This week, our friends deal with out of town visitors, a possible outbreak, new technology, and the ongoing saga of whether Nonnatus house will bend to NHS rules. Read on for all the details, and catch up on previous recaps here.
What’s going on in Poplar:
It’s Easter, and the whole crew celebrates the holiday by hosting an easter egg hunt — Miss Higgins’ grandson Harry even comes to help out by wearing the Easter Bunny costume. Unfortunately, the fun event ends in disaster when some of the kids find a dying dog behind the trash bins. A dying dog with foam around its mouth. This naturally kicks off a mutli-day rabies panic; in the 1970s rabies wasn’t really a thing in the UK, so the whole town is in a frenzy over the disease. But in the end, the authorities discover that the dog actually died from rat poison. Crisis over?
What’s going on with our friends:
Little Christopher starts cancer treatment, escorted by both Turner parents. They seem hopeful that things will go well, but are of course struggling with having such a sick kiddo, and with the fact that it’s not clear how much English Christopher understands, so they can’t explain what’s happening to him. Sister Veronica gets permission to sit with Christopher in the evenings so that Shelagh can be home with the rest of the family (side benefits: Sister Veronica actually speaks Chinese, and she gets to practice parenting, something we know she wants after last week’s episode).
Rosalind’s parents come to visit Poplar and, more importantly, meet Cyril. The young couple are understandably nervous about this visit, prompting Cyril to panic-decorate his flat with help from Fred and Reggie. Rosalind prepares by talking with Joyce, who says she’s come around on the relationship — they seem happy and times are changing. Maybe Rosalind’s parents will too! Despite claiming to be liberal, the Cliffords have not visited their daughter in Poplar yet, preferring to stay in the more posh parts of London when they are in town. But this time, they brave the tube, and have a stilted afternoon tea at Cyril’s house. While this whole conversation is fine on paper, it’s awkward, and when they leave they basically say they don’t think Cyril is the right match for Rosalind long term. Rosalind tells them that they need to get over the fact that Cyril is Black; they counter that they very bravely didn’t mention Cyril’s race and think they should get points for that. It’s all very “I would have voted for Obama a third time” of them. After they leave, Cyril says that while he hoped they’d be better, he’s not totally surprised. He seems resigned to maybe breaking up over this, but Rosalind isn’t. If they can’t accept Cyril, they’ll have to accept taking a back seat in her life.
Trixie visits the Very Posh Maternity Hospital where she met her husband back in Season 10. Why? When Trixie was in NYC, she was able to attend some births at American hospitals, and learned a lot from the experience. She wants to do something similar now, especially since this place has the ability to try out cutting-edge treatments like epidurals.
Sister Julienne meets with Dr. Turner and Shelagh and fills them in on the situation with the NHS. Both Turners are obviously distraught by this predicament; their business is very closely tied to Nonnatus house, and if order doesn’t come under the NHS, they may have to also close the clinic and maternity home. Sister Julienne still hasn’t made a decision, but perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Dr. Turner meets with his contemporary at St. Cuthberts to prepare the hospital for the fact that all the pregnant folks Dr. Turner currently treats may end up admitted to St. Cuthberts instead. He also gets St. Cuthberts to agree to start doing epidurals after seeing one in action at the Very Posh Maternity Hospital with Trixie.
Family Number 1: The Bagnalls
Joel Bagnall just got back from a year in India, and is planning to teach yoga in Poplar. He’s staying with his semi-curmudgeonly father Ernest, who was widowed while Joel was abroad, and is recovering from an injury. Joel keeps trying to help his dad out, and helpfully snitching on him to Joyce when she comes for home visits. Ernest keeps pushing his son to get a job and get his spark back, since it seems he’s been a little down since returning from his trip. They seem to just be dealing with the types of issues that plague parents and their adult children when they live together, but this is Call the Midwife, so unfortunately something much worse is in.
After the possibly rabid dog is discovered, Dr. Turner and the gang go about educating everyone about rabies. And Joel seems to be increasingly worried the longer the possible rabies crisis goes on. It turns out, that’s for good reason: while he was staying at an ashram, Joel was bitten and scratched by a cat. Now, he’s started exhibiting classic signs of the disease: fever, paralysis, and fear of water. Dr. Turner gets Joel admitted to hospital, but unfortunately they’re too late to treat Joel. The only silver lining is that this prompts Ernest to tell his son how proud he is of him before Joel dies.
Family Number 2: The Glennons
This family has not one but TWO babies on the way: both Glennon brothers’ wives are pregnant, and they’re due around the same time. Hope, whose husband works in Poplar, is about to have her second child, and Estelle, who lives with the other couple because her husband works at sea, is about to have her first. Hope goes into labor first. She’s assisted by Estelle, who’s pretty obviously freaked out by the prospect of impending labor. Apparently Hope hasn’t seen this show, and she jinxes herself by saying she thinks this won’t be a big deal; her first labor was pretty chill. Unfortunately she experiences both back labor (baby’s spine is pushing on Hope’s spine, which makes birth much more painful) and then a shoulder dystocia (baby’s shoulder gets stuck; one of the most serious birth complications around). Trixie, who’s attending, calls in Sister Julienne as a backup, and they’re ultimately able to get Hope’s baby out safely before Dr. Turner can get there. You may remember that Sister Julienne has some personal trauma around this which she first talked about in Season 13, so this is an extra special moment for her. The downside? Estelle, who was already freaked out, is way more scared now.
After some prompting from Hope, Sister Julienne goes to check on Estelle, who explains that she experienced what sounds a lot like a PTSD induced flashback while listening to Hope’s labor. Not only did Estelle survive an IRA bombing, she also remembers hearing her own mother die in childbirth when she was a child. Dr. Turner reassures her that death in childbirth is very rare, but Estelle is so frightened that they end up deciding to try something new with her: admitting her to St. Cuthberts for labor, where Estelle is the first mom on this show to have an epidural. This is undoubtedly the right decision for her, and even Sister Julienne, who started off an epidural skeptic, says she thinks they’re the future of childbirth.
If epidurals are the future of childbirth, what’s the future of Nonnatus house? We’ll just have to keep watching to find out.
