[7.6/10] I really like this episode except for its message, which is an odd place to be. It raises a lot of strong ideas, rooted in character, that have meaningful consequences for the world of the show and for the relationships at issue within it. I like the exploration,. I just don’t like where All Creatures lands with it.
Which is to say, I like the main conflict here. A local widow is struggling to work a farm without her husband. Her cows are sick, and James i s doing all he can, but the outlook isn’t good. She’s forced to decide whether to sell the farm and make do with what she can, or hope that the cows will recover against all odds in the hope of saving it.
There’s a palpable sense of tragedy to the whole thing. We get the sense that her husband was cared for in the community, in a more tell than show sort of way. And yet, the plight of Phyllis works because the actress who plays her gives such a strong performance. You get her determination to go forward, her anxiousness about spending money the family doesn't have in pursuit of that hope, and the pain she feels at the loss of someone who not only made the farm run but completed her life. You get James’ struggle to have to go back, day after day, and tell this dear, suffering soul that his efforts aren’t working, and her hopes are likely all for naught. The struggle to do good when the battle is all but lost leads to lots of great character moments for Phyllis the widow and for James himself.
I also like how it ties into the ongoing story of James’ and Helen’s relationship. The two have their first date in this episode and, I regret to inform you, they are adorable. The two seeming like teenagers about to go to their first prom, with s oem gentle ribbing from Mr. Alderson and Jenny, is adorable. And the pair are quite sweet in their little interactions, endlessly deferring to one another and fretting over soiled clothes or the right dress for the occasion.
What I like about the storyline, though, is that what drives the edge between them isn’t the thing that James worries about going into the date. He’s concerned he can’t live up to Hugh’s financial largesse, awkwardly trying to take Helen to the fancy restaurant in town and seeming out of place. He fears he’s not as good at showing Helen the finer things.
And yet, the real sticky wicket between them (if you’ll pardon the phrase in an episode that discusses cricket), is the exact opposite. In connection with the ongoing thread of whether James might return to Glasgow, he asks Helen if she could ever leave this place, and she balks at the suggestion. They end up wheeling back to Phullis’ situation, with different opinions about whether or not she should sell, and it exposes a deeper fissure between them.
James empathizes with Phyllis’ situation. He himself picked up and went to a strange place where he didn’t know anybody. He trusts Phylis to do the same. But Helen rebukes him. She declares that he isn't a farmer. He can’t understand the generational connection with the land, the history of having spilled blood, cared for people, lost people in this patch of dirt. There’s a connection to the place that is deeper than he can comprehend.
It’s the realest conversation we’ve seen on the show so far. It shows that however adorable James and Helen are, to some extent, they’re from two different worlds with two different perspectives that can’t necessarily be bridged. Especially if James has to decide whether to prioritize looking after his parents, that might be the end of them given where each is anchored. They might care for one another, but it might not be enough. Just like it might not be enough for Phyllis to simply hope for the best when it comes to her ailing cows.
Except...the show seems to suggest that it is? It raises all of that complexity, and then just has Phyllis give a big speech about hoping and...that’s it. We never get closure. We get an affirmation of that philosophy and the commitment of a farmer. That’s a well and good, but as James himself points out, that hope is pretty cold comfort if the farm fails and Phullis has to sll it when it’s drained of any value. The show raises all of this complexity and the prospect of having to face hard truths made all the harder by your well-earned connection to a place and the history heath comes with it. But instead of actually confronting it, it gives us some cozycore feelgoodery and calls it a day.
The same is true with James and Helen. James shows up. He says he understands now. They kiss. That’s it! Those differing perspectives, they’re just over them now. Charitably, I think the intention is that James “gets it” through hearing directly from Phyliss, and brings that understanding back to Helen. But it’s thin gruel after such a reasonable disagreement between the two of them before that felt far more human than the sap dash patch-up, even if the emotion of Helen’s recollection and their first kiss carries a lot of the weight.
The B-story with the conflict between Siegfried and Tristan over the chickens is solid stuff. The show’s already gone to that well a fair number of times by now. Siegfried doubts Tristan. Tirsitan comes through. Siegfried messes up and apologizes. Grump guy turns understanding guy. So forth and so on. None of it’s bad. There’s some good moments involving the chickens Tristan is tasked with rearing, and Seigfried having to babysit Tricky Woo is worth a chuckle. But we've seen this routine multiple times already, so it doesn’t have the same impact.
