S13.E05: Episode 5

[dancingdreamer]

On 3/18/2024 at 7:10 AM, jah1986 said:

Another really good episode. I did not think the beach excursion was going to end with May in the hospital and the threat of the Turner's losing her.

I loved the moment where we saw Lindy grow up. She was kind of a clueless brat but she showed up for her kids and I was so glad that the dad came around too. Sometimes you just need to cry it all out to clear your head and figure out what needs to be done going forward.

Violet wearing her mayor medallion is cracking me up but she may feel it's necessary being the first female mayor.

I'm just as frustrated with Matthew as I am with Trixie. She should be able to tell something is going on with her husband and that it's not about her being a midwife. But he needs to communicate with her. She's not a child who needs protecting from the big, bad world. His behavior is disrespectful to her.

 

I agree with everything  you posted. I could  have sworn Mae was adopted, it's sad they are often on edge, knowing Mae's  mom could just pop up at anytime. 

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

On another issue, have the other two girls in training ever uttered a word?  I've only seen them sitting at the table at tea or waving when everyone else left to go to the beach.

No. Which is why I don't understand the point of them. We've never had one pupil midwife before much less four of them. So if only two of them are ever going to get to talk, why have the other two?

Last week I commented that the two non-speakers were different than the ones we started out with this season but I was mistaken. Which goes to show how little we see of them and how superfluous they are. 

[libgirl2]

21 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

No. Which is why I don't understand the point of them. We've never had one pupil midwife before much less four of them. So if only two of them are ever going to get to talk, why have the other two?

Last week I commented that the two non-speakers were different than the ones we started out with this season but I was mistaken. Which goes to show how little we see of them and how superfluous they are. 

I agree, just what is their point? Do we even know their names? 

[Notabug]

14 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

 

On another issue, have the other two girls in training ever uttered a word?  I've only seen them sitting at the table at tea or waving when everyone else left to go to the beach.

It seems like they're paid by the word or something.  Not sure why they bothered bringing 4 onboard at the same time.  Two new midwives would've been plenty.  Then, if other cast leave this season, they can add 2 more next year.

My nephew was an only child at the time of his death, my sister had 2 more kids after that.  In both cases, she signed them up for swimming class as soon as they were old enough and she had a friend who was a good swimmer attend class with them.  My sister asked her to take them and bring them home and never speak of what went on in class because she wouldn't be able to stand it.  She was adamant that her kids learned to swim, but felt like she would've hindered the process had she been forced to participate.  They both swim well and are now adults, college grads, have good jobs and caring spouses. Not to mention my niece being mother to the most perfect child ever born.  Life does go on.

[marceline]

I watched this a few weeks ago and decided that I really wanted to wait and see what people thought when it aired. I feel validated. 😀

I barely recognized any of these characters. Everything about the Turners felt like a different show. Everything about them was melodramatic to the extreme. I felt like I was watching a telenovela. (In fact, I really wish I could choose Spanish audio for those scenes.) So much about the May adoption story makes me uncomfortable in ways I can't put into words.

The parents of the children with cancer reminded me of how much I love the stories where the parents are in love and committed. It's just nice to see.

Was the show floating something between Cyril and Rosalind on the bus? No opinion but just wondering.

I still haven't forgotten that Sr. Veronica came on as a pathological liar.

 

 

[Shanna Marie]

17 minutes ago, marceline said:

Was the show floating something between Cyril and Rosalind on the bus? No opinion but just wondering.

I thought it was more Cyril and Joyce, from the way they were clinging to each other after they saved May. With Rosalind, I thought it was mostly about how oblivious she was, with her chattering away at Cyril, who kind of looked like his eyes were glazed over, while the kid needed the bucket, after she'd made her big production about letting her know if they needed the bucket -- perhaps to set up how everyone could miss May going missing?

Something I noticed this week and last week was that there are obvious parallels to one of the medical staff in the case of the week that no one seems to remember. Like last week with the family with TB. Did they forget that Shelagh had TB early in the series? That was a whole big plot, including her dramatic reunion with Dr. Turner in the mist when she was coming back, and then later they were worried it would keep her from being able to have a baby. But the person in their group who'd survived the disease they were dealing with never came up. This week, we have a very young mother who grew up in a care home and has no family and feels more like a sister to her daughter, which is basically Nancy's story, but she and Nancy never interacted. I get that they were going with Phyllis going into mom mode, but you'd think Nancy could have offered some advice.

[caitmcg]

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

We've never had one pupil midwife before much less four of them.

Nancy was a pupil midwife during her first season.

[JeanJean]

On 4/15/2024 at 1:05 PM, Sarah 103 said:

Turning him into an off-screen character could work really well. 

He could be off playing Freddy in a revival of My Fair Lady and singing "On the Street Where You Live."

[JeanJean]

On 4/15/2024 at 3:43 PM, Ceindreadh said:

On 4/15/2024 at 3:28 PM, Blackie said:

We may be looking at this from a 2024 lens were we have all probably had swimming and water safety education.(Although Fred the safety guy should have been on it, I agree) But even these days children drown every year at pool parties and beaches because people assume because lots of adults and lifeguards  are around that the kids are safe. As a lifeguard - in-previous -life , I go nuts at pools and beaches at how inattentive some people are with their children. Drowning can and does happen so quickly.

 

Also,  doesn't drowning often happen very quietly? No dramatic thrashing and yelling, as there was with Mae.

[Daff]

6 hours ago, JeanJean said:

Also,  doesn't drowning often happen very quietly? No dramatic thrashing and yelling, as there was with Mae.

In lifeguard training it is taught to the rescuers that the drowning victim will often fight off the attempt at rescue with the real result both victim and rescuer perish. In this version, our rescuer clearly told May to calm down when she reached her.

