There are many unanswered questions in life. Is there a higher power? Will this election season ever end? Who let the dogs out? And, will I ever get through an episode of Call The Midwife without crying? The answers? Nobody knows, about 180 days, the Baha Men, and nope nope never.
Continuing this season’s trend of modernization and changing times, this episode is framed around advancements in science and medicine, and the consequences that come with this newfound knowledge. Like, did you guys know that smoking is bad for you?
Don’t worry Violet; I feel the same way every time I exercise too!
Dr. Turner and Shelagh host a chest health clinic for the community, as many Poplar folks suffer from lung cancer, emphysema, and a host of other breathing problems. Tim watches his parents pour over a medical journal, sharing a cigarette, and reminds them of the latest study linking cancer to smoking. The Turners brush their son off, claiming that it is just one theory.
A 14-year-old reading Freud? I weep for this kid’s future dating life.
Meanwhile, women are bringing men into the clinic, which is making other female patients uncomfortable, like one woman who brings her urine sample in a gift bag because Heaven forbid that men find out we ladies have urinary tracts!
At the clinic, we meet Roseanne, our Mum o’ the Week. She’s nervous about her delivery and has already scheduled herself for a hospital birth. Roseanne is married to Dennis, a kindly, older gent who makes incense for the local churches. Dennis is thrilled to be a father and clearly cares deeply for his wife.
Can we ease up on the incense? This entire flat smells like bongwater.
We also check in on Fred and Violet, who is bringing home her Keep Fit lessons and teaching them to Fred. They work out together and have a few laughs until Vi gets a back spasm. Dr. Turner advises her to sleep on a door for stiffness and to take the week off of work to rest. If a doctor prescribed “sleeping on a door” to me, I would laugh in his face, but I guess this was a normal solution back in the day. Fred assures Vi that he can handle her Haberdashery while she’s convalescing, but I have doubts.
Roseanne goes into labor at home and calls Nonnatus house for help. Phyllis rushes to assist her, and puts Delia on phone duty, as all the midwives are out. When her car doesn’t start, Phyllis is forced to bike her way to the house. Meanwhile, it’s just Delia and Monica Joan at the house, where MJ comments that Delia must be crazy strong with all the milk she drinks. Delia tells her that she likes a milky brew, which I am now using as a code word for lesbianism. Get your milky brew on, ladies!
I like my women like I like my tea: sweet, brisk, and milky
Delia stays on the line with Roseanne as her labor escalates. She is panicked and alone, but Delia calmly coaches her through it. Roseanne ends up delivering the baby on the floor, all by herself. When the baby comes out not breathing, Delia coaches her to rub the baby’s back. The baby starts crying just as Phyllis arrives, and she and Roseanne are healthy and safe. Patsy rushes home and hugs Delia.
But have you tried holding it in?!?
Don’t hang up the phone; I’ve been on hold with Comcast for almost nine months!
That night, the women of Nonnatus House toast Delia on a job well done. Delia says that midwifery is far more interesting than her day job, male surgery, and MJ says she always thought that the results of the male organ were far more interesting than the organ itself. Nonnatus House: where women are celebrated, and dicks are pointless! It makes you wonder how many queer women entered the church as a means of escaping men, especially when it was the only acceptable alternative to marriage.
Dr. Turner and Shelagh host their chest clinic, where they give bronchodilators to patients and demonstrate different positions to clear up the lungs, such as hanging upside down while someone hits you on the back. Tim is not amused that he’s forced to be the workplace dummy.
How to properly spank a child, a five-part lecture series by Shelagh Turner
Across town, Phyllis is coaching Roseanne through breastfeeding, but Roseanne would rather feed the baby formula. She seems distant and depressed and hasn’t bonded with the baby. Phyllis thinks that the trauma of the birth may be the cause, but there’s something else going on.
Dr. Turner meets with Frank, a patient with lung cancer who refuses radiotherapy. Despite the possibility of extending his life, he’d rather have his family remember him as a healthy man. As he leaves he pulls out a cigarette, and Tim watches him light up. Later that night, Tim steals a couple of cigarettes from his dad’s pocket.
Fred opens up Violet’s shop, but is immediately overwhelmed by pushy customers and the realities of brassiere fittings and period supplies. He calls on Barbara, who helps him run the store and take care of the more intimate aspects, which ends up with Barbara getting buried in a woman’s cleavage. It’s a funny little montage, mainly because men can’t handle lady things and Fred is a doofus. I wasn’t chomping at the bit for a Fred subplot, but it’s here and somewhat endearing.
Is this how lesbians have sex?
