The Crimson Field - General Discussion

[Primetimer]

Editor's Note:

Discuss The Crimson Field here!

 

 

The Downton Abbey and Call The Midwife connections will draw you in, but are they enough to make you stay?

Read the story

[Rhondinella]

I see the cast list on IMDB includes a 1 ep guest appearance by Jodhi May, because it's apparently not possible to make a British period drama without her. I half expected to see Toby Menzies on the list too for the same reason.

I might give it a chance if and when I ever get through the last season of CTM.

[LadyJane]

"the show wound up a dud across the pond." -- this is patently untrue.

The ratings were HUGE. It more than justified a second season as the consolidated figures averaged 6.6M viewers per ep. Much more than other shows that the BBC renewed. Viewers still talk about how much they miss #TheCrimsonField on Twitter a year later and there is now a fan campaign running to promote it, as PBS is all about Poldark.

[sluggish neko]

I was on the fence about this one. I liked Hermione Norris in MI-5 and it has that girl from The Hour (I really miss The Hour) and for a bonus, two Downton Abbey cast members. But... between this & Poldark, I'm going with Poldark for the one obvious reason already pointed out on this site.

[Badger]

Actually, Lord Grantham did want to fight, but he wasn't allowed to. Also, there were actually more officers killed than enlisted men. It is true though that many of the officers operating in safety behind the front lines really had no idea what was going on and insisted on an optimism that wasn't shared by the men doing the actual fighting.

I watched this when it aired in the UK and really enjoyed it. I was disappointed it didn't get a second series as the ratings were good.

[pasdetrois]

Disappointed. The women were all set up to fight and bitch at each other, at least in the first episode.

[candall]

Tasty!

Happy to have the chance to see this because I couldn't bear to watch "War Horse."

[editorgrrl]

The Downton Abbey and Call The Midwife connections will draw you in, but are they enough to make you stay?

http://previously.tv/the-crimson-field/is-the-crimson-field-worth-a-visit/

Actually, it's the Scott & Bailey connection that's drawing me in—I'm interested to see Suranne Jones in another role.

[JudyObscure]

So far I like everything about it but their star.  That much  certainly reminds me of Downton Abbey. Lady Mary er, Kitty is snobbish and cruel to almost everyone, particularly enjoying telling those less beautiful, left on the shelf girls just what ugly losers they are, but we're supposed to forgive all when we see her secret kindnesses to the lower orders.  I'll be watching though.  It's Sunday, it's PBS.

[catray]

I'm watching, especially since it's only six episodes. There are familiar faces and it's a wartime drama (timely with all the WWI centenary events happening now) so I feel like I don't have a lot to lose. Bummer it only got one series.

Watching the callousness towards those with PTSD was hard, but felt spot on given the time period-- I've certainly read accounts saying that those with "nerves" were basically treated as cowards because they were able bodied enough to keep fighting didn't want to. I can only assume that's why Sister Quayle didn't give the one soldier the tag to head back on the convoy-- so sad.

I am interested to learn all their back stories and motivations, though, so I'm looking forward to the next episode.

[Primetimer]

When frenemy Sisters Quayle and Livesey disagree about how much responsibility to give the VADs, Rosalie gets caught in the middle. And so do a couple of anonymous dongs.

Read the story

[SonofaBiscuit]

I enjoyed this.  The main character, Kitty (fun fact, that's Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter), had a major attitude problem for some reason.  With as insubordinate as she was, I'm not entirely sure how she even made it as far as she did.  Flora was so annoying, always questioning the Matron's orders, so I laughed when she was put on bandage washing duty.

 

I'm pretty sure that Flora is going to end up in a relationship with the guy who was showing her where to put the toes she found (I think he's also the guy who was cheering the nurses on when they were making the beds), and I think that Kitty is going to end up with Scottish(?) doctor, Thomas.  

