S07.E07: Episode 7

[Rap541]

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That's interesting.  I thought she was in her 80s by the time it was all over. 

The actress was 81, I think, when the show ended.  While the Dowager's age was never officially stated, it was implied that she was of rather advanced years in 1912 when the show began. Considering Robert was a man in his fifties with a daughter who was 23, that pegs Violet at 75-80 when the show STARTS. In show time, the series ends on Christmas 1925 so Violet would have been a very spry 87-92, which is unusually old for the time.  

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And have they just kind of given up on the idea that Sister Monica Joan has dementia?  I can't believe this is the same woman who only a few seasons ago nearly died after she ran away and slept in a barn during on a cold winter night as part of some quest to return to her childhood home.  It's like she's now just some wise old lady that is occasionally overly emotional.   

Pretty much, yeah. Basically SMJ has dementia when it's a plot point and when it's not, then she's making witty remarks and cutting insights, all while amusing herself in bitchy ways by bedeviling others.

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However, saying that I'm tired of the show doing their tradition of having characters leave only to write them off. I wish Tom & Barbara had been around this season. 

I liked this episode because it did allow the audience to see the grief and to grieve the character.

I think my question will be this. Was *Tom* such a necessary character to the show that Barbara had to die in order for him to plausibly stay? Because honestly, if they were just brought back for the tale end of one episode and then Barbara's death... Then really we could have just as easily ended with the two of them getting married and heading off to wherever they went with no return. Like Chummy. 

But the implication is that *Tom* was really desperately needed and while I like Tom, I don't really see it. 

[JTM]

12 hours ago, modernisti said:

What grand offers has she had that would make her think she could do better than a lead role in a hit series? I always found her, frankly, very unattractive,

It's worth remembering that British actors get work even when they look like normal people. Good work, regular work, even lots of work.

[Fireball]

3 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I read an interview after this episode aired in the UK

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that said Tom won't be in the next series, as he (I'm blanking on the actor's name) is going to be taking care of his daughter while Helen George returns. He did leave the door open for returning in a later series, but yeah, it seems like it would have been easy enough to let Tom and Barbara have a happily ever after off-screen ending, and just have Barbara die later (and off-screen) if they decided to bring Tom back. But I could see the Charlotte Ritchie enjoying the juicy death scene, if she's sure she doesn't want to come back...

Spoiler

This really ticks me off. If Tom isn't going to be in next season then there really was no need to kill off Barbara. They could have kept Tom & Barbara off at the other church. If Jack ever did want to return to the show and Charlotte didn't the writers could have killed Barbara off screen. What was so wrong with letting Tom and Barbara have a happy ending. Jack might never want to return to the show.

5 hours ago, Willowsmom said:

Young midwives most likely wouldn't have stayed long. They would have either moved up or gotten married. The fact that Trixie is still there is really odd for the time.

I agree that it's odd that Trixie is still there.  I also find it odd that Trixie isn't married/seems to have a hard time finding suitors.

 

9 hours ago, Calvada said:

I didn't appreciate the manipulation of our emotions - she's seriously ill, no wait, she's getting better, but her career as a midwife is destroyed, oh never mind, she's dying!  

I didn't appreciate the manipulation either. It actually annoyed me.

[howiveaddict]

Why can't PBS show the entire shows and then have a 9th episode of the little snip its they preempt part of the show for. This could be the first episode to get every one ready for the new season.  Also, does Netflix show the entire of each episode?  Just wondering.  

I was spoiled to the outcome of this episode and still bawled like a baby.

[Kohola3]

16 minutes ago, howiveaddict said:

Also, does Netflix show the entire of each episode?

No.  They show the US version.

[Barlowe]

6 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I read an interview after this episode aired in the UK

  Hide contents

that said Tom won't be in the next series, as he (I'm blanking on the actor's name) is going to be taking care of his daughter while Helen George returns. He did leave the door open for returning in a later series, but yeah, it seems like it would have been easy enough to let Tom and Barbara have a happily ever after off-screen ending, and just have Barbara die later (and off-screen) if they decided to bring Tom back. But I could see the Charlotte Ritchie enjoying the juicy death scene, if she's sure she doesn't want to come back...

