Family Number 1: The Mullucks (again)
Both of the Mullucks parents are not adjusting well to her unexpected pregnancy. Some of this is probably partly because they’re also dealing with Rhoda’s unexpected surgery, but still, not great. Rhoda pushes up her return home, and also calls up Nonnatus to get Belinda added to their books. Since Shelagh has been friends with the family for a long time, she volunteers to run point. With her help, Rhoda gets the extra support she needs to recover safely at home, and also to have a much needed conversation with Belinda where Rhoda tells her daughter that everything will be ok and that she supports her.
Not long after, it’s baby time, and Belinda and Rhoda head over to the maternity home. Belinda is the only person staying in the ward, which is incredibly eerie and sad. Despite the weird vibes, Belinda delivers a healthy baby girl with support from Rhoda, who gets to cut the cord. It’s a beautiful moment, but bittersweet for the Turners: this is the last baby who will be delivered at the Maternity Home.
While Belinda has her baby, her brother Perry tells their dad Bernie that he’s been thinking about how bad their sister Susan’s prosthetics are, and has come up with a potential solution. At school he learned about a new invention: electric wheelchairs. Perry is able to bring one home for Susan to try out, which is a huge success. All’s well that ends well for the Mullucks family!
What’s going on with our friends: A Wedding
Let’s kick things off with the fun part: Cyril and Rosalind’s wedding! The whole crew works together to make the day special despite the absolutely bonkers amount of other stuff that’s happening in this episode. Sister Veronica/Beryl and Geoffrey make the cake. Miss Higgins, Phyllis, and Joyce surprise Rosalind with a special wedding breakfast complete with a recorder rendition of the Bridal Chorus. Mrs. Wallace makes Cyril a special breakfast of ackee and saltfish, Vi presses his shirt, and the two sneakily find out which company he’s booked for car rental so that Fred can override the order and get the couple a fabulous classic car for the send off instead. The crew escort the couple, who sport really excellent 1970s finery, to the registry office, where they’re married in front of the non-nun contingent. Afterwards, they visit Sister Monica Joan, who gives them her blessing and an antique teddy bear for their baby (yes, they’re still trying to keep that a secret, but you can’t really pull one over on Sister Monica Joan). If there’s one thing Call the Midwife does well, it’s weddings, and this one is no exception.
What’s going on with our friends: A Funeral
Ready for the hard part? While the wedding preparations are ramping up, Sister Monica Joan’s decision to stop taking her medicine starts to have the anticipated effect. Dr. Turner, Phyllis, Sister Julienne, and Sister Catherine discuss what they can expect from here on out, and while everyone is sad that she’s dying, Sister Monica Joan is relieved. She starts to let her friends do nice things for her again, asks for specific foods, and even sets up a meeting with Bernie Mullucks to plan her funeral. In the process, she ventures out into the city with Bernie and reconnects with folks she’s helped throughout the years, and is showered with gifts and affection.
Not long after, Sister Monica Joan tells Sister Catherine that she thinks the end is near, so they summon Sister Julienne back from the mother house the next day (the same day as Rosalind and Cyril’s wedding). But in the meantime, while the cat’s away, the mice bring Sister Monica Joan a gin and tonic, because she’s always wanted to try one (she loves it). After Sister Julienne returns and the rest of the crew has all left for the registry office, a priest arrives to take Sister Monica Joan’s final confession.
Late that evening, Phyllis notices that Sister Monica Joan’s breathing is changing. She leaves to fetch Sister Julienne and Sister Catherine, and while she’s gone, Sister Monica Joan has a vision of Sister Evangelina, who died way back in Season Five. In classic Sister Evangelina fashion, she tells Sister Monica Joan that she’s been procrastinating long enough: it’s time to go, and death is everything they’ve been promised. She takes Sister Monica Joan’s hand and leads her away, followed by a host of other sisters we don’t know. By the time Phyllis and Sister Catherine return, Sister Monica Joan has passed.
Sister Monica Joan’s funeral is beautiful. She’s asked for a really classic Poplar burial, so her coffin is transported to the church in a grocer’s cart. Once there, Fred, Reggie, Tim, Dr. Turner, Cyril, and Geoffrey act as pall bearers. Sister Julienne reads a poem, and Sister Catherine shares a loving eulogy that leaves not a single dry eye in the house.
