I knew it was going to be a superb episode the second Siegfried arrived at Skeldale, coated head to toe in grime after wrestling a 900-pound sow, sheepishly confessing to Mrs. Corridor that the stains on his garments may comprise extra than simply mud. Mrs. Corridor, after all, can’t be mad at him – not when he seems to be at her with the responsible sincerity of a kid caught red-handed, a glance actor Samuel West has perfected to a T.
With Carmody gone, Siegfried’s to-do checklist has grown significantly, leaving the surgical procedure stretched skinny. After just a few well-placed nudges from Mrs. Corridor, Tristan steps up and affords to assist his older brother with the farm visits. Siegfried and Tristan working aspect by aspect for a whole day—what may probably go fallacious? The reply: loads. And each chaotic, exasperating, and totally hilarious second is a pleasure to look at.
The 2 brothers start their day with the castration of a pony. Siegfried expects Tristan to calculate the quantity of chloroform wanted to sedate the animal. Nevertheless, Tris has by no means been one for precise measurements once they’re not completely mandatory. He prefers to eyeball it and belief his instincts.
Siegfried, outraged by his brother’s carelessness, takes the bottle of chloroform and punctiliously administers just a few drops onto the chloroform masks. Nothing occurs. He provides just a few extra, but the horse stays utterly unfazed. Tristan, having seen sufficient, takes issues into his personal arms and dumps almost half the bottle onto the masks. Inside seconds, the horse drops with a loud thud. It’s now totally sedated, and the process can lastly start.
| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Callum Woodhouse, Samuel West and Olivia Paige Marsh © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
Afterward, Siegfried is fast to insist that the animal have to be an anatomical anomaly—as a result of beneath regular circumstances, the quantity Tristan administered would have been greater than sufficient to knock out a horse twice its dimension. It’s alright, Siegfried, we imagine you. However even if you happen to have been ever fallacious, we’d nonetheless adore you, you daft, grumpy man.
Their subsequent go to takes them to Mr. Dobson’s farm, the place the 2 vets have been referred to as to test on the farmer’s newly acquired horse, Algernon. Siegfried examines the animal, dealing with it with practiced care. Tristan, observing his brother’s light contact, can’t assist however acknowledge his ability: “You really do have a way with them.” However in true Tristan trend, a praise by no means comes with out a playful jab: “If you were half as pleasant with people, you’d be twice as popular.”
When Siegfried declares the horse to be in good well being, it’s Tristan who notices one thing his brother neglected—as soon as once more reminding us that Siegfried isn’t infallible in spite of everything. The horse is having a response to an insect chew that requires therapy. When Siegfried asks Tristan to fetch the usual injection, the youthful vet factors out that there are actually newer medicines accessible for such instances. Siegfried, after all, is effectively conscious however sees no purpose to desert a tried-and-true methodology when it continues to work reliably. Comprehensible.
Tristan administers the injection, and inside moments, the horse collapses. That makes it the second time in a single day they’ve knocked a horse off its ft – although this time, it was undoubtedly not intentional. Each Tristan and Siegfried are frozen in shock on the excessive response of the horse. Siegfried repeatedly assures Mr. Dobson that all the pieces is okay, although, it appears extra like he’s making an attempt to persuade himself relatively than his consumer. Happily, after just a few tense moments, the horse stirs and will get again up as if nothing occurred. Neither vet can clarify what precipitated such an intense response. Whereas it’s not extraordinary for an animal to enter shock after an injection, Algernon’s response was far past the norm. Siegfried, after all, takes the chance to remind his brother that this is precisely why one ought to all the time proceed with warning and never depend on guesswork, as Tristan so confidently did earlier with the horse.
Whereas Siegfried and Tristan spend the day bickering and by chance knocking out horses, James holds down the fort on the surgical procedure. At first look, he appears to be in nice spirits. But it surely shortly turns into clear that one thing isn’t fairly proper. His enthusiasm is excessive. He’s bounding round the home like a squirrel on velocity. When Mrs. Pumphrey brings in Tricki, involved about his tooth, James calls her “a very, very silly woman”, suggesting there may be nothing fallacious with the Pekinese and that she’s merely exaggerating—but once more. That is once they notice that James is delirious, operating on fever-fueled adrenaline. It’s possible one other bout of brucellosis, the exact same sickness that saved him from serving king and nation.
Helen helps her husband upstairs and tucks him into mattress the place he quickly turns into utterly misplaced in fevered desires, mumbling incoherently. He appears to imagine he’s again in Abingdon with the Royal Air Pressure (RAF). Although he as soon as informed Helen about dropping a part of his crew, he has by no means really processed the trauma that got here with the loss. Nor has he ever admitted the load of guilt he carries due to what occurred. He believes he let his folks down, that he failed them.
