As this episode of Maternal begins, Catherine (Lara Pulver) catches up with Maryam (Parminder Nagra) outside to ask what she is doing later. Catherine reveals that Lars and his wife are taking Elis to Sweden tonight. They run into Neelum who talks to Maryam about ladies night. Maryam explains that it is just a British-Pakistani thing her friends organize at the mosque. There will be a dance floor and a buffet. Catherine decides that she wants to go. Guy (Oliver Chris) asks Helen (Lisa McGrillis) if she changed the sheets in the spare room for mom. He reminds her that he can only apologize so many times.

Guy knows it was out of hand, but complains that she went behind his back and brought her sister back into their lives. Tessa Joseph (Jennifer Macbeth) arrives for night duty. When Maryam gets home, her mom urges her to get ready. Catherine tells Elis that she’ll be leaving with Lars and Brigitta. They talk to Catherine about her evening out with Maryam and her friends from the mosque. Tessa talks to Helen about the lady in bed four who doesn’t look well. When Helen has to leave, she puts Tessa in charge. Maryam’s mother helps her get ready. She thinks she could be a consultant by now if she put more energy into it.

She thinks she should worry more about her relationship with Raza since they haven’t shared a kind word in days. Helen meets with Neelum who wants her to tell the family that it isn’t pneumonia. She checks on Amanda and Hannah who has advanced ovarian cancer. They’re hoping she just has pneumonia, but Helen admits she doesn’t think it is pneumonia. Instead, the cancer has advanced to her lungs. Helen wants to admit her until she has time to discuss her options with the oncology team in the morning. Hannah insists she wants to go home so she can die there. Amanda tries to talk Helen into discharging her so she can care for Hannah at home.

Helen refuses and again urges them to review their choices with oncology in the morning. Amanda doesn’t think there is anything left to do so Hannah should be allowed to leave while she still can. Helen tells them to think about it for an hour. Catherine shows up in a different dress after Brigitta questioned her first one. Maryam takes her upstairs to sort out the dress issue. Helen calls Guy to talk to him about Hannah. She learns that he is drinking even though he is on call. Guy thinks she is being hysterical about it. He offers to face down oncology for Amanda if that makes it an easier decision for her. While looking for a dress, Catherine talks to Maryam about Elis going to Sweden.

Catherine just wants to forget about it and have a good night. Helen gets a call from Magda at St Harry’s ICU because they’re trying to identify a patient in her late 40s. The woman had a benzodiazepine overdose and a piece of paper with Helen’s name on it. Helen immediately thinks of Debbie, but she doesn’t say that. She learns that Debbie was intubated after she was found unresponsive and hypoxic. They’re fighting for her, but she is really sick. After the call, Tessa tells Helen that she thinks bed four has died. Helen asks her to deal with it. Maryam and the others arrive at the party. Catherine talks to Maryam’s friends about getting Elis into a school.

Maryam is told that children tend to absorb languages better at three. Tessa deals with the patient who recently died. Catherine learns about the Fanny Witch who is a myofascial release therapist. It hurts when she does it, but they claim it fixes the pain. Tessa finds a patient with a bloody leg and has to immediately page Helen. Meanwhile, Helen is told that the matron and her wife are getting impatient, but she wants to check with Tessa first. Helen and Jack arrive at the same time and begin dealing with the patient’s hematoma. Once they finish, Helen and Jack leave together. He is flirty with her so she asks if he can have a conversation without doing the seduction routine.

She asks if he felt like he could leave for a family emergency. Jack says he’d talk to the on-call consultant and have them take over. She gets a page from the labour ward. Meanwhile, Maryam and the others learn that Sairish is pregnant. Helen calls Charlotte to ask about Guy. She learns that they didn’t open the wine after all. Helen asks her to forget about it. After the call, she thinks about Guy drinking too much. Catherine joins Maryam outside once she is done dancing. She reveals she hasn’t heard from them so she suspects Elis is doing fine. Maryam reminds her it is okay to say she misses her. Catherine doubts Maryam told her mother about the investigation.

Maryam admits she hasn’t told her mother because she feels ashamed. Catherine says it feels like her chest has been cracked open. After a group of guys run by, Maryam finds someone lying on the ground. The looks like he has been stabbed and he isn’t breathing. Catherine begins performing CPR while Maryam uses his phone to call for help. When a young man walks over, Maryam urges him to go get the boy’s mom now. They’re told the ambulance should be there in three to four minutes. Helen still can’t get in touch with Guy. Catherine says the boy needs thoracotomies. She does it right there on the street. When the mother arrives, she says the boy’s name is Josh.

At the hospital, Helen deals with a drunk patient before Josh is brought in for treatment. Catherine takes over the operation. She finds a hole in the left ventricle. She plugs it before they try to move the body up to the theatre. Maryam goes to a private place and begins panicking. Tessa calls Mrs. Whitlock to tell her that her mother passed away. Once Josh is taken to the theatre, Jack takes over. Maryam talks to his parents and reassures them he’ll likely make a full recovery. Tessa takes a call and confirms everything is okay. Helen checks on Hannah and Amanda again.

Amanda talks to her about treating patients during COVID. She wants Hannah to die in their bed before asking about Guy. Helen admits he doesn’t say anything and never talks about it. Amanda suggests he is still processing it, but Helen says he is drinking too much and isn’t in control of it. Len agrees to discharge them. As she rushes to leave, Helen runs into Jack and explains she was trying to book an Uber. He offers to give her a ride. She asks how fast he can get her to St Harry’s. Maryam finally tells her mother about the investigation. She admits she doesn’t care about her license at this point. She isn’t the doctor her mom thinks she is because she makes mistakes.

Her mom urges her to hang in there and stay strong because she didn’t do anything wrong. Maryam isn’t the mother or doctor she thought she’d be. Jack drives Helen while they listen to music. Once she arrives, she learns from Magda that Debbie died. They sit down so Helen can learn more about Debbie’s death. Catherine calls Lars to ask about Elis. After a brief talk, he ends the call abruptly. Helen walks outside and calls Callum asking him to call her. Jack tells her to leave a voice note. When he offers to drive her home, Helen asks how far it is to his place. Maryam dances to music while Catherine gets ready to go.

She talks to Laura on her way to work. Helen asks Jack if he ever wonders how he got it so long. She thinks Catherine will fight him tooth and nail for that job. They’ve had sex earlier.

 

Maternal Review

When it is at its best, Maternal can be effectively emotional. At its worst, the series is sometimes annoying thanks to the soundtrack choices and believability issues. Parminder Nagra, Lisa McGrillis, and Lara Pulver are good in their respective roles so it is easy enough to sympathize with their characters.

The personal dramas often fall flat while the decision to hastily throw the characters into relationships hurts the seriousness of the show a bit. Maternal hasn’t reached the quality of other similar shows such as This Is Going To Hurt so it may need more time to develop, but it is watchable in its own right.

With a little more time, it may be able to get even better. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Maternal can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our site at this link. Learn more about advertising opportunities on Reel Mockery here.