Call the Midwife season 13 episode 5 spoilers follow.
Call the Midwife season 13 came under fire last week for its perceived derailment of Olly Rix's character Matthew.
However, while we stood by their decision to shake things up and perhaps add more realistic nuance to the good-guy trope he's comfortably adopted, we were a little more dubious about this week's questionable narrative choice.
The latest episode saw Poplar residents (including newly elected Mayor Violet and most of Nonnatus' inhabitants) head to the beach for the Mayor's excursion.
While most had fun despite the blustery weather which caused the real-life cast some real-life headaches, one character stumbled into a spot of bother.
The Turners' foster child May Tang (April Rae Hoang) nearly drowned after becoming tangled up in seaweed.
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If not for the quick help of Renee Bailey's nurse Joyce and Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) the Turners would have been in for some serious heartbreak.
Despite their swift actions, May's ordeal had, in some ways, only just begun.
The next day, while at home, May's student doctor foster brother Timothy (Max Macmillan) suggested she might have developed water aspiration (a form of partial drowning) after she complained of chest pains.
An emergency trip to St Cuthbert's hospital confirmed as much and May was admitted, leaving her foster parents with the frightful reality that the "next few hours [would] be quite crucial."
While Patrick (Stephen McGann), Shelagh (Laura Main) and the children fretted over May's wellbeing, along with the rest of Nonnatus House, Mayor Violet (Annabelle Apsion) was all too chuffed about the success of her beach trip.
"We're going to need two [coaches] next year," she proudly told her husband Fred (Cliff Parisi) with a chest well and truly puffed out.
"You have no idea how many people have been asking if the beach trip is going to be returning."
Her self-congratulatory attitude felt extremely misplaced, as did the notion that the beach trip – on which a young child nearly drowned, only to be left in critical condition – could possibly be considered a success.
While she discussed the need for more transport, she conveniently failed to acknowledge that safety measures would need to be revised.
There is an argument for the fact that Violet may not have been aware that May's health had deteriorated so drastically as it happened quite quickly but, unless she was completely self-absorbed (which the character is not) she would have been aware of the near fatality.
Not to acknowledge the ordeal felt in poor taste.
This isn't the first time this season that Call the Midwife has made a similar mistake. While Fred was in hospital fighting for his life after a nasty injury developed into tetanus, Trixie (Helen George) was enjoying a marvellous sofa-shopping trip with her husband Matthew.
She may have fought back tears whilst informing and comforting Violet, but it was odd that she, being close to Fred and having known him quite a long time, should be less affected than the new recruit Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) or even Nancy (Megan Cusack).
Fans of the show will know that Trixie has come from a background of hardships and is used to putting on a brave face to uplift others.
That said, she isn't unfeeling and we would have expected that in her private moments, her angst for Fred would have shown.
Yet it feels like Call the Midwife is dealing with issues in isolation; compartmentalising certain storylines without allowing the realities of each situation to bleed into the other, thus striking an insensitive tone.
It would have been okay for Violet to celebrate the wins of her first beach trip and for Trixie to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. After all, that episode was intended to speak to the fragility of life.
What better way to respect that than to really live in the small moments and the big, but by ignoring the suffering around them and not referencing them it feels somewhat careless, especially from a show that's used to getting just the right balance of that delicate mix of emotions.
Call the Midwife season 13 airs on Sunday at 8pm on BBC One, and streams on BBC iPlayer.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
