Call the Midwife 7.04

[selenak]

In which we get a neat reminder of 60s space exploration, and Fred is the best why I realise the Doylist reason for Trixie’s storyline.



To wit: the same one that must have existed for Patsy going to Hongkong last season to nurse her dying father, to wit, actress wants a leave of absence due to other commitments. “Six months” practically screams “I’m shooting another project elsewhere”. Well, at least that explains the repetiveness of Trixie’s woes, though in fairness, falling off the wagon is all too common for an addict under stress, and shying away from a romance because secretly she’s convinced she’s not worthy and he’ll leave her anyway, plus that it’s better for the child is ic for Trixie.

This being said, I thought her scenes with Nurse Crane and Christopher were all excellent, showing the other parties managing to be supportive without enabling, which is such a trickly balance to keep, and reassuring us that Christopher is a worthy guy who wants to be there for Trixie on whichever terms she feels okay with.

Speaking of a tricky balance to keep, I thought the major case of the week managed that, being about three Pakistani immigrants without either falling into clichés nor downplaying the emotional difficulties for the women. And the ongoing case of Sister Monica Joan’s failing eyesight finally happily resolved itself, courtesy of Fred being the best and of the Soviet space programm. Sister Monica Joan being so excited about the first woman in space was a lovely touch and very her, and on a Doylist level, it was a great reminder of this particular pioneer who hardly gets mentioned anymore these days. (Incidentally, last time I visited Greenwich, I saw the statue of Yuri Gargarin there. Now I’m currently working my way through “Enterprise”, which has title credit sequence montage where we go from sea faring to the flight of the Phoenix from “First Contact”, with the majority of the images hailing from the actual rl space programm - the U.S. space programm. It’s a bit a case of Sputnik what, Gargarin who, never mind Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space. So kudos to Britain and British tv for honoring Russian space exploring pioneers!)

Trailer for next week: welcome back, Barbara and Tom! And not a moment too soon, given the exodus of regulars (Patsy & Delia, now Trixie) this season.

Comments

[moon_custafer]

Someone I follow on Facebook recently named a pet tortoise Valentina Cherepakha (Russian for “tortoise”) after the cosmonaut.

[selenak]

Awesome!

[daybreak]

Fred really is the best. His little face when Sister Monica Joan was crying. :-( :-( :-( He really was hurting for her and found a way to help her. Shelagh mentioning Braille and a cane was also scarily effective. I hope Sr. Monica Joan's surgery turns out well.

I know understand the true reason for Trixie's relapse as well. It's a bit confusing because she cause the break up herself. It's not like she started drinking because he broke up with her. He's still right there for her. I think it has a lot to do with who she was with her dad as a little girl. She really wants his daughter to feel safe. But the truth is, Christopher's marriage is really over whether he's with Trixie or not.

The Pakistani moms storyline was very painful. I felt for the first wife that she had to accept, accept, and accept. Her husband could have least told he had married and consummated the marriage before the girl turns up eight months pregnant. It's a difficult situation but he could have at least have been upfront about it MONTHS earlier, goodness.

I'm still a bit mad at him for that. Also, next trip back to Pakistan I'd be going with him! :-)

[selenak]

Shelagh mentioning Braille and the cane was a stealthy masterstroke, because I think a good part of Sister Monica Joan’s refusal to the operation was the fear of appearing helpless. This reminder of what it would truly mean to be blind hit home.

[watervole]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the first wife ended up being the primary carer for the baby. It was obvious to me that she had greatly wanted a child (even though she had managed to come to terms with being childless). The look of exclusion on her face when her husband looked at his second wife and said 'our child' said it all really.

If given the chance to be a mother to that little boy, she'd jump at it.

[daybreak]

He could have handled it so much better. I'm still mad that he simply didn't tell her he married again. He's kind of weak. Of course she knows this but when she said she had to 'accept and accept and accept' well, no she wasn't in a place to jump to mother these children right then. (A fifteen-year-old is still a child, new mother or not.)

The look of exclusion was real. Her infertility and inability to change anything thrown in her face and she loved that man! They had spent a lifetime together.

The fact that she forgave him at all (even though it's their culture the lie of omission was all him) was enough for me. Whether she mothers the kids at all is up to her. It's not fair to drop two children on her and just expect her to do the right thing. At least not right away. What I liked with the woman who had a stroke and the woman with Huntingdon's is the husbands stepped up! Sure, they depended almost completely on their wives, but they, when the chips were down did their best on their own to hold the family together. I wish I had seen that in this woman's husband.

[watervole]

I think the strength of their relationship was both why he found it so hard to tell her, and why that failure to tell her hurt so much.

Did you spot that her name was Mumtaz? I think that name was chosen deliberately, to illustrate his love for her.

[gabolange]

Technically, the reason for Trixie's relapse is that the actress was pregnant and indeed gave birth while they were still shooting the season. (Her partner is the guy who plays Tom Hereward, which remains super weird.) So at least not another project?

I admit I was not fond of the case of the week. It was brilliantly acted and gently approached, but I thought the power of love cure-all a bit unrealistic given the challenges that family faced. And that Patrick and Sister Julienne would be that okay with the bigamist marriage to a 15-year-old...

[selenak]

Well, their reaction is consistent with the non-shock (on their part, Jenny was at least startled) from the pilot to the news that the Spanish mother of twenty got married to her English husband at precisely that age (which, as I found out later, actually is one of the cases described by the real Jennifer Worth in her book), so I thought it was both part of the show’s era setting and consistent with the characters. I mean, obviously I think no teenager of 15 should be a) in a relationship with a man decades older, let alone marriage, and b) a mother. But in practical terms of this particular case: what were the alternatives? Denounce Mr. Gangii (spelling?) to the police for a marriage which, as Lucille points out, might be legal in Pakistan but not in Britain and also for sex with a minor (since she’s a year below the age of consent at that point), he goes to prison, and the girl and her baby get deported, because while Mr. G and his first wife might be British citizens by now, I bet the teenager isn’t, and if she didn’t immigrate illegally anyway, her permission to stay probably depends on her married-to-a-citizen status. This would mean, in essence, sending a 15 years old back to the very people who thought this marriage was a great idea and who are likely to blame her for it not working out. If by some miracle she doesn’t get deported and stays in Britain, she’s still a 15 years old with a baby and no job, friends or support, and the fates of unmarried teenage mothers on this show were always pretty gruesome.

Now if her husband and the first wife had been abusive people, treating her badly, hoping the state would take care of her (them, i.e. the baby as well) would have been still preferable, but this was not the case in the scenario as presented.

[watervole]

I think their first focus had to be on the baby, and as you say, deporting the mother and charging the father with bigamy would certainly not have benefited any of the parties.

[daybreak]

(Her partner is the guy who plays Tom Hereward, which remains super weird.)
That does remain super-weird. I don't know why but it is. The baby is probably super-cute, though!

I still hope, in vain, for Miranda Hart's return. But when her spouse on the show left without much fanfare, I was pretty sure she's never coming back. Would like to have seen baby Fred once more. Because Freds are awesome. :-)

[watervole]

Nurse Crane fascinates me. I think the actress manages a wonderful balance between being abrasive and supportive. She's a very well rounded and believable character.

[selenak]

She's my current favourite of the midwives.

[daybreak]

Aww, Phyllis! I still hope she sees the guy in her Spanish class. She deserves every happiness. :-)