Day Three Hundred and Forty-four - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 6, "Oh, Chummy, you're a delightful bride~"

It's been a long while since I watched any Call the Midwife, probably because there is only so much I can take in regards to my heartstrings being pulled. Still, today's a busy day and I needed something familiar, but not recent... shortish, but not too brief... and proven, not untested. So, Call the Midwife it is, and this episode features the trial of dementia-ridden Sister Monica Joan for theft and Chummy wrestles with the class differences between her and her beau, PC Noakes.

It's a hard thing to watch a dear character fall under both suspicion and illness. Sister Monica Joan's deterioration leaves her prey of both as she's caught filching knick-knacks from the market and accused to swiping quite a bit of expensive jewelry as well. Watching her begin to doubt herself is almost as painful as the pained looks she gets from her adopted family at Nonnatus House.

Conversely, it's not at all difficult to watch Chummy deal with her own issues. When her prim and proper mother comes to visit and finds her dating well below her station, it puts quite a bit of strain on her and PC Noakes' relationship such that she decides to break the whole thing off. It requires being taken into confidence by a desperate young mother living in squalor to become brave enough to take the plunge and defy her mother's wishes... and quite handsomely, too, dutifully informing her that a white wedding dress would no longer be appropriate (ooo, such scandal)!

As for Jenny Lee, herself, she has to come to terms with the intense feelings that she holds for her previous lover and the ramifications of the affair on her present life. Does she reach out for what her heart truly wants... or does she hold back from becoming a married man's mistress? The drama is mildly amped by the fact that her long time crush (well, one-sided on his part anyway), Jimmy, returns to help her (and Sister Monica Joan) in an hour of need.

As the series has worn on, while I still enjoy all of its period nostalgia and remembrances, I think the only things that keep me coming back anymore are the brief moments of character drama with Chummy. I can't find myself all that interested in Jenny Lee's love troubles, and just about every other character is simply static, even if the writers try and show a measure of roundness to everyone. While it's quality television, watching poor young mothers in urban London smoke or drink or live in terrible conditions, it all just loses its shock value after a while and I find myself a bit bored. That said, I'll probably always come back for Miranda Hart's portrayal of the ever awkward and sweet Chummy. There's just something so endearing about her drive, naivete, and innocence. It's almost (dare I say) moe.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-seven - Dr.Who: Series 2, Episodes 8-11, "BINGE WATCHING HOOO~"

I think, if I'm going to make any progress towards finishing the seasons currently on Netflix before the year is out, I'm definitely going to have to marathon the series to even come close. Which brings us to our first entry in our December Doctor push which feature homicidal televisions, the Devil, and vlogging.

Fresh off their victory over the Cybermen in the alternate earth where they left Mickey behind, The Doctor and Rose head to 1950's England to witness the coronation of QE2 (monarch, not cruise ship) and run afoul of a sentient television program who feeds off of the electrical activity of the people who watch... THE WIRE... which, for some reason takes their faces off as well.

Of course, during the episode, Rose manages to get blank-faced as well, but don't worry, The Doctor manages to save the day and re-visage both his companion and the entire populace of face-eaten Northenders, not to mention free a family from an abusive father figure and collaborate with the local constabulary.

"Huuuuunnngggrrrryyyy." Bleh. -3 Points. Rose potentially dying a Blank-face? +4 Points. Deus Ex'd Human again? -3 Points.

Next, is another two-parter which pits the Doctor and the last surviving researchers of a black hole and the mysteriously powerful gravity well that is keeping a planet in stable orbit where it really, really, really shouldn't be. It appears that there is something very dark and ominous buried deep under the planet... something that The Doctor just cannot believe to be true... THE DEVIL! Cue mysterious body tattoos, possession, murder, and the mind control of a sentient slave race (the morality of which are only briefly lampshaded) who are used against the humans (and timelord) in an attempt to free THE DEVIL from his eternal prison.

CGI Devil? +1 Point. Doctor having to confront said Devil and waffling over whether or not to defeat him at the cost of Rose (who is, of course, Deus Ex saved at the last second)? -3 Points.

