Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Critical Thinking Exercise II: How Michael Could Have Known about Dennis Rickman's Death

Once again, the natives are restless on Digital Spy, twisting and chewing on their knicker threads in agitation at what they perceive to be poor writing on the part of whoever wrote last night's episode.

I'm the first to admit that a great deal of writing in Eastenders is poor. A lot of it is lazy, but last night showed nothing of that.

I'm referring to the scene in the club where Sharon tells that pathetic lie to Michael about Dennis Rickman being a helicopter pilot who died on a search and rescue mission, and Michael called her out on it.

Immediately, people on Digital Spy's soap forum went into an overdrive of obsession. How on earth could Michael have known about that? He wasn't around when Dennis Rickman died?

Well, it's not rocket science. 

First of all, Michael is married to Janine, sister of Ricky and stepdaughter of Pat. Both Janine and Ricky would have remembered Dennis Rickman, as they were both on the Square at the time Dennis arrived, even though they had both gone by the time Dennis died. Still, Pat was on hand when Dennis was murdered, and Pat wasn't above a gossip; so she would have been sure to have filled both Ricky and Janine in on Sharon's marriage, the discovery of Den Watts's body in the basement of the pub, and Dennis's subsequent murder.

But there's a more immediate source to Michael's knowledge of these events.

Michael works with Billy Mitchell.

Billy was on the Square in the midst of the New Year's celebrations the night Dennis died. He would have seen Sharon rush to Dennis and heard her screams. He would have known that Phil comforted her, and he would have known that Phil and Grant went off to avenge Dennis's death for Sharon's sake. He may even have been told by Billy about the part his cousins, Danny and Jake, played in Dennis's demise and his subsequent retribution.

So, it's not difficult to surmise how Michael Moon knew about Dennis Rickman's death. Not everything, as people often were quick to tell me in times of yore, has to be played out on screen.

No, indeed, it doesn't. The more pressing concern with all of this shouldn't have been how Michael managed to know the truth behind Dennis Rickman's death, but why Sharon is lying about it in Walford in the first place. Actually, the truth about Sharon's return to Walford in the first place was revealed last night in three simple words she uttered ...

I needed Phil.











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