Spoiler

I think he'll be in the christmas special at least but probably not the full series

Edited May 1, 2018 by Lilacly

[Badger]

Actually the Dowager Countess of Grantham would have been in her late 70's/early to mid 80's at Mary's second wedding.   She met that Russian prince when she and her husband went to Russia for the wedding of Prince Alfred (The Duke of Edinburgh, later The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, the daughter of Tsar  Alexander II in 1874.  We know she had 2 young children then so she was probably in her late 20's/early 30's.    That would have made her birth year somewhere around 1842- 1846.

Getting back on topic, I follow the Call the Midwife tag on Tumblr, and there are quite a few people who think Valerie and Lucille are lesbians and will be a couple soon if they aren't already.  

[Barlowe]

1 minute ago, Badger said:

 

Getting back on topic, I follow the Call the Midwife tag on Tumblr, and there are quite a few people who think Valerie and Lucille are lesbians and will be a couple soon if they aren't already.  

I'm kinda into it but I could also do without it. Valerie got less boring for me as the series went on but initially i thought she was dull and unnecessary and didn't really fit

[caitmcg]

13 minutes ago, Badger said:

Getting back on topic, I follow the Call the Midwife tag on Tumblr, and there are quite a few people who think Valerie and Lucille are lesbians and will be a couple soon if they aren't already.  

That seems rather unlikely, given Lucille’s faith, not to mention that they’ve just done a multi-season arc of that exact story. 

[MissLucas]

12 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I read an interview after this episode aired in the UK

  Reveal hidden contents

that said Tom won't be in the next series, as he (I'm blanking on the actor's name) is going to be taking care of his daughter while Helen George returns. He did leave the door open for returning in a later series, but yeah, it seems like it would have been easy enough to let Tom and Barbara have a happily ever after off-screen ending, and just have Barbara die later (and off-screen) if they decided to bring Tom back. But I could see the Charlotte Ritchie enjoying the juicy death scene, if she's sure she doesn't want to come back...

Spoiler

Add me to the list of people annoyed if true.  That means that Calll the Midwife just pulled a This is Us on us and if there ever was as show that did not require more emotional manipulation it's CtM.

[JudyObscure]

9 hours ago, JTM said:

It's worth remembering that British actors get work even when they look like normal people. Good work, regular work, even lots of work.

I can think of quite a few American shows with cast members who look like normal people, some shows even feature lead actresses who look normal and even get awards, Elisabeth Moss for example. 

I get rather tired of this stereotype of the American actors as  more shallow, more vain,  and less well trained  than the  British actors.  I lived in England for three years and would hear the British actresses being interviewed on the radio and, believe me, the attitude that they themselves were quite superior to all those in Hollywood was front and center at all times. 

If the Brits simply don't care about appearances it's surprising that the actress playing Edith didn't have the lead in Downton and that Cynthia didn't have the lead over Jenny in Midwives.

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, JudyObscure said:

I get rather tired of this stereotype of the American actors as  more shallow, more vain,  and less well trained  than the  British actors.

I have to agree.  A great example is Meryl Streep who is certainly not a stereotypical beauty yet is one of the most honored, talented, and hard working actors around.

I also have to agree that a pairing of Lucille and Valerie won't happen.  Lucille has shown herself to take solace in the church and in the 60's there would be no tolerance for that.  Heck in the US state and local governments are busy rolling back LGBT protections as we speak.

I though Barbara was a lovely young lady but a bit bland.  Her death was very tragic and those scenes just gut wrenching but I think it was the sturdy Nurse Crane on the steps alone that opened the floodgates for me.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

Call The Midwife Threatens One Of Poplar's Biggest Champions

And: other stuff happens that no one cares about because...how could we?

[Driad]

Trying to keep the back stories straight.  Is Valerie the one who was an army nurse and then worked in a pub?

[jschoolgirl]

16 minutes ago, Driad said:

Trying to keep the back stories straight.  Is Valerie the one who was an army nurse and then worked in a pub?

Yes. I'm not sure if her Aunt Edie owns the pub or is simply an employee. I don't know anything about her parents.

[Rap541]

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If the Brits simply don't care about appearances it's surprising that the actress playing Edith didn't have the lead in Downton and that Cynthia didn't have the lead over Jenny in Midwives.