Finally is a single episode which mostly doesn't feature The Doctor at all, as he and Rose only briefly show up in the life of a young Vlogger who is chasing after Doctor sightings thanks to all of the events that have happened during the course of the modern series. A twenty/thirtysomething wastrel named Elton goes about chronicling his brushes with The Doctor and finds several like-minded people... who give him a family. That is, of course, until a domineering personality inserts himself into the group and takes over for his own reasons, while Elton's new family slowly starts disappearing.

I kind of like this one both for it's unique storytelling style, the minor personal dramas of the L.I.'nD.A. members, Moaning Myrtle, how little of The Doctor and Rose we actually see, and the Scooby-chase. Always love me a good Scooby-chase.

Less Doctor? +2 Points. Myrtle? +1 Point. Scooby-chase? +5 Points.

End Tally? +4 Points! Fair play to The Doctor, though he really can't claim much credit as it was Elton and L.I.'nD.A. who gave him such a positive lead.

I think I've found a way to survive the show while binge watching. Diablo 3. Some might call it cheating to multitask in such a way, but I find that I can still watch the show (and be annoyed with it) while grinding out rares and seaching for the ever elusive 1k DPS weapons, legendaries, and set pieces. Pretty sure that is going to be my routine for pounding out the series. If anyone has any objections, take it up with my lawyers! Just let me tell you that The Doctor is MUCH more enjoyable this way.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-nine - MST3K: I Accuse My Parents, "Eleanor Roosevelt is PISSED!"

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Joel (though I do love Godzilla vs. Megalon and Cave Dwellers), but I have to say that this is a strangely strong episode from his era.

It might have something to do with the fact that I'm a huuuuuuge lover of shorts. One of my main pleasures in life is winding down the night with a few of the plethora of shorts (educational or news reels) that Mike, Bill, and Kevin over at Rifftrax produce. In this old episode, Joel and the bots watch an interesting little piece about Truck Farming from the 50's. While it's a bit more pointed an issue of late, the plight of immigrant workers, it's kind of fun to watch MST3K lampshade the issue that the serial tries to gloss over.

When the movie gets started proper there's a bit of a downturn due to the fact there's intensely heavy moralizing over drinking and the like, but the guys manage to eek out quite a few one-liners at the expense of the protagonist of I Accuse My Parents, a high schooler who is able to get into night clubs and lie to pretty much every one he meets over the condition of his home life (his parents are bitter lushes).

With a parade of squeaky-clean-looking, but painfully corrupt and awkward ne'erdowells, IAMP is a cautionary tale that seems to be made by uptight church-going folk who really have no idea what nightclubs, loose women, and criminals are like. It's even accidentally hilarious without the commentary from the MSTie crew... not unlike Reefer Madness, in that regard.

I'm a bit confused as to why this is all the fault of the parents, considering the dark lengths film villain Charlie goes to in order to ruin the young loverbird's life, but whatever. At least Joel and the Bots are on my side in that regard. What's even sadder is how everything is just fine and dandy at the religious diner. No questions, room and board, all for the cost of a church-going existence. Talk about your moralizing... and at such a late stage in the movie, too.

There has to be a school or genre that films like this fall into, but I'll be damned if I can make the connection. I honestly think the only thing missing is a pair of hard boiled G-men out to squash the lowlives and pontificate on the woes of misspent youth... but, at least, there's the hilarious scam check from the second club that is populated with Filet Mignon and Lobster Dinners.

As far as the inbetweener sketches, I really liked Gypsy recreating romantic interest Kitty's song routine... but not so much for the Mads, as much as I like TV's Frank and Dr.Forrester, their invention and ending bits aren't all that thrilling.

At the end of the day, MST3K:IAMP is yet another fun ride with my only wish being that the ENTIRETY of the series was available instead of these five or six episode rotations that flow through on a quarterly basis.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-six - MST3K: The Beginning of the End, "Yay! More Riffs on Netflix!"

It's hard to imagine that Peter Graves was in a giant grasshopper movie back in the 50's.

Well, wait. Actually, it isn't that hard to imagine Peter Graves in a giant grasshopper movie in the 50's. After all, his Airplane co-star Leslie Nielsen was similarly in another 50's era B-movie scifi classic: Forbidden Planet.