 

Knowing that this is a one season show, I'm hoping that it's mostly wrapped up at the end of the season.  Ugh, I hate it when shows end on cliff-hangers and then get cancelled.

 

And I was thinking that maybe Sister Quayle and Lt. Col. Brett had some sort of feelings for each other based on the fact that she was passed over for the Matron position (maybe the promotion would have meant that she could be transferred away from their camp, or something), and she hid the tag that was meant to go to the soldier with PTSD (I was thinking that maybe she didn't want Lt. Col. Brett to get in trouble when that asshole superior officer found out about it, so she made sure that there was nothing to get in trouble for).  

Edited June 29, 2015 by SonofaBiscuit

[lucindabelle]

So sister Quayle is the big bad. When they shed the note at first I thought the soldier had been so intimidated by the other guys words that he changed his mind.

But what sister Quayle did was to disobey a direct order.

I had the thought I bet she has the cake too. And she did. Too bad, it was way more interesting when she was complex.

Floras the rich idiot, like chummie. Kitty is hiding something. Indidnenjoybitbthough and will keep watching.

[Milz]

Okay, I'm late to the thread but here it goes......Was it Sister Quayle who kept the order  and the fruitcake? I'm watching this on the PBS site because I'm asleep by 10 PM.

[M. Darcy]

Aw, poor Rupert Graves. 

 

And, seriously, if you want to volunteer in a place where there are wounded soldiers, you have to be able to deal with male nudity. If you can't...leave.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I didn't think that Sister Quayle was so bad in the first episode, but I guess she is a bitch!

 

Whoa, Thomas (Scottish doc) was a jerk all of the sudden.  At least he kinda apologized to Kitty.  

 

I find it hard to believe that Officer Rupert Graves' wife could request to have him moved to the officer's wing.  Her wishes would supersede his?  No, I don't think so.  

 

If someone played a joke on me where I was left waiting around for a long time, they'd probably have a date with my fist (okay, not really, but I'd be very irritated).  And no, Flora, I don't take you seriously because you kind of come off as a little too naive and a bit dense.  But she's got grit, ya'll.  You'll see!

 

I'm sure it was supposed to be sexy when Kitty was coming out of the water in her undergarments(?), but the way her wet clothes were clinging to her was not flattering.  The actress is gorgeous...but no, the undergarments were not.  Thomas seemed to enjoy it, though, and I think that was one of the objectives of that scene.  So, mission accomplished!

[lucindabelle]

Yes, that's who it was. As if one of those weren't bad enough she has to do both, so we're in no doubt as to who the enemy is. Not the strict blonde but Sister Quayle who's no doubt also lying about being pleased about the other woman's promotion...

[butterly17]

So what is Trevelyan's secret? I couldn't read the letter? Was she married and abandoned her husband and child? Is her hubby dead?

[sonneta]

Butterly17, they didn't fully explain it. Trevelyan apparently has a daughter at home, but did something (?) horrible enough that her mother has disowned her and taken charge of the daughter. Despite Kitty writing her mother for help & forgiveness, her mother pronounces Kitty "Dead to [her]."

[howiveaddict]

Sister Quayle is a total bitch.  She is setting that volunteer (sorry don't know her name)  for a major fall.  So much hate in her and jealousy in Sister Quayle.

[Pyralis]

I kept wondering during this episode what the pitch was to Rupert Graves - "you just have to lay there and angst - It'll be easy".

[lark37]

I'm really enjoying this and Poldark.  I find myself fascinated by WWI and how it nearly wiped out the male population of England.  There's a series of novels by Anne Perry about an English family during WWI that got me interested in the subject--well worth reading if anyone is interested. Oona Chaplin is very good in the role of Kitty.  I know some disagree, but I think although she has attitude like crazy in this first episode, she also manages to convey a warmth underneath that Michelle Dockery completely misses as Lady Mary in Downton Abbey.  

[JudyObscure]

And I thought the breech births on "Call the Midwife," were almost too much to handle.