Overall, this episode has some superb performances and, for my money, the best scene of the show thus far with Helen and James’ dinner conversation. But it lands things in an oddly pollyanna place without having done the work to get there, which leaves me colder on it than I’d like.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-06-01T05:42:49Z
[7.6/10] I really like this episode except for its message, which is an odd place to be. It raises a lot of strong ideas, rooted in character, that have meaningful consequences for the world of the show and for the relationships at issue within it. I like the exploration,. I just don’t like where All Creatures lands with it.
Which is to say, I like the main conflict here. A local widow is struggling to work a farm without her husband. Her cows are sick, and James i s doing all he can, but the outlook isn’t good. She’s forced to decide whether to sell the farm and make do with what she can, or hope that the cows will recover against all odds in the hope of saving it.
There’s a palpable sense of tragedy to the whole thing. We get the sense that her husband was cared for in the community, in a more tell than show sort of way. And yet, the plight of Phyllis works because the actress who plays her gives such a strong performance. You get her determination to go forward, her anxiousness about spending money the family doesn't have in pursuit of that hope, and the pain she feels at the loss of someone who not only made the farm run but completed her life. You get James’ struggle to have to go back, day after day, and tell this dear, suffering soul that his efforts aren’t working, and her hopes are likely all for naught. The struggle to do good when the battle is all but lost leads to lots of great character moments for Phyllis the widow and for James himself.
I also like how it ties into the ongoing story of James’ and Helen’s relationship. The two have their first date in this episode and, I regret to inform you, they are adorable. The two seeming like teenagers about to go to their first prom, with s oem gentle ribbing from Mr. Alderson and Jenny, is adorable. And the pair are quite sweet in their little interactions, endlessly deferring to one another and fretting over soiled clothes or the right dress for the occasion.
What I like about the storyline, though, is that what drives the edge between them isn’t the thing that James worries about going into the date. He’s concerned he can’t live up to Hugh’s financial largesse, awkwardly trying to take Helen to the fancy restaurant in town and seeming out of place. He fears he’s not as good at showing Helen the finer things.
And yet, the real sticky wicket between them (if you’ll pardon the phrase in an episode that discusses cricket), is the exact opposite. In connection with the ongoing thread of whether James might return to Glasgow, he asks Helen if she could ever leave this place, and she balks at the suggestion. They end up wheeling back to Phullis’ situation, with different opinions about whether or not she should sell, and it exposes a deeper fissure between them.
James empathizes with Phyllis’ situation. He himself picked up and went to a strange place where he didn’t know anybody. He trusts Phylis to do the same. But Helen rebukes him. She declares that he isn't a farmer. He can’t understand the generational connection with the land, the history of having spilled blood, cared for people, lost people in this patch of dirt. There’s a connection to the place that is deeper than he can comprehend.
It’s the realest conversation we’ve seen on the show so far. It shows that however adorable James and Helen are, to some extent, they’re from two different worlds with two different perspectives that can’t necessarily be bridged. Especially if James has to decide whether to prioritize looking after his parents, that might be the end of them given where each is anchored. They might care for one another, but it might not be enough. Just like it might not be enough for Phyllis to simply hope for the best when it comes to her ailing cows.
Except...the show seems to suggest that it is? It raises all of that complexity, and then just has Phyllis give a big speech about hoping and...that’s it. We never get closure. We get an affirmation of that philosophy and the commitment of a farmer. That’s a well and good, but as James himself points out, that hope is pretty cold comfort if the farm fails and Phullis has to sll it when it’s drained of any value. The show raises all of this complexity and the prospect of having to face hard truths made all the harder by your well-earned connection to a place and the history heath comes with it. But instead of actually confronting it, it gives us some cozycore feelgoodery and calls it a day.
The same is true with James and Helen. James shows up. He says he understands now. They kiss. That’s it! Those differing perspectives, they’re just over them now. Charitably, I think the intention is that James “gets it” through hearing directly from Phyliss, and brings that understanding back to Helen. But it’s thin gruel after such a reasonable disagreement between the two of them before that felt far more human than the sap dash patch-up, even if the emotion of Helen’s recollection and their first kiss carries a lot of the weight.
The B-story with the conflict between Siegfried and Tristan over the chickens is solid stuff. The show’s already gone to that well a fair number of times by now. Siegfried doubts Tristan. Tirsitan comes through. Siegfried messes up and apologizes. Grump guy turns understanding guy. So forth and so on. None of it’s bad. There’s some good moments involving the chickens Tristan is tasked with rearing, and Seigfried having to babysit Tricky Woo is worth a chuckle. But we've seen this routine multiple times already, so it doesn’t have the same impact.
Overall, this episode has some superb performances and, for my money, the best scene of the show thus far with Helen and James’ dinner conversation. But it lands things in an oddly pollyanna place without having done the work to get there, which leaves me colder on it than I’d like.