Still, I think Leslie got the better end of the deal... and Graves more than made up for this drek during his tenure as Mr.Phelps on the Mission:Impossible series. Cheese, to be sure, but classy cheese.

Anyways, The Beginning of the End has Graves staring as a bug scientist who is assisting a deaf-mute plant scientist in growing overly large strawberries and tomatoes in the hopes of ending world hunger. Sure, you can't eat their efforts yet, what with the fact that they're fertilized with radioactive manure (no, seriously), but they have high hopes for the future... if it wasn't for the fact that some of the locusts that fed off of the giant plants are themselves muting and turning into giant, town-destroying people eaters!

RUN! It's the INVASION OF THE GIANT GRASSHOPPERS! Somebody find those industrious ants to hurry along the coming of winter and freeze the evil, lazy grasshoppers out! No pity food for you this year, slacker!

It's sad... I had such high hopes for the intrepid female reporter lead, but she takes a side-seat to Peter Graves' scientist role almost the moment he shows up twenty minutes into the film. What's the point of setting up an independent, smart, adventurous woman if you're just going to foist her off in favor of a stereotyped dominant male? It's depressing how easily they fall for each other, embracing tenderly whenever things look grim in the last half hour in between moments of bravado and SCIENCE on behalf of Graves.

Harrumph.

This is an early Mike episode and you can tell that he's still trying to find his way around his main host duties. Still, even his weak start is better than most of Joel's best, but that's a matter of opinion and taste. I'm sure there are plenty of Joel fans who think I have none of those, so there you go.

There's not much to say about the inbetweeners as they're pretty lame (also, my opinion), The Mads try to combat the impression that they're sissy boys who are worried about their figures and waiting for women-oriented talk shows to come on by throwing on "the game" and boxing each other. Not all that funny, really. And then there's Tom Servo's stand up comedy routine that doesn't even make me crack a smile, and Crow's fifteen act play about Peter Graves which is just Peter Graves narrating his life while letting you know every other line that he's Peter Graves. Peter Graves? Peter Graves. Yes, there IS such a thing as too on the nose and that skit managed it.

While it's not the best episode of MST3k, it's not terrible. I'd certainly watch it over Doctor Who (and DID). By the by, happy early 50th anniversary, Doc. Maybe I'll watch you again tomorrow and finish up that Cybermen two-parter from yesterday.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-nine - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 5, "Love Is."

It's been yet another month since I watched any Call the Midwife, so I felt it was about time... especially since it seems that Season 2 just hit the Instant Stream and I'm going to have to catch up on those so my mother and I can trade notes.

A bit of a difficult one to watch, this one was, as Jenny Lee is once again confronted with a situation almost too hard to bear... this time with a middle-aged brother and sister whose relationship is too close for comfort.

Peggy, the cleaning lady at the Nonnatus House, grew up in the workhouses of near-myth... horrible, Dickensian conditions that separated her from her brother. When they finally found each other again in adulthood, the two were much changed and only able to find solace in one another. This fact at first repels Jenny Lee, but over time and witnessing both the declining health of the cancer-ridden Frank and the true warmth that both Frank and Peggy have for each other, at least comes to a certain acceptance.

The main plot, at the very least, serves as a nice contrast to Jenny Lee's own love woes as she's actively courted by Jimmy despite receiving a phone call from her mysterious past suitor who left her heartbroken. It's a bit difficult to be sympathetic to Jenny Lee's personal problems as she seems far to selfish and self-righteous when it comes to her love life, a bit of a tragic figure of her own making. Still, her personal drama is entertaining, if not depressing.

The not quite skinny-dipping party is a little fun as they're all trespassing in their slips and underwear and boxers, risque (and somewhat criminal) for PBS, but an interesting look at the dating rituals of the age... especially in comparison to nowadays. It's only a bit of a downer when Jenny Lee has an asthma fit after spurning Jimmy yet again.