Roseanne shows up to pick up her pram cover, and one of the customers compliments her on her bravery during birth. She assures Roseanne that she’ll be a wonderful mother and role model to her baby. Barbara steps out of the shop later to find that Roseanne has left her daughter in the pram on the street. Phyllis brings the baby home, where she finds a distressed Roseanne, who claims that she can’t live up to her great home and her duties. Phyllis assures her that she can handle it, but Roseanne is not convinced.
Dr. Turner goes to a lung cancer autopsy with a doctor friend, who shows him a set of lungs recovered from a smoker. They are black, riddled with tar and cancer, and Turner is horrified. As he walks out, he is framed by a billboard advertising cigarettes.
Try Burntons; the lung-charringest smokes in town!
Fred brags to Violet about running her store, not mentioning the help from Barbara. She puts him in charge of making the orders, and calls himself a hubby-dasherer, which FINE, is very cute, but I would still rather be watching a Patsy storyline. Fred fucks up the orders because of course he does.
Dr. Turner and Shelagh catch Tim smoking, and Turner is furious. He demands that Tim never smoke again, but Tim calls him a hypocrite. It’s hard to chastise your kids for something you do everyday, isn’t it? Turner makes a promise to Tim that he will quit smoking.
How dare you do that thing your stepmum and I do constantly?!
Dennis offers to stay home with Roseanne and the baby since she doesn’t seem like herself. She still hasn’t bonded with the baby or decided on a name, but tells him that she’ll be fine. Later that day, Phyllis drops by the check in, but no one answers the door. Hearing the baby crying, she uses the key under the mat and finds that Roseanne has left a letter, abandoning the baby.
Shelagh is shocked to find out that she is expected to quit smoking too. Turner offers her an origami frog to keep her hands occupied, but she is not impressed. I think this is actually a great idea, and would love to see all recovering smokers take up origami! Is this what people did before nicotine gum?
How about instead of giving up smoking I just pour this coffee in your lap?
Turner visits Frank and urges him to quit smoking and get radiotherapy, but Frank insists that he doesn’t want to look weak in front of his wife and kids. He wants to be remembered well, which will surely be useful to his family when he’s dead.
Dennis comes home to find Phyllis caring for his baby. She shows him the letter, and Dennis assumes that Roseanne must be visiting her mother. He asks her if the magic mother-baby bond will happen for his wife, and Phyllis tells him that it’s not magic, but hard work and keeping on that creates the bond. Phyllis asks Shelagh to look into Roseanne’s medical records, but finds nothing, When they recover her records from a previous doctor, they discover that Roseanne grew up in an orphanage and did time in prison for prostitution. Dennis wanders the docks, looking for Roseanne.
ROOOOOOOSEANNE…you don’t have to put on that red light
Roseanne crashes at her friend Nell’s flat, who is still a sex worker. She confesses that, because of her past, she doesn’t feel worthy of being a mother and of living a good life. She says that she can never be good enough for her daughter, and is overwhelmed with shame and self-doubt. She says that she doesn’t want her baby growing up like her, and Nell tells her that she doesn’t want that either for her own daughter. Nell is saving every cent she makes to give her child a better life, and doesn’t understand why Roseanne is bailing on new and improved circumstances.
Back at the shop, the customers complain about Fred to Violet. One of the ladies tells Violet that Fred Buckle is type of bloke that promises the world but ends up offering Crisp Street. What kind of insult is that? Crisp Street sounds delightful and delicious. Violet feels the same way, and kicks the woman out of her store.
You can see yourself out on salt and vinegar lane!
Dr. Turner meets with the health board and requests more chest clinics and more education about the dangers of smoking. The health supervisor begrudgingly gives him one a month, all while puffing away on a cigarette.
Phyllis and Sister Wini find Roseanne and comfort her. Phyllis tells her that no one chooses to be unloved or abandoned and that she can’t let shame and fear keep her from her family. She assures her that she’s more than fit to be a mother, as Phyllis was raised by a mum with a turbulent background. It’s an act of bravery not to let your past define you and to rise above it and give your baby a better life. They cry and hug, and Roseanne comes home. She realizes that she needs to believe in herself, and finally names her daughter what she needs most: Faith.
Fuck shame and self-doubt right in the ear!
Fred apologizes for fucking up at work, and Violet assures him that he may be a chump, but he’s her chump. What matters is that he was there for her, and cared for her when she was sick. They kiss and dance together.
Frank realizes that every day he can spend with his family is a gift, and decides to get treatment for his cancer. Tim reveals that he’s been using reverse psychology to convince his parents to quit smoking, and is smarter than everyone.
That’s it for this week’s episode, what did you think? Anyone in the mood for a milky brew? Tweet me your feels @ChelseaProcrast
