‘Call the Midwife’ season 5, episode 2 review: Barbara arranges an early delivery

There are several different types of episodes on “Call the Midwife.” There are the ones that are at least somewhat uplifting, the ones that are bittersweet, and then also the ones that effectively pull out your heart and then stomp on it.

Sunday night’s episode was definitely the latter, as Barbara had to find a way to help out a husband and wife in extreme peril. Mrs. Beckett was set to give birth to a new child, but her husband Johnny was suffering and unable to provide the support the family needed. At first, it appeared as though he was lazy, drunk, or disinterested in keeping his job at the docks going; however, what we learned soon after that was that he was actually suffering from leukemia. He only had days to live, and they had to ensure that he got to see his child before he passed.

All of this was difficult, heart-wrenching, and emotional to watch, but in the end we do feel like it was important for Charlotte Ritchie’s character moving forward to understand her own strength, and how she can help those in dire need. The wife was offered some money to help her future with the child, and Barbara got some valuable experience that she can take moving into the future. The rest of the episode pales somewhat to this story, mostly because it dominated the screen time and also because it was emotional.

Was this somewhat frustrating given that there was no major story thread we see mattering in a few weeks time? Sure, but this is also “Call the Midwife,” and these are stories we have come to expected. Often, not everything does matter in the grand scheme of things other than showcasing the reality of this world. Grade: B+.

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