Call the Midwife season 13 finale spoilers follow.
Call the Midwife season 13 has kept us very entertained with some gripping storylines and we're not just talking about Matthew and Trixie's struggles.
The period drama delivered on its promise to explore Miss Higgins' past, expanding beyond the intriguing but two-dimensional viewpoint we've been given so far.
Newcomer Joyce Highland's closet full of skeletons also came spilling out when estranged husband Sylvester (Benjamin Cawley) came knocking on Nonnatus' door in the guise of being her cousin.
Both characters' storylines were utterly compelling and moving.
Miss Higgins' reunion with the son she gave up at birth was filled with both the deepest joy and deepest sadness when he passed away shortly after their meeting.
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Equally, Joyce's desperation to hide her dark past and eagerness to free herself from her abusive husband quickly and quietly was utterly absorbing.
Joyce actress Renee Bailey gave everything to that storyline as her nerves began to fray with Sylvester's encroaching closer and closer on the life she'd made away from him.
Sadly Call the Midwife did both women a disservice in failing to explore their stories with the depth required for a fully enriching watch.
Take Miss Higgins (Georgie Glen), for example. In the space of 60 minutes we witnessed her world shaken by the arrival of her long-lost son Victor.
The reunion was bittersweet and short-lived as the two, who had longed for each other over the years, shared a beautiful connection, only for it to end abruptly with his death.
The only real consolation (if that) was that she now got to forge a relationship with her grandson and son's wife, who can fill her in on all she's missed.
Though Call the Midwife regularly strikes deep emotional beats with precision, we can't help but feel cheated here.
With the show having long teased a more intimate telling of Miss Higgins' backstory we were craving something less hurried, as the show had managed with the May/Turner storyline.
In that case, Call the Midwife followed the ups and downs of May's journey from the Turners' foster daughter to adoptive daughter.
While we didn't necessarily need a season's worth of story about Miss Higgins and Victor, we can't help but feel that their heartwarming story would have hit harder – and his death much more deeply – if we'd spent more time with them.
Joyce's storyline is also mishandled towards the end.
We adored getting to know Joyce before the drama of her past crept in, but Call the Midwife missed a trick by not turning Sylvester's arrival (and the discomfort he brought with him to Poplar) into a meaty cliffhanger for fans to chew over between seasons.
His oily behaviour and sinister blackmailing threats were unnerving for Joyce and the viewer alike. This, coupled with Joyce's desperation to conceal her true identity as Claudine Warren, gave the character the highest of stakes.
The push and pull between them as Sylvester threatened to expose the fact that she's been practising nursing under a false name was thoroughly tense. One word from him could destroy the life she'd built to escape him.
Nurse Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) was the one to coax the truth from Joyce. Both she and nurse Nancy (Megan Cusack) encouraged Joyce to confess to Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) who, unsurprisingly, was understanding.
Sister Julienne promised to stand by Joyce throughout the whole ordeal, which involved reporting Sylvester to the police.
The overwhelming support gave Joyce the courage she needed to send Sylvester packing and his shocked face as she slammed the door two inches from it was perfection.
It was a triumphant moment, but by rushing to a quick resolution before the finale, we were robbed of the opportunity to sympathise with her more deeply and to understand her more richly through her secret shared past with Sylvester.
Call the Midwife could have really turned up the heat by letting her story spill over into season 14. Instead, the impact of such a meaningful experience waned with Joyce's victorious moment arriving far too soon.
All episodes of Call the Midwife are available to watch 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.