As always, there's more fun to be found in Chummy's courtship with PC Noakes as she spends pretty much the entire episode fretting over meeting the constable's mother. While it does feel like it's dragging on a bit, it's still cute to see her blossom over the course of the season. Of course, having been inadvertently spoiled already as to their fate, I'm a bit underwhelmed and just want it to get over with, it's still good times in comparison to Jenny Lee.

I think the only subplot that really annoyed me was Fred's sow and her birthing. If I want livestock drama, I'll watch Silver Spoon, thank you very much. Sadly, it's not on Netflix or I would.

Call the Midwife is still the quality series it started off as, even if this particular episode isn't one of the strongest. It always challenges preconceptions and manages to surprise, both in its tragedies and its delights.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-six - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 4, "A familiar face and the tragedy of soulmates."

It's been a while since I last watched Call the Midwife, but that's the beauty of BBC and PBS shows... they often have very short episode counts to their seasons so it's not all that hard to catch up.

This particular episode had quite a few threads running through it that were interesting and pulled at the heart-strings.

For the good, we see more and more of Chummy's (Miranda Hart) courtship with PC Noakes, as well as a small bit of intimacy with Sister Bernadette (Laura Main).

For the ill, however, there are two tales... that of a young mother doomed to a tragic end by eclampsia and an infant who is kidnapped from her stroller with the shadow of suspicion falling on her postpartum suffering mother.

As ever, I absolutely adore Chummy's blossoming. It seems as though I have happily fallen into the same trap as the rest of the fans of the show, as she is absolutely my favorite character and to see her grow into her womanhood is a delight. Much kudos, as usual, to Miranda Hart for her portrayal. Of particular note this episode is the dance sequence where she and PC Noakes flail about ridiculously, enjoying themselves all the way. That's joy... and that's love.

I was also a huge fan of those brief moments with Sister Bernadette. You can obviously see her mild strain and envy towards the midwives as they giggle their way through the mildly bohemian experience of being young, independent, and frisky. It was a surprisingly heartfelt scene when she took off her wimple and let her hair down, however briefly. That longing look at herself in the mirror, reminding herself (or, perhaps, just coming to the realization) that she's still a woman was darn effective... and very reminiscent of a similar scene that I've viewed in Kaoru Mori's Victorian Romance: Emma.

When it comes to the episode's conflicts, the kidnapping was a bit of a stretch, with the acting from the husband and wife coming a bit awkward and somewhat hard to believe, but that might have been for effect, to keep the suspicion on them believable (at least from their fellow characters as the viewer knows that the kidnapping is real). It was good to see Mary (Amy McAllister) again, though, even if she has become a rather convenient villain. It would have been so much easier to make the kidnapper a faceless, anonymous waif, but tying her back to a tragedy from a previous episode reminds us that great pain can force us to insanity.

The second tragedy of the episode evoked quite a bit more emotion from me, probably because it was just pointless, random loss... a cruel twist of fate. Yes, it was nice to see Cynthia (Bryony Hannah) get a bigger part in an episode as she's often relegated to background and supporting roles, but hard to watch her suffer through the loss as she helps a dying patient's husband come to terms with the inevitable.

All in all, Call the Midwife remains a well-crafted period drama that is both entertaining and poignant. Still worth the watch, most assuredly.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Eighty-seven - Mona Lisa Smile, "What is it with me and inspirational coming-of-age stories lately?"

I mean, honestly, you'd think I was depressed.

...

Wait, maybe that's it.

I'm down... so I've started picking feel good, rite of passage movies to assuage the guilt I have for spinning my wheels the last decade or so. I've soured my promise enough such that I feel the need to vicariously steal from the Gyllenhaal family... Jake, yesterday, and Maggie, today.

Mona Lisa Smile stars Julia Roberts as the main lead, but I feel the film is more about Maggie, Julia (Stiles) , Kirsten, and Ginnifer (who play Giselle, Joan, Betty, and Connie, respectively) than their mentor. All prime examples of the WASPy elite of Wellesly College, their prime concern at the start and for the majority of the movie is to land the right husband. Enter Julia (Roberts) as Katherine Ann Watson... a west coast liberal who wants to impart a little art appreciation and a fair amount of feminism.

