[8.0/10] This is my favorite episode of All Creatures so far, and if I’m not mistaken, the first one where I’ve liked every single storyline.
Let’s start with the biggie. I like that James suffers in this one. That sounds cruel, but it’s humanizing and relatable to see characters humbled. He’s been such a goody-two-shoes wunderkind for so long, who can seemingly conquer any problem with minimal challenge. So watching him deal with something genuinely challenging in the form of complicated T.B. testing, and crumpling a bit, makes him more sympathetic. He’s getting from both ends as both the Ministry of Agriculture and farmers are both giving him guff, and the sense that he’s falling down on the job here so he doesn’t deserve his dispensation from being drafted gives his guilt over the situation more meaning.
I’m still a little cold on his, “I should go to war” impulses which came on very suddenly. But there is something powerful about seeing a regular (albeit tertiary) character like Tom go off to war, while James frets about his failures to fill out confusing forms and feel guilty about sleeping in his nice warm bed.
God help me, I even like the attempts at excitement in all of this. Him trying to chase down the slaughterhouse operator so that he doesn’t kill the wrong cow is a genuinely thrilling (if still somewhat cute) sequence. You get the sense of real stakes here -- farmers’ livelihoods, the risk to the practice of a job done poorly, the pressures of a country at war -- in a way that this cozycore show can’t always muster.
Plus, it gives us two really good scenes. One is the one between James and Helen, coming clean about how they’re feeling in all of this in a way that feels genuine. And the second is between Helen and Siegfried, who both acknowledge the risk of what’s happening with James -- the risk that they might lose him to the war -- and work together to ensure he understands how and why he’s needed around her, not just as a vet, but for them. It’s an unexpectedly sweet scene between two characters who don’t rarely interact much, and their work to persuade the MAG commissioner of James’ good work, to where he piles on more of it, helps make the happy ending to the whole thing feel earned.
The other storylines are just as good. Mrs. Hall relegating Gerald to the friend zone is a sad scene, given how earnest and kind the Flanders-like fellow is to Mrs. H. But you also feel for Mrs. Hall just as much, with her story of making peace with what she’s lost with her husband and son, and not wanting to disrupt the comfortable life she’s made in Skeldale House. It’s sad, but understandable on both fronts, and a nice substantive end to what’s otherwise been a pretty fluffy story thread.
Tristan’s tale is good too. His romance with Flo doesn’t really move me just yet, but the pair are pleasant enough together. (I do appreciate the show acknowledging the prejudice someone who looks like Flo would face, however briefly, since the series feels anachronistic at times with its depiction of 1940s racial harmony in a rural community.)
More to the point, though, I like the fact that Tristan is taking the initiative and seizing his independence. He’s driving the car he wants regardless of what Siegfried wants. He’s dating the girl he likes, regardless of what Siegfried thinks. And most importantly, after following other people’s direction on where to go to school, what to do with his profession, he’s figuring out, maybe for the first time in his life, what it is he really dreams of for his life. I like the idea that, having finally leapt over the hurdles Siegfried placed in front of thim, Tristan is now figuring out what race he wants to run.
Last but not least, I like Siegfried’s part in all this. He gets some good funny one-liners in this. (His gag about assuming the MAG commissioners turn to dust in sunlight got a good laugh out of me.) But I also like him devolving into parenting and pampering Tricky Woo since his “kids” -- Tristan and James, are off doing things on their own and don’t need or want his instruction as much as they used to. His admission that he admires Tristan following his own star at the same time it frustrates him not to be in control anymore is very mature. And I like how his intervention in the T.B. testing situation shows that he still has wisdom to dispense and a role to play in looking after “everyone in his care”, which sweetly enough, he implies includes Helen.
Overall, I love seeing All Creatures live up to its potential like this, with strong character material for the whole cast and some compelling reflections and challenges that work with their individual struggles, but raise broader questions as well. Superb stuff.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-06-13T01:33:35Z
[8.0/10] This is my favorite episode of All Creatures so far, and if I’m not mistaken, the first one where I’ve liked every single storyline.
