You Just Never Know What Part Of Call The Midwife Is Going To Make You Cry

Guys, even in the annals of Call The Midwife, this week's episode is a lot. In the A-plot, Sister Julienne and Trixie add an unusual stop to their rounds, treating three pregnant inmates at a women's prison. Stella -- in whom Sister Julienne takes a personal interest because she's trying to prove she's not unfit so her baby won't be taken into foster care, and thus is trying to teach herself to read on the sly -- insists that she's pregnant with her fiancé Joe's baby, but when that turns out not to be true (and by the way, was I the only one waiting for the reveal that her baby's actual father was the cute prison chaplain?), Sister Julienne briefly turns on her, but of course ends up saving the day by finding Stella a job at a hospital that comes with room, board, and on-site day care. And Trixie...gets lice. The B-plot finds poor Shelagh pretty sure that having not had her period in twelve weeks doesn't mean she's pregnant because she hasn't had any other symptoms, and it turns out she's right: she's infertile due to her tuberculosis. And when the excessively vain Kathleen -- who lets herself get hideous varicose veins rather than let her husband see her in support hose -- finally gives birth, it's to a gigantic baby, and the scream she emits when these fuckers come out...

...is a sound I will never forget as long as I live. The point is: our ladies are dealing with hardcore shit, this week (and always).

But in the middle of all this: it's Chummy's birthday. Fred has gotten cheap tickets to a performance of My Fair Lady in the West End, and at Nonnatus House, the young ladies are getting ready for a lovely night out. Trixie puts on the original cast album (Julie Andrews!), hands around cocktails (though it's Campari, and she's the only one who likes it), and we get to see how the midwives dress for the occasion. Of course Trixie's in a foxy sheath in a metallic-accented tweed; Jenny's in a sweet, silky yellow fit-and-flare; and poor Cynthia's in a somewhat dowdy shirtdress, but it's clear she's doing her best, and if she hasn't had a bombshell makeover yet, I think we can all agree that's on Trixie.

Then Chummy enters! Everyone's pleased to see the birthday girl, but they're also surprised, because they'd thought they were going to meet her and Peter at the theatre. She explains: "Peter was an absolute dear, and secretly asked Mrs. Torpy if she'd come early. He knows it's the getting-ready part I've missed the most."

And that's when I lost it, you guys! Because it just feels so true! Jenny and Trixie's room is so warm and homey, with evidence of several minutes' (maybe hours') chat and debate about what they were each going to wear lying around in the form of discarded garments. Even if the Campari is nasty, it's pink and bright and it's a little scandalous that they're drinking it at all so close to a bunch of nuns. And even though Chummy's obviously in the middle of having a very happy life -- she's missing lipstick as she arrives because she's learned from bitter experience that she can't apply it mid-nappy change -- it's a balm for her to get back with her girls and let Trixie reconnect Chummy with her "inner glamour puss."

As Trixie sees Jenny and Chummy take their beaux' arms, Trixie looks a little stricken...

...but then Cynthia hooks her arm through Trixie's, and Trixie perks up again.

And I think it's Chummy's surprise appearance that helps sell the reaction: as much as Trixie may want a steady fellow, the show never stints on showing how much love and strength and happiness the midwives -- and the nuns, frankly -- derive from their friendships with one another. The women aren't just standing in now for the husbands who will occupy them later: Chummy's birthday treat shows that belonging to a community of women will always be important to her, and probably to them all.

All that said, I would be remiss if I didn't commemorate the OTHER moment that ALSO made me cry.

DAMMIT, SHOW. STOP SITTING ON MY HEART.