PBS served the audience a super-sized scoop of Indian Summers Sunday night combining episodes 9 and 10. A lot happened in these final two episodes, setting up the storylines for series 2 which will hopefully land on our shores sometime in 2016. There was some laughter but a whole lot of tears in these two episodes. The finale started off on a somber note when Madeline dreaming about dancing with her brother Eugene and then finding the next morning that he had expired sometime during the night. Cynthia seizes the opportunity to get rid of Madeline by playing on her grief. She persuades the distraught young woman to accompany her brother’s ashes back to Chicago. “Women like that never come back,” she tells Kaiser.

Madeline is not the only to have bad dreams in this episode. Ralph dreams that Adam is riding a rocking horse, but it is not a dream. Adam hands him a note that calls him the Devil and is signed ‘No Name.’ However, he has no time to think because the Nawab, who is so important we don’t even know what he’s Nawab of, is coming to Simla. Something to do with Gandhi and Ralph persuading the Nawab to listen to them instead. Ralph thinks it might be good politics to have some natives attend for window dressing but Cynthia puts the kibosh on his plan. Instead she dresses up Kaiser and the rest of the Royal Simla Club employees in their Sunday best. The Nawab turns up with several adorable dogs which Alice has to chase around the grounds of the Simla Club. He waxes rhapsodic about the mountains of Scotland, suggesting that the Viceroy take a peek after he leaves India.

Sarah has taken to spying on Dougie and Leena at the mission school as if the two of them would ever be entwined lasciviously in front of the children. Seeing how unhappy she is, Alice tries to make nice. Instead Sarah accuses her of turning a blind eye to what was going on at the mission school. When Alice tries to placate her by suggesting lunch at the club, Sarah threatens to tell everyone that Alice is not really a widow. Fed up, Alice confesses to Ralph that she deserted her husband and about Sarah’s blackmail. At the club, Ralph buys Sarah’s silence by offering her son Matthew a place at a posh boarding school in England. Of course, Dougie doesn’t buy for one minute that Ralph is doing this because he’s a charitable sort of chap. Alice is so happy that she lets slip that Madeline is heading back to the States.

During a conversation with Cynthia, we learn the whole backstory to Ralph’s relationship with Jaya. When he was a young assistant magistrate, he helped Chandru Mohan in a land dispute which led to his introduction to Mohan’s daughter Jaya. The two fell in love but someone let slip about the affair to the village elders. The upshot was that Ralph was transferred to Burma before he learned that Jaya was pregnant with his child. When Jaya mentioned to Ralph that a white English woman was the worst of the lot, he realized that it was Cynthia who spilled the beans. “What did you think would happen to a pregnant, unmarried woman on her own with no one to protect her?” Cynthia is unrepentant about her actions. She claims that she was just trying to protect him. If Ralph had really loved Jaya, he would have stopped at nothing to marry her. When he confronts her about Madeline’s departure, Cynthia spits out that Madeline is broke. Instead of Ralph being grateful, he stops Madeline from leaving, telling her that he loves her. While Ralph and Maddie have confirmed their love, the Viceroy is peeved that Ralph left alone to negotiate with the Nawab. Ralph coopts the death of his fiancée’s brother to get out of trouble with the Viceroy. Later he is startled when Bhupi finds a bracelet that belonged to Jaya.

Aafrin is still being pulled like taffy in several directions. When he and Sita return their letters to each other, she asks him if things might have been different if she hadn’t been so timid and had given the note to Sooni. Aafrin tells her no. Sita taunts him about being in love with an English woman, calling him stupid, that she pities him but he denies it. Then Sergeant Singh intensifies his blackmail, demanding that Aafrin join the Nationalist movement. He gives Aafrin until the end of the summer to decide what he intends to do. The only light in Aafrin’s life is Alice. He lures her to a small hut on Ralph’s property where they finally consummate their relationship.

