All Creatures Great and Small Recap: Zarathustra and Ziggurats (and Goats)

We’ve got a potential bomb, wormy goats, and me being disgustingly overcome by how cute Jimmy is. My wife walked in while I was exclaiming over him and was like, “Alice.” Sorry that we had a baby and now every baby makes me have cartoon heart eyes. They’re so good. Okay, but what are our Yorkshire veterinarians and assorted characters up to? Aside from Jimmy, who is sitting in a high chair all by himself, look at him! (I am now cutting myself off from Jimmy talk.)

James is run-down, secretly because of war trauma, but in the more immediate sense, also because Tristan is taking him out drinking a bunch. Get your shit together, Tristan. Tristan is the opposite of Jimmy. James tries to hold himself together at the breakfast table when Richard gets a package and a letter. The package is droppings in a jar. Pygmy-goat droppings. Siegfried is, of course, very excited, and they analyze them under a microscope, diagnosing ringworm. The goats belong to the Grantleys, so they’re going to fire up the worming gun and go off to the Grantley estate. But first, Richard’s letter. Not only has he passed his exams, but he has received an outstanding distinction and been offered something called the Warner’s Prize. This would provide him with a research position in London.

Richard is very cagey about discussing this offer and then about accepting it (because he loves Skeldale House and everyone in it, and WHY WOULDN’T HE?). When Siegfried pushes him to accept, Richard replies that he should be serving in the war effort by working as a vet and not “having a jolly in a lab.” That’s definitely how I think about labwork.

At the Grantleys, we meet a good number of dogs and some pygmy goats, including Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, who are named after the goats that pull Thor’s chariot. They are extremely cute. The goats are being looked after by Miss Grantley. If she looks familiar, it’s because that’s Juliet Aubrey from the 1994 Middlemarch miniseries. Exciting! Less exciting is that the show is again featuring a woman Siegfried is immediately interested in. Haven’t we done this? Are we not bored by this by now? Miss Grantley is an archaeologist who speaks Farsi to the animals, which is very cool, and I like her, but can we have her be cool without the “Siegfried flirts with a woman and then we never see her again” story line? Anywayyyy.

The goats have worms (and their own chaise!), but Thor’s chariot goats are also sensitive to light, which is a fun puzzle for Siegfried and Richard. They figure out that the tiny Thor goats have been eating Saint-John’s-wort, which makes them photosensitive. Richard shouts in Miss Grantley’s direction that Siegfried is not in a pair bond, which she takes in stride. She and Siegfried discuss her writing, “Zarathustra and Ziggurats,” which he asks to read. Miss Grantley teaches at Cambridge, which also is very cool. She convinces Siegfried to give more thought to Richard refusing the Warner’s Prize.

Elsewhere, James is trying to figure out how to tell Tristan he can’t keep going out drinking with him, as he has a family that he would very much like to spend time with, and Mrs. Hall is off on a false alarm with an extra-officious Mr. Bosworth. Tristan has to write a lecture on mule hydration in desert conditions, and he would instead like to do anything else. I saw mules clip-clopping right up a steep path in the Grand Canyon like it was nothing. So impressive. Great job, mules. To avoid this, Tristan runs around the house with what I assume is a cricket ball and fails at helping James repair Jimmy’s playpen. James finally agrees to play cricket for 20 minutes, during which he backs out of their drinking plans. Tristan admits he perhaps took the carousing too far. Oh, really, Tristan? Maybe? Also, they are swinging bats and hitting a ball so close to an open baby carriage, and I haaaaate it. Later, Tristan practices his mule lecture on Jimmy, who responds by farting. Who left the baby with Tristan?

Mr. Bosworth calls in a hurry for Mrs. Hall, but also makes her change into her uniform, because it’s official business. Said business is that he thinks a bomb fell in a field, and they have to stay quiet about it so as not to panic the civilians, but they also have to go and make the initial assessment. Bosworth is clearly thrilled to have something potentially important going on, only for Mrs. Hall to crush his dreams by telling him it’s not a bomb but rather a flight crate that fell. It has random supplies, like food and toothpaste. Bosworth is like, okay, but let’s not jump to conclusions; it could still be very dangerous. Oh, Bosworth.

I should mention there’s another plotline about Doris the Land Girl accidentally being responsible for poisoning Bosworth’s dog, Bingo, because she didn’t bury the dead rats deep enough. We also see a dead fox, which I could have happily missed. Mrs. Hall does the right thing and tells Bosworth what happened, and she says that Doris wants to apologize in person. That would be so hard; what an example is Mrs. Hall. Bosworth is obviously emotional but says to tell Doris that Bingo brought him so much happiness, he wouldn’t have him bring misery to her. Then they chat about Bingo and what’s been going on with Bosworth. Mrs. Hall shares that her son is on a battleship and likens herself to a smashed box that’s been glued back together. Aww, Mrs. Hall. What a lovely moment of vulnerability between our two wardens.

Convinced that Richard should accept this prestigious posting, Siegfried lets him know that he’ll always have a place at Skeldale House, with or without a job there. Richard decides to accept the position, which is great for him, but now we’re losing Richard! In exchange for who? Tristan? Noooooooo. For now, though, we get to see Tristan and Helen go off to the pub together; Richard invites Doris the Land Girl, and then asks Siegfried and Mrs. Hall (who are standing so close together?). James stays at home with Jimmy and the dogs. Everyone is happy and cozy, and I love this show.