‘Call the Midwife’ season 3, episode 4 review (PBS): About the Jenny / Alec shocker

“Call the Midwife” is a show that tells many emotional stories, but over the past two and a half seasons, has it really been known so much for its surprises? (Warning: There are major spoilers ahead. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, then come back later!)

The biggest surprise of season 3 came to pass tonight, as Alec’s accident prior to the trip to Brighton ended up taking his life. We reviewed the entire episode earlier this year, so rather than go through every element, we want to mostly address this singular event and what it means.

The biggest thing here is how this impacts Jenny. Alec hasn’t been a part of every episode of the show, and Jessica Raine’s character wasn’t even that serious about him for a long time. But still, losing someone you still view as important to your life cannot be discounted in any way. Given that Jenny has decided to take some time away from Nonnatus in the wake of what happened, the impact is immediate … and will also impact the series in a pretty significant way. (We’ll have more soon on what that impact will be.)

But the thing that was almost as surprising as the death of Alec was how the producers decided to edit the story. You never saw Alec die on-camera, and the news was instead told to Jenny after the fact. Was that supposed to soften the blow for us as viewers? That didn’t work, mostly because we, like Jenny, would have much preferred to have some sort of emotional conclusion to the story than just be told that something happened off-camera. But, that’s “Call the Midwife” in a nutshell. Sometimes its subtlety works in its favor, and other times, it leaves you wanting so much more.

What did you think on Sunday’s “Call the Midwife” episode, and did you see the death of Alec coming? Share below, and click here to see some more news related to the show (including a preview for the next episode). Also, sign up to get some further TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: PBS