One of the two weakest writers for the show, Katie Douglas, hanging about like a bad smell. The plotline does her false justice, but this episode belonged to Diane Parish and Jamie Borthwick. I'm not the biggest fan of Borthwick's, and I'm not overly fond of Jay, although I realise a certain tranche of fan wants to see more of Jay front and centre. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this Jay, but haven't we been here before with him? I know Jay is a lost soul, with no connection at all on the Square, save the morsels thrown from Phil's table, and I know it won't be long before he's back being a Mitchell Step'n-Fetchit yet again, but he took his own soul and existence to risk tonight when he hurled some home truths at Ben.
The Stepford Frump and Oedipus Rex. I was punching the air for Denise tonight. Everyone, take note ... this is a strong woman. Denise is one of the best female characters ever created for the Square. Yes, she's got appalling taste in men, but Denise is a true survivor. She just gets on with life. Something knocks her for six, and she picks herself up, sometimes a bit slowly, but she faces the world again. She is the very antithesis of Janine, but she and Janine share very similar characteristics in that they are survivors, strong women in and of themselves, and they don't have a man dependency. At the moment, I would say that Denise is the most positive depiction of womanhood on the Square.
Denise, as well, had the common decency to take her discovery to Ian first of all, instead of phoning the police and giving them the information which Patrick had imparted about Peter. She wanted Ian to know first, rather than have it handed to him second-handed by Keeble. And Denise, although she wasn't implying Peter's guilt, she was warning Ian what to expect -as any decent person would have done.
Ian's total reaction simply indicated the absolute worse aspects of Ian as a human being, a deeply unpleasant, weak, ineffectual, weaselly man, who's a craven manipulator with an Oedipal complex. His first reaction is to assume that Patrick - Patrick! - either knew about or had something to do with Lucy's murder, only to be reminded that Patrick was in Trinidad at that time, but the real umbrage was taken when Peter's name was mentioned.
Peter is the best man I know!
Really, Ian? Because the night of Lucy's death, Peter was just your average Joe, nothing special, certainly not as special as Lucy. Ian's reaction to the fact that Peter might be, even tangetially, linked to Lucy's death was pure Ian. Ian allows no man or woman to disparage him or his family. He has a high regard for himself, which is why he would never have tacitly acknowledged silly Cindy's tales of Auntie Gina's horror stories about Ian dumping her on her aunt as the truth. More than anyone, Ian disdains Gina, and he'd be quick to right his reputation in Cindy's eyes, which is why last night's fiasco was a bit of a retcon. But tonight, we witnessed Ian Beale in all his smarmy glory.
Poor Denise, who can't do right for doing wrong in Ian's eyes. Of course, the supercilious Jane takes things in hand and whisks Denise off to the kitchen where, we find, that there's been a bottle of whiskey hidden all along by Jane, of which Denise had imbibed on occasion.
Ian and Jane deserve each other. Jane is the ultimate mommy figure for Ian, who's always treated him like a recalcitrant schoolboy by day and then fed his Captain Beale fantasies by night. Yuck. Jane's fooling herself that she's only with Ian for Bobby's sake; Ian's pushing the same meme to hide the fact that he hopes that somehow he might win her around again. Masood was right. Ian uses his grief as a manipulatory device - how long would it be before Captain Beale came to Mommy for some comfort?
(Hint: It wouldn't surprise me if they slept together that very night, and if Jane didn't whip out a tit with which to nurse Ian).
So now Denise knows exactly what happened under that roof, on the front room floor when she was still Ian's fiancée, and she hands Jane her arse, aptly describing her:-
You pretend to be everybody's friend, but you're really sly.
Too right, that snide, judgemental, hypocritical, undermining bitch! And Denise didn't stop there - cue one for Masood, who was royally done over by Jane the last time she was in Walford - the bitch was even referring to Masood's home as hers! And here he is, trying to protect her and make excuses for Ian.