Edited July 1, 2015 by JudyObscure

[proserpina65]

 

Whoa, Thomas (Scottish doc) was a jerk all of the sudden.  At least he kinda apologized to Kitty.

I wouldn't classify him as a jerk.  He'd presumably just spent hours operating on a soldier who'd died despite the surgeon's best efforts, and he was upset.  Yeah, he probably shouldn't have taken it out on the first person he saw, but I found his reaction quite understandable under the circumstances.

 

 

I'm sure it was supposed to be sexy when Kitty was coming out of the water in her undergarments(?), but the way her wet clothes were clinging to her was not flattering.

Considering the time period, Kitty was displaying an awful lot of flesh.  No wonder Thomas seemed to appreciate it.

 

[JudyObscure]

I wish we knew why Sister Quayle was passed over for promotion. She had seniority and had trained Matron, so in a way she has a right to be a little miffed. I guess I'd like to know if she was always this bitter and weird or if it's something new. I find her very disturbing and wonder if she should be working there at all. She's certainly more dangerous than a young woman wearing a splash of rose water.

I didn't realize why Rosalie abandoned her patient until I came here. I assumed he had some horrendous, intestine spilling wound. I really find it hard to believe that she could have witnessed a room full of men with shattered skulls and missing limbs but the sight of a harmless little peen sent her for her smelling salts. That young actor playing her dazed and suffering patient had me almost in tears. If every episode is going to be this brutal, I might not be able to stick with it.

[pasdetrois]

Since this series is like a soap opera, I'm guessing that Kitty's child is a love child. We saw Kitty throw away a gold ring, so maybe the father is someone other than a husband.

 

Rosalie hints at being deeply religious or repressed when she talks about taking care of fallen women and how some cannot be saved. Combined with her fright at seeing a penis, I'm wondering if she's projecting a bit based on some earlier drama/trauma in her life.

 

 

That young actor playing her dazed and suffering patient had me almost in tears.

 

I noticed him too. He did an excellent job in those few moments.It was heartbreaking. He must have thought he was being held by an angel.

 

They talk about the thousand-yard stare that traumatized soldiers get, and we are seeing it in the wide-eyed mute patient. His father' agony at not being able to reach his son was palpable.

 

Guess the quartermaster/supply sergeant is running a profitable black market.

 

I hope they get away from the mean girl aspect of this show. In reality I don't think there was the time or inclination for all the sniping and pettiness.

[JudyObscure]

Pasdetrois; quote:

I'm guessing that Kitty's child is a love child.

 

That's my guess, too, and I agree that it's hard for me to imagine women who had enough heart and courage to do this kind of work being small enough to steal cake or be petty tyrants. 

[proserpina65]

 

Rosalie hints at being deeply religious or repressed when she talks about taking care of fallen women and how some cannot be saved. Combined with her fright at seeing a penis, I'm wondering if she's projecting a bit based on some earlier drama/trauma in her life.

I doubt there's any trauma involved.  Rosalie obviously comes from a very conservative family, as demonstrated by what she told Suranne Jones' character about her father, and is pretty repressed.  For someone who probably never expected to see a naked man until she married, and who most likely had a lot of religious/moral crap preached at her, judging by what she had to say about fallen women, her reaction, while extreme, isn't entirely surprising.

 

 

I agree that it's hard for me to imagine women who had enough heart and courage to do this kind of work being small enough to steal cake or be petty tyrants.

It's been my experience that people are always capable of being small and petty.  It's an unattractive part of human nature, but it's there nonetheless.

 

In reality I don't think there was the time or inclination for all the sniping and pettiness.

Having read a biography of two English women who set-up and worked forward aid stations in Belgium in WWI, it seems there was time for the sniping and pettiness if someone was so inclined, even when casualties were being brought in by the truckful.  I'd find this show less realistic if that aspect of human behavior was completely eliminated, though I do agree it could be de-emphasized a bit.