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| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Rachel Shenton and Nicholas Ralph © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
Not too many hours later, James recovers – remarkably shortly, if you happen to ask me – and apologizes to Helen for worrying her. She gently asks about Banerjee, one of many younger males he mentored on the RAF whom he had been speaking to in his delirium. James tells her that Banerjee was one of many folks on the aircraft that received shot down. Although the boy survived the crash, he was badly injured and remains to be on the hospital. James confesses that he feels answerable for what occurred. In any case, he was the one who inspired Banerjee to fly, the one who satisfied the scared boy that he was prepared when he most likely wasn’t.
Now Helen is the one who apologizes. Up till now, she had all the time seen James’ sickness as a blessing – one thing that introduced him again to her and Jimmy, again to security. However for James, it’s not that easy. Whereas he agrees that, in some methods, brucellosis spared him, the fact is way extra sophisticated. The couple embraces, a quiet however significant second. I’m glad they lastly had this dialog, and that James allowed himself to open up. Unresolved trauma has a method of catching up – left unstated, it may have taken a a lot darker toll.
As soon as once more, it’s the exceptional Mrs. Corridor who retains all the pieces operating whereas the Farnon brothers are out, and James and Helen are confined to the bedsit. She makes certain telephone calls get answered, dispenses treatment when shoppers drop by and takes care of little Jimmy – all of the whereas making sufficient strawberry jam to feed half of Darrowby.
Fortunately, Mrs. Pumphrey realizes how a lot Mrs. Corridor has on her plate and decides to remain at Skeldale to lend her a hand. She retains Jimmy entertained and even helps reply the telephone. In a dialog with Audrey, she admits that she did fairly a little bit of clerical work throughout the Nice Struggle and loved the problem of it. It’s clear that Mrs. Pumphrey thrives when she feels wanted, when she has a goal and may contribute to these round her.
It’s relatively bittersweet to consider Mrs. Pumphrey having to vacate Pumphrey Manor when it was transformed right into a convalescent dwelling for troopers. As we noticed in Uninvited Company (Episode 5×4), a number of rooms on the manor are unoccupied. There was greater than sufficient house for her to remain. Greater than that, she may have been an asset—serving to with the every day work and lending her vitality and dedication to the trigger. It’s a disgrace they didn’t give her the chance.
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| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Patricia Hodge and Anna Madeley © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
One factor I notably loved about Mrs. Pumphrey and Mrs. Corridor’s interplay on this episode was the way it reaffirmed the deep respect and appreciation the older girl has for Mrs. Corridor and all the pieces she does for each the Skeldale household and the surgical procedure. That’s one thing I’ve all the time enormously appreciated in regards to the present: There may be by no means a second of doubt about how very important Mrs. Corridor’s pressence is. She could have began out because the housekeeper, however she has lengthy since turn out to be the guts of the household—the one holding all the pieces collectively.
Within the meantime, the Farnon brothers are on their method again from Mr. Dobson’s when the Rover runs out of petrol. Siegfried is satisfied Tristan was imagined to replenish the automotive, whereas Tristan, after all, insists Siegfried had stated he would maintain it. With no different selection, they set off on foot. I like how they don’t suppose twice about leaving the Rover and all their medical gear behind—but each make sure that to seize the bottles of elderflower wine Mr. Dobson gifted them earlier than heading off. Good to see they’ve their priorities straight—hydration first.
As they begin strolling, Tristan brings up the goat woman, Mrs. Grantley, noting that Siegfried has been visiting the Grantley property fairly a bit these days. Unsurprisingly, Siegfried has little interest in discussing the matter and shortly deflects by taking Tristan up on his earlier suggestion (one he had beforehand dismissed as “nonsense”) to chop throughout the fields relatively than sticking to the highway.
They push by way of the comb, tearing their garments on branches and shrubbery—guaranteeing Mrs. Corridor could have her work minimize out for her once they get dwelling. As they stroll, the dialog turns to the battle. Siegfried as soon as once more factors out that Tristan makes it sound as if his deployment was nothing multiple huge get together. The remark clearly strikes a nerve. Tristan fires again, “Am I not sufficiently anguished to your liking? Are you disappointed I didn’t suffer enough?”
Later, after indulging of their justifiable share of elderflower wine, Siegfried lastly clarifies that he by no means wished Tristan to undergo—not that we ever doubted that. In any case, all of us noticed the sheer reduction on his face when his brother returned dwelling. Nevertheless, Siegfried had hoped that after Tristan was again, they might lastly have some frequent floor, having each skilled battle. As an alternative, Tristan’s time away turned out to be vastly totally different from his personal.
