"Honeymoon's Over"
Here ye, here ye. All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 spoilers below!
All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 episode 2 recap
James is back at work. We see how eager he is to have Helen to return home to in a cute breakfast sequence. They share a small space but don't seem to care. It's lovely. Thank you, show writers. It's apparent Helen is not a good cook but we'll come back to that. The two newlyweds are very happy.
Downstairs, the crew joke about Tristan spending his pay on women but he reveals he's saving up for "something." Hmmm. James is disappointed and surprised that his pay as a partner is less than before. He offers to become more involved in "the business." Siegried initially pooh pooh's this without tension but by the end of the scene, we know that trouble is a-brewing. Doors slam. Mrs. H sighs and rolls her eyes.
Cut to a Miss (thankyouverymuch) Kate Billings who is expecting Siegried but gets James. Hey, he's a partner now. But as we know, James fights a neverending battle with the farmers in trying to gain their trust.
Back to Mrs. Hall and her sighing. She straight-up tells Siegfried, "You made James a partner. You need to start treating him like one." Siggy gets defensive. No surprise there. He hates change. But he agrees...a little too quickly. What does he have planned, I wonder?
All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 episode 2 recap continues
Kate is having issues with her baby calves. James tries to make conversation as he examines the sweet babies. (Baby cows, you guys!) Miss Kate ain't having it. Calves are diagnosed with acute gastritis due to abdominal pain but no lung or fever complications. Miss Billings is a woman of few words. I like her! James ends by administering morphine and a charcoal solution to flush toxins.
Meanwhile, Siegfried brings tons of boxes and papers down to the dining table for James to ostensibly look over since he wants to be more involved in the "inner workings" of the biz. Mrs. Hall grumps over the mess...and Siggy's apparent glee about how he has interpreted her suggestion. We know his ego is behind this, right? This is not what James expected but he dives in. Tris and Siegfried have fun plans but James is neck-deep in paperwork.
The next morning, J admits he is struggling "a bit." S smugly says, "best leave it with me, then." He begins to list all the attributes that he believes make him more suited to accounting. He tells James basically to stick to what he's good at. Here is the theme, you guys: "plan your own furrow" versus "stay in your lane." James counters by announcing he has planned to ask Helen for her help since she has experience running a business and she has a head for math. Mrs. Hall smiles, clearly liking where this is going.
Billings' farm. One calf has died. James thinks the calves have eaten something that is toxic but Kate assures him this can't be. He offers to do a post-mortem on the dead cow and send the kidneys out to be tested for lead. Miss B says these cows are like family since her sister Annie has left to get married and live over the hill. James quietly suggests asking Annie to help shed some light. Kate is against it and asks again for Siegfried. James repeats that he'll run tests but can't promise the calves will survive.
Helen proves to be highly suited to accounting and quite capable, much to Siegfried's consternation. His ego always gets in the way of his goodness, don't you think? He lashes out that the business has suffered while James and Helen were "gallivanting" on their honeymoon. She ignores this barb and asks some pointed questions about how he runs things. She tries to connect by noting some similarities in how she and her father run/ran their farm. I think Helen senses his back is up and indeed, he gets defensive again. She says, "Perhaps this wasn't a good idea." She leaves as he angrily stuffs the paperwork back in a box.
All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 episode 2 recap continues
Tristan goes out on a call to Rosie's Boarding House. He's pleased he was able to snag the Rover. But his mood changes when he sees who he's there to meet. Veterinarian George Pandhi's daughter has a dalmatian, Daisy, who is poorly. History between these two! In their conversation, you see she fits the theme of the episode as she has left her father's vet practice to work at a bank. Tristan leaves without really doing anything for the dog. Weird but okay.
James returns to a trashed surgery. Dang, Tristan! He lightly admonishes T as Siegfried listens at the door. Siggy bursts in and scolds James that he's too soft on Tristan. James counters that "you don't have to always bawl and shout, you know." When he leaves, Tristan tells James that Siegfried has never wanted a partner. He likes being in control. Dear reader, we would never have guessed, right?
Helen is upstairs burning dinner. James asks how it all went with Siegfried and she sighs heavily. She shows him some uncashed checks. James sees one from the TB testing and exclaims it's more than he makes in a week. James wants to prove that TB testing, although extremely unpopular with the farmers, may be lucrative for the practice. He's worried Siegfried will rescind the partnership.