 

I'm guessing that Kitty's child is a love child.

I'm wondering if Kitty didn't abandon a husband and child for another man.  It would be something of a twist on the story.  But an illegitimate child is more likely, although one wonders if her mother would've taken the child in if that were the case.

[txhorns79]

I'm wondering if Kitty didn't abandon a husband and child for another man.  It would be something of a twist on the story.  But an illegitimate child is more likely, although one wonders if her mother would've taken the child in if that were the case.

 

I was thinking that the child is legitimate, but Kitty's husband died and Kitty engaged in behaviors afterwards that her mother felt were depraved and took ownership of the child.

[catray]

I'm wondering if Kitty didn't abandon a husband and child for another man.  It would be something of a twist on the story.  But an illegitimate child is more likely, although one wonders if her mother would've taken the child in if that were the case.

 

This was my guess-- I feel like an illegitimate child would have quietly when given away or taken to an orphanage. But if she already had a child and then engaged in some behavior that society frowned on (an affair, perhaps an abortion?) it makes more sense that she would be cut off from her family.

 

I wish Nurse Quayle wasn't so horrible. And I agree it, it would help if we knew why she had been passed over for the promotion. I am getting the feeling that she is a person who believes strongly in tradition and "doing things the way they've always been done" and feels threatened by change, which could explain her anger at being passed over for Matron and her dislike at Nurse

 

I felt badly for Rosalie, though I'm a little surprised that she didn't think this would be a possibility when she decided to go nurse male soldiers injured in the war. I agree with the thinking that she's probably religious, conservative, and repressed, hence her fear of male genitalia.

[txhorns79]

I agree with the thinking that she's probably religious, conservative, and repressed, hence her fear of male genitalia.

 

I would probably just say she's sheltered and naive.  She volunteered for a job she clearly did not understand, and was in no way prepared to handle.  Hence, we see her fall apart when she is directly confronted with her duties. 

[lucindabelle]

I missed this episode because I expected it to be on demand. Anybody know why it isn't? Glad I can catch up here.

[lucindabelle]

Anybody else expecting the German boyfriend was going to appear when she as showering? Just me?

So much hate for yellend.

And yet again sister Quayle is the big bad. She gave the officer the worst advice possible.

[Tara Ariano]

I missed this episode because I expected it to be on demand. Anybody know why it isn't?

 

It is.

[lucindabelle]

Not where I am sadly... Nj and comcast. Am I just missing something? It's weird it just keeps showing episode 1 is there.

[Tara Ariano]

Did you...click the link? It goes to the episode on PBS.org.

[lark37]

Yelland is a jerk.  I felt bad for Tom though when the soldier was complaining about being used as an "experiment".  You could see that he hated that the boy was in pain.  After seeing the "previously on" clips, I agree with whomever said last episode that Kitty's underwear or whatever she was wearing while swimming was extremely unflattering-yikes!  She was hardly in the episode yet it seemed from the last scene with Tom that they are moving the "romance" along pretty quickly with them.  The silent little girl was adorable.

[izabella]

There are too many jerks or people doing jerky things on this show.   It's bad enough there's a war going on - why does everyone need to act like they're in a soap opera, too?

[M. Darcy]

They are getting good guest stars.  This week is was Lorcan Cranitch aka Sean Dillon from Ballykissangel. 

[Former Nun]

Ladies underwear:  I don't understand the complaints about the nurse's underwear...on the battlefield in WWI.  Was it inappropriate?

[lucindabelle]

Oh no! I was using TV only, I'll try that thanks!

[Kindred Spirit]

I continue to be impressed by Matron's compassion, and understand why Colonel Molesley (sorry, don't wanna call him anything else!) promoted her over Sister Quayle. I also find myself impressed by the depths that Flora, the apparent flibbertigibbit, has. She may or may not have grit, but she certainly "has sand". (I believe that's a British colloquial phrase of the era.) I'm totally rooting for a Miles-Kitty romance, even though the narrative is pointing towards matching Miss Trevelyan with Thomas. I cheered Thomas' confrontation with that idiot, Yelland, though, and particularly relished the way he pronounced the blowhard a "waste of skin". Very apt, and said in that delicious Scottish burr--the contempt just dripped from the phrase!

