Keep in mind that I've seen most of the first four seasons. It's the later stuff that I've missed. Except that I have a memory like a sieve so I pretty much forced myself to start over from the beginning. And I'm nearly to Season Five by now. That said, have you ever watch episode after episode of "Call the Midwife?" I've decided that there is nothing that's as equally heartwarming and morose as "Call the Midwife." Sure, there are quick-witted women in cute nursing outfits and nun habits who run around and deliver babies in rundown apartments. But there's also that the disease of the weak and the abusive husbands and Chummy's mother dying from cancer and Jenny's boyfriend falling to his death...
With that in mind, I was watching Series 4: Episode 4 of "Call the Midwife" last night. A lovely couple named Tony and Marie Amos were getting ready for their first child. They were the perfect couple. Perfect job. Perfect home. Perfect piano. Perfect hygiene. And, of course, Tony was secretly gay and caught up in a police sting while cruising other guys in the men's toilet!
What followed was a depressing progression of Tony getting arrested. The police telling his wife. Tony losing his job. Tony going to court. Tony being given a suspended sentence while being forced into chemical castration treatments of estrogen. Marie being ostracized by the other women for marrying a pervert. Tony being ostracized by the other men for being a pervert. Marie giving birth to her baby. And Tony making a commitment to following through with his chemical castration so that he can raise his baby and support his wife.
Of course, the midwives are all over this controversy. Clucking at the other women for being nasty toward Marie, while debating among themselves about the rightness or wrongness of gay people being subjected to two years in prison on grounds of moral indecency. Barbara thinks it's horrible that someone could be punished for falling in love. Sister Winifred reminds us that God hates sodomy. Trixie wonders why England fought against fascism during World War II if they were only going to punish men for having sex with other men. Sister Monica Joan rail against the injustice of Tony's punishment, ironically suggesting that they should each take turns stoning the poor man. And poor Patsy didn't dare say anything (because she's a closeted lesbian who would lose her nursing career if it were discovered that she loved other women!).
I checked IMDb. It doesn't appear that we ever hear from Tony or Marie Amos again. Hopefully, we will get to see Patsy tiptoe a bit out of the closet without too much repercussion. Then again, as much as this program likes to push back against antiquated moral quandaries it often ends up allowing the injustices to remain for future generations to work out.