Hetty feels somewhat responsible for this because she urged Olivia and Sarah to pursue their Rev. Dinsdale story line, which made Rachel even more agitated and upset than she already was. She goes to see Rachel, bringing Dr. Blair with her, intent on helping Mrs. Lynde whether she wants it or not. Dr. Blair gives Rachel a little medicinal whiskey- much to her initial horror, as she's temperance- and then pulls her rotten tooth. As soon as the tooth is out, Rachel starts to feel better... the whiskey plays no small part in this. Meanwhile, while Rachel has been ensconced in the boarding house, a number of women have turned up in town, drawn by Olivia's original story in the Avonlea Chronicle; it turns out the Reverend Ambrose Dimsdale was a serial bigamist who had married multiple women in various places he had travelled with his choir. Realizing that she's been a fool, pining after the creepy Dimsdale and blaming Marilla for his loss, Rachel returns penitently to Green Gables where Marilla greets her old friend with open arms. Now free from pain and regret, Rachel's whole attitude towards Davy's antics changes and she can see the humour in the mischief he gets up to. She's now perfectly happy to help Marilla raise the two young orphans who, if nothing else, keep life interesting.
Finally, this episode is about the lifelong friendship of Marilla and Rachel, which has lasted through thick and thin, good times and bad. The two actresses- Colleen Dewhurst and Patricia Hamilton- had by this time played their respective roles through the Anne miniseries in the 1980's, reprising them in the 1990's in Road To Avonlea. So they knew each other and their characters very well- and it shows. They fit comfortably and effortlessly into their parts, playing off each other as friends of many years naturally would. It's such a shame that Colleen Dewhurst died of cancer not long after this; this episode is her final one, other than a posthumous episode in season three, which uses past clips of her in a farewell to Marilla.