Last week we had a secession, an engagement party, and an exorcism: not too shabby for a season premiere! This time, we meet a brand new arrival in town with an unusual backstory: she’s just been released from a psychiatric facility. And if you think that’s the most dramatic thing we’ll see this episode, don’t fret: Vi is organizing a flower festival as her final act as mayor, and needs everything to go perfectly.
Anyway, back to our new arrival, Arlene. Trixie is annoyed that the hospital where Arlene was staying didn’t give our pals a heads up so that they could prepare. Arlene has been diagnosed with manic depression, which is being treated with lithium. Because of these factors, the psychiatric team has decided that Arlene should have her baby at St. Cuthberts. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have taken Arlene’s mental health or happiness into account.
Meanwhile, Phyllis is helping a patient named Zeta who’s from Cyprus, a country which (historical spoiler alert) is only a couple of years away from a major military conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Zeta and her husband happen to be Greek and Turkish, respectively, but right now she’s got bigger problems: she’s pregnant and has tested positive for thrush and gonorrhea.
Sister Veronica: Poor thing! What is WRONG with these men?
Great question, Sister. Great question. Over at St. Cuthberts, Arlene has been informed that she’ll need to be admitted for two weeks following labor, and won’t be allowed to breastfeed, even though she wants to, because there is a concern that the lithium would pass to her baby.
Arlene: Hang on: lithium isn’t safe for the baby? And I’m taking it right now?
St. Cuthberts Doc: We don’t know, and we don’t want to risk it. Hence the not breastfeeding.
Doc, not sure you thought this through, because I have a feeling Arlene is suddenly a lot more worried about what her meds might be doing to her baby in utero, and thus a lot less interested in taking those meds. No surprises here: when Arlene gets home, she throws out her lithium.
Totally unrelated to babies, Sister Veronica checks in with a group of students at a vaccination clinic followup when one of the lads pulls her aside for a personal medical issue. As he very aptly puts it, when he urinates it’s “like I’m peeing glass.”
Also not good? Zeta’s reaction to Phyllis’ explanation of how gonorrhea spreads. She insists that she’s only ever had sex with her husband, and that he is also monogamous. Obviously this is headed for an unpleasant conversation later, but first, the priority is treating Zeta’s infection, because gonorrhea can infect a baby’s eyes if untreated.
Later, Zeta asks her husband how he got gonorrhea, and he’s predictably unhappy about being accused of philandering. He DID move to London a few months before his wife, which makes her suspicious, but he admits to nothing. Unfortunately, Zeta’s not the only one dealing with a surprise STI: remember that kid who felt like he was peeing glass? Dr. Turner is 90% sure he also has gonorrhea.
Across town, Trixie makes her first home visit to see Arlene, who is living in pretty Poplar-typical housing (that is to say, not very nice). Despite this, Arlene has done some decorating, painting a lovely elephant on the wall. She explains that she’s always been artistic, just like her sister, who is deceased.
Trixie: Ok, here’s the deal: I have some questions based on the info we got from your hospital.
Arlene: Ugh, I guess I should have told you I was institutionalized.
Trixie: I mean, I’m your midwife, so more information is always good. But if you’re worried I’ll judge you, don’t be. You’re not my first single mum!
Arlene: Can you go through my list of questions with me? I’m worried about a LOT of things!
Trixie: Oh, for sure. But first: I brought you some supplements that may help counteract any nausea from your medicine.
Arlene: Will THESE hurt the baby?
Trixie, hopefully noting the tone of that question: No, definitely not.
Ready for some light drama? It’s flower time, and right away, there is controversy. Vi has neglected to invite the homeless shelter to contribute an arrangement, which has Rosalind (who’s taken over volunteering there as Cyril’s gotten more busy with his job) miffed. Despite being offered prime showcase real estate, Sister Julienne isn’t sure Team Nonnatus can contribute anything major (they’re underfunded and overworked, after all).
Sister Monica Joan: Speak for yourself. *I* have no job and infinite free time. I’ll do the flowers.
Cannot WAIT to see what she cooks up. Meanwhile, at the homeless shelter, Rosalind tells Cyril that she thinks their residents would be happier if they could be more integrated into the community. Perhaps by arranging some flowers, for instance? Cyril is intrigued. So much so that neither of them notice two of their residents starting a tussle in the next room. Cyril jumps into the fray to pull them apart, but it’s Rosalind’s teacher voice that really shuts the fight down. After, while Rosalind takes care of cuts on one resident’s face, she gently asks what’s going on with him. He’s got a predictably tragic backstory, having lost his wife and child in a house fire. And unfortunately, because of this fight, he’s likely going to lose his place at the shelter. Just super sad all around.
