M. Master Key and Ginge Nellie Bly are amused by how happy their buddy is to be back in a bank, where there are, after all, rules, regulations, and paperwork, they’re all in for a rude awakening. See, even though Purple Haze sent a telegram to his bank at home, asking them to forward along the needed funds, the teller claims no such note has come through.

Episode 3 starts off on a very somber note yet manages to end on a very sweet note. Through the ups and downs of the episode, people caring for one another through small annoyances, grief and the good times are what is at the core of why we love this show so much! Here’s what happened:

It’s episode four, and so if you for some reason thought the course of rail travel would suddenly run smooth, I don’t know what show YOU’VE been watching the last 3 weeks. Anyway, the squad is in India, and despite what Ginge Nellie Bly’s published works claim, the railway across that country is still not complete. Purple Haze is very put out.