S11.E07: Episode 7

[OtterMommy]

UK Air date: February 13, 2022

[bybrandy]

Ultra dramatic cliffhanger is ultra dramatic cliffhanger.  

 

[debraran]

Got this book today. Excited to look through it. ; )

It is 400 pages, very heavy book, I was surprised.

Edited February 16, 2022 by debraran

[MissLucas]

It took Timothy to reach adulthood plus a nasty virus to finally act like a petulant teenager. Meanwhile Sister Francis got to deal with her own version of a petulant teenager. I appreciated that they were trying to explain how emotionally starved the girl had been and how that made her easy pickings. It was a really depressing plot that got overshadowed by the final catastrophe.

I'm not too worried about our main characters but that poor tea lady lying on the floor and whimpering was brutal, especially as we could see her terribly scalded hands.

A murder of crows is making the roof my house its regular pitstop on almost a daily basis (always around 11 am) - should I be worried?

[bybrandy]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

It took Timothy to reach adulthood plus a nasty virus to finally act like a petulant teenager. Meanwhile Sister Francis got to deal with her own version of a petulant teenager. I appreciated that they were trying to explain how emotionally starved the girl had been and how that made her easy pickings. It was a really depressing plot that got overshadowed by the final catastrophe.

I'm not too worried about our main characters but that poor tea lady lying on the floor and whimpering was brutal, especially as we could see her terribly scalded hands.

A murder of crows is making the roof my house its regular pitstop on almost a daily basis (always around 11 am) - should I be worried?

LOL, I had that same thought about Tim.  Finally Tim being a grumpy teenager still in a pretty low key kind of way.  Not low key enough though that he won't torture himself if his dad is killed.

I'm not too worried for Dr. Turner (because I refuse to believe they would have poor Tim lose two parents... and then what would happen with Mae?   Nope.  I refuse to believe anything tragic will come to Dr. Turner.   

I'm a little more worried for sister Julienne (I mean not terribly but a little) because she hasn't had much to do this season and I feel like a lot of duties have been delegated to others.   

Also because I have almost, almost forgiven them for Barbara so it might be time to break fans hearts again.  But seriously, I hope not.  These two characters are absolute stalwarts.  

But Sister Monica Joan saw the crow.  Is sometimes a crow just a crow or will somebody else die while we are all worried about SIster Julienne and Dr Turner?  

I thought the teen mom story was heartbreaking and weirdly the only one that wasn't somewhat tied to the train accident.  

I feel bad for the mom and new baby too.  Even if husband survives the crash and whatever seizure/stroke thing he had it will be a rough road for them going forward.   

They mentioned that Nurse Crane was back in the country for her last week of her trip (could she have been on one of the trains?   Will she pop back up just in time to put things to rights?  

[purist]

18 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Will she pop back up just in time to put things to rights?

Oh gosh, I hope so! These characters are like our long-time friends, and I'm terribly worried for Dr Turner and Sister Julienne. There was an awful lot going on in this episode, but it was really well plotted. I love how Sister Frances has matured this season.

[Badger]

I find it ironic that Jack Ashton who was a good guy in the "Call the Midwife" universe just recently played a baddie on "Casualty."

Meanwhile, Marc Elliot who played a baddie on "Casualty's" sister soap "Holby City" played a good guy on "Call the Midwife."

Regarding who gets killed, IMDB and the official CTM page on BBC both have their cast lists out for the series finale.  On the BBC page, one of the characters who is a possible, fatality of the crash does appear on the castlist.  However, that character does not appear on the IMDB list.  

[Ceindreadh]

5 hours ago, Badger said:

Regarding who gets killed, IMDB and the official CTM page on BBC both have their cast lists out for the series finale.  On the BBC page, one of the characters who is a possible, fatality of the crash does appear on the castlist.  However, that character does not appear on the IMDB list.  

Even if a character is a fatality, we'd probably still see the body, so they should be getting a credit anyway. 

[dargosmydaddy]

And IMDB is notoriously inaccurate in terms of their cast lists for unaired episodes... 

[Badger]

I wouldn't be surprised to see someone else get killed off although I don't think it will be one of the other Nonnatus passengers. IOW, I don't see them killing off both Sister Julienne and Dr. Turner.

