Let Us Now Praise The Real Hero Of 'Call The Midwife'
At the close of its first season, Call The Midwife let Nurse Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), its putative protagonist, reach a kind of closure on her multi-episode-spanning storyline. But even though the season finale fleshed out the circumstances behind the heartbreak that brought Nurse Jenny to Nonnatus House, the payoff on her story could not compete with that of her fellow midwife, Chummy -- inarguably the season's true hero.
Granted, Jenny's story aims for tragic yearning. What we knew before last night was that Jenny had come to Nonnatus House after a romantic disappointment, involving a man who could not be hers. The season finale confirms what one suspected, as Gerald (heard on the phone, seen only from behind as a head and a hand, his voice not even credited) intones, "We broke two hearts for the sake of one." Jenny is clearly conflicted about the possibility of continuing their relationship -- though she's been exercising self-denial all season, the finale finds her taking the affirmative step of phoning Gerald herself -- but then Mrs. Gerald picks up, and she obviously knows what's up because Gerald hears about the wrong number and totes knows it was Jenny. Unfortunately, knowing that she might be interested in picking back up again doesn't change anything for him. "You're still married," says Jenny when Gerald calls her back. "I'm always going to be still married," he says. Jimmy (George Rainsford) may not be a viable romantic alternative, as far as Jenny's concerned, but she does end the episode realizing that Gerald is off the table.
And why? Because she is inspired by the sweetness and purity of Chummy and Peter's true love, obviously!
The Chummy (Miranda Hart) storyline makes me wish I could have watched the whole first season with a British person, because I suspect that the class stuff inherent in an ultra-toff working in the East End was, largely, beyond my modern North American ken. But the season finale laid it all out in a way no one could possibly mistake, with the arrival of Chummy's mother, Lady Browne (Cheryl Campbell). We know how proud Chummy is of Peter (Ben Caplan) if she dared to mention him, even in passing, in a letter to Lady Browne -- it seems likely that he is the first gentleman caller she's ever entertained -- and the fact that she even tries to bring him into her family fold suggests how much more independent she's become since she's been working at Nonnatus House. But even a teatime's contact with her mother destroys it, leaving her pondering not only leaving Peter but giving up on men altogether by taking holy orders: "It's a lonely life, or at least a peaceful one. Rules and all that. So many roads one doesn't have to go down." Fortunately, a timely encounter with Cathy (Tina O'Brien), the patient of the week, gives her hope that love is real -- and offers a convenient pretext for her to remove her midwife uniform dress so that she can show up at the police station in nothing but her slip (under her raincoat). Love makes Chummy bold enough not only to stand up to her mother but to delight in scandalizing her: when Lady Browne comes around on the wedding and asks to buy Chummy a gown, Chummy counters that she will marry in a skirt suit instead. "As you wish," says Lady Browne. "As long as it's white." "Sorry," Chummy grins. "No longer entitled." OHHHHHHH SHIT! Chummy is the best.
The other continuing storyline to receive resolution in the season finale was that of Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt). For an actor of Parfitt's stature, a role as a nun whose senile dementia has caused her to shoplift is the British version of an Emmy play (a BAFTA play, I guess), but it's taken up so little space over the course of the season that for it to pay off with a big trial seems an unearned excuse for Mother Jesu (Kika Markham) to appear and not just save the day by revealing that the most valuable items Sister Monica Joan seems to have stolen -- the jewels Jenny found in her dresser -- were actually the sister's property all along -- but to deliver a season-summarizing speech to explain why she gave the pieces back to Sister Monica Joan, who was disowned from her family when she took orders but inherited the jewellery when her mother died: "Sometimes in extremis, our past trials rise, and cause us pain. I am a nurse, and a midwife; I will always seek to ease distress." Thanks, Mother. We get it.
The series premiere of Call The Midwife attracted record ratings in the U.K., earning it a quick Season 2 renewal; there will also be a Christmas special to face off against Downton Abbey's (er, I like Midwife and everything, but...come on). But if marriage means that Chummy gives up midwifery, I will riot.