The film definitely leads you by the nose when it comes to its politics and message. Be it the lesbian nurse who is dismissed for providing Giselle contraception or the snooty alumni board and their opinions on Picasso and Jackson Pollack, there are very clear lines between the "us" and "them" in this film.

I do like that, while many of the hypocrisies and prejudices of pretty much everyone are laid bare, for the most part there are no villains. Sure, Wellesley's president takes a hard line at the direction of the alumni board and Betty's mother is a relic of regressive matrimony, most folks in Mona Lisa Smile are examples of both flaws and facets.

I particularly was fond of Marcia Gay Harden's sedate charm instructor, even if her choices and preferences would make me want to harm myself were they mine... and the same goes for Betty.

Playing a spiteful, elitist... well, bitch, for lack of a better term, for the majority of the film, you cannot help but feel for her as she suffers her own trials and tribulations living out a loveless marriage.

Much props to both Kirsten Dunst for being the on-again/off-again foil for the film and Maggie Gyllenhaal for playing the supportive friend to the very end. That third act blowup between the two was a simple, yet profound, display of pent up rage on both their parts... so much so that I was expecting Giselle to throw everything in Betty's face. When that didn't happen, I wanted to cry in frustration. When I saw what did, I needed to sob all the same.

Yes, the film is heavy-handed with its message and, yes, it's a bit too on the nose all throughout, but it's still pretty decent.

It just lacks the emotional oomph, in much a similar fashion as yesterday's October Sky, that would've made it great. Especially in that last scene where the girls chase after their mentor's departing cab on bicycles, in tears that their favorite teacher is leaving them.

Neither of these films were anywhere close to Dead Poets Society (at least, as I recall, as it's been probably twenty years since I saw that one)... but they give it the old college try. A for effort, C for execution.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Eighty-six - October Sky, "I'm just shocked that it was Jake instead of Tobey."

Alright, let's make an "Inspirational Coming of Age Movie" checklist for October Sky:

• Misfit Blue Collar Teen? Check.
• Stern and Stoic Father Figure? Check.
• Supportive Female Mentor? Check.
• Superfluous Love Interest Who is Totally Wrong For Male Lead? Check.
• Superfluous Love Interest Who is Totally Right, But Not His First Choice? Check.
• Climax Father/Son Bonding Gestures? Double Check.

Seems like everything is in order here... carry on, movie.

Set during the Space Race with Russia in the middle of the Cold War, October Sky follows Jake Gyllenhaal as young Homer Hickam who is the son of the local coal mine foreman and dreams of something better than a life underground. To that end, and inspired by Sputnik high overhead, he and his friends elect to start building rockets.

At first just a fun hobby, their teacher Ms. Riley (Laura Dern) encourages them to enter their rockets in the state science fair with the aim of going to nationals and perhaps getting scholarships so they can leave their tiny coal town behind them.

This whole process doesn't sit well with Homer's father, who is played by gruff character actor Chris Cooper. He discourages and forbids Homer's lofty dreams often and only rarely helps out through discarded materials and the like. Of course this leads to a third act olive branch where the two bond over Union appeasement and de Laval nozzles, but hey... that's Hollywood for you.

Based on a true story, October Sky is your typical Coming of Age schmaltz... but it's still somewhat decent. While it stumbles horribly with it's weak subplots, like Homer's fruitless crush and Ms. Riley's cancer (which comes out of nowhere), the core of the story plays out pretty decently. Sure, it's full of your basic amounts of "Aw shucks" cheese and plucky sticktoitiveness, but they're at acceptably muted levels.

I would say that October Sky is a decent enough movie to show to kids on substitute days in Science Class, much like Clueless or 10 Things I Hate About You could be a good way to get English Class kids into Jane Austen or Shakespeare, but it doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to great cinema. It's good, but not superb in any way.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Eighty-four - Sabrina, "Audrey is beautiful as always, but I just don't feel any chemistry with Bogey."

As much as I like the idea of Audrey breaking down convention and chasing after the man she loves in spite of class difference, I just really can't get behind any of these relationships.

Set in the post-war boom where Bogey and William Holden are the brothers Linus and David (respectively) who are heirs to a great corporate legacy, Audrey plays the chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina, who is madly in love with the playboy David but eventually falls for Linus' stoicism.

