- Two women, one baby: "Toni, male, midwife" is over
Most TV characters in social or medical professions are female, so a man as a midwife stands out. The tenth film in the ARD series "Toni, male, midwife" is titled "The Happiness of Others" and will air on Friday (16.8.) at 8:15 PM on the first channel. It is also the last of the films that began over five years ago.
This time, Toni's ex-wife Hanna (Kathrin von Steinburg) and her new husband Alex (Martin Bretschneider) appear in the prenatal clinic. However, it's not Hanna who is heavily pregnant, but her Georgian housekeeper Natascha. Toni is completely taken aback when Hanna confesses to having hired the young woman as a "surrogate mother" for her desire to have a child.
Tender Insights
Natascha would like to stay in the beautiful Munich home of the couple and believes she has fallen in love with Alex. When he doesn't respond, she flees - taking the newborn baby with her. Meanwhile, Toni urgently wants to talk to his colleague Luise (Wolke Hegenbarth) - she is trying to save her relationship with Sami (Marcel Mohab) using dishonest methods.**
Director Sibylle Tafel (58, "Two Farmers and No Land") has directed and written all ten films in this series. In her film, which starts off a bit slow but becomes increasingly entertaining, she offers not only the usual banter between the main characters but also tender insights into other possibilities of a partnership, a "ménage à trois". It becomes clear that the happiness of others seems to be better off than their own for Toni and Luise, who have felt drawn to each other for a long time - somehow.
A Sudden End
Leo Reisinger (46, "Tonio & Julia") and Wolke Hegenbarth (44, "Alles Klara") play as usual in a relaxed and fresh manner, as if they have been a couple for eternity, now in their mid-forties. However, they are not and will not become one. So this episode ends quite suddenly and, moreover, as if it could continue soon.**
But it won't, there will be no farewell episode with resolved plotlines. Similarly abrupt, the ARD and its film subsidiary Degeto recently ended the series "Daheim in den Bergen", which ended in the middle of a phone call. The ratings were declining in both series, the last "Toni" episode (on 9.8.) had 2.6 million viewers, at the start on 8.2.2019 it was 4.5 million. Life can be quite harsh - now also on the otherwise rather reconciliatory TV evening on Friday.
Baby, please, Toni gently pleads with Natascha as she considers leaving with the newborn baby. Despite his feelings, Toni understands the complicated situation and can only hope for a peaceful resolution.
Baby, please, Toni also thinks as he looks at the empty crib in his own home, missing the joy and chaos that a baby brings, despite the challenges that come with parenthood.