Ironically both the "uglies" are the better actresses in my opinion (although the actresses playing Lady Mary and Jenny Lee are quite talented)

I do think there's something to the notion that American shows have a certain "look" issue that British shows don't have but honestly... Call the Midwife is hardly a show loaded with ugly lead actresses. Even the actresses playing Cynthia and Sheilagh are more... made to look ugly and awkward versus really just homely. (Actress playing Sheilagh in particular is really quite lovely when not in the horned rimmed glasses. I'd actually argue that Chummy was often done up more awkward than I suspect the actress is in real life and some of the women - Trixie, Jenny, Patsy, Delia, Valerie, and Lucille, are very attractive women. 

[jschoolgirl]

11 minutes ago, Rap541 said:

made to look ugly and awkward

"Plain" would be a better way to put it.

Not everyone you see in day-to-day life is a stunning beauty, or even an average-looking person with the added polish of makeup. The show reflects this.

[Rap541]

You think? Because even the "plain" actresses on this show are pretty stunning in real life. Hell a lot of the women in Poplar who are supposedly downtrodden and super poor are often very very attractive. And its pretty noticeable how less squalid and dirty the local natives are on the show in later seasons and I don't think thats just due to slightly more modern conveniences. :)

[proserpina65]

No, no, no, goddamnit, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This isn't necessarily the end for me, but if they use Barbara's death to bring Tom and Trixie back together romantically, I'm out.

On ‎03‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 4:29 PM, snowwhyte said:

I wasn't sure but the minute they had her recover slightly and had everyone visit her I knew she wasn't going to make it. 

It made me think of the surge that Mark Sloan had on Grey's Anatomy.

[jschoolgirl]

3 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

It made me think of the surge that Mark Sloan had on Grey's Anatomy.

Same here!

[OtterMommy]

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I can think of quite a few American shows with cast members who look like normal people, some shows even feature lead actresses who look normal and even get awards, Elisabeth Moss for example. 

I get rather tired of this stereotype of the American actors as  more shallow, more vain,  and less well trained  than the  British actors.  I lived in England for three years and would hear the British actresses being interviewed on the radio and, believe me, the attitude that they themselves were quite superior to all those in Hollywood was front and center at all times. 

If the Brits simply don't care about appearances it's surprising that the actress playing Edith didn't have the lead in Downton and that Cynthia didn't have the lead over Jenny in Midwives.

Replying in the small talk thread....

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I actually think that would have worked because I believe that people would have gradually gotten used to the new Barbara.  There was no need to kill her off.

I think such a move would've been a disaster.

 

17 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I don't see the conflict between reality and longevity.  Changing fictional years from one TV season to the next doesn't make it more real.  It's not really 1963. It's still fiction, not a reality show with a camera in the corner and years passing as they film.   Every show of every season could be set in 1952 and it would still be just as  realistic because they delivered hundreds of babies in that year and each one would have had a story of it's own. Many things could have happened to the midwives during those 365 days. Most of the dramatic events we've seen could have happened within a year or two.

And I'd have been bored silly after about 3 seasons and have quit watching.  I like how the show is reflecting changing times.  I like seeing characters grow and leave when they're ready, and new characters come in to replace them.  To each their own, but the show has chosen this particular path, and it is what it wants to be.

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

No.  They show the US version.

The DVDs, however, do have the complete British version.

[proserpina65]

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I can think of quite a few American shows with cast members who look like normal people, some shows even feature lead actresses who look normal and even get awards, Elisabeth Moss for example. 

I get rather tired of this stereotype of the American actors as  more shallow, more vain,  and less well trained  than the  British actors.  I lived in England for three years and would hear the British actresses being interviewed on the radio and, believe me, the attitude that they themselves were quite superior to all those in Hollywood was front and center at all times. 

If the Brits simply don't care about appearances it's surprising that the actress playing Edith didn't have the lead in Downton and that Cynthia didn't have the lead over Jenny in Midwives.

That wasn't what JTM was saying.  They were simply countering someone else's comment that the actress couldn't expect to get lots of offers because she wasn't attractive.  Which isn't true in general in Britain (and to a somewhat lesser extent in the US) and with this actress in particular.

53 minutes ago, Rap541 said:

And its pretty noticeable how less squalid and dirty the local natives are on the show in later seasons and I don't think thats just due to slightly more modern conveniences. :)

I do think that's simply a reflection of the changing times.  More people had access to better living conditions and clean water.