Another European club is attacked and an English woman has been shot. The natives have taken offense at the sign preventing natives and dogs from entry. A vote is taken to lift the ban on Indians at the club and Cynthia is not happy with the outcome. She agrees to let one Indian become a member. Who is the lucky native? Aafrin, of course! The Viceroy has been so busy with the Nawab and other matters that he hasn’t bothered to make a decision about Ramu Sood, so it’s left to Ralph to decide Sood’s fate. Ralph asks Aafrin for advice who replies that he couldn’t take a life. Ralph waves away any responsibility by insisting that other people do that, he just signs a letter. Aafrin suggests that Sood’s sentence be commuted to life in prison instead of the death sentence. Ralph promises to think about it. Ian McLeod visits Ramu in prison, and tries to cheer him up by a little horseplay, which ends with the guards beating Sood up. Apparently, they thought Sood was attacking Ian or they were just bored that day.

Sarah and Dougie have a bittersweet parting. It’s clear from the look in her eyes that she’s waiting for some hint that he doesn’t want her to go. If he gave even a little hint, I’m sure she would have sent Matthew back to Britain with a piece of cardboard around his neck with the address of the school. The most Dougie will say is that he’s sorry he couldn’t give her what she needed. “You did, once or twice. You just never knew it,” Sarah replies, resigned at last. Ralph shows up at the mission school and confesses that he’s Adam’s father, and asks how he’s doing. Not beating around the bush, Dougie tells Ralph that Adam self-harms. Ralph is shaken but knows that Dougie would be better for Adam than he could ever be. Later Dougie tells Leena that there can be nothing between them other than the professional even though Sarah is gone.

After Ralph’s trusted servant Bhupi attempts suicide, Ralph tells Aafrin that they grew up together and Aafrin soon realizes who really killed Jaya. Not at Ralph’s request, of course, but out of some misguided loyalty. Given the new information, Aafrin seeks clemency for Sood, suggesting to Ralph that perhaps after he’s served a year or two in prison, he could be released. Ralph concurs and promises that he will run the letter of leniency over himself. Aafrin sneaks into Alice’s room secure in the knowledge that he has helped to right an injustice. He wakes up late the next day, rushes to make sure Ralph has done what he promised only to see him playing cricket. Aafrin runs to the prison like he’s running the marathon but he arrives too late. Sood has been taken to the gallows, the last person he sees is Cynthia, who gives him a sarcastic little salute, as the noose is slipped around his neck. Poor Ian McLeod is beside himself with grief as Sooni tries to comfort him. Sooni calls Aafrin a coward and spits in his face. Realizing that Ralph cannot be trusted, Aafrin tells Singh that he is willing to help the Nationalists.

Following the execution a devastated Ian becomes a local hero for his passionate outburst and for stealing what he thinks are Sood’s ashes from the police station to give them a proper burial. Aafrin sneaks into Ralph’s office to steal something to prove his loyalty to the Nationalists. He discovers Adam’s letter but keeps it, giving Singh a letter opener instead. Aafrin invites his father, Darius, to be his guest at the club. Wearing his medals from the Great War, Darius and Aafrin receive a chilly reception from the members. Ronnie Keane, of all people, comes to the rescue when the bartender refuses to serve Aafrin. Alice wants to admit their affair to Ralph but aware that Ralph did nothing to save Ramu, Aafrin dissuades her, telling her that Ralph is a dangerous man, who cannot be trusted. Instead of burning the club down (which I was pretty sure is where this whole thing was heading), Cynthia gets drunk instead. Ralph finds her and they have a rapprochement in the garden. “You’re all I’ve got,” he tells her. “Yes,” she replies. “Good point.” They head for the club knowing that the tremors of change are getting stronger in India and not just in their little corner of the world.

The next series of Indian Summers is already filming and will pick up 3 years later. It will be interesting to see how the lives of these characters will change. Will Ralph and Madeline really get married? What about Aafrin and Alice? How long will they be able to keep their affair secret? What lengths will Aafrin go to help the Nationalists? What about Ian McLeod? Will he go back to Scotland or stay in India?