Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Now That We All Know Sharon's Secret ...

Thanks to Digital Spy, we know that Sharon's deep dark secret is that she's a pill-popper. She has an addiction to pain-killers, which puts her in the same league as ... ta-DAAAAAA ... Phil Mitchell.

Whoda thunk that?

I admit, I thought she'd been dipping herself into the call girl business, at the madam end of things; then she revealed to Lucy Beale that she'd become some sort of species of barfly. What I'm interested in knowing is how they're going to gloss over the fact that Ian visited her three years ago in fancy digs in Florida and she's been in the UK for four years, according to the latest EastEnders' retcon.

I also want to hear what part, in the way of support, Michelle and Vicky played in this. In fact, I'd be happy just to hear them mentioned, because we've not heard Sharon reference them even once, and you'd think she'd at least have mentioned 'Chelle to Ian. After all, Michelle is his cousin.

Look, I know Florida is a big state and that Michelle lived in the Northwestern part of the state, along the panhandle that borders Alabama. Sharon and Angie lived in the southern part of the state, a distance of more than a day's drive at the least. But there are regular domestic flights, there are telephones and internet connections. Vicky, herself, is now about 27 years old, so it's debatable if she's even living in the same town, much less house, as Michelle, and Vicky is Sharon's sister. So one or the other would surely have known that Sharon was having some sort of physical or emotional difficulty.

Something doesn't add up, and that "something" is EastEnders' shit continuity. In 2009, Ian Beale visited Sharon in October to celebrate her fortieth. He returned not even mentioning his cousin Michelle, and Michelle would certainly have made the effort to attend Sharon's fortieth, even if it meant hiking a plane. Then when Pat died, Ian rang Michelle - no mention of informing Sharon, who clearly didn't know that Pat was dead when she returned. Well, she wouldn't have done do, being in the UK at the time - but even that doesn't add up: the fact that she wouldn't have contacted either Ian or Phil when she was back on this side of the Pond, no matter how downtrodden she was.

If I recall correctly, when she returned in 2001, she was on her uppers. It was Steve Owen, who bought the pub for her, all her money and property in the US being gone due to Angie's medical bills. She was pretty forthright in telling Phil that much before, why couldn't she have turned either to him or to Ian now?

Maybe this revelation will do more to return Sharon to the fold of familiarity than her recent return did, and maybe, in having her open up to Phil about her addiction - he, suffering from addictions as well - will bring her closer to him and further away from the odious Brannings. Somehow having Sharon sitting with Cora the Old Crone and listening to her murderous daughter prattle on about her wedding, again, to Max Branning doesn't sit well with me. (And why does Tanya have to have yet another white wedding? What is she, some self-perpetuating virgin?)

There's still time to salvage Sharon's character. It just remains to be seen if TPTB have the integrity and ingenuity to do so.

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