I
picked up this British period drama a couple years ago on Netflix. I’d heard good things about it, and after An Adventure in Space and Time, I was
definitely pro-Jessica Raine, who played the amazing Verity Lambert there and
plays the initial audience-viewpoint character Jenny here. It started slow for me, but before long, I
was all in.
In
1957, Jenny Lee, newly trained as a midwife, arrives in London’s East End to
serve the residents of the working-class neighborhood. She lives at Nonnatus House, an Anglican
convent, with her fellow nurses and a number of medically-trained nuns. Jenny and the other women at Nonnatus enter expectant
and new mothers’ homes when they’re at their most vulnerable, guiding them
through their struggles, encouraging them through their fears, and sharing with
them in both their joy and heartbreak.
The midwives are privy to everything from the most terrifying medical
complications to the most intimate secrets, and it’s their job to remain strong
and calm throughout, showing compassion rather than condemnation.
Call the Midwife is what I’d call a “Kleenex
show.” SIDS, severe congenital disabilities,
spouse abuse, post-partum depression, abject poverty, mid-century racism,
criminal negligence, social outcasting – nothing is off the table, and that’s
before you take into account some of the past and present trials endured by the
midwives themselves. It’s not always sad, but it’s always touching
(moments of pure happiness and resilience in the face of immense struggles can
be just as affecting as the tragic parts,) and its ability to “get you right in
the feels” just might be unparalleled on television. Certain episodes of other shows might wreck
me more, but this one probably wrecks me the most consistently.
All the
main characters are terrific. Though the
series starts with Jenny at its center, it quickly morphs into an ensemble show,
and I love basically all of them. Even
midwives that I was unsure about at first – I was initially a little meh on
Trixie (blasphemy, I know,) and I wasn’t sure what to make of Nurse Crane – have
rapidly grown in my estimation (Trixie rocks, and this past season, Nurse Crane
might have become one of my favorites.)
Each of these women is richly multifaceted, with her own strength and
fragility, and this is one of the few shows out there that can handle major
cast departures (permanent, temporary, or switching from regular to recurring) without
taking a hit. Whenever a new midwife is
brought in, she’s soon established as someone who genuinely brings something
different to the show, with no sense that she’s the “new” whoever left; she’s
always her own person.
Lastly,
much love for how the series deals with religion, particularly in light of all
the scandalous stuff the midwives see in their work on the East End. The nuns are never judgmental toward their
patients, no matter what they’ve done, and they regularly turn to prayer to
help them through difficult times. Very
respectfully done.
Warnings
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