Full marks to Denise for shooting down Masood's stock excuse and the excuse by which Ian Beale's managed to manipulate the whole of Walford into thinking he is deserving of their sympathy - that Lucy wasn't a nice person at all, that she was a spoiled, rude, arrogant, entitled, little madam. That's the elephant that's been skulking in the room since the day she died and before.
Does that make Denise a suspect in her killing? No, but I'm sure it was meant to get people to think.
Another thing noticeable tonight was the amount of booze and booze references between Denise and the Beales. Denise took a swig of whiskey in the Beales' kitchen and then headed for the wine at Patrick's. Ian's answer to a tricky situation with the police was a choice of white or red, before puking. Well, he might puke - he should be ashamed of himself.
For all his criticisms of the Mitchells, he's linked to them by Ben, and he's distracted from making his discovery known to the police by the convenient interference by Ben. It's not rocket science - Ben's and Jay's prints were all over Lucy's gear. Ben's lie doesn't add up either - and we all know it was a lie, right? Hell, even Ian knew it was a lie - Lucy's bag was found by her side on the Common - yet Ben maintained that he (later amended to he and Jay) found the bag in the middle of the street, reached in, took the purse and phone, pocketed the cash, and then suddenly, whilst on the Tube, realised that this stuff belonged to Lucy.
As. If.
This is all a crock, but then Ben does what Ben does best with Ian - he appeals to family. Lucy was family, ergo, Ben is family - and then, like Ian, he begs him not to tell the police about that night, about Ben's attempted robbery, about everything, because it will mean Ben will go back inside.
And, like that, Ian complies. He really is the most ball-less man. Another person who now knows something that she shouldn't is Keeble. She's too smart not to think something is amiss when she's called out by Ian with a tale of new evidence, only to arrive to be told that he wanted to apologise for being off with her that day.
Another oddity was how eager Jane was, after Keeble had gone, to get rid of the phone and purse. Is there something in the theory that Jane killed Lucy? And what is it on this amazing SuperPhone, whose battery still can be charged after lying for months in wet earth, that so shocks Ian?
Denise owned that one. I wanted her to smack Jane.
Ben There Done That. Jay had the absolute line of the night. Ben's well into family, himself, as a means of manipulation. He knows that Jay has no one, and before and even now, found that as a source of strength in his controlling of Jay. He knows that Jay realises that he exists as part of the Mitchell set-up as long as he's in Phil's good graces. If Ben wanted Jay out of Phil's good graces, he'd be gone. The first thing Jay did after the Heather ordeal was change his surname back to Brown.
Things have changed for Jay since Ben's been away from Walford, and until now, Ben's had the upper hand with Jay - ordering him about, speaking harshly when the chips were down, dwelling on Jay's perceived fear of going to prison when they get in danger, when - I imagine - it's Ben who's been the one afraid to go back.
Whatever Ben's done, Jay knows about it. I don't want to think that DTC would bring Ben back just to have him revealed as the killer, but on the other hand, I can very well see that happening. Whatever happened that night would mean a prison stretch for both of them. Ben used all his old tricks to worm his way around Jay.
I'm doing this all for you, trying to protect you. I've been inside. I can handle it. You can't.
Really, Ben? Jay has lost every family member he's ever known, and he's still standing. Alone. What about you?
I know what you're like. You were the one crying over Heather!
Can Ben be any more callous? This is really as rogue a Mitchell as Ronnie, totally psychopathic and without compassion. I'm glad Jay still cries over Heather. It doesn't show he's weak, it shows he's human, that he has empathy.
And then the final coup de grace ... We're brothers!
Once upon a time, that may have resonated with Jay, but not anymore. Jay knows, and states, that whenever Ben's around, Jay ends up getting into trouble. Jay's the one with the conscience, not Ben. And, like Denise before him, Jay addresses the other elephant in the room:-
No! I'm not your brother. Ian's your brother, and you've ruined him!
The last image of Ben, barrelling out of the Mitchell house, trolling down the deserted Square, only to meet Johnny and beg a drink off him. When Johnny refuses and Ben tries to sneak a snog as a prelude for some sympathy sex, Johnny, wisely, jumps back.
