“All Creatures Great and Small” Recap: Tricky Wu’s Birthday

The heartwarming return of Tricky Wu, the true star of the series. Photo: PBS

Someone told me last week that Tricky Woo is fine after this four year time jump, so I’m excited to report that Tricky Woo is alive and well and relatively well. And it’s his birthday. Tricky Woo, if we could send Barbra Streisand dog cloning technology back in time, Mrs. Pumphrey would definitely use it, and even though your soul leaves us, your exact DNA will remain. Tricki Woo: The true star of the All Creatures series.

This week we have a high-stakes affair with an X-ray machine, a vomiting dog, and Siegfried alienating the villagers. As I say every year, thank God this show exists. It’s a small island, peaceful and calm, but mostly with small problems. They skipped World War II for four whole years. Do you think the writers looked at what was going on in the world and said, “We know why people watch this show, let’s just move on”?We need an hour a week to watch Mrs. Hall marvel at being given a head of lettuce by a greengrocer. How will she solve this insurmountable wall? Will she talk to Siegfried? Ah, yes, that solved it. Wow, what a solvable situation that doesn’t require staring at horrifying news videos on your cell phone, knowing that you have no control over national or world events. Hello, Darrowby.

Even though Siegfried basically declared his love for Mrs. Hall last week, he still acts like a Darrowby town bicycle to a woman in her fifties who resembles Mrs. Hall. James meets him walking on the side of the road. Siegfried was missing one of his shoes and claimed his car wouldn’t start after crossing a bridge in the evening at his widow’s house nearby. Now, Sieg. I really thought you finally figured this out, but seeing Dog’s thinly veiled speech later in the episode made me realize that you still have some personal growth to do. When they return to Skelldale, Mrs. Hall asks Siegfried why he only has one shoe. “The bridge,” James replies. I love you all.

James has to run to Sister Rose’s house to see the dog she is fostering. Siegfried forgets to tell him about the appointment, and the clinic can’t afford to lose her as a referral. James is scared of Sister Rose, but he doesn’t know why because her bitterness is the funny type. (Note: Well, technically I know why. My wife doesn’t like any kind of dry humor, but I don’t.) When he showed up and apologized, she said to James: “My dog ​​is used to being abandoned so why should I worry?” lol. Apparently Sister Rose also requested flea powder, but she hasn’t received it yet, and there are other vets nearby that she can go to. But before that possibility, there’s Jeffrey the dog. She finds him on the roadside, but he continues to vomit. James prescribes “stomach medicine,” which sounds interesting, but Sister Rose learns that the clinic doesn’t have an X-ray machine. Fortunately, she is able to connect him with one. I mean, she essentially tells James she’s going to buy it, and he does. James half-heartedly tells Siegfried about this big purchase while Siegfried is distracted looking for the other shoe (the shoe’s partner was thrown into the house by Siegfried’s bridge buddies).

Wait, but what about Tricky Woo’s birthday? Yes, great point. Mr. Trickey has not responded to Mrs. Pumphrey’s calls and is worried that she may have offended him. Siegfried looks at Tricki’s ear and diagnoses an ear infection that is damaging Tricki’s hearing. It’s a symptom of his age. Mrs. Pumphrey is insulted, and so am I. What do you mean, Siegfried? Isn’t Tricky always with us? Sit on a little pillow and eat bacon on his birthday? That can’t be right. Mrs. Pumphrey (and perhaps all of us) must take this information in silence.

Tristan is bored, so he does inventory at a pharmacy, rewires electrical systems, and all sorts of things he learned in the Army. Mrs. Hall states that when Edward came home, he said the worst thing was that there was nothing to prevent him from remembering. Tristan is like, oh, sure, I get it. He then decided to start attending practice calls, so maybe he’ll end up staying back? Unclear.

But first, he and James must hand over this extremely heavy X-ray machine. I found one from the early 20th century and it weighed about 310 pounds, so it’s nothing to sneeze at. Their machines are delivered in a horse-drawn carriage (which we like) in a 6-foot-tall wooden crate. James and Tristan try to move it themselves, but some old men judge them from afar. Tristan bribes them to help him, but they get it at the door and get stuck there. Siegfried is shocked by its arrival, and James claims that the pet that uses it is the future, but Siegfried correctly points out that that won’t happen unless he gets into the building. Sister Rose came over to get the dog’s flea powder and said that if it were her, she would take the wheeled machine out of the box. What a startling revelation. James and Tristan finally set it up and turned it on, and it shorted out the electricity throughout the house.

Meanwhile, the greengrocer and other local peddlers have a bad attitude with Mrs. Hall, and Mrs. Hall doesn’t understand why until Helen tells her the obvious. It’s not her, it’s Siegfried. When Mrs. Hall confronts him about this, he says he does things his way because it works, and that he was the only one in Skeldale. Ah, Siegfried, everyone has left you. She tells him that she knows it hasn’t been easy, but please don’t be rude to literally everyone. Siegfried mentions a blind mole rat who can see better than James’ broken X-ray machine, and Mrs. Hall takes it up and compares Siegfried to an angry blind mole rat furiously digging a tunnel that quickly collapses behind it. It turns out that the greengrocer is upset because Siegfried hired his sister to replace Mrs. Hall and fired her three days later. In the way only she can, Mrs. Hall tells Siegfried that admitting he’s wrong isn’t the worst thing in the world. Character growth! perhaps! It’s pretty early in the series to talk about that, but also, we only get so many episodes per year.

Siegfried goes around visiting people he has alienated, apologizing to them, and marking them off on a small list. wonderful. Really amazing. The greengrocer (who, by the way, looks like President Putin, I had to mention this) gives Mrs. Hall a head of lettuce that won’t be so bad next time. success! Tristan places the X-ray machine on another circuit. More success! But then Jeffrey vomits again, so Sister Rose brings him in. Has our winning streak ended? But no, Siegfried and James work together to discover that Geoffrey ate the stone. Success continues!

While James tries to get the stone out of Jeffrey, Sister Rose gives a little monologue about how Jeffrey was at his lowest when she found him, but that he has a good heart and is only growling because he was hurt. Sister, we all know you’re talking about Siegfried. Mrs. Hall sat down with her and asked him what he would do if he never learned to trust again. But Sister Rose says they all just want home and love (and to know they don’t have responsibilities). yes! Please bring Siegfried and Mrs. Hall closer, sister! I’m grateful for this. It was exactly like “Scully’s speech in the X-Files season 6 episode “The Rain King”” but about a dog.

Mrs. Pumphrey wants the men of Skeldale to find Tricki as a romantic partner so that she can welcome future Trickis into her life. Siegfried assigns this job to James. Wow, I would love to find a girlfriend for Tricky. Can you imagine if your job meant seeing an absurdly fluffy Pekingese dog? Awesome. Jeffrey has recovered and is wearing a sweater, Siegfried has grown as a person, and the family is once again gathered at the dinner table. Hooray!