Just Answering Some WW Points: Kat and the Brannings

A well-known and erudite shipper on Walford Web makes some points which I'd like to counter. This is in relation to Kat and her brief post-revelatory position as Derek Branning's open squeeze and, thus, part and parcel of the biggest set of poor white dysfunctional losers in the show's history.

Already the kindergarten is going into "poor-Kat's-the-victim" overdrive, which is what TPTB intended, so the spin is working. Of course, we're getting all the usual excuses of how Derek manipulated her, how he made her believe he loved her yadda yadda ...

When we all know that's one big pile of steaming bullshit.

Let's just have a recap of Kat throughout this piece of excrement.

For the record, Derek didn't have to manipulate Kat into having sex in the kitchen of the Vic, with her husband just next door. She was up for it. He didn't have to manipulate her into having sex in the alleyway. Again. Or in the cellar of the Vic. It didn't take much for her to stuff the key and the Smartphone down her bra for future reference, or to stay out all night with Derek and lie, lie, lie again to Alfie.

So forgive me if I don't buy into the propaganda that this little interlude was all down to Derek and that he manipulated to the point of forcing Kat to continue with the affair. In fact, when Kat was trying to weasel her way out of this with Alfie, she actually said that Derek - then the unknown Shaggerman - forced her to continue theh affair. Well, force means rape.

Already, the Walford Web kindergartners are saying things like they're "excited" at the prospect of Kat being in a Branning house. (Why? What's so bloody wonderful about being in Max Branning's front room with Derek Branning on Christmas Day? She really had no other place to go since she was so unceremoniously chucked from the Vic).

For example, the commentator Rhiannon remarks:

  I think it's just because she has been chained to the Vic and to Alfie for almost the entirety of her return and seeing her away from that situation feels like such a breath of fresh air. 

I wonder how the Brannings will treat her, particularly Tanya.  She knows first hand how manipulative and cruel Derek can be.

Pardon me, but I was under the impression that the dark cloud hanging over the Vic for the past two years has been Kat, rather than Alfie. Kat's the one with the face like a wet weekend in Brighton. Kat's the one who's been verbally and otherwise abusive to Alfie. When Kat was away tending Charlie for the first part of the year, people remarked how the atmosphere had changed in the Vic and for the better with, first Alfie, and then Alfie and Roxy at the helm.

And please, please, please stop talking about Derek manipulating her and being cruel to her. Check out the video above, especially the bit about Kat tending Shaggerman-Derek's wounded hand. That had nothing to do with Kat being manipulated or forced into some sort of relationship which she abhorred. She even confessed to having some feelings for the mystery man when Alfie found out back in the autumn.

The thing about Kat is that, like Max, she wants her cake and wants to eat it too. She wants the comfort and security of Alfie, yet she wants to be able to put it about as and when she feels that Alfie isn't paying her sufficient attention. Yet with that comes a risk - the risk of being discovered, when all of a sudden, she'll cry and wail about being a dirty girl or begging Alfie to hit her or some such cack, making herself the victim and Alfie the big bad man yet again.

In many ways, this is what Max always does, so Tanya would be very familiar with this behaviour. But the difference is that Max owns his amorality. And whilst Tanya's done the same, herself, I don't know how she would react to someone who had willingly gone with Derek and left behind a decent husband and an infant child. She surely wouldn't be giving Kat a cuddle as someone else in the kindergarten suggested.

I don't know what kind of Kool-Aid is served the recalcitrant children here, but Kat is not - at this moment - a figure of sympathy anymore than Sharon or Pat were when they cheated on their husbands.

Then comes the double-whammy of the King Fanbois.

First, Ireland's representative, Will Slater-Mitchell, who in another life would, if his avatar reveals anything, would like to be Kat Moon:-

(His first observation is a humdinger).

For some reason, I can see Cora being a bit sympathetic toward Kat.  She isn't the judgemental type and we've seen her have a go at Tanya over this very trait. 

Sorry, CORA? Cora the Bora? Cora is one of the most judgemental characters on the Square. Like other hypocrites, she witholds judgement on those who mete her approbation, usually for personal reasons. She's willing to overlook the fact that Lola is a liar and a thief who's committed acts of vandalism against local businesses just because she's a teenager having a baby out of wedlock and she happened to be on hand to see her through the birth.