[Portia]

Pro Tip:  if you have a terrible bout of insomnia and decide to turn on the TV at 1 a.m., don't succumb to the temptation to watch the THREE unwatched episodes of CTM on your DVR . . . especially if one of the episodes is going to slam you with an unexpected character death.  Not only am I exhausted today, but my eyes are visibly swollen from all the middle-of-the-night crying. 

I always have plenty of complaints about the show's stupid, manipulative plot twists, but I have to say, having Barbara rally and then grow worse and die seemed entirely realistic to me. I've seen similar scenarios play out in real life more times than I'd like to say. 

[Ohmo]

Spoiler

Regarding Jack Ashton taking time off from the next series to care for his daughter while Helen George returns, that doesn't change my mind.  I still prefer what we got to Barbara dying off-screen.  For anyone who watched Blue Bloods, they did that when Amy Carlson decided not to renew her contract during the summer hiatus.  The writers killed Linda off-screen by having her die as a result of the crash of a medical helicopter.   Most fans were not fans of that decision.   If Jack wanted to return after a year off, there's no guarantee that Charlotte would have wanted to do the same, and to have Tom reappear and say that Barbara was dead or their marriage was damaged would have sucked, in my opinion.  She loved him.  He loved her.  She became ill, and he was right there to support her.  It was sad, but I much prefer what we got to any potential alternatives.

[willowk]

  Reveal hidden contents

Regarding Jack Ashton taking time off from the next series to care for his daughter while Helen George returns, that doesn't change my mind.  I still prefer what we got to Barbara dying off-screen.  For anyone who watched Blue Bloods, they did that when Amy Carlson decided not to renew her contract during the summer hiatus.  The writers killed Linda off-screen by having her die as a result of the crash of a medical helicopter.   Most fans were not fans of that decision.   If Jack wanted to return after a year off, there's no guarantee that Charlotte would have wanted to do the same, and to have Tom reappear and say that Barbara was dead or their marriage was damaged would have sucked, in my opinion.  She loved him.  He loved her.  She became ill, and he was right there to support her.  It was sad, but I much prefer what we got to any potential alternatives.

I agree. And although I was so sad, and angry about the show killing her off, I'm more peaceful about it now. Having her die onscreen let Tom and Phyllis say good-bye and we could share in their grief. I've never seen a better use of the 23rd Psalm.

[ichbin]

On 4/30/2018 at 7:10 AM, JudyObscure said:

Barbara, though.  What grand offers has she had that would make her think she could do better than a lead role in a hit series?

If you've seen Fresh Meat or Siblings I think you would find that comedy is more her forte.  Fresh Meat was more an ensemble but she was one of the main featured actors, and she was one of the leads in Siblings.  She was good in both.  She'll probably do well in the future.

[LadyChaos]

Spoiler

I got the impression that Jack Ashton(Rev. Tom Hereward) is taking the next season off so Helen can go back to work but one of them be home with their baby without having to get a Nanny.....just yet or never.  I think this is amazing.  I am also under the impression that he intends to come back to the series in s9.  I think I heard that in the s8 xmas special he is supposed to leave on sabbatical from the church because Barbara's death is making him question his faith in God.   I like this opening for him to return.  And I also think the precedence for his questioning his faith has been shown because he said in the s7 xmas special that he was question his decision to stay in the church because he felt he was doing good works in the East End and wanted to stay there.

 

So I wonder, if/when he comes back in s9 if we will see him no longer in the church.   Secretly, no so secretly....I kind of would like to see a scene that Brings Tom and Trixie back together, not permanently mind but maybe see them comforting each other for a bit.

Edited May 1, 2018 by LadyChaos

[Rap541]

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Barbara, though.  What grand offers has she had that would make her think she could do better than a lead role in a hit series?

I'd argue something similar to what I argue about certain cast member decisions on other shows (oh Downton Abbey....)

Yes, she was playing a lead character but where was Barbara's story going to go, now that she was married happily to Tom? Consider if she had agreed to sign on for seasons 7-9? (or 8-10, not sure what the count is) What does that look like for the character of Barbara?

