'Call the Midwife': We Need to Talk About Matthew

Call the Midwife was all about lung health in Episode 4. The hospital provided tuberculosis vaccine tests to the local schoolchildren, leading Nurse Nancy (Megan Cusack) to the Chidozie family when two children tested positive. When Nancy visits the house with Dr. Turner (Stephen McGann), they discover that the family patriarch, Felix (Dimeji Ewuoso), is so sick with tuberculosis that he's already coughing up blood.

They take Felix to the hospital to get tested and discover that he's far sicker than they realize. When Dr. Turner and his son return to the Chidozie house to encourage Felix to stay in an isolation bed, Felix collapses and dies before an ambulance can make it to the house. The scary and heartbreaking case with Felix pushes Nancy to ask questions about her own childhood. Miss Higgins (Georgie Glen) helps Nancy track down one of the old nuns who took her in as a small girl, and the old nun reveals that Nancy's entire family died of tuberculosis. She only survived because of a natural immunity.

Everything to do with the Chidozies was tragic and bittersweet, but the other case of the week was downright stressful. Trixie (Helen George) and pupil nurse Joyce Highland (Renee Bailey) were charged with taking care of a heavy-smoker patient. When Prue Stanton (Lucy Thackeray) goes into labor, Trixie gets a call from Matthew (Olly Rix) and rushes out because she thinks it's an emergency. Turns out, Matthew is just frustrated with the crying baby and would like Trixie to come home and deal with their child. Trixie brushes him off but is so distracted by the call that she signs off on Prue's placenta without properly checking it.