On the other hand, Cora the Bora, whilst littering the pavement outside the Charity Shop with assorted fag-ends and such, threatened Janine, then in the early stages of pregnancy, about the litter accumulated from the teen discos she was organising. Then, when Janine was actually in premature labour on her wedding day, Cora the Bora was on hand to bully her some more, and later after Scarlett was home, leaned over her pram and blew smoke breath into the baby's face.

Cora, herself, has even told Tanya more than a few home truths about her bagging a married man and taking him from his wife and child. She might be friendly toward Derek, but I don't think even that whiskey-sodden old lag would condone a woman sleeping around with the local bully and fence at the expense of her innocent husband and baby son. Kat made vows to Alfie. She was a married woman, and cheat is something Cora, herself, never did.

Besides, Cora drinks at the Vic, and Alfie left the upstart Brannings in no doubt that neither they, their appendages nor their hangers-on would be welcome inside for the foreseeable future. Cora the Bora will have to get hammered in Dot's front room, something of which the soon-to-return Dot would not approve.

Tanya, having dealt with Derek for the past few months may think Kat is a silly tart for going with him, but I think or hope at least she would understand on some level. 

Derek's manipulation of Tanya is only weeks-old and involves the perceived safety of Tanya's child. Unless I'm mistaken, there was no manipulation of Kat to have sex. We saw her openly and lasciviously flirting with men to whom she'd never given a second glance, back in the summer; then we saw her alone in the kitchen of the pub, when someone entered. She turned, asked coyly if he were coming in and then spread her legs. The next scene saw her leaving the kitchen and hiking down her skirt. She looked, in a word, satisfied. That was no rape. No manipulation. 

As Kat's become such a seasoned liar, I suppose she could milk a bit of pity from Tanya and say that Derek held a gun to Tommy's head until Kat agreed to have sex with him, but Tanya would have to be pretty stupid to believe that, and whilst I think Tanya is stupid, she's not that stupid.

The only thing Tanya would understand is that, like she fancied Max against gormless Greg, Kat fancied Derek over Alfie; but Derek is such a punch-down type of bully with no redeeming graces, Tanya would be hard put to understand why Kat would walkout on such a loving relationship and risk it all for Derek. She's probably asked that same question of Max dozens of times in the past.

 However, I don't see any of this being mentioned.  These little character interactions may have been played out in yesteryear's Enders, but today's Enders is all about the storyline.  So I don't think the writers will concern themselves too much with how Tanya feels toward Kat, given she's got her own big stories going on.

I would love to know how long this commentator has watched the programme, because even in its glory days, a character like Tanya would have little or nothing to do with Kat, and even now, Tanya's interactions with Kat have been forced and one-sided. She had a drink with her at the R and R when the Vic was being fumigated because there was no one else she knew with whom she could drink. She was then asked by Alfie to go for drinks with Kat, and once again, the conversation was one-sided.

On a good day, Tanya wouldn't give a rat's ass about Kat, and particularly, not at this time. She's got her fifty-second wedding to worry about, plus her alcoholic daughter's behaviour. Kat is the least of her worries. Like Cora, her chief worry would be whether or not she'd be welcome in the Vic in the future as a Branning appendage.

 I think broadly the women and men of the Square will be quite cold to Kat, and when Derek dies Kat will find herself quite isolated.  This in itself will be her comeuppance. 

This is what will happen.

 Eventually I do see her overcoming her shame, barging across the Square bold as brass and facing down the rest of the Square.

Nope. She's got to earn the respect of the Square once again. You're forgetting the traditional importance the position of Queen Vic landlord carries. People could forgive and pity Angie's drinking because of the way Den treated her. People gave Tanya and Bradley sympathy in the wake of Stax. Alfie's done nothing to deserve the treatment he got from Kat. The good folk of Walford still are able to tell good from bad. The landlord's wife acting like a right slut will take a lot of redemption. In case you haven't noticed, Kat has long lost the moral high ground.

She is back in the Vic with a "new job" in the coming weeks, and then comes to blows with Roxy.  So she won't be taking it lying down for too long, no pun intended

Her new job is not behind the bar of the Vic or during pub hours. It has a lot to do with the Vic's toilets too. Another just reward.

