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Call the Midwife 4.03
In which there is a very timely subplot, and not about housing.
No wonder we found out about Patsy's orientation last week. It gives her every scene this week an additional layer. Not that you need to be gay yourself to be indignant about the state of British law & society vis a vis homosexuality in 1960, of course. But Patsy having to hear all the rubbish about "unnatural" from her patients as well as everyone else, and not being able to out herself even to a friend like Trixie speaks volumes.
The unfortunate Tony caught at cottaging and getting, like Alan Turing, the option of chemical castration as the merciful variant (as opposed to two years prison) made me very much afraid that he would, also like Turing, end up killing himself, but thankfully the show let his father-in-law rescue him from the attempt, without, however, presenting Tony with a happy ending as an alternative. He still has to take the estrogen hormones as a "cure"; his wife, not being a character in a slash story, doesn't want him to find happiness with another man, she wants him to never have sex with one again. All the story grants is a moment of happiness - he and Marie have their daughter now, his father-in-law accepts him, so do some of the members of the Poplar community - but there's awareness in the next week, and the week after, etc., when he has to continue with the pills and killing a part of himself off, depression is jusust right around the corner again.
Dr. Turner has read the Kinsey Report and has no problem talking about it: of course he has. Patrick Turner, you continue to be a jewel among men. Was also v. amused by Shelagh deducing by applying the Sherlockian method as to what caused the dysentry. Also, the Turners sharing a cigarette always reminds me of the very first time the show gave me the impression there could be something between these characters.
But the show doesn't make it so easy as to letting all sympathetic characters be on the "live and let live" band wagon. So Sister Winifred is firmly of the "it's a sin" persuasion, and Fred doesn't let Tony participate in the atomic shelter (we're definitely in the 60s now!) drills anymore. And even Trixie, who does think "live and let live" illustrates something of straight privilege because she doesn't see it as urgent to do something about said idea (unless pushed by a particular occasion).
Other case of the week: was a pretty standard case of the week and an occasion for Nurse Crane to profile herself as enterprising when dealing with bureaucrats, but the Tony and Marie (argh, I just noticed - Heidi Thomas, are you a West Side Story fan?) subplot complete with Patsy's reactions throughout made it hard to focus on anything else.
No wonder we found out about Patsy's orientation last week. It gives her every scene this week an additional layer. Not that you need to be gay yourself to be indignant about the state of British law & society vis a vis homosexuality in 1960, of course. But Patsy having to hear all the rubbish about "unnatural" from her patients as well as everyone else, and not being able to out herself even to a friend like Trixie speaks volumes.
The unfortunate Tony caught at cottaging and getting, like Alan Turing, the option of chemical castration as the merciful variant (as opposed to two years prison) made me very much afraid that he would, also like Turing, end up killing himself, but thankfully the show let his father-in-law rescue him from the attempt, without, however, presenting Tony with a happy ending as an alternative. He still has to take the estrogen hormones as a "cure"; his wife, not being a character in a slash story, doesn't want him to find happiness with another man, she wants him to never have sex with one again. All the story grants is a moment of happiness - he and Marie have their daughter now, his father-in-law accepts him, so do some of the members of the Poplar community - but there's awareness in the next week, and the week after, etc., when he has to continue with the pills and killing a part of himself off, depression is jusust right around the corner again.
Dr. Turner has read the Kinsey Report and has no problem talking about it: of course he has. Patrick Turner, you continue to be a jewel among men. Was also v. amused by Shelagh deducing by applying the Sherlockian method as to what caused the dysentry. Also, the Turners sharing a cigarette always reminds me of the very first time the show gave me the impression there could be something between these characters.
But the show doesn't make it so easy as to letting all sympathetic characters be on the "live and let live" band wagon. So Sister Winifred is firmly of the "it's a sin" persuasion, and Fred doesn't let Tony participate in the atomic shelter (we're definitely in the 60s now!) drills anymore. And even Trixie, who does think "live and let live" illustrates something of straight privilege because she doesn't see it as urgent to do something about said idea (unless pushed by a particular occasion).
Other case of the week: was a pretty standard case of the week and an occasion for Nurse Crane to profile herself as enterprising when dealing with bureaucrats, but the Tony and Marie (argh, I just noticed - Heidi Thomas, are you a West Side Story fan?) subplot complete with Patsy's reactions throughout made it hard to focus on anything else.
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