[Stevie Nicks]

15 hours ago, marceline said:

😀

I still haven't forgotten that Sr. Veronica came on as a pathological liar. 

Same here. Whatever happened with that storyline? Probably the same thing that happened to SMJs dementia. 

15 hours ago, marceline said:

 

 

 

[iMonrey]

On 4/16/2024 at 11:22 AM, libgirl2 said:

I agree, just what is their point? Do we even know their names? 

One is named Rosalind Clifford and the other is named Kathy Downes. But I had to look them up on imdb.com. I honestly don't know if their names have ever been mentioned in the show itself. 

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

One is named Rosalind Clifford and the other is named Kathy Downes. But I had to look them up on imdb.com. I honestly don't know if their names have ever been mentioned in the show itself. 

We know Rosalind as she has actually spoken on the show. 

 

[JudyObscure]

22 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

. Like last week with the family with TB. Did they forget that Shelagh had TB early in the series?

I kept waiting for Dr. Turner to mention that his wife is a TB survivor or at least tell her about it all when he got home.  That story line was my very favorite, with the two falling in love while she was still a nun and all the heavy decisions she had to make.  

[bybrandy]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:43 PM, Ceindreadh said:

Question though.  Was dry drowning a widely recognized medical condition back in the 60s?  I got the impression from the episode that Timothy only knew about it because of a case he'd seen in the hospital during his training. 

As a General Practitioner and a trained Midwife, it's not exactly something that Patrick or Shelagh would necessarily have come across.

 

My dad was a lifeguard in 60s and he certainly knew about dry drowning.  I cannot tell you how many times I went upstairs to shower and he  told me not to drown, and I responded that I was taking a shower and he told me a person could drown in two tablespoons of water.  And I’d respond not standing in them. 
 

so many times. 
 

but he had been a lifeguard on south jGeorgia islands and not someplace where people weren’t getting in the water. 
 

I don’t fear drowning…. But the cosmic comeuppance of the post death “Goddammit, Brandy how many times did I tell you…” keeps me careful in the water. 
 

 

[Tiggertoo]

When it seemed like everyone was gathered around Mae, I thought, great, now no one is looking after all the cubs.  😂 

 

Can anyone provide me with a quick backstory on how they came to have Mae?  If her birth mother no longer has custody, why would she get to dictate the child’s placement?

 

I remember when my dad lost his job. We were a one income family, four kids. My dad was no alpha male but he didn’t tell my mum at first because he felt such a failure. 

Edited April 24 by Tiggertoo

[Notabug]

2 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

When it seemed like everyone was gathered around Mae, I thought, great, now no one is looking after all the cubs.  😂 

 

Can anyone provide me with a quick backstory on how they came to have Mae?  If her birth mother no longer has custody, why would she get to dictate the child’s placement?

 

I remember when my dad lost his job. We were a one income family, four kids. My dad was no alpha male but he didn’t tell my mum at first because he felt such a failure. 

Mae was part of a group of Chinese 'orphans' brought to the UK for medical care and possible adoption.  One of the nuns, Sister Hilda (?) had worked with them in China and supervised the transport, etc.  Shelagh and Dr Turner helped take care of the kids and fell in love with Mae and took her into their home with the intent of adopting her.  It was only after they'd taken her that it was discovered that her mother was still alive and wanted to be part of her life.  That put the adoption plans on hold pending her bio mom's decision as to whether to allow it or not.  Mom came to visit, saw how happy Mae was with the Turners and left her there, but it has been a sword hanging over them that her mother could decide she wants Mae to return to China to be with her.

I did this all from memory, if anyone has additions or corrections, please jump in.

[jschoolgirl]

I think Mother Mildred was involved with this.

[Ceindreadh]

5 hours ago, Tiggertoo said:

When it seemed like everyone was gathered around Mae, I thought, great, now no one is looking after all the cubs.  😂 

 

Can anyone provide me with a quick backstory on how they came to have Mae?  If her birth mother no longer has custody, why would she get to dictate the child’s placement?

 

I remember when my dad lost his job. We were a one income family, four kids. My dad was no alpha male but he didn’t tell my mum at first because he felt such a failure. 

The only thing I'd add to @Notabug summary is that Mae was originally in line to be adopted by a Chinese family in the UK, but one of the prospective parents was taken ill and Mae was going to be left in the orphanage indefinitely with no guarantee that the placement would ever happen. 

 

(in real life, apparently the reason Mae was added to the Turner family was so that the actress playing Angela would have somebody her own age on set to spend time with)

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, Ceindreadh said:

The only thing I'd add to @Notabug summary is that Mae was originally in line to be adopted by a Chinese family in the UK, but one of the prospective parents was taken ill and Mae was going to be left in the orphanage indefinitely with no guarantee that the placement would ever happen. 

 

(in real life, apparently the reason Mae was added to the Turner family was so that the actress playing Angela would have somebody her own age on set to spend time with)

 

That's right!  I think the prospective adoptive father was diagnosed with TB which meant that an infant couldn't live in the same house until he was cured due to the risk of contagion.  In those days, it took months to years for a TB patient to recover and not be contagious and little babies were very susceptible to it,  This meant the adoptive dad would either have to move out of the home while the adoptive mom would be tasked with caring for the child and supporting the family as a single parent or the adoption would be placed on indefinite hold, while Mae grew up in the orphanage until the father was well..  Ultimately, they all decided that the best option was for the adoptive parents to decline the adoption which let the Turners step up to take Mae.  Remember in those days, it was a fairly simple thing to find an infant to adopt.

Edited April 25 by Notabug

[Tiggertoo]

Thanks so much for filling me in on Mae’s story.  I watched the show from the beginning but somehow missed a season or a few episodes along the way.

Edited April 25 by Tiggertoo