Then WW's resident ToryBoy, Jark weighs in:-

 I don't read spoilers much

I'll bet you don't ...

 but I've got a bad feeling Jean and Mo will shun Kat in the coming days and that's going to piss me off.

(See, the lad doesn't read spoilers much ... cough cough). Bingo! He must have read a spoiler. Why would Mo's and Jean's taking the moral high ground over what Kat had done piss you off? Kat's cheated on her husband. That's something you do not do in a marriage or any committed relationship.

Big Mo would be particularly sensitive about this. It's one of the reasons she fell out with Pat in their youth. She holds fidelity high, and she also lived under the same roof as Alfie and Kat and was witness to the way Kat behaved around Alfie, even calling her out on being out of order in the way she spoke to him and the lack of respect she showed him. Just because you are a blood relation to someone doesn't mean you condone their bad behaviour, especially if it's a question of ethics or morals.

As for Jean, she's a bit dim-witted on this one. She couldn't see the wrong in Saint Stacey breaking up Janine's marriage - when goaded by Kat; but she's come round and seen how what Kat's done in this situation is all wrong. Once again, like Mo, she's lived under the same roof as Alfie and Kat. In fact, almost a year ago, Jean was protesting about her being wrong when Kat wittered on and on about Alfie not loving her - the bit which got taped - which was a load of codswallop.

Mo and Jean are sensible enough to know that Alfie's done nothing wrong in this marriage, so why shouldn't they let Kat know of their disapproval?

 I hate how they write Mo as if she's an irritating employee rather than Kat's family - when was the last time they had a serious talk? 

They write Mo within the confines of the actress's limited ability. Laila Morse is never going to have a major storyline or major scenes. She was a nepotistic signing, cast on the basis of her brother being a major Hollywood actor and friend of the then-EP. What Morse does at the moment, she does in limits and does well. A heart-to-heart wouldn't work with her. She couldn't handle it.

 Her relationship with Jean has been sweet at times, but it's been badly neglected lately.

What? You mean she hasn't given Jean a bath lately? Miss that, do you? Her relationship with Jean was nothing less than creepy, and for the longest times, Jean was the only person in that household who got Kat's undivided loyalty and attention. Alfie certainly didn't, and Tommy should have, but didn't. 

And let's not forget that Kat was on the bullying end, along with Alfie and Mo, about Jean taking the rap for Mo's benefit fraud, a little thing which triggered Jean's last bi-polar episode.

 I've said it before, Jean should've been a confidant during this affair story - at least then the viewer could've possibly understood why she was playing away. Kat's made some shitty decisions this year but her family should be there to support her regardless.

Oh yes, let's compromise Jean some more, shall we? Jean is living at the Vic, rent-free, by Alfie's goodwill. Alfie's name is on Phil's lease. For Jean to have become a confidante in an extramarital affair would, in Jean's view, have been a blatant betrayal to the loyalty she felt toward Alfie for his kindness. In point of fact, had something like this happened, I don't think Jean would have countenanced any sympathy. Why? Wah-wah-wah ... Alfie isn't paying attention to me, I think I'll go shag Derek, he's up for it. Wah-wah-wah ... Roxy stayed here three months and Alfie never touched her, I think I'll go shag Derek.

Besides, during the real Shaggerman story, it was never in the viewer's remit to understand why Kat was doing what she was doing. The thing was supposed to be a mystery and get you all giggly, wet and excited. It didn't, which was why Lorraine Newman - yes, the saint, herself - who was behind this storyline from the getgo, could never understand why the public hated the storyline so much. It's even more unbelieveable now that Kat could connect emotionally with someone like Derek Branning, who has a history of violence toward women, but maybe that has something to do with her obviously low self-esteem, considering she begged Alfie to hit her upon his discovery - but then, that would only have been a ploy to cast herself as a victim, yet again. Wah-wah-wah ... I played away and Alfie hit me.

As for Kat's family supporting her, Alfie is her family. Are you saying he should be there supporting her? Charlie, in particular, who loves Alfie like a son, would be disappointed to the core. Sometimes withdrawal of support is reverse psychology. Mo,Jean, Charlie all knew that Alfie was good to Kat. How many men would take on their cousin's child as a result of their wives' adultery? The withdrawal of support is to give Kat an opportunity to grow up and accept that what she did was wrong, accept her own responsibility for it and begin her own redemption.

Kat is not the victim here. She never was.