I want to know what Ben's done. He's a pejorative character, but I find Harry Reid good in the role. He's the wrong kind of hard Mitchell.
Sweet Johnny, Lovely Lola and Insipid Abi. Johnny was the only Carter in the show tonight and I'll miss him. And how sweet was Lola. Abi treated her like shit, and Lola wouldn't be dismayed. She kept trying to mend fences, assuring Abi that she wasn't with Jay and that Jay didn't dump Abi for Lola - Lola's too nice to state the bleeding obvious - that Jay dumped Abi because of Abi's stinking, smug attitude. She is her mother's daughter. She looked like the cat who stole the cream when she told Lola she had a new boyfriend.
The scene between Lola and Abi produced one of the most hilarious lines of the night from Lola, when told by Abi that Ben was her new hunk.
Ben? Ben who?
It also highlighted Abi's obvious ignorance of life. Ben can't be gay, because he slept with Lola, and now he's with Abi. Well, yes, Abi, he can be, especially if he's in denial, again, about his sexuality.
The other great line of the night came from Sweet Johnny.
Lola: Once you're gay, are you, like, always gay?
Johnny: I was the last time I checked.
Ben and Abi so deserve one another.
The Stepford Frump and Oedipus Rex. I was punching the air for Denise tonight. Everyone, take note ... this is a strong woman. Denise is one of the best female characters ever created for the Square. Yes, she's got appalling taste in men, but Denise is a true survivor. She just gets on with life. Something knocks her for six, and she picks herself up, sometimes a bit slowly, but she faces the world again. She is the very antithesis of Janine, but she and Janine share very similar characteristics in that they are survivors, strong women in and of themselves, and they don't have a man dependency. At the moment, I would say that Denise is the most positive depiction of womanhood on the Square.
Denise, as well, had the common decency to take her discovery to Ian first of all, instead of phoning the police and giving them the information which Patrick had imparted about Peter. She wanted Ian to know first, rather than have it handed to him second-handed by Keeble. And Denise, although she wasn't implying Peter's guilt, she was warning Ian what to expect -as any decent person would have done.
Ian's total reaction simply indicated the absolute worse aspects of Ian as a human being, a deeply unpleasant, weak, ineffectual, weaselly man, who's a craven manipulator with an Oedipal complex. His first reaction is to assume that Patrick - Patrick! - either knew about or had something to do with Lucy's murder, only to be reminded that Patrick was in Trinidad at that time, but the real umbrage was taken when Peter's name was mentioned.
Peter is the best man I know!
Really, Ian? Because the night of Lucy's death, Peter was just your average Joe, nothing special, certainly not as special as Lucy. Ian's reaction to the fact that Peter might be, even tangetially, linked to Lucy's death was pure Ian. Ian allows no man or woman to disparage him or his family. He has a high regard for himself, which is why he would never have tacitly acknowledged silly Cindy's tales of Auntie Gina's horror stories about Ian dumping her on her aunt as the truth. More than anyone, Ian disdains Gina, and he'd be quick to right his reputation in Cindy's eyes, which is why last night's fiasco was a bit of a retcon. But tonight, we witnessed Ian Beale in all his smarmy glory.
Poor Denise, who can't do right for doing wrong in Ian's eyes. Of course, the supercilious Jane takes things in hand and whisks Denise off to the kitchen where, we find, that there's been a bottle of whiskey hidden all along by Jane, of which Denise had imbibed on occasion.
Ian and Jane deserve each other. Jane is the ultimate mommy figure for Ian, who's always treated him like a recalcitrant schoolboy by day and then fed his Captain Beale fantasies by night. Yuck. Jane's fooling herself that she's only with Ian for Bobby's sake; Ian's pushing the same meme to hide the fact that he hopes that somehow he might win her around again. Masood was right. Ian uses his grief as a manipulatory device - how long would it be before Captain Beale came to Mommy for some comfort?
(Hint: It wouldn't surprise me if they slept together that very night, and if Jane didn't whip out a tit with which to nurse Ian).
