All Creatures Great and Small
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We knew cow death was coming, but we didnt knowbabycow death was coming.
Unless you read the books, I guess.
Or thought about the odds of it from a rural veterinary perspective.
You also see a dead baby cow.
I guess they wanted to catch us up after three weeks of happiness.
Also, there goes my theory about the show turning into an animals-live-forever mystery program.
But back to the fictional James and Helen.
suggests the name Elspeth for the baby, which Helen adamantly rejects.
Its not like he suggested Agatha (apologies to the one Agatha who reads this).
Get off your high baby-name horse, Helen!
Your child is named Elspeth now.
Also, no one let my wife read this because I was merciless in baby-name rejection.
It wasvery Liz Lemon, unfortunately.
But also, our babys name gets complimented all the time, so youre welcome, wife.
Helen, however, keeps sneaking pickled eggs (WHY, Helen?)
and has been having indigestion in the mornings, so Mrs. Hall figures it out.
I cant fathom pickled eggs, but mainly because I cant stand vinegar.
It seems like a very practical method of preserving eggs/everything else.
The baby news is good for Mrs. Hall because she is having an emotionallycomplicatedtime.
Her request for a divorce was not contested by her husband, so its now in process.
Hes like Belle but less condescending about living in the country.
YEAH, I SAID IT.
Get the fuck out, Belle.
Richards lack of farm-side manners is evident when he and James visit the Crabtrees and their ailing calf.
You may be right, but still.
He immediately falls on his face in manure.
Its one thing to be well-informed but another to bamboozle and belittle.
Siegfried decides to teach Richard how to be a person during appointments.
Bernard is 70 years old and slowing down, if you will.
Richard recommends cuttlefish for the calcium, and his owner, Mr. Clough, is reasonably impressed.
But then Bernard is back again, still a stagnant tortoise.
Bernard shall be rid of his fleas and become a zippy septuagenarian.
Agh, okay, lets go back to the brucellosis plot.
I thought if I talked enough about tortoises, I could avoid it, but it cant be helped.
I am nothing if not a dutiful recapper of about 80 to 90 percent of plot points.
Helen says shell help James at the Crabtreess as one of their calves is coming early.
She assists with the birth, and the calf is stillborn.
Did not want to see, but its a show about farm vets, so what did I expect.
Richard doesnt know about Helen yet, but he feels bad about sharing this information very soon.
Most of the rest of Helens subplot, of course, is her worrying about the baby.
Then Siegfried decides they canreadto solve the problem.
So the whole gang is in the parlor reading in front of the fire.
Siegfried and Mrs. Hall are on the sofa with Dash, being the parents they are.
Through their reading, James realizes they can test Helen for brucellosis and end this agonizing wait.
And she does not have it!
What an absolutely awful few days!
I mean, for us, it was like 30 minutes, but that was also awful.
Halls hand when they find out Helen tests negative.
Just pointing that out.
But is nice/fine good enough for Mrs. Hall?
The community pitches in to disinfect the Crabtree farm, and some of the new calves are saved.
Mr. Crabtree gets a job as a farmhand nearby; Helen is okay; Richard has fleas.
Siegfried calls for a toast to knowledge, fleas, and their growing family.
I LOVE YOU, DARROWBY FAM.
