S05.E04: Episode 4

[Clanstarling]

I guess the spoiler tags didn't make it through the transition.

While the Patsy/Delia story isn't the most riveting, for me, in any case, it's mostly because the bulk of their scenes have been cut.

I'm not sure how having a lesbian C plot is any different than the many topics and lifestyles the show has presented with respect and thoughtfulness. To me, Call the Midwife isn't about the midwives and birthing babies, as much as it is an observations of the poverty and life the midwives witness and experience through their work which takes them into the homes and secrets of people they'd never have known otherwise. Nonnatus hasn't been immune to the experiences, the midwives/nuns have experienced alcoholism, affairs with married men, emotional and physical child abuse and a host of others.  

[MaryHedwig]

47 minutes ago, clanstarling said:

To me, Call the Midwife isn't about the midwives and birthing babies, as much as it is an observations of the poverty and life the midwives witness and experience through their work which takes them into the homes and secrets of people they'd never have known otherwise.

Yes, I've always thought of the show as a great coming-of-age story.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

As Call The Midwife's Birth Defect Count Increases, Sister Julienne Performs Poplar's Saddest Duty

And when it comes to Tom, Trixie must take the high road once again.

[proserpina65]

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To cut the scenes for the US broadcast and then include the 90 second special video about it at the end smacks at queerbaiting and homophobia at the same time. That's what we are all complaining about.

To be fair, PBS cuts scenes from every episode, not just ones involving the relationship between Patsy and Delia.  I think if homophobia was really a factor in the decision-making process, they'd have cut every scene alluding in even the slightest way to their having a lesbian relationship.  You could very well be right, but I'm willing to cut TPTB a little slack in that respect anyway.  I can still be annoyed, of course, that they cut ANY scenes from the show.

[ElleMo]

On 4/26/2016 at 5:02 AM, MissLucas said:

 

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[Brattinella]

This is the one show I truly can't miss, even when it makes me bawl like a baby.  I love the delicate interplay between the characters, and it is astonishing to me that pregnant ladies line up for a guest spot (they will only used 10-day old or less newborns).  The only person I can't stand right now is the Vicar.  He needs to move on.

[txhorns79]

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To be fair, PBS cuts scenes from every episode, not just ones involving the relationship between Patsy and Delia.  I think if homophobia was really a factor in the decision-making process, they'd have cut every scene alluding in even the slightest way to their having a lesbian relationship.  You could very well be right, but I'm willing to cut TPTB a little slack in that respect anyway.  I can still be annoyed, of course, that they cut ANY scenes from the show.

Yeah, I seriously doubt it was because of homophobia given they've shown Delia and Patsy acting as a couple in other episodes.  I just figure the story was cut because something had to be cut, and that storyline could be taken out without it leaving holes in the other storylines. 

And seriously, Sister Julienne rocking the baby in the hospital just before it died destroyed me.  I was then destroyed again when Sister Julienne went to go tell Mrs. Cottingham what had happened.   

[Kohola3]

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I brought up Kitty because she was killed right around that same time. To say that two women working in the health field wouldn't be gay and fall in love at any time in the mid 20th century is to discount the many people who lived then who were LGBT. Also, when you use the word homosexual people think you are being homophobic even if you don't mean it because the word is a clinical term and has fallen out of favor in the past 15 years.

I don’t believe I indicated in any way that women in the mid 20th century could not be gay and fall in love. I was IN the health field in the mid 20th century (and into the 21st) and know that isn’t at all true.  However, at that time it was not front and center in the news as it is now.  And using the word homosexual was appropriate to that time period.  LGBT was not coined until the 1990s. 

“People might think you are homophobic” is making quite a leap.  I have two family members who are gay, married, and have children that are not only accepted but totally supported.  “People” should be careful about making assumptions.

I don’t think those scenes were cut because of content. They were cut because they were boring or didn’t move the story along. Frankly, I think the both the romantic story lines are a total snooze.  Feel free to cut Barbara and the vicar as well.

[Black Knight]

It's a house filled with many women - the only thing 2016 about Patsy's story is the acknowledgment that at least one of those women would be gay. If this show were actually being made in the 1950s-1960s, there wouldn't be an acknowledgment.

If this show never showed any of the women's personal lives, and then made an exception for Patsy, that would be one thing. But CtM has also had plenty of romantic relationships and other personal dramas. To me, what would be pandering is if they didn't include a story like Patsy's, because that's not realistic. Not with all those women. Someone was gay. It's not so much that the writers are making a choice to include as it is that they're making a choice not to exclude. It's not "Why tell that story?", it's "Why wouldn't they tell that story?"

And I've found Patsy's story interesting and well-done. The only weak point for me was Delia early this season after the head injury, when she seemed half-hearted about Patsy and kind of bland generally, but she's much more lively again and properly appreciative of her girlfriend. Too bad the PBS version of this ep didn't include their best moment, which was romantic and funny and a good change-of-pace from the usual heartbreaking drama going on elsewhere. I just knew we were going to have another thalidomide baby sooner or later...sob!