She can't date or have problems with a guy because she's married to Tom, the nicest guy ever, the vicar. Sure, she can get pregnant and have a baby, repeating the Chummy gets married and has a kid storyline - and to be honest marrying Chummy off isolated the character and made it increasingly awkward to include her. Or she could have difficulty having a kid, who hey, isn't that pretty similar to Sheilah's  storyline? She doesn't seem the sort to have a crisis of faith and sink into a deep depression like Cynthia so whats really left? I mean, she doesn't seem the sort to have a wild affair, and Tom screwing around with Trixie on the side , while *I* wouldn't mind, I accept thats a minority taste. So whats left?

Right, showing up to fill in when things are busy and doing parish stuff on the sidelines and standing around in the background while other characters have storylines. 

It sucks for us because we like their characters, but I understand sometimes why an actor might leave a successful show for something more interesting. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Rap541

[JeanneH]

2 hours ago, LadyChaos said:

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I got the impression that Jack Ashton(Rev. Tom Hereward) is taking the next season off so Helen can go back to work but one of them be home with their baby without having to get a Nanny.....just yet or never.  I think this is amazing.

Spoiler

Re Jack staying home with baby so Helen can return to work, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have done this for years. An example is when he almost disappeared from acting during the several years she was starring in the series "The Closer".

[Bunnyette]

On 2018-04-30 at 9:51 PM, Fireball said:

  Reveal hidden contents

This really ticks me off. If Tom isn't going to be in next season then there really was no need to kill off Barbara. They could have kept Tom & Barbara off at the other church. If Jack ever did want to return to the show and Charlotte didn't the writers could have killed Barbara off screen. What was so wrong with letting Tom and Barbara have a happy ending. Jack might never want to return to the show.

I agree that it's odd that Trixie is still there.  I also find it odd that Trixie isn't married/seems to have a hard time finding suitors.

 

I didn't appreciate the manipulation either. It actually annoyed me.

In the book, Trixie ends up happily married, but in this tv series everyone is mired in gloom.

[Rap541]

In the book, Trixie wasn't an alcoholic. :)

[LadyChaos]

12 hours ago, JeanneH said:

  Hide contents

Re Jack staying home with baby so Helen can return to work, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have done this for years. An example is when he almost disappeared from acting during the several years she was starring in the series "The Closer".

Spoiler

Still think it's awesome they do it.  I mean how famous people do we know that don't do that.  They just hand their kids over to the Nanny and be done with it.

[AZChristian]

I read this episode synopsis, even though the epi itself hasn't aired here yet.  Mr. AZC doesn't like to know what's going to happen, so I don't tell him.

Last week, when Barbara took sick, I forgot that she wasn't going to die until the next episode, so I was sitting on the couch sobbing during the scene when the doctor found the vicar and told him he had to go to the hospital.  Hubby now knows that it's not going to go well for Barbara.

When she first started coughing, for some reason my brain went to the Carol Burnett show when they were doing a satire on "Love Story."  Cough, cough . . . dead.

[magemaud]

My kids noticed years ago that it's the "kiss of death" any time anyone in a movie or TV show coughs

[Diana Berry]

Dreaded watching this episode after being spoiled. Phyllis broke my heart.  I really like Lucille but I haven't warmed up to the other new midwife( don't even know her name).  As someone noted, as long as we have Phyllis, Shelagh( Trixie hopefully) I feel better.  Sweet Barbara.

 

Boy, do I feel dumb.  I didn't know that Jack and Helen were a real life couple.  Did they meet and get involved from the show or previously?  

Edited May 3, 2018 by Diana Berry

[Spunkygal]

Although the acting was good, this episode felt so contrived to me. Let's bring Tom and Barbara back to have tragedy strike them in Poplar. Eh, it didn't do much for me and I like Babs and Tom. And I have sobbed at many episodes since day one, but there was something "off" about this for me. I also felt that the writers could have thrown us a bone with a happy ending for the young man in prison for stealing the car. Sister Winifred is still the forgotten nun, no story, no life. Sister Julienne is a shadow of herself. For me, the writers are struggling to maintain the excellent, meaningful stories we've seen in the past. That said, I would happily watch a series with Fred and Violet as the main characters. 

[Gulftastic]

On 02/05/2018 at 3:16 PM, AZChristian said:

 

Last week, when Barbara took sick, I forgot that she wasn't going to die until the next episode, so I was sitting on the couch sobbing during the scene when the doctor found the vicar and told him he had to go to the hospital.  Hubby now knows that it's not going to go well for Barbara.

