Call the Midwife season 8 finale preview: Saying goodbye

Following tonight’s more-than-likely emotional Call the Midwife episode (is there any other kind?), next week marks the season 8 forever. This is the temporary dropping of the curtain and a tangible chance to save farewell to the denizens of Poplar until, more than likely, Christmas Day. It’s a long time to go without Trixie, Shelagh, and many of our other favorites, but anticipation is a part of life. So is birth, and so is death.

Call the Midwife is a series of beginnings and endings — that has always been there, and it remains fascinating to see the dichotomy of the two different themes clashing. Characters do their best to help young parents prepare for their new arrivals, and occasionally, they help others say goodbye. The latter is not prevalent in every episode, but there are occasions in which it, and death itself, rears its head. That will be coming on BBC One next week. This is a story where we see characters prepare to say goodbye but in a wider array of means than you would first guess. There’s the farewell until the afterlife, and then also another one specified in the Call the Midwife season 8 finale synopsis:

Sister Hilda digs deep to give her terminally-ill patient her final wish whilst the Turners must prepare to say goodbye to May. Fred and Reggie are keeping secrets from each other.

For Dr. Turner and Shelagh, this goodbye is different. May, fingers crossed, is not set to pass away. She’s just departing for a new opportunity, hopefully, one where she can have a happy, prosperous life after they did their part to foster her. It’s a new experience for Dr. Turner and his wife — they have welcomed new arrivals into their home, but they are not used to seeing one exit in such a way. This could prove tough for the two.

Of course, then there is the meta goodbye for us as viewers, a chance to wave “see you later” to the series for (fittingly, given the subject matter) the next nine or so months.

As for Fred and Reggie’s storyline…

What can you say? So much of it is based on context. Reggie is often used as a source for either lighthearted drama or comedic relief, and such could be the case here for what may otherwise prove to be a dark, weighty hour of television. We don’t want to draw any assumptions, though, or set ourselves up for potential heartbreak when the episode airs.

Still, we do think that Call the Midwife absolutely does need those moments of happiness and joy. We as viewers need reminders that the entire world is not a black cloud and that there are those tiny droplets of love and comfort even within the darkest of days. If they are not in the Reggie/Fred storyline, maybe they are elsewhere.

What’s next for Valerie Dyer

Will she report the backstreet clinic, and the work of her own Gran? That was suggested within the promo that aired following tonight’s episode, and it is certainly something that will challenge her.

Want some more information regarding Call the Midwife?

Then remember to check out the archive page at this link! There will be a review there for season 8 episode 7 the moment it wraps up on BBC One.

What are your expectations for Call the Midwife and its season 8 finale, and are you sad already about the idea of it concluding? Share now in the comments. (Photo: BBC.)