(Mind you, I don't think some of Patsy/Delia's scenes getting cut for time are coming from a homophobic POV. They're not the only ones who have had cut scenes. I think it's just more that because of the secretive nature of their relationship, their scenes are necessarily more standalone and thus easier to cut from individual episodes. But as others have pointed out, these cuts - in general, not just in regards to Patsy/Delia - still end up being problematic because these are season-long arcs and some of the moments that have been cut add resonance to things that happen in later episodes. I still wish they would just cut the after show segments instead. I like watching those but I'd rather have the full episodes.)

I liked that Dr. Turner and Shellagh didn't tumble immediately to the thalidomide connection. Dr. Turner's casual dismissal of the various drugs the mothers had taken as just being standard struck me as realistic. It did take some time to figure out that thalidomide was the culprit, and mindsets like Dr. Turner's would have been part of why. Like the closing monologue in the premiere said, this was still a time when medicine was greatly trusted, and we're just before the fall. In 2016 we're much more likely to be suspicious of a drug, precisely because of what happened with thalidomide and others after it. The one thing that worried me about CtM's covering the thalidomide tragedy was my fear that the writers wouldn't be able to resist making Dr. Turner The One Who Figures It All Out. They still might do that, but if that's the way it goes, at least they didn't have him jump to the correct solution this early.

[izabella]

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I don’t think those scenes were cut because of content. They were cut because they were boring or didn’t move the story along. Frankly, I think the both the romantic story lines are a total snooze.  Feel free to cut Barbara and the vicar as well.

I find the romances boring, too, and I wouldn't mind if they were cut.  Patsy and Delia were fun in their little apartment, but that's really the only time I've enjoyed their relationship.  Barbara has never made an impression on me of any kind...she is wallpaper.  Except that she was deliberately hiding her dates with Tom, so that makes me like her less.  She should have been kinder to Trixie by telling her instead of choosing not to have that difficult conversation and lying to Trixie in order to avoid it.  Barbara is in direct contrast to Sister Julienne who chose to have the hard conversation with Mrs. Cottingham instead of running from it and leaving it to the hospital nurse to tell her about the baby.

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And seriously, Sister Julienne rocking the baby in the hospital just before it died destroyed me.  I was then destroyed again when Sister Julienne went to go tell Mrs. Cottingham what had happened.   

Sister J was fantastic, and both the baby and Mrs. C were in excellent hands under her care.  Heart wrenching.

[Anothermi]

On 2016-04-29 at 10:57 PM, izabella said:

...

Barbara is in direct contrast to Sister Julienne who chose to have the hard conversation with Mrs. Cottingham instead of running from it and leaving it to the hospital nurse to tell her about the baby.

Interesting that you see it that way. Sister Julienne chose to lie to Mrs. Cottingham. She struggled with choosing the sin of lying vs telling a truth that would cut the mother to her heart. She chose to not let the hospital personnel tell Mrs. Cottingham a cold, impersonal lie designed to protect themselves and be the caring person who lied out of compassion for her. She said the baby was a girl - the nurse (I think) stated they couldn't tell what gender the baby was - and avoided describing why/how the baby died. A lie of omission. She told the truth that she believed would comfort the mother (ie Sister J giving the baby the love and comfort at the end that she deserved).

Barbara is struggling to talk to Trixie because there IS no comforting lie she can tell her. Yes, she's weak and afraid and fear has immobilized her. This is behaviour many (some?) of us have in our lives - put it off and hope it just goes away. Sister Julienne believed God would forgive her sin. Barbara believes Trixie won't - even though her only sin is hiding her feelings about Tom.

I find them both realistic portrayals.

[dcalley]

Someone is posting the missing dialogue for season 5 (on the U.S. schedule) here.

[Brattinella]

Thank you SO MUCH, dcalley!  Great find!

[Mumbles]

Sister Monica Joan so often bugs me, even though I know she's suffering from dementia, with her selfishness and childishness (like how annoyed she got when Cynthia - I have momentarily forgotten her sister name - was picked to do the Sister Hildegarde tribute. But her wise advice and kindness when Sister Julienne was so torn up about what to tell the mother made me realize why they keep her around.

The storyline with the two kids reminded me of a John Osbourne play ripoff.

As much as I love Dr Turner, I love that they let him be wrong. Like about thalidomide, or about the chemical castration of the gay man last season. It shows that he's human, and that many well-meaning individuals were just wrong about things (and still are.) Doesn't make these things less wrong, but it makes me think of them with empathy.

[Ceindreadh]

46 minutes ago, Mumbles said:

Sister Monica Joan so often bugs me, even though I know she's suffering from dementia, with her selfishness and childishness (like how annoyed she got when Cynthia - I have momentarily forgotten her sister name - was picked to do the Sister Hildegarde tribute. But her wise advice and kindness when Sister Julienne was so torn up about what to tell the mother made me realize why they keep her around.

 

I loved the scene with Sisters Mary Cynthia, Julienne and Monica Joan. Especially the symbolism of the 'Maiden, Mother, Crone' triad. 

[RedbirdNelly]

this show consistently delivers with the performances. It was nice to see more of Sister Julienne. She has such a warmth to her. 

Sister Monica Joan is such a great character and so well acted. Moments of nonsense but moments of clarity. I'm so glad she is part of the show.