[peace355]

Good episode. I liked the Nancy storyline and her interactions with Sr Frances, her understanding feeling about a teen mom growing up in care being delighted with home of her own even if it wasn't best home. And her later talk with Hilda, frustration that she hasn't had the opportunity to raise her daughter and having work get in way of one of their special days. It was nice to see her get really enthusiastic about the conference.

The father to be headaches was sure to spell disaster though I didn't expect it on this scale. I feel Dr Turner will be fine, Sr Julianne I'm not so sure of, I also wonder if there will be twist that Nurse Crane was on train coming back early from holidays and she will be the one to die.

 

 

[bybrandy]

5 hours ago, peace355 said:

The father to be headaches was sure to spell disaster though I didn't expect it on this scale. I feel Dr Turner will be fine, Sr Julianne I'm not so sure of, I also wonder if there will be twist that Nurse Crane was on train coming back early from holidays and she will be the one to die.

I think it is entirely possible that there is a bait and switch and Nurse Crane is the one to die.  And honestly, that would bother me more than Sister Julienne dying.   

[AZChristian]

I guess it's too much to hope for that Sister Monica Joan snuck on the train?????

[EllaWycliffe]

I actually wonder if the cliff hanger is a fake out and Sister Monica Joan dies in her bed. 

[MissLucas]

9 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

I actually wonder if the cliff hanger is a fake out and Sister Monica Joan dies in her bed. 

Yes, this is what shows like to do in such scenarios. Kill off one of the characters that was not directly impacted by the train crash/car accident/fire that ended the previous episode. Killing off Nurse Crane would be a very upsetting variation of that trope. I had a look on a map, she's been in Kent for her last stint of travelling and Chelmsford is in Essex so it's unlikely that she was on that train.

I insist that none of the main characters die!

 

 

[katisha]

On 2/15/2022 at 9:56 AM, MissLucas said:

It took Timothy to reach adulthood plus a nasty virus to finally act like a petulant teenager.

And if they thought his Beatle haircut was bad, I wonder how Shelagh and Patrick will react if Timothy goes all hippie/Summer of Love and grows it long?

On 2/19/2022 at 3:38 AM, AZChristian said:

I guess it's too much to hope for that Sister Monica Joan snuck on the train?????

Poor Sister Monica Joan.  The writers have made her annoy SO many people lately!

On 2/16/2022 at 1:56 PM, purist said:

Oh gosh, I hope so! These characters are like our long-time friends, and I'm terribly worried for Dr Turner and Sister Julienne.

Me too.  Neither of them must go, and if it's Phyllis I simply will not cope!

[Badger]

I don't think Tim's hair is any longer than it's been.  He just stopped putting product into it.

[LadyChaos]

I kind of think that they should have had Nancy work with the girl instead of Francis. 

I'm liking Matthew more and more and I think he is better suited for Trixie than Christopher. He is kind of bumbling, but he showed that he can keep his head on his shoulders in a crisis.

[Badger]

12 hours ago, LadyChaos said:

I kind of think that they should have had Nancy work with the girl instead of Francis. 

I'm liking Matthew more and more and I think he is better suited for Trixie than Christopher. He is kind of bumbling, but he showed that he can keep his head on his shoulders in a crisis.

ITA about Matthew being a better fit for her than Christopher, but I think it's more that he's a better fit for who she is now.  I think when she was with Christopher, she needed someone to be supportive and he was certainly that.  Now she needs to be needed, and Matthew certainly has needed her.

 

[LadyChaos]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

ITA about Matthew being a better fit for her than Christopher, but I think it's more that he's a better fit for who she is now.  I think when she was with Christopher, she needed someone to be supportive and he was certainly that.  Now she needs to be needed, and Matthew certainly has needed her.

 

IDK....I feel like my Problem with Christopher is the remark he made about there never being a good excuse for a woman to not look her best. And remarks like that can make it hard for someone to really open up about seeing people are their worst, or to open up about their past when they weren't their best. 