The next day, Dr. Turner assembles a team to start contact tracing gonorrhea in the community. The obvious challenge: they’re going to have to ask a lot of people a lot of very personal questions, and some of these conversations are going to lead to relationship issues. Nevertheless, this is critical work, so Shelagh and Miss Higgins head out to start knocking on doors. Miss Higgins, bless her, is the one to visit Zeta’s home, not to speak to their existing patient, but to try and bring her husband in for testing and a questionnaire. This… does not go well, and he kicks her out pretty much immediately.
Shelagh, who’s been dispatched to speak to the teen patient, has slightly better luck. It turns out that he may have been infected at his brother’s bachelor party, when the whole group visited a brothel. This tip leads to an incredibly uncomfortable Miss Higgins visiting said establishment to attempt to find the sex worker who their teen patient visited. The manager? Not very helpful, but that’s not stopping Miss Higgins, who is eventually directed to a room where she meets a woman she knows from clinic: Mrs. Roundtree. Miss Higgins is, understandably, horrified, but not because she judges Mrs. Roundtree: because she had no idea their patient needed help. At first, Mrs. Roundtree is adamant that she won’t come in for testing, because she’s eager to hide her profession from the rest of our friends. But after some cajoling from Miss Higgins, she finally agrees.
Mrs. Roundtree: Here’s the problem though: none of the other girls here will come in.
Miss Higgins: Then why don’t we bring the clinic here? We can test and treat you all!
Smart! Meanwhile, Trixie looks in on Arlene to teach her some infant care basics. Arlene is still VERY concerned about being a normal mother, and worried that her baby will be sick. So much so that she turns down Trixie’s offer of medicine to help her sleep. Her reasoning? She takes too many medicines already. We of course know that that’s not quite true, but Trixie is none the wiser. The effect of being off her medication starts to show after Trixie leaves. Arlene begins to behave erratically, and heads out to buy a bunch of paint, which she uses to chaotically expand her mural later that evening when she’s unable to sleep.
Across town, Rosalind tracks down the gentleman who was kicked out of the shelter for fighting earlier in the episode, Ted. He’s going to be allowed to come back! Why? Because she told the powers that be that she needed his help for the flower arrangement (he used to be a window dresser, and is actually very qualified for this task). Ted seems pretty happy to go along with this plan, but later, Cyril pulls Rosalind aside to give her some advice: Ted’s going through a lot, and he may flake on the flower stuff. Try not to take it personally.
While they deal with a flower arrangement, Miss Higgins returns to the brothel to hear some horrifying stories of abusive clients from the sex workers. Unfortunately, they don’t know the names of any of their clients, so our friends are working off descriptions alone. The good news? One of the worst clients, a foreman, has a noticeable scar which Dr. Turner is pretty sure could only come from a splenectomy: a procedure that’s unusual enough that they might be able to find this unsavory man through his medical record.
Meanwhile, Arlene has arrived at one of the team’s baby classes and is exhibiting some unusual behavior. Enough that not only Trixie and Joyce notice: the other mums do too. After class, Trixie checks in on her client, who bristles at Trixie’s trademark “sweetie.”
Joyce, watching Arlene storm out: Something is not right with her. When’s your next visit?
Trixie: Tomorrow.
Tomorrow can’t come soon enough, I fear. But before we return to Arlene, Shelagh and Miss Higgins ambush the mean spleenless foreman at work, explaining that they are extremely willing to inform the police of his illegal field trips to a brothel, and that he better agree to get all his guys tested AND never go back. He’s smart enough to be intimidated by the dynamic duo, and tells all his workers to do as they’ve asked… including, as it happens, Zeta’s husband, who sheepishly explains what happened.
Zeta’s husband: You have to understand, our families really did not want us to be together. They sent me here so we’d be separated, and I thought I’d never see Zeta again. I only went once, hoping it would help me forget her. But then a few days later Zeta arrived! I had gotten medicine, so I thought I was cured. I never meant to hurt her.
Miss Higgins: You’re hurting her now by refusing to get tested.
As always, Miss Higgins is spot on: when Zeta’s husband gets home from work, he finds his wife in labor. Why didn’t she call him earlier? Because she doesn’t trust him right now. He decides to tell her the truth right away, which is a bold move, and very unappreciated by Zeta. Later, at the maternity home, Phyllis does her best to console her patient while also delivering a baby. Despite her heartbreak, Zeta’s baby boy is born without incident.