It's hard to get behind these characters and their shipping due to the simple fact that David is an utter cad and Linus just can't sell that he has a soul. Oh, sure, Bogey is every bit the gung-ho capitalist who cares nothing for money and is all about productivity for progress' sake, but from the moment he actually tries to falsely woo Hepburn's Sabrina, I just can't believe a single moment of it.

Whether it's his confession of suicidal thoughts or his choice during the climax to tell Sabrina the unvarnished truth, Linus is as thoroughly fake a character as I've ever seen Bogart play.

Maybe it's just the lack of chemistry, as even Audrey's charm wasn't enough to convince me, or maybe its the generation gap, but I was completely unable to suspend my disbelief. Honestly, the only true moment that I felt between them was when Sabrina almost attempted suicide herself in the garage. At least, back then before her life-altering trip to Paris, they weren't trying to scam each other... but that's because their lives didn't depend on getting something from the other.

It's also hard to enjoy the despicable, mercenary attitude of the family. Sure, it's to be expected, but the way the first half of the film tries to make the Larabees come across as progressive and magnanimous, filled to the brim with noblesse oblige, mostly due to Linus' speech on the greater good of capitalism, it feels a bit disingenuous for them to try and shuffle Sabrina off (or just fire her father as the family Patriarch desires).

I do love Audrey (as most people do) for her beauty, wit, and charm... and similarly I'm a huge fan of Bogey both for African Queen and Casablanca, but Sabrina, for all its status as a classic, has no magic aside from the plastic allure of its leads and their reputation. The film, itself, isn't worth the effort.

Quick shout-out to John Williams who plays Sabrina's father. While I much prefer him as the insurance investigator in To Catch A Thief, his spots (while minor) were nice.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Sixty-six - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 3, "Infidelity, Racism... Sometimes Love Surprises."

The bloom couldn't stay on the rose forever, it seems.

That's not entirely fair for me to say as Call The Midwife's third episode, is still pretty darn decent, heavy on quality both in its performances and period flair... it's just that this definitely feels sub-par in comparison to the previous ones.

Maybe it's Jenny Lee's childish revulsion at the state of new patient Joe's flat or the tedious drama of her young male friend's efforts to bum the convent's boiler room for free lodging, but the majority of Jenny Lee's screen time in this episode is boring and uninspired.

When she gets over herself and spends quality time with the old soldier Joe, though, we generally get back to the level that I'm used to from the series so far.

I also really like the B-story and Chummy's personal dramas, both of which manage to stem the downward trend of the A-story's early forced stupidity.

The middle-aged couple carry a wonderful little drama about a first time father and a reluctant mother who isn't in love with her second husband and desperately afraid that the baby wasn't sired by him.

Spoiler alert, the child obviously isn't his, but he loves the little nipper anyway, much to his credit. Sure, it feels a little cheesy as one would normally assume that most expectant fathers confronted with obvious infidelity and spoiled parentage would divorce the woman on the spot, but the man acts against trope so delightfully that I can forgive a bit of incredulity.

And, should it really be me who forgives or should I be the one asking for forgiveness at my horrible cynicism for expecting the worst?

Then there's Chummy.

Always a delight with her awkwardness, it seems this episode focuses on the beginnings of her mating dance with PC Noakes, much to the consternation of Sister Evangelina. It's so desperately cute to see them circle each other with prim politeness. So polite, in fact, that they really never say anything other than "you look well." It's like watching an Austin novel play out ad infinitum, until Sister Evangelina cuts to the chase and brokers a date between them. So moe.

In any case, like I said, this is definitely a weaker entry in the series, but is still entertaining in quite a few respects. Check it out if you haven't already as I definitely recommend it.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Forty-five - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 2, "Some bitterness, some joy."

With this second episode of Call the Midwife, I find myself enjoying the series more and more. While everyone else is gaga for Downton Abbey, I find the more down to earth problems of East End, London to be much more relevant and dramatic.

I'm sure it helps that babies are being born every episode, as those are always tearjerker affairs whether miraculous or tragic, but still... great stuff.