This is why I think Matthew is better for her, he was shown the worst a person can be at...and didn't shy away. He jumped into the fray not physically, but emotionally. He didn't hesitate to help where he could help and do what he could do in any capacity. I mean, I just don't see Christopher running to their aid if he had been there. Matthew listens to her talk about her patients, and is there for her emotionally I think. I just don't really remember Christopher doing that.

[Badger]

I watched some of the Christopher episodes, and I had forgotten how much he was into fashion and beauty.  Kind of like Mr. Scarisbrick.   If they had remained a couple, I could see him hiring a hairdresser and a makeup artist to work on her when she in labor because "a woman should be at her loveliest at that time in her life."  

 

 

[Constant Viewer]

I knew as soon as they boarded the bus (Bus of Impending Doom) something bad was going to happen. I kept getting annoyed how long it played out till the inevitable happened. Was this based on anything in real life or just for the show?

[Bunnyette]

Well this episode went almost the whole way!   Good cliff hanger - I have a feeling while there won’t be a death of a main character Sister Julienne may be severely injured enough she’ll need to recover at Mother House for awhile 

[MartyQui]

There was a flash of Phyllis with a look of horror on her face…I don’t want to lose any of these characters, but hers would be so sad. Why do I watch this show?  I cry every.single.week.

Also, Carol…I know that that is the way it was (and still is), but I felt so horrible for her.  Especially when she had the premie, and was asking why she wasn’t crying.  I have 3 nephews (one set of twins, and a single) who were all premies, and I know how difficult it is for the parents.    

[kwnyc]

Whoa. They'd BETTER NOT do anything to Sister Julienne & Dr. Turner! Though I think poor tea lady is a goner. 

And of COURSE the train derails as it passes through Poplar and blows out windows and creates even more casualties...

DAMN. This is what I watch 9-1-1 for, not Call the Midwife!

Total aside: I realize that in England at the time 16 was the age people could leave school and go to work, but to give a 16-year-old her own apartment and absolutely NO support? Accident waiting to happen. And cast a particularly young-looking girl.

One thing that's been consistent all season is the growth of both Sister Frances and Sister Hilda. I wonder if they are prepping them to step up more in case of a long recovery for Sister Julienne? And good ol' Sister Monica Joan manages to keep hold of her marbles in a crisis. I have no doubt she'll be bandaging and picking glass out of wounds and holding babies.

Damn. Next week? And it's the last episode of the season? 

(Shaking fist) Damn you, showrunners and covid!

[EllaWycliffe]

10 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

I realize that in England at the time 16 was the age people could leave school and go to work, but to give a 16-year-old her own apartment and absolutely NO support? Accident waiting to happen. And cast a particularly young-looking girl.

I was a bit "so why can't Nancy have her own child in her own place?" since you know.... its how things were done. 

[EllaWycliffe]

Also as soon as the Doctor Who music played I knew some bad shit was going down :(

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, kwnyc said:

Damn. Next week? And it's the last episode of the season? 

(Shaking fist) Damn you, showrunners and covid!

The season is not short because of Covid. 8 episodes is the standard. 

[Cetacean]

It's not Phyllis.  She was on the CTM Facebook page in uniform at the beginning of filming the Christmas episode.

[Straycat80]

56 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

I was a bit "so why can't Nancy have her own child in her own place?" since you know.... its how things were done. 

I thought the same thing. Nancy is older now, has a job and her child is older. And Didn’t anyone try to talk Carol into giving up her baby for adoption? She didn’t seem mature enough to be a mother and now she has another baby, and a preemie too.

Nothing better not happen to Dr. Turner and Sister Julienne. I’m sad next week is the finale, I wish this series had longer seasons. 

[Badger]

In the first episode of this season, Nancy told Colette she wanted to work and save so that she could afford a home for the two of them to live.

I think the reason Sr. Frances worked with Carole is because she had been the midwife when Dean was born.

 

 

[J-Man]

On 2/14/2022 at 3:56 PM, MissLucas said:

A murder of crows is making the roof my house its regular pitstop on almost a daily basis (always around 11 am) - should I be worried?

If you live near any train tracks, you might want to consider moving. Or at least increasing your insurance coverage. 

