It’s Vaccination Mow-tivation on ‘Call The Midwife’ Season 13

After two weeks of relatively happy endings, Call the Midwife decided to put us through it in week three. We settled to have a good time with our favorite midwives and nurses and instead had our hearts in our throats for the majority of the episode. Luckily, we did not have to organize a riot at the BBC or PBS offices, but it was dodgy there in the middle. 

This show had the nerve to put sweet, precious Fred (Cliff Parisi) in danger over a lawn mower. (Did Mad Men teach us nothing?) It reinforced the importance of vaccines (in this case, tetanus, but if you want to extend it to other vaccines in your life, please feel free), but at what cost? In the meantime, Violet (Annabelle Apsion) continued her quest to be mayor, a former model (Mia Gill) struggled with a difficult birth, and Trixie (Helen George) treated herself to a fancy new couch. 

There were no updates on the impending nurse's union or Cyril's (Zephryn Taitte) new career path, but we had a lot on our plates regardless. Everything turned out okay in the end, but let's revisit how this show nearly caused us to have a cardiac arrest. 

Everything started out hunky dory. Fred was helping Reg (Daniel Laurie) to mow the garden when the mower started acting up. An errant piece of metal kept jutting into the ground. Reg attempted to fix it, but Fred stopped him before he could hurt. Even though he was using pliers, Fred cut himself on the metal blade. He wrapped it, but he did not go see a doctor until the wound started to fester the next day. Trixie wrapped it up for him, but it was clear that something was very wrong when Violet needed to depart for her mayoral campaign meeting with the council board. Violet left for the meeting, telling Fred that feeling unwell was not a good enough excuse to blow it off because she needed his support. 

Fast forward a few minutes later, Fred had a severe muscle spasm and collapsed on their floor. Reg found him stuck on the couch and ran to Nonnatus House for help. Fred was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with Tetanus. Violet ditched her meeting to be at her husband's side, but Fred was already taking a turn for the worse. Within a day, he was hooked up to a ventilator and moved to intensive care. If you didn't ugly sob when Violet confessed to Trixie that she thought Fred wasn't going to recover, please check with your own doctor because your heart may be completely frozen. A round of prayers and good medical attention did see Fred through the woods. The cheers could be heard around the world from Call the Midwife fans. Reg used his new earnings from working in the garden and at the shop to buy Fred a special dinner in the hospital, and we all ugly-cried again, but this time with happiness and relief. 

Reg also pushed Violet to continue her mayoral campaign. She impressed the board, much to her opponent Bill Reagan's (Steven Hartley) dismay. (Suck it, Bill. Maybe you should have focused more on making sure your tenants had regular access to water.) We'd also like to take a moment to say Matthew (Olly Rix) did a lot of work to redeem himself from last week's terrible showing by supporting Violet while Fred was in the hospital. He's not fully out of the dog house, but the way he snapped at Bill earned him a few brownie points. 

The nurses and medical team that weren't preoccupied with Fred were tasked with helping Gillian Baxter, a new mother who had re-entered the world of modeling shortly before giving birth. Her baby was breached, and the delivery was tough. Little Stephanie arrived safely but had a condition called congenital hip displacement, which meant her hip bones weren't fully developed to keep her legs held in place. It was a stressful diagnosis, but the cure was the baby wearing a brace for six months that would keep her legs in place until her hips set. 

Gillian, still traumatized by her mother's unexpected death the year before, was immediately overwhelmed by the diagnosis and had to keep baby Stephanie in the brace. Her modeling company refused to give her or the baby new work considering the brace, and Gillian was overwhelmed by Stephanie's non-stop crying. In a moment of weakness, Gillian tried to give the baby back to the maternity ward, but Nurse Crane (Linda Basset) was able to talk some sense into her. Baby Stephanie's brace was properly replaced on the baby, and Gillian was happy to receive help once she explained how her mother's death had made her terrified of hospitals and lost when it came to motherhood. 

Gillian just needed some time to adjust to being a new mother. Nurse Crane and Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) helped her get back on track in the end. Gillian and Rosalind bonded so much that Rosalind even attended baby Stephanie's christening. We needed that heartwarming content after all of the drama with Fred. 

Also on the heartwarming side was Trixie and Matthew's quest for a new couch. The pair had a very lovely time trying out new settees in the store, but Matthew balked at the price of Trixie's favorite. She wrote the check for it anyway, and we say, “Hear, hear!” to Trixie, taking back control of this relationship. If she has to spend all day on her feet helping to deliver babies, then she should have her choice of where she gets to put those same feet up every night. Treat yourself, babe. We're proud of you. 

Call the Midwife Season 13 continues on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS, with new episodes available streaming on the PBS App and the PBS Prime Video Channel.