What’s going on with our friends: Everything else
Miss Higgins is furious, because the practice has received a message asking for the return of every item that is owned by the council immediately after the maternity home is closed. Dr. Turner is right there with her: they won’t be sending back a single dang thing until the last mother and baby leave, that’s for sure. It’s extra galling that the council’s list of items includes things like the incubator, which as we recall was very much paid for by a group fundraiser when the council refused to fund it. Way to kick our friends while they’re down!
Joyce approaches Phyllis to let her know that she applied for a job at St. Cuthberts and has been called for an interview. The problem: the interview is the same day as Sister Monica Joan’s funeral, and even if everything runs on time, Joyce won’t be back until part way through the service. Phyllis tells Joyce that Sister Monica Joan devoted her life to their profession and would insist that Joyce take the interview (and also that she’s probably pulling some strings from the afterlife, if such a thing is possible). Joyce takes this advice to heart, crushes the interview as we knew she would, and gets a glowing recommendation from patients and from Sister Marcus at St. Cuthberts. Of course she gets the job!
Speaking of new opportunities: in addition to having a new job lined up at the Very Posh Maternity Hospital, Trixie is also offered a partnership in the business (her new boss wants to semi-retire). The problem? She’d need money for that, and she doesn’t have access to any of Mr. Trixie’s family money after his mother ousted him from managing the funds back in Season 13. Trixie’s new boss is aware of her mother-in-law’s whole deal, and still thinks that if anyone could get her to cough up some dough, it’d be Trixie. Hard to argue with that, but before she has a chance, her mother-in-law has a massive heart attack and, unfortunately, dies before her son has a chance to get back to England so they can mend fences. The silver lining is that following her passing, Mr. Trixie is in charge of the estate again, and he’s given Trixie a seat on the board. With her newfound clout, Trixie approaches her boss and agrees to a partnership, but only if she can own 55% of the business so everyone knows who’s in charge.
Sister Veronica/Beryl continues to think over her future, now with the added knowledge that menopause is coming in hot (literally). After a conversation with Trixie where she confesses that she has always wanted kids but now realizes she’s left it too late, and a night out on the town with Geoffrey, Sister Veronica/Beryl ultimately decides that the best option for her will be to return to the order. As amazing as her time with Geoffrey has been, this life won’t give her a child, but working as a midwife means that she’ll be able to love and support hundreds of babies. Geoffrey is devastated for his friend, but promises that he’ll still be around for Sister Veronica, even though he also loved Beryl a lot.
Dr. Turner’s contemporary over at St. Cuthberts calls him up to rave about Tim (awww) and also to see if Dr. Turner has any patients who might be willing to test out new diagnostic technology. He does, with a price: he wants to come see the new tech in action.The maternity home is closed, but Dr. Turner rather conveniently still has a patient that we all know and love. Rosalind joins Tim, Dr. Turner, and Phyllis at St. Cuthberts and becomes the first mom on this show to see her baby on ultrasound.
With everyone back at the house, Sister Julienne calls a group meeting. Having spoken to Mother Mildred, she now has a plan for the future. The remaining sisters will turn Nonnatus house into a more traditional nunnery-type space for prayer and charity work while they confirm their next step. There are three possible medical missions they might embark upon, all of which would involve at least a year abroad, and the potential locations for the mission are the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, British Columbia, or Australia. Sister Julienne also invites the secular members of the team to stay on, but it’s not clear what that would look like. In the meantime, Phyllis and Miss Higgins will keep working at Dr. Turner’s practice, at least for now. Miss Higgins does have an amazing plan should they no longer be needed at the surgery: open a detective agency! Look, I’m not in charge of greenlighting anything, but I would watch the absolute stuffing out of that show, if anyone is taking notes.
And as this chapter closes, everyone gathers at Nonnatus house for one last time to look through photo albums with pictures from the entire run of the show. It’s quite remarkable to look back at pictures from the last fifteen (!!) seasons. What will the future bring? We don’t know for sure, but boy has it been a fun ride.