[Badger]

Some cut scenes:

After the scene where Nancy learns she's going to be doing morning orders, there's a short scene of the Turners talking about the many excuses children have for not going to sleep even when they're already half asleep. They also discuss Timothy and that Patrick needs to talk to him about getting enough rest.

There's a scene at the Corbetts right before Sr. Frances talks about getting Carole fitted with an IUD with Dr. Turner.  Edina says she likes the specialty girdle and she tells Sr Hilda that she and Lionel wanted more children but they were separated for a long time because he came to England first to find a job and then brought her and Bobbie over.  The Corbetts are Anglo-Indians and they were raised as British children in India; they spoke English, went to English schools and attended church. They had problems when they first came to England, but now things are fine.

 

 

 

[EllaWycliffe]

5 minutes ago, Badger said:

Edina says she likes the specialty girdle and she tells Sr Hilda that she and Lionel wanted more children but they were separated for a long time because he came to England first to find a job and then brought her and Bobbie over.  The Corbetts are Anglo-Indians and they were raised as British children in India; they spoke English, went to English schools and attended church. They had problems when they first came to England, but now things are fine.

This really shouldn't have been cut as I was like, the Corbetts? These people look Indian why are they called the Corbetts???

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

This really shouldn't have been cut as I was like, the Corbetts? These people look Indian why are they called the Corbetts???

They're part English and part Indian.  

They cut another scene which was a montage set to music ("You're Too Much a Part of Me" by Patti Austin) of the Corbetts looking over Bobbie's baby things, Nancy in bed and waking up several times to check her alarm, Timothy ransacking the living room trying to find his book only it turns out Shelagh has it and she points upstairs as if to tell him to go to bed, Sr. Frances and Carole's foster mom watching her make homemade baby food for Dean and feeding him.  The last scene is Nancy doing morning orders very successfully.

[GaT]

Wow, that ending felt like a real "jump the shark" moment to me. Have they run out of story ideas?

[bunnyblue]

Tim is 20 years old!? Where did the time go? He still looks and sounds fairly young, I thought he was 18 at the most. LOL, at Shelagh saying his hair makes him look like a Shetland pony. I want Tim to go full hippie next season just to see Shelagh's horrified reaction.

When teen mom Carole came out of her room holding her baby kind of roughly and then when she was acting odd while bathing him, I was worried we were in for a child abuse storyline. I honestly didn't suspect she was hiding another pregnancy and I didn't breath a sigh of relief until she was found passed out and baby Dean was safely with Sister Francis. There's no way she can afford to raise 2 babies at her age, so we better not get some sappy happy CTMW ending to her story next week. Realistically she should put up one or both of her babies for adoption.

I know Nancy keeps messing up and her manner is kind of brusque, but I appreciate that she's not the perfect midwife like every other one that's come before her. I like that she's not stuffy, prim, and proper. She feels more like a young woman of the late 1960's while all the other recent young midwives feel like they're stuck in the 1950's. 

I know the actor who plays Matthew is now a regular, but I thought it was odd how he just appeared in the middle of Poplar right after the train derailment. What was he doing there late at night? Maybe I missed a scene that explained him being there.

Edited May 2, 2022 by bunnyblue

[Dehumidifier]

4 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

When teen mom Carole came out of her room holding her baby kind of roughly and then when she was acting odd while bathing him, I was worried we were in for a child abuse storyline. I honestly didn't suspect she was hiding another pregnancy and I didn't breath a sigh of relief until she was found passed out and baby Dean was safely with Sister Francis. There's no way she can afford to raise 2 babies at her age, so we better not get some sappy happy CTMW ending to her story next week. Realistically she should put up one or both of her babies for adoption.

I suspect the new baby girl is stillborn.

How naïve is Sr, Francis, so excited for Carole to go to a dance to find friends. It didn't occur to her that the girl would get picked up there?

[Capricasix]

5 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I know the actor who plays Matthew is now a regular, but I thought it was odd how he just appeared in the middle of Poplar right after the train derailment. What was he doing there late at night? Maybe I missed a scene that explained him being there.

There was a random scene of him in a neighbourhood café doing some paperwork, and chatting with Violet (who had popped in to buy iced buns) about writing to Trixie while she was out of town. 