[proserpina65]

Ladies underwear:  I don't understand the complaints about the nurse's underwear...on the battlefield in WWI.  Was it inappropriate?

Well, it was inappropriate that Kitty was running around in it where someone might see her, but the complaint here is that it wasn't very sexy in appearance.  By the standards of the time, though, the mere fact that Thomas saw her in it, and it being thoroughly wet and sticking to her, was plenty sexy.

[Rhetorica]

Damn, this one was depressing. Ghosts abound.... I have to collect my thoughts and read your comments, then I'll post more.

[proserpina65]

There are too many jerks or people doing jerky things on this show.   It's bad enough there's a war going on - why does everyone need to act like they're in a soap opera, too?

That's what this is, really, a soap opera set at a WWI field hospital.  Taken for what it is, it's still pretty darned good.  Although I could've done without the Irish sargeant/corporal conflict and had more of the Maj. Yelland/Capt. McHottie storyline, which was much more interesting but needed more development.

[Rhetorica]

I think the Matron's compassion matches Colonel Molesley's (love that name) and he knew this when he promoted her over Sister Quayle. Kitty's underwater isn't sexy by today's standards but the way it was clinging to her body left no doubt of her shape. Give me a tummy control bathing suit any day over lingerie that shows all my bumps. She and Thomas are sweet together and I understand their trepidation. Poor Joan. Meeting a man who loves German poetry and can send personal letters to a German soldier doesn't bode well. I'm brushing over the Ghosts of the episode. Those storylines were hard to watch but well done.

[abbyzenn]

I'm really enjoying this show - can't believe there aren't more comments.

I am finding it hard to see Moseley in this role - everything else I've seen him in he's been a sad sack!

I also thought the Irish storyline was too long but I was surprised to hear how his mother was being treated in Ireland for having a son in the war.

Is the German poetry reading guy really going to turn out to be a spy??

[proserpina65]

I am finding it hard to see Moseley in this role - everything else I've seen him in he's been a sad sack!

 

Funny thing is, I saw Kevin Doyle onstage in A Midsummer Night's Dream twenty years ago, as Demetrius, one of the quartet of young lovers - after watching him in Downton Abbey, I can hardly believe it.  He's very good in this role, compassionate but firm.

I also thought the Irish storyline was too long but I was surprised to hear how his mother was being treated in Ireland for having a son in the war.

 

This was at or near the beginning of major unrest, leading to the Easter Rising of 1916.  Obviously the corporal came from an area with great resentment of the English and of the British Army.

Edited July 7, 2015 by proserpina65

[Summer]

Can someone tell me what Thomas (the Scottish doctor) said to Kitty at the very end of the episode, after she comforted the patient.  I have a hard time understanding the dialogue sometimes.  They were talking about him seeing her coming out of the water in her slip and she said something about "I didn't mean to concern you" and he said something back that caused her to stare at him.

 

What did he say to her??  I didn't catch it.

 

Thanks!!

 

[SonofaBiscuit]

Can someone tell me what Thomas (the Scottish doctor) said to Kitty at the very end of the episode, after she comforted the patient.  I have a hard time understanding the dialogue sometimes.  They were talking about him seeing her coming out of the water in her slip and she said something about "I didn't mean to concern you" and he said something back that caused her to stare at him.

 

What did he say to her??  I didn't catch it.

 

Thanks!!

 

Thomas said that when he saw the clothes on the beach (last episode), he thought that someone was drowning.  Kitty apologized for alarming him.  Then he replied, "I've been alarmed since the moment you arrived."  Cue intense staring and deep gulp by Thomas :)