Meanwhile, across town, Trixie arrives at Arlene’s flat, and comes in to find that Arlene has painted what she thinks is a beautiful jungle scene, but what looks to us like a massive, disjointed, and incomprehensible mess. This, combined with Arlene shoving Trixie, tips our friend off to the fact that her patient has stopped taking her medication. Arlene is also, it seems, in labor. This is a rather serious situation, so Trixie tells Arlene not to move and leaves to get Dr. Turner. Unfortunately, after she goes, Arlene locks and barricades the door behind her.
When Dr. Turner arrives to find Trixie locked out, the two find a boarded up window at the back and essentially break into Arlene’s flat. She yells at them to go away, but since she’s literally seconds away from having her baby and in the middle of a manic episode, Trixie doesn’t stop until she’s able to gently convince Arlene to let them help her. Arlene’s baby’s head comes out fine, but they have to help her change positions multiple times before they’re finally able to deliver the baby. In the end, Arlene’s daughter comes out just fine, and everyone takes some time for Arlene to hold her baby before they go to the hospital, where Dr. Turner has a tough conversation ahead of him. While nobody wants Arlene to be separated from her baby, she’s also clearly unwell, and might benefit from going back to the psychiatric hospital.
Across town, Vi finds Fred sprucing up some flowers for the show. She’s had an unpleasant phone call: the incoming mayor has just told her that he’s quite sick, and she’s been asked to take on a second term. Fred, who as we know isn’t a huge fan of the pomp and circumstance that comes with his wife’s office, tries his best to be excited.
Vi: I’m so tired. We both are. I’ll have to say no.
Later, Cyril arrives at the shelter to find Rosalind there… alone. Despite his initial excitement at helping with the flower arrangement, Ted hasn’t shown up. Cyril, who DID warn Rosalind that Ted might not follow through, very graciously does not say “I told you so” and instead helps her with the flower arrangement. Do they use this as an opportunity for some light flirting?
At the maternity home, Zeta’s husband shows up to check on his wife and son, and gets an appropriately frosty greeting from both Phyllis and Zeta. Phyllis explains that everyone is healthy, and can go home soon.
Zeta: Just so you know, I’m coming home because your son deserves to have both of us. But you can’t treat a wife the way you treated me; you have to earn my trust.
Zeta’s husband: Totally get it, and I’ll do whatever it takes.
Good! He better! Anyway, remember how Sister Monica Joan happily took charge of the Nonnatus flower arrangement? Looking for inspiration, she questions all of her colleagues on their favorite spring flowers. Miss Higgins tries to say she doesn’t count, since she’s not a nurse or a nun, but everyone shuts that down immediately, correctly pointing out that they couldn’t function without her.
Later, Trixie checks in on Arlene, who’s been having a pretty horrible time in the hospital. Doctors have been coming in and out of her space, none of them involving her at all in the question of what happens next for her care. They’ve decided that she should return to the psychiatric hospital, where she’ll resume taking her lithium.
Arlene: I only stopped because I was worried about my baby!
Trixie: I know.
Arlene: They’re going to take her away anyway!
Trixie: The social worker will come later and explain everything to you.
Arlene: But who will explain it to my baby?
Trixie: You can! I promise!
And Trixie is a woman of her word, because she heads right to the nursery and brings Arlene’s baby in for her to hold.
Meanwhile, at Fred and Vi’s place, Vi’s fretting over the end of her speech. Will she be announcing her retirement, or explaining that she’s continuing?
Fred: You’ve done so much already. You have to keep going.
Vi: But how can we manage another year?
Fred: The same way we have been! I’ll support you.
Awww! At the flower show, Cyril brings in the display from the shelter, and explains to everyone’s favorite busybody Mrs. Wallace that he and Rosalind worked on the display together.
Mrs. Wallace: Look, you’ve been spending a lot of time at the shelter lately. When we’re alone, we tend to look for activities to fill the time.
Cyril: When I got married, I didn’t think I’d be alone so much.
Mrs. Wallace: You know, one of the men in our congregation has been married 30 years, and in that time he’s seen his wife four times. But they make it work, because they want to be together.
Mrs. Wallace makes a good point. So good, in fact, that Cyril packs a bag and, instead of heading to the flower show, heads to Jamaica to visit Lucille. Rosalind takes this surprisingly well, even after Cyril kisses her on the cheek before he leaves (!).
The flower arrangements? Beautiful. And Vi’s speech? Delightful, especially because she announces that she’ll be sticking around an extra year as mayor to overwhelming applause. What will come of Cyril’s trip? And what new medical challenges will we face next week? Only time will tell!