When she first started coughing, for some reason my brain went to the Carol Burnett show when they were doing a satire on "Love Story."  Cough, cough . . . dead.

 

Well, you say that...

[MissLucas]

I think the coughing trope (is there an entry on TV-tropes? I'm afraid to check) goes back to the 19th century's (justified) horror of and fascination with tuberculosis - also called 'the disease of the century': La Traviata, La Bohème, The Lady with the Camellias - take your pick. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by MissLucas

[LadyChaos]

19 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

Dreaded watching this episode after being spoiled. Phyllis broke my heart.  I really like Lucille but I haven't warmed up to the other new midwife( don't even know her name).  As someone noted, as long as we have Phyllis, Shelagh( Trixie hopefully) I feel better.  Sweet Barbara.

 

Boy, do I feel dumb.  I didn't know that Jack and Helen were a real life couple.  Did they meet and get involved from the show or previously?  

Either Helen or Jack said that they've been good friends since he joined the series, but something changed for them during filming in South Africa.  

[Driad]

48 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

I think the coughing trope (is there an entry on TV-tropes? I'm afraid to check)

You betcha!  http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IncurableCoughOfDeath

[Pingaponga]

I read the ptv recap of the episode (for some reason I only found this particular forum this week - somehow when I come to ptv I forget half the shows I watch and go to the same forums again and again), and there are bits and pieces of scenes in the recap that I did not see when I watched the episode. Is this normal?  I'm Canadian, so I really don't know much about PBS other than the fact that it shows a ton of awesome British shows I couldn't otherwise see. They weren't crucial scenes, but there was more conversation between Valerie and Lucille about church than what I saw.  Little things like that.

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

I think the coughing trope (is there an entry on TV-tropes? I'm afraid to check) goes back to the 19th century's (justified) horror and fascination of tuberculosis - also called 'the disease of the century': La Traviata, La Bohème, The Lady with the Camellias - take your pick. 

I just now remembered, the local county hospital where I grew up had an entire floor devoted to Tuberculosis patients.  It was kind of fascinating to me, as a child.

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, Pingaponga said:

I read the ptv recap of the episode (for some reason I only found this particular forum this week - somehow when I come to ptv I forget half the shows I watch and go to the same forums again and again), and there are bits and pieces of scenes in the recap that I did not see when I watched the episode. Is this normal?  I'm Canadian, so I really don't know much about PBS other than the fact that it shows a ton of awesome British shows I couldn't otherwise see. They weren't crucial scenes, but there was more conversation between Valerie and Lucille about church than what I saw.  Little things like that.

The episodes get edited for distribution. I don’t think PBS edits them, but they get the blame since that is where the majority of PTV viewers watch it.

And after you log in, you can customize your homepage so just the shows you want to follow are on it.

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, Pingaponga said:

I read the ptv recap of the episode (for some reason I only found this particular forum this week - somehow when I come to ptv I forget half the shows I watch and go to the same forums again and again), and there are bits and pieces of scenes in the recap that I did not see when I watched the episode. Is this normal?  I'm Canadian, so I really don't know much about PBS other than the fact that it shows a ton of awesome British shows I couldn't otherwise see. They weren't crucial scenes, but there was more conversation between Valerie and Lucille about church than what I saw.  Little things like that.

I watched the PBS version of this episode, and didn't particularly like it.  Then I read the recap with scenes that I don't remember seeing, and it would have made a world of difference in this episode.

Barbara's dying didn't bring the waterworks for me at all.  I was spoiled, but that usually doesn't matter--I cry at the same shit over and over all the time. 

For example, I don't remember a scene where Phyllis comes into her room wrangling laundry and Lucille asks Phyllis to pray with her, and Phyllis politely declines.  Or a scene where she gets in her car and almost loses it.  And the death scene--the recap says Tom was saying stuff to Barbara and then Phyllis came in and told him to talk to her because she can hear him, and he launched into the psalm.  I don't remember the stuff before the psalm.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, because I need to know if I was just being inattentive.