This entry into the series has several interesting plots and subplots, but I think I was most attracted by the addition of upper class midwife (and a bit of a "longshanks"), Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne, who goes by the nickname of "Chummy."

From what I can gather, reading about the series here and there, she's kind of the darling of the show to most folks and it's very easy to see why here. Her manner is always optimistic and kind, she never lets her worries get her down, and she always puts her patients first... even excusing herself so they don't see her nerves showing before a difficult procedure during the latter half of the episode.

Yes, Chummy is a bit of a peculiarity as her manner is more the typically quaint attitude we've come to expect of the kind, overly friendly royals, but through the course of the episode, like Jenny Lee in the one previous, she wins over pretty much everyone.

Including me.

Sadly, not all is so bright and happy though, as Jenny Lee's storyline for the duration is her relationship with a former child prostitute who is pregnant. Much of the episode follows Jenny Lee's successful attempts to get the girl further and further away from her abusers with the help of an activist preacher who runs a home for troubled girls.

Just when you think everything is alright, though, the hard truths are told and the girl cannot keep her new baby, who is taken to be adopted and never seen by her natural mother again. It's a difficult scene to watch, but an honest token of the time.

I love how the episode contrasts both the good and the bad of the NHS and its policies... helping women who could only previously suffer the tragedy of stillborn children get caesarians (and healthy babies) free of charge while offering the other hand which takes a newborn from an unfit mother.

Honestly, the only issue I have is that the pimps don't get their comeuppance. At the very least, I wanted the firebrand preacher to take his fists to the girl's stalker. Grr, I'm mad even thinking about it.

Call the Midwife is definitely worth the watch, so I heartily recommend adding it to your queue if you haven't done so already. Much better than the upstairs/downstairs twaddle of DA, even if it does seem like it's going to be conveniently episodic and only mildly concerned with it's characters' personal arcs.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Thirty-five - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 1, "You never think of the Baby Boom as being difficult..."

...but, I do now.

I've been a bit remiss, meaning to have watched and written about Call the Midwife this past Mother's Day in honor of my own mother, who suggested the series to me a few weeks or so ago... but you know how it is, things come up and the schedule gets packed.

Not that she reads the blog or anything, it's just that we have precious little to bond over since she doesn't do movies much and the books we read are generally miles apart, I wanted this particular entry to be a bit special.

To me, anyway... and it is.

I think in a few weeks or months, I'll probably do the same for Downton Abbey (another of her shows), but I'll probably wait for that one until at least the middle of June, so we have something to talk about to get her mind off of her knee surgery.

Heh.

Anywho, back to Call the Midwife.

Set in the 50's and centering on the trials and tribulations of an idealistic young midwife joining the service in the devastatingly poor East London, this first episode gives Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) a trial by fire as she is confronted both with the sickening conditions of a syphilitic patient and a difficult premature delivery caused by a fall in which the baby is expected to be stillborn.

I love the way it's written both to pull heavily at one's empathy while at the same time challenging the viewer to surrender the very real and visceral self-righteousness that the initial impressions about these mothers can give. The episode is balanced with smart early hostility by mothers and family members in the face of Jenny Lee just trying to do her job (and cracking under the pressure) to actual bonding and understanding by the end of the day.

Where there should be tragedy, there is... but there are also moments of hope. Sure, not every situation comes out alright in the end but, despite the losses, you end up feeling all the better about both the series and the world.

I also like the color palette here where everything is generally washed out and pale, simulating the haze of a period piece (plus, you know, all the fog). Whoever does their art and set direction did a bang up job, I think. Hopefully it will be maintained throughout the series.

Really, my only complaint would be that Vanessa Redgrave only narrates. Seeing her name in the credits made me think she'd be on screen, but apparently only her voice inhabits the role of the elder Jenny Lee recalling the series as her personal history. Effective, but still a bit disappointing she doesn't make an appearance.

Call the Midwife can definitely be a tearjerker, if this first episode is any indication, but I look forward to seeing the rest of the series... I'm just wondering how they can keep the tension, with all the required ups and downs, coming without relying on forced contrivances. It's a BBC drama, though... and they generally know what they're doing.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~