53 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

I suspect the new baby girl is stillborn.

How naïve is Sr, Francis, so excited for Carole to go to a dance to find friends. It didn't occur to her that the girl would get picked up there?

In which episode did Sister Frances deliver Dean? I can’t remember at all. Was it this season?

[Daff]

On 2/14/2022 at 6:56 PM, MissLucas said:

A murder of crows is making the roof my house its regular pitstop on almost a daily basis (always around 11 am) - should I be worried?

Only about West Nile virus. But they are a raucous lot. Slingshot? Maybe one of those fake owls perched nearby?

[Daff]

On 2/16/2022 at 5:25 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

And IMDB is notoriously inaccurate in terms of their cast lists for unaired episodes... 

IMDb facts and data are supplied by the general public, so…

[Daff]

10 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

I was a bit "so why can't Nancy have her own child in her own place?" since you know.... its how things were done. 

I think it’s a reflection of how quickly social policies changed during that period of time. 

[kwnyc]

8 hours ago, J-Man said:

On 2/14/2022 at 6:56 PM, MissLucas said:

A murder of crows is making the roof my house its regular pitstop on almost a daily basis (always around 11 am) - should I be worried?

If you give them food, they will bring you gifts. I learned this on 9-1-1. ;-)

[Daff]

BTW, someone mentioned Tim’s arrival (last week’s preview) looking like he came from Hogwart’s. Those scarves, which appeared prolifically this week, especially on the train, were wickedly popular in that period. Every teen (11-18) HAD to have one, and did, because it was affordable! I think the implication here (in England and Poplar) is that you bought the colors of your favorite football (soccer) team. In the US, it was locally targeted as well as big league oriented (FB and BB). Local stores carried the colors of the local high schools (and you wore them to all sports competitions). I can’t really remember how long it lasted, but it did eventually become uncool to sport the striped scarf. 

[kwnyc]

45 minutes ago, Daff said:

I think the implication here (in England and Poplar) is that you bought the colors of your favorite football (soccer) team.

I thought the scarf-wearers on the train were football fans on their way back from a big game...they were rowdy and cheering, and at the beginning of the ride, Dr. Turner & Sister Julienne seemed amused by it. The ones who pulled Nancy off the train were actually being helpful...giving the other survivors a hand off (in case of explosion). Nancy seems like she might have a concussion. It occurred to me that the loo might have been the safest place in a crash...she was in a contained space and there weren't other bodies flying around and broken glass.

[jschoolgirl]

8 hours ago, GaT said:

Wow, that ending felt like a real "jump the shark" moment to me. Have they run out of story ideas?

I so agree. And, again, I found the show overall was tedious until the train took off. At that point, I kept looking away and saying "Just get it over with."

I do not want Grey's Anatomy-style cliffhangers for the remaining seasons of this formerly wonderful show.

12 hours ago, MartyQui said:

There was a flash of Phyllis with a look of horror on her face

When??? Where was she???

Did PBS cut that, too?

Edited May 2, 2022 by jschoolgirl

[jschoolgirl]

2 hours ago, Capricasix said:

In which episode did Sister Frances deliver Dean? I can’t remember at all. Was it this season?

We've never seen that -- it was offscreen.

[3 is enough]

I was a bit confused- did Mr Corbett fall asleep or have some sort of medical incident when the crash occurred?  At first I thought he was sleepy, but when they showed his eyes rolling back it seemed he was passing out.  Given that he was in front and took the brunt of the impact I assume he will not make it. 
The whole episode was very sad.  

Edited May 2, 2022 by 3 is enough

[EllaWycliffe]

1 minute ago, 3 is enough said:

I was a bit confused- did Mr Corbett fall asleep or have some sort of medical incident when the crash occurred?  At first I thought he was sleepy, but when they showed his eyes rolling back it seemed he was passing out.  Given that he was in front and told the brunt of the impact I assume he will not make it. 

It looked like a seizure. Earlier, when Sr Hilda was visiting and spotted him in the doorway staring off into space and unresponsive, he seemed to be having a petite mal seizure

 

[Capricasix]

8 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

We've never seen that -- it was offscreen.

Thanks! 👍🏼