And it matters because Barbara's death scene fell flat for me, and it might be because of the editing.  I like Phyllis the best of the three who were there, and without the "missing" scenes I mentioned, her part just fell flat.  It seemed off that Phyllis would complete the psalm for him.  For one, I'm not sure that as nonbeliever, she would have it memorized that well.  Lord knows I said thousands of Hail Marys in my day, but I couldn't recite it now if my life depended on it.  The Our Father?  Sure, although I'm not sure I'd be confident doing a solo in front of an audience. 

And how out of character it seemed for her took me out of the scene, but maybe it wasn't so out of character if she'd been declining to participate in praying with various minor players--what made it poignant is that she did what she thought Tom (and Barbara) would want, because they were that important to her.  There's a depth there that was missing because I didn't see (or don't remember) just how much she was struggling.

Also, I don't remember Tom telling Barbara the stuff the recap mentioned before the psalm.  To the point that I was shocked that he fell back on boilerplate--it was his wife, not some random parishioner.  And to the point that I told Mr. Outlier that if he's ever talking to me when I'm on the verge of death, to please say nice things like how I was a wonderful person and how much he loved me--the very things the recap says Tom said and which I don't remember.

The reason I want to know if these scenes were edited out is that I really will stop watching if I know the editing is affecting my experience.  I never watch edited movies--I'd rather never see it than watch an edited version (think of Saturday Night Fever's two versions).  I knew Call the Midwife was edited, but I assumed it was done in a way that might make a little bit of difference, but in this case, may have made a huge difference to me.  And I'd just rather not watch if that's the case and will happily go cold turkey.

But maybe I just don't remember the scenes correctly, and if that's the case, it's all on me and I obviously can't blame the editing.  I honestly don't know.

[Diana Berry]

What caused Barbara's infection?

[Badger]

I think the reason Phyllis was willing to finish off the 23rd Psalm for Tom but declined to pray with Lucille is that the former was more about words of comfort while the latter was about requesting something from a God she does not believe in.

[jschoolgirl]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

The episodes get edited for distribution. I don’t think PBS edits them, but they get the blame since that is where the majority of PTV viewers watch it.

And after you log in, you can customize your homepage so just the shows you want to follow are on it.

Sometimes, they are crucial scenes. So always read them! An episode a few weeks back had some critical omissions; I can't think which one, now. Since then it hasn't been too bad.

I was uncomfortable with Phyllis being right there with Tom in the room as he had his last moments with Barbara. She could've stood back or just in the doorway.

[Kohola3]

49 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

And to the point that I told Mr. Outlier that if he's ever talking to me when I'm on the verge of death, to please say nice things like how I was a wonderful person and how much he loved me...

I thought the death scene with Mr. and Mrs. Gelin in the first episode was just beautiful.  Those are the words that should be spoken to the love of one's life at a deathbed.  I know that Tom is a clergyman but, good grief, this was his new and beloved wife.  Generic prayers?

[peggy06]

54 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I watched the PBS version of this episode, and didn't particularly like it.  Then I read the recap with scenes that I don't remember seeing, and it would have made a world of difference in this episode.

Barbara's dying didn't bring the waterworks for me at all.  I was spoiled, but that usually doesn't matter--I cry at the same shit over and over all the time. 

For example, I don't remember a scene where Phyllis comes into her room wrangling laundry and Lucille asks Phyllis to pray with her, and Phyllis politely declines.  Or a scene where she gets in her car and almost loses it.  And the death scene--the recap says Tom was saying stuff to Barbara and then Phyllis came in and told him to talk to her because she can hear him, and he launched into the psalm.  I don't remember the stuff before the psalm.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, because I need to know if I was just being inattentive.

And it matters because Barbara's death scene fell flat for me, and it might be because of the editing.  I like Phyllis the best of the three who were there, and without the "missing" scenes I mentioned, her part just fell flat.  It seemed off that Phyllis would complete the psalm for him.  For one, I'm not sure that as nonbeliever, she would have it memorized that well.  Lord knows I said thousands of Hail Marys in my day, but I couldn't recite it now if my life depended on it.  The Our Father?  Sure, although I'm not sure I'd be confident doing a solo in front of an audience. 

Phyllis is not a believer, but that doesn't mean she wasn't brought up in a church. And Psalm 23 is one of the most famous passages in the Bible, constantly being quoted.  In previous episodes, it's seemed that Phyllis was respectful toward others' faith even though she rejected it for herself. I thought it was right in character for her, and also very moving, that she joined in when Tom couldn't continue.