Let’s start with the biggie. I like that James suffers in this one. That sounds cruel, but it’s humanizing and relatable to see characters humbled. He’s been such a goody-two-shoes wunderkind for so long, who can seemingly conquer any problem with minimal challenge. So watching him deal with something genuinely challenging in the form of complicated T.B. testing, and crumpling a bit, makes him more sympathetic. He’s getting from both ends as both the Ministry of Agriculture and farmers are both giving him guff, and the sense that he’s falling down on the job here so he doesn’t deserve his dispensation from being drafted gives his guilt over the situation more meaning.
I’m still a little cold on his, “I should go to war” impulses which came on very suddenly. But there is something powerful about seeing a regular (albeit tertiary) character like Tom go off to war, while James frets about his failures to fill out confusing forms and feel guilty about sleeping in his nice warm bed.
God help me, I even like the attempts at excitement in all of this. Him trying to chase down the slaughterhouse operator so that he doesn’t kill the wrong cow is a genuinely thrilling (if still somewhat cute) sequence. You get the sense of real stakes here -- farmers’ livelihoods, the risk to the practice of a job done poorly, the pressures of a country at war -- in a way that this cozycore show can’t always muster.
Plus, it gives us two really good scenes. One is the one between James and Helen, coming clean about how they’re feeling in all of this in a way that feels genuine. And the second is between Helen and Siegfried, who both acknowledge the risk of what’s happening with James -- the risk that they might lose him to the war -- and work together to ensure he understands how and why he’s needed around her, not just as a vet, but for them. It’s an unexpectedly sweet scene between two characters who don’t rarely interact much, and their work to persuade the MAG commissioner of James’ good work, to where he piles on more of it, helps make the happy ending to the whole thing feel earned.
The other storylines are just as good. Mrs. Hall relegating Gerald to the friend zone is a sad scene, given how earnest and kind the Flanders-like fellow is to Mrs. H. But you also feel for Mrs. Hall just as much, with her story of making peace with what she’s lost with her husband and son, and not wanting to disrupt the comfortable life she’s made in Skeldale House. It’s sad, but understandable on both fronts, and a nice substantive end to what’s otherwise been a pretty fluffy story thread.
Tristan’s tale is good too. His romance with Flo doesn’t really move me just yet, but the pair are pleasant enough together. (I do appreciate the show acknowledging the prejudice someone who looks like Flo would face, however briefly, since the series feels anachronistic at times with its depiction of 1940s racial harmony in a rural community.)
More to the point, though, I like the fact that Tristan is taking the initiative and seizing his independence. He’s driving the car he wants regardless of what Siegfried wants. He’s dating the girl he likes, regardless of what Siegfried thinks. And most importantly, after following other people’s direction on where to go to school, what to do with his profession, he’s figuring out, maybe for the first time in his life, what it is he really dreams of for his life. I like the idea that, having finally leapt over the hurdles Siegfried placed in front of thim, Tristan is now figuring out what race he wants to run.
Last but not least, I like Siegfried’s part in all this. He gets some good funny one-liners in this. (His gag about assuming the MAG commissioners turn to dust in sunlight got a good laugh out of me.) But I also like him devolving into parenting and pampering Tricky Woo since his “kids” -- Tristan and James, are off doing things on their own and don’t need or want his instruction as much as they used to. His admission that he admires Tristan following his own star at the same time it frustrates him not to be in control anymore is very mature. And I like how his intervention in the T.B. testing situation shows that he still has wisdom to dispense and a role to play in looking after “everyone in his care”, which sweetly enough, he implies includes Helen.
Overall, I love seeing All Creatures live up to its potential like this, with strong character material for the whole cast and some compelling reflections and challenges that work with their individual struggles, but raise broader questions as well. Superb stuff.