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| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Callum Woodhouse and Samuel West © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
Siegfried admits that he needs they talked extra, that Tristan would spend extra evenings at dwelling so they might get pleasure from one another’s firm. Tris agrees—he would very very similar to that too. This looks like the proper second to thank the elderflower wine for making this heartwarming dialog attainable. Let’s simply hope they nonetheless bear in mind the main points once they sober up!
Because the drunken duo stumbles upon a physique of water they should cross, they face a dilemma. There’s no sense in each of them getting moist. In a splendidly absurd flip of occasions, Tristan hoists Siegfried onto his again and carries him by way of. I’m fairly certain they might have discovered a method across the water in the event that they have been sober, however I’m not complaining. Whereas that piggyback journey was utterly ridiculous it was additionally undeniably pleasant.
Nevertheless, beneath the humor, this scene carries a deeper which means that may not be instantly noticeable. Up till just lately, it was all the time Siegfried who “carried” Tristan—watching over him, guiding him. However now, the roles are reversed. This time, Tristan is the one carrying Siegfried.
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| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Callum Woodhouse and Samuel West © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
This second fantastically echoes Siegfried’s emotional phrases from Homecoming (Episode 5×3), when Tristan requested to listen to the speech Siegfried had ready for little Jimmy’s christening—a speech he by no means truly received to ship. In it, Siegfried spoke of the emperor penguin, utilizing it as a metaphor for fatherhood in all its varieties:
“All fathers – god, surrogate, or otherwise – share one common desire: to help those under their care become the best version of themselves. The trouble is, when they start to forge their own path and you realize the roles have somehow reversed, you find yourself needing them far more than they ever needed you.”
And in this ridiculous, drunken piggyback ride, that sentiment is brought to life. I absolutely loved everything about it!
After walking (and drinking) some more, Siegfried finally admits that he had planned to ask Mrs. Grantley to dinner. However, after offering some constructive criticism on her book—pointing out minor grammatical errors and the like—she suddenly seemed far less interested. They had a robust discussion, and they haven’t spoken since, as she has been avoiding him.
I’d be lying if I said I was disappointed by this turn of events. On paper, Siegfried and the goat lady might have seemed like a suitable match, but that’s about as far as it goes. They don’t share the same values, and she appears rather out of touch with the real world. This was never going to work. Siegfried, however, is convinced that he simply isn’t intriguing enough for a well-travelled woman like Mrs. Grantley.
Thankfully, Tristan is there to set the record straight. With great confidence, he assures Siegfried that they both have a “devastating impact on the other intercourse“. In fact, Tris even claims he learned everything he knows about women from watching him. I assume this must have been before Evelyn because while Siegfried is certainly charming, we have never seen him be particularly skilled when it comes to showing women he is interested in them. Not that this is a problem—most of us only want to see him with one particular lady anyway.
When the Farnon brothers finally stumble back to Skeldale, they look as if they’ve spent days lost in the wilderness—when in reality, it’s only been two or three hours. Completely drunk and disheveled, they make quite the spectacle.
As they weave toward the house, Tristan teasingly tells Siegfried to walk in a straight line, prompting Siegfried to insist that he is walking perfectly straight. Determined to impress his younger brother, Siegfried proudly recalls how, during his time in the Army Veterinary Corps, he was known for his imperviousness to alcohol. He claims to have passed every sobriety test ever thrown his way. Naturally, Tristan insists he prove it.
Mrs. Hall, Helen, James, little Jimmy, and Mrs. Pumphrey find the brothers in the backyard, where Siegfried is balancing on a bucket, one leg raised, finger on his nose, dramatically reciting Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.
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| “Glass Half Full” – ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, Pictured: Callum Woodhouse and Samuel West © Playground Entertainment, Channel 5 and PBS Masterpiece. All Rights Reserved |
Each males make a feeble try to tug themselves collectively once they spot Mrs. Pumphrey, however there’s no disguising simply how totally plastered they’re. To their shock, she effortlessly picks up the place Siegfried left off, reciting the following strains of Jabberwocky with out lacking a beat. The brothers, delighted, eagerly take part. Your complete scene dissolves into laughter, and as soon as once more, I discover myself sending a silent prayer to the TV gods—grateful past phrases for a present as fantastic as this.
What did you consider this episode? Did you benefit from the Farnon brothers’ misadventures as a lot as I did? Let’s focus on within the feedback!
