Call the Midwife 8.08
Mar. 7th, 2019 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe power of the provider of my internet is with me once more, thus:
Seriously, somehow despite the last season having been so short already it had utterly escaped me that it was. Which drove home the season feeling short. I mean, we did get some wrap up to some storylines - Phyllis is out of hospital; for a moment or two, I wondered whether Miss Higgins befriending of her during her hospital stint would lead to Phyllis Crane/Miss Higgins, but then it seemed like the show will be going with Sgt. Wolf having transfered his crush to Miss Higgins instead. And it what felt like a lazy narrative cop out in an otherwise good season, May's planned for adoptive father has another fallback sickness so the Turners can adopt her permanently after all. But other than that, it was all about the abortion storyline, since the other midwives' issues (new Sisters' Hillda and Frances' integration with the team and gaining of confidence in Frances' case, Lucille's budding romance with Cyril) were all build up and resolved within two or three episodes.
Now, the big one: Elsie Dyer on trial as an abortionist. Here we did get the dramatic pay off though I still think the abortion issue itself won't go away and that at least some of our main characters will join the push for legalized abortion since the show could reach the 1967 date. (The last scene between Valerie and her grandmother points that way, with Elsie saying the backstreet secrecy abortions will continue until trained medical professionals are ready (and legally able) to help women in need of one.) But in terms of the personal stories; the sisters from early episodes are back, and incidentally, here's another good narrative pay off, because while watching, I didn't question that every single woman who had an abortion this season also ended up with an infection, but I didn't make the connection to Elsie Dyer's skin disease even last episode when Trixie mentioned it.
It's also what allows the show to have Grandma Dyer decide to plead guilty instead of sticking to her defiant original not-guilty plea. Not that she changes her mind about abortions per se, but being confronted with the fact that she did damage the women she wanted to help, and badly. Which I felt was a better storytelling choice than if they'd had her change her plea in order to save Valerie from testifying. Conversely, Valerie going through emotional hell - complete with being called a traitor by her old neighborhood - but ready to testify instead of deciding not to out of love for her grandmother also felt right for her, again, not because of the (lack of) legality of her grandmother's abortions but because of the damage they did, which Val got to witness first hand throughout the season. Characters despite their affection for each other sticking to their respective ethical convictions is a favourite trope of mine.
Something that felt unfinished was Vi in her new role as City Councillor, since the story with her, Fred and Reggie in the finale had nothing whatsoever to do with that. I mean, I'm as fond of Reggie as the next fan and I'm really glad the show keeps him and his relationship with the Burkles around and continues to develop it, but there was no narrative connection to what was happening chez Burkle for the rest of the season, which felt a bit odd.
In conclusion: bring back the longer seasons?
Seriously, somehow despite the last season having been so short already it had utterly escaped me that it was. Which drove home the season feeling short. I mean, we did get some wrap up to some storylines - Phyllis is out of hospital; for a moment or two, I wondered whether Miss Higgins befriending of her during her hospital stint would lead to Phyllis Crane/Miss Higgins, but then it seemed like the show will be going with Sgt. Wolf having transfered his crush to Miss Higgins instead. And it what felt like a lazy narrative cop out in an otherwise good season, May's planned for adoptive father has another fallback sickness so the Turners can adopt her permanently after all. But other than that, it was all about the abortion storyline, since the other midwives' issues (new Sisters' Hillda and Frances' integration with the team and gaining of confidence in Frances' case, Lucille's budding romance with Cyril) were all build up and resolved within two or three episodes.
Now, the big one: Elsie Dyer on trial as an abortionist. Here we did get the dramatic pay off though I still think the abortion issue itself won't go away and that at least some of our main characters will join the push for legalized abortion since the show could reach the 1967 date. (The last scene between Valerie and her grandmother points that way, with Elsie saying the backstreet secrecy abortions will continue until trained medical professionals are ready (and legally able) to help women in need of one.) But in terms of the personal stories; the sisters from early episodes are back, and incidentally, here's another good narrative pay off, because while watching, I didn't question that every single woman who had an abortion this season also ended up with an infection, but I didn't make the connection to Elsie Dyer's skin disease even last episode when Trixie mentioned it.
It's also what allows the show to have Grandma Dyer decide to plead guilty instead of sticking to her defiant original not-guilty plea. Not that she changes her mind about abortions per se, but being confronted with the fact that she did damage the women she wanted to help, and badly. Which I felt was a better storytelling choice than if they'd had her change her plea in order to save Valerie from testifying. Conversely, Valerie going through emotional hell - complete with being called a traitor by her old neighborhood - but ready to testify instead of deciding not to out of love for her grandmother also felt right for her, again, not because of the (lack of) legality of her grandmother's abortions but because of the damage they did, which Val got to witness first hand throughout the season. Characters despite their affection for each other sticking to their respective ethical convictions is a favourite trope of mine.
Something that felt unfinished was Vi in her new role as City Councillor, since the story with her, Fred and Reggie in the finale had nothing whatsoever to do with that. I mean, I'm as fond of Reggie as the next fan and I'm really glad the show keeps him and his relationship with the Burkles around and continues to develop it, but there was no narrative connection to what was happening chez Burkle for the rest of the season, which felt a bit odd.
In conclusion: bring back the longer seasons?
no subject
Date: 2019-03-07 10:23 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to this season so much - it's the first time they've had a medical/plot arc rather than an emotional/thematic one, unless Shelagh's pregnancy counts as one, given the Thalidomide storyline was rather more episodic over two seasons - and it sounds like they've handled it very well. And I'm extremely glad to hear that it sounds like Sgt Wolfe will be taking his moustache elsewhere and leaving my Phyllis alone!
Sounds like the Turners are starting to have a collection of offspring that a Lois McMaster Bujold character would be envious of...
no subject
Date: 2019-03-08 06:12 am (UTC)Re: the Turners, well, quite. I mean, Timothy is probably soon of an age to earn his living and move out, which means three small children which in Poplar terms is not that many, but then again both parents are working! (BTW: another reason why the existence of Miss Higgins is great is that her doing the admistrative work at the clinic meant Shelagh could go back to being a midwife last season and they've stuck with it this season.)
I think I must go back and rewatch the first episode of this season, which I've grumbled about as I recall, not knowing that the abortion plot would be going where it went!
no subject
Date: 2019-03-08 10:32 am (UTC)Afraid not! Season 1 had six episodes; from season 2 onwards it's been a Christmas special plus an eight-episode season.
Timothy's of the wrong class to start working yet, though, despite his age. If he moves out it'll be to go to university, presumably to study medicine based on things said throughout the series to date.
(It's always been one of the things that's jarred me, though less so as the series has leaned into it more - the way Timothy was treated as a child for so long while girls of his age or just a little older but from working-class backgrounds were treated as effectively adult women, capable of not just giving birth but becoming mothers. I think the episode they did last season juxtaposing Timothy chucking a strop about not getting to go to a Rolling Stones concert while a working-class boy of close to the same age was married, about to become a father and facing a prison stretch because of one bad choice made under huge financial stress really drew out that contrast well, and, um, not particularly to Timothy's credit).
I'd love to hear your thoughts on a rewatch of Ep 1 if you have time!