Dustin Strikes Hit Poplar in New 'Call the Midwife'

Another labor dispute caused strife in this week's Call the Midwife. This time, the dustmen went on strike in hopes of higher wages, which created a trash backup. At first, it was a smelly inconvenience, but it wasn't long before the backlog of trash brought rats and disease to Poplar. Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann) was back on the Board of Health and urged Violet (Annabelle Apsion) to do what she could as mayor to speed things along. 

As cases of Weil's Disease and other trash-related ailments increased in Poplar, the midwives were still required to see to their patients. Nurse Joyce Highland (Renee Bailey) looked after a baker and mother of three, Bernie Midgley (Eliza Collings). Mrs. Midgley's attitude problem with Joyce soon became more than a clashing of personalities, which is not the first time that Nurse Highland has had to deal with a racist patient. It's not even the first time it has happened this season, but Mrs. Midgley is gearing up to be a major problem for Joyce for the rest of the season. 

If that wasn't enough, Rosalind (Natalie Quarry) became one of the sickest people in Poplar from the abundance of trash. Her trip to the hospital helped some latent feelings come to the surface, though, and it looks like we will get another love story in Poplar sooner rather than later. 

Mrs. Midgley's sourness became apparent during her stay in the maternity ward after giving birth to a baby girl. She was kept in the same room with other patients as Trixie (Helen George) led the new initiative to get new mothers out of bed and moving around to help speed up the recovery process after birth. Mrs. Midgley didn't like that change, but she didn't like having to share space in the ward with women of color either. Not only was she extremely rude to Nurse Highland, but also to her fellow patients. 

She was so put out that she checked out of the hospital early, and the midwives agreed to do home visits to continue her care. Sister Catherine (Molly Vevers) went with Nurse Highland for the first visit and immediately clocked that Mrs. Midgley was uncharacteristically rude to the Black nurse. She asked Joyce if she should include Mrs. Midgley's behavior in her notes, but Joyce dismissed it. 

Joyce wasn't able to ignore it when she returned the next day, and Mrs. Midgeley had signs of thrombosis in her leg. The woman refused to allow Nurse Highland to do a full examination and straight up said she never should have let a Black woman touch her. Damn, the audacity was real. 

Nurse Highland packed up her things and left and called for Dr. Turner immediately. He rushed over and confirmed the diagnosis and had Mrs. Midgley sent to the hospital. She had the nerve to blame Nurse Highland for "not looking after her properly." 

Dr. Turner had no choice but to take it to Sister Julienne (Julie Agutter), who had her own conversation with Mrs. Midgley. She tried to suggest that Mrs. Midgley's own bias caused her situation, and Mrs. Midgley confirmed she'd be taking it to the head of midwives and filing a serious complaint. 

Sister Catherine told Sister Julienne what she witnessed when they treated Mrs. Midgley together, and Joyce also voiced her concerns that Mrs. Midgley was coming after her because she was Black. Sister Julienne confirmed that Nonnatus House would be standing behind Nurse Highland, but Mrs. Midgley's complaint will be going to the medical discipline board, so Joyce will have to defend herself in front of a board. 

It did not take long for the growing trash piles to start causing problems in Poplar. The smell was one thing, but then patients started getting sick. Dr. Turner saw multiple patients with stomach issues and diarrhea, including Reggie (Daniel Laurie). Things started to hit really close to home when Cyril's (Zephryn Taitte) cat Nigel fell ill from hunting rats amongst all the trash. 

Rosalind was the one to discover the cat was not feeling like himself. She took care of him until Cyril returned home. He stayed with the cat all night, but Nigel did not survive until morning. He was burying his furry best friend with Fred (Cliff Parisi) when the pair noticed an ambulance pull up in front of Nonnatus House. Rosalind had fallen very ill after taking care of the cat and had to be rushed to hospital. 

She contracted Weil's Disease and was starting to show signs of kidney failure. She fell into critical condition before the penicillin started working and put her back on the mend. It was a scary few nights for her in the hospital. Her condition also scared Cyril, who had still been processing his divorce before Rosalind fell ill. He confirmed that he and his wife were splitting up when he went to visit Rosalind, allowing the two of them to confess their more than friendly feelings for each other.

The two are going to go on a date when Rosalind is feeling 100 percent better. The first person she told about the news was her best friend Joyce, but Joyce only had words of warning considering her present predicament. She warned Rosalind that people would not be kind to a white girl like herself dating a Black man like Cyril, but Rosalind isn't willing to give up her chance at love for other people's prejudices. 

We've seen interracial couples on Call the Midwife before, but this will be with central characters in the show. We've moved into 1970, but as Joyce can attest, racism was still alive and well in Poplar and around the world. This is not going to be an easy road for Rosalind and Cyril, even if everyone is rooting for their happy ending. 

Call the Midwife Season 14 continues Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel weekly through mid-May. The series has already been streaming as an early weekly release on PBS Passport for members, and all episodes will be available until the end of May. As always, check your local listings.