Casualty spoilers: Paula exits as she gets a happy ending with baby Ena
It was lovely to see a happy ending for Paula Kettering (Rosie Jones) and her baby Ena in tonight’s Casualty. The story of how drunken, chaotic Paula turned her life around in order to get custody of the baby she wanted so dearly has been one of the most involving and realistic stories Casualty has ever had, helped enormously by a wonderfully sensitive, well-rounded and at times heartbreaking performance by Rosie Jones.
In tonight’s episode we saw Paula get custody of her baby again, after she finally proved that she was sober and had turned her life around. But that wasn’t the end of the story. We then saw how Paula struggled to deal with the realities of being on her own and having a very young, and no doubt unsettled, baby. This had nothing to do with her disability and everything to do with the stark reality of parenthood – that it can be hard, lonely work. In one scene Paula took her baby to the park and sat watching the children play. If only another young parent had sat down with her for a chat it could have made all the difference, but instead she looked completely isolated.
There was support available, though Dylan (William Beck) was busy at work and the social worker who visited Paula came across as more judgemental than helpful. Paula has often been her own worst enemy with her pride and stubbornness, and she tried to soldier on by herself.
When Ena got sick – thankfully only with one of these little mild things babies get – Paula rushed her to the ED and Dylan instantly understood what was going on. He reassured Paula that she was just ‘a normal, tired mum,’ and arranged for her and Ena to have a bed for the night so she could get some sleep. Paula decided she’d accept whatever help was offered, and left the ED the next morning in a cab, looking happy and excited about the future.
Is the future looking as promising for Marty (Shaheen Jafargholi) and Adi (Raj Bajaj)? This week Marty discovered that Adi is about to become a father, with surrogate Jessica (Maya Saroya). Adi said he’d been trying to find a way to tell Marty about this, but feared that being stuck at home with a baby wouldn’t suit Marty’s partying lifestyle. For his part, Marty was upset that Adi had kept such a huge secret from him and feels there’s a lack of trust between them that’s going to be hard to get over.