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Mar. 30th, 2014 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakSomething only noticed upon rewatching season 2 of Call the Midwife - or maybe I did notice at the time but forgot again:
- Jacob who plays a main role in an s3 episode already shows up on in an s2 episode in the hospital St. Mungo's
- Patsy already shows up in an s2 episode as well, albeit with blonde hair; she's a nurse at the hospital Jenny works for a while and they share a cigarette and commiseration about the arrogant surgeon
- the actor who plays the chatty Reverend Appleby who ends up befriending silent Jane is none other than the actor who played Herrick (Mitchell's sire, main villain of s1) on Being Human; now s3 already showcased his range via amnesiac!Herrick versus remembering!Herrick, so the completely different personality he creates in his CtM shouldn't have been a (retrospective) surprise, but it was anyway
- the early s2 episodes are careful to give Dr. Turner and Sister Bernadette at least one scene per episode where they share a conversation or glances even if both are in the background of said episodes, which in retrospect is a nicely subtle build up for the plot that kicks in mid season.
My Call the Midwife love continues to be strong. For all that I like my dark and twisted characters as much as the next fangirl (or -boy), and ditto for my shady narratives, it's really great to also have a show that gives the lie to the cliché that good equals boring and that you can't have an interesting show without villains and antiheroes. There literally isn't an unsympathetic character in the ensemble. And it's not the Downton Abbey type of period drama; Chummey is the only regular with an upper class background, and her living a life unlike her parents is part of her story. (Plus, no journeys back to the mansion, not that there is one but you know what I mean.) Nor does it romantisize poverty: living conditions in the East End are shown as appalling. Nor does it pretend that the only interesting kind of female character is the female warrior type. Instead, it treats the midwives and their work as the way other shows treat secret agents and soldiers and detectives - as vital and heroic - and offers a rich variety of women, none of whom falls under the subcategory "tomboy" or "butt-kicking chick", and who are the full age range from ancient to early twenties. (Nothing against tomboys or female warriors, but sometimes one does get the impression that unless a girl has declared her disdain for "girly" things and excels at martial arts, she's doomed to be regarded as a dull character.) Community and mutual support via friendship and comraderie are at its heart. Oh, and as for romance, it doesn't play the "couples aren't interesting anymore once they're actually together/a female character ceases to be interesting the moment she marries and/or has a child" game; the two marriages we have so far actually have had more screen time by now in their marriage phase than they did in their courtship phase.
In short, other than having same sex relationships, it has what a vocal part of many a fandom complains their canon sources lack. And maybe this is why, she says cynically, it hasn't as big a fandom.
- Jacob who plays a main role in an s3 episode already shows up on in an s2 episode in the hospital St. Mungo's
- Patsy already shows up in an s2 episode as well, albeit with blonde hair; she's a nurse at the hospital Jenny works for a while and they share a cigarette and commiseration about the arrogant surgeon
- the actor who plays the chatty Reverend Appleby who ends up befriending silent Jane is none other than the actor who played Herrick (Mitchell's sire, main villain of s1) on Being Human; now s3 already showcased his range via amnesiac!Herrick versus remembering!Herrick, so the completely different personality he creates in his CtM shouldn't have been a (retrospective) surprise, but it was anyway
- the early s2 episodes are careful to give Dr. Turner and Sister Bernadette at least one scene per episode where they share a conversation or glances even if both are in the background of said episodes, which in retrospect is a nicely subtle build up for the plot that kicks in mid season.
My Call the Midwife love continues to be strong. For all that I like my dark and twisted characters as much as the next fangirl (or -boy), and ditto for my shady narratives, it's really great to also have a show that gives the lie to the cliché that good equals boring and that you can't have an interesting show without villains and antiheroes. There literally isn't an unsympathetic character in the ensemble. And it's not the Downton Abbey type of period drama; Chummey is the only regular with an upper class background, and her living a life unlike her parents is part of her story. (Plus, no journeys back to the mansion, not that there is one but you know what I mean.) Nor does it romantisize poverty: living conditions in the East End are shown as appalling. Nor does it pretend that the only interesting kind of female character is the female warrior type. Instead, it treats the midwives and their work as the way other shows treat secret agents and soldiers and detectives - as vital and heroic - and offers a rich variety of women, none of whom falls under the subcategory "tomboy" or "butt-kicking chick", and who are the full age range from ancient to early twenties. (Nothing against tomboys or female warriors, but sometimes one does get the impression that unless a girl has declared her disdain for "girly" things and excels at martial arts, she's doomed to be regarded as a dull character.) Community and mutual support via friendship and comraderie are at its heart. Oh, and as for romance, it doesn't play the "couples aren't interesting anymore once they're actually together/a female character ceases to be interesting the moment she marries and/or has a child" game; the two marriages we have so far actually have had more screen time by now in their marriage phase than they did in their courtship phase.
In short, other than having same sex relationships, it has what a vocal part of many a fandom complains their canon sources lack. And maybe this is why, she says cynically, it hasn't as big a fandom.
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