Busy morning in the practice. Everyone has something to do. And then there's Tristan fretting over a crossword puzzle clue. Mrs. H and Gerald take their dogs for a walk. They talk about his history. He ends their chat by saying he thinks "people end up exactly where they need to be." There's our theme again!
All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 episode 2 recap continues
Siegfried goes out to see Kate Billings and hears that two calves now have passed on. He agrees with James that it's 1. gastritis and 2. cows have gotten into something toxic. He offers exactly what James had offered by way of figuring out what's going on. There isn't much else to be done but wait for test results.
Back at the surgery, the most beautiful cat so far, Richard, is seen leaving with his owner, Charlie. Man, I love pets with people names! Mrs. Hall and Gerald are having some tea and she leaves to get T some beer. T takes this moment to check in with Gerald, using the dogs' companionship as a metaphor. Gerald assures him that Rock, his dog, cares deeply for Jess, the surgery dog. (Sweet Jessie!)
Daisy is back! Florence enters in distress over her dog and comments on how filthy the surgery is. Daisy is choking on a pebble! T wastes time because his instruments are dirty but he starts in on saving Daisy. He gets the pebble out! Florence tells an incoming Siegfried that Tristan did an excellent job. She promises to pass that on to her father. T thanks Florence and she gives him the crossword puzzle clue he's been missing. Vicissitude. Ok, show, that's really cute.
All Creatures Great and Small Season 3 episode 2 recap continues
James finds Kate Billings sitting with her calves. She has the test results. Negative for lead. James is such a people person with a good heart. He gently encourages her again to contact her sister. Kate lets James know that Siegfried has visited and said the same thing about the gastritis, etc.
Helen returns on her bike. Mrs. H gives her a package. Siggy butts in and opens it. James walks in and S is super upset. James has gone ahead and gotten the TB testing supplies and signed them up for the program. Siegfried argues that it's still his practice and James went behind his back. James says, You Too, because S has visited Kate even though this was James' case to deal with. T walks in as it all blows up. Siegfried storms out. James storms out. Mrs. H assures Helen it'll be fine and they'll all adjust. Girl, let's drink, she says.
Mrs. Hall tells Helen they can join them downstairs but Helen says they like the privacy. And then admits she's used to the farm and doing things on her own. She feels bad that Mrs. H is doing it all but Audrey says, "it's me job." And it's her home. And it's Helen's home now too. She should start treating it as such (sound familiar?). They hug and I cry. Audrey says she has an idea about how to sort James and Siegfried.
Next morning, Helen rouses a sleepy James and says, "Stove's out. We'll have to have breakfast downstairs." James doesn't want to but Helen tells him to "shift." (I love that saying!) The camera pulls out from Tristan eating at the end of the table to Helen and Audrey sitting opposite and then finally to James and Siegfried across from each other. (FOOD!) Mrs. H sternly suggests both of them go to the Billings farm together and Helen backs her up. The two men set off in strained politeness.
Once at the cow shed, they go over what they know and what they can try next. If you are like me, you've already figured out the conduit for toxins. James leaves with Kate to look around the entrance, checking to see if there is anything that may have been tracked in. Kate thanks James for his kindness the day before. Aw, James!
S pulls something out of the milk the babies are drinking. Aha! Kate tells them a traveling salesman gave her something for disbudding the calves' horns. She can't read the bottle but he assured her it was safe. She had no idea that by applying it to the calves' horns, she was poisoning them. Antimony = poison. The calves would bend over the milk bucket, their buds would fall into the milk and contaminate it. Kate is aghast that she's responsible and bemoans that this would never have happened if her sister Annie was there.
James patiently suggests making amends and this time, she agrees. We see her climbing the hill to go see her sister. James praises Siegfried. Siegfried praises James. He then quotes, "for if they fall, the one shall lift up the other." We know he's not just talking about Kate and Annie Billings, right?
Surprise, surprise, Tristan has cleaned up the surgery. He admits to James that the emergency operation with Daisy forced him to confront his mess and how it might affect the animals he treats. Siegfried magnanimously asks James to tell him about the TB testing program. James repeats that it could bring in money for all of them. Siggy tells him he's free to make these decisions as a partner but he's solely responsible for any consequences of those decisions.
No more eating upstairs. They all sit down to dinner. All is right with the world. Cue the theme!
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