So now Denise knows exactly what happened under that roof, on the front room floor when she was still Ian's fiancée, and she hands Jane her arse, aptly describing her:-
You pretend to be everybody's friend, but you're really sly.
Too right, that snide, judgemental, hypocritical, undermining bitch! And Denise didn't stop there - cue one for Masood, who was royally done over by Jane the last time she was in Walford - the bitch was even referring to Masood's home as hers! And here he is, trying to protect her and make excuses for Ian.
Full marks to Denise for shooting down Masood's stock excuse and the excuse by which Ian Beale's managed to manipulate the whole of Walford into thinking he is deserving of their sympathy - that Lucy wasn't a nice person at all, that she was a spoiled, rude, arrogant, entitled, little madam. That's the elephant that's been skulking in the room since the day she died and before.
Does that make Denise a suspect in her killing? No, but I'm sure it was meant to get people to think.
Another thing noticeable tonight was the amount of booze and booze references between Denise and the Beales. Denise took a swig of whiskey in the Beales' kitchen and then headed for the wine at Patrick's. Ian's answer to a tricky situation with the police was a choice of white or red, before puking. Well, he might puke - he should be ashamed of himself.
For all his criticisms of the Mitchells, he's linked to them by Ben, and he's distracted from making his discovery known to the police by the convenient interference by Ben. It's not rocket science - Ben's and Jay's prints were all over Lucy's gear. Ben's lie doesn't add up either - and we all know it was a lie, right? Hell, even Ian knew it was a lie - Lucy's bag was found by her side on the Common - yet Ben maintained that he (later amended to he and Jay) found the bag in the middle of the street, reached in, took the purse and phone, pocketed the cash, and then suddenly, whilst on the Tube, realised that this stuff belonged to Lucy.
As. If.
This is all a crock, but then Ben does what Ben does best with Ian - he appeals to family. Lucy was family, ergo, Ben is family - and then, like Ian, he begs him not to tell the police about that night, about Ben's attempted robbery, about everything, because it will mean Ben will go back inside.
And, like that, Ian complies. He really is the most ball-less man. Another person who now knows something that she shouldn't is Keeble. She's too smart not to think something is amiss when she's called out by Ian with a tale of new evidence, only to arrive to be told that he wanted to apologise for being off with her that day.
Another oddity was how eager Jane was, after Keeble had gone, to get rid of the phone and purse. Is there something in the theory that Jane killed Lucy? And what is it on this amazing SuperPhone, whose battery still can be charged after lying for months in wet earth, that so shocks Ian?
Denise owned that one. I wanted her to smack Jane.
Ben There Done That. Jay had the absolute line of the night. Ben's well into family, himself, as a means of manipulation. He knows that Jay has no one, and before and even now, found that as a source of strength in his controlling of Jay. He knows that Jay realises that he exists as part of the Mitchell set-up as long as he's in Phil's good graces. If Ben wanted Jay out of Phil's good graces, he'd be gone. The first thing Jay did after the Heather ordeal was change his surname back to Brown.
Things have changed for Jay since Ben's been away from Walford, and until now, Ben's had the upper hand with Jay - ordering him about, speaking harshly when the chips were down, dwelling on Jay's perceived fear of going to prison when they get in danger, when - I imagine - it's Ben who's been the one afraid to go back.
Whatever Ben's done, Jay knows about it. I don't want to think that DTC would bring Ben back just to have him revealed as the killer, but on the other hand, I can very well see that happening. Whatever happened that night would mean a prison stretch for both of them. Ben used all his old tricks to worm his way around Jay.
I'm doing this all for you, trying to protect you. I've been inside. I can handle it. You can't.
Really, Ben? Jay has lost every family member he's ever known, and he's still standing. Alone. What about you?
I know what you're like. You were the one crying over Heather!
Can Ben be any more callous? This is really as rogue a Mitchell as Ronnie, totally psychopathic and without compassion. I'm glad Jay still cries over Heather. It doesn't show he's weak, it shows he's human, that he has empathy.
And then the final coup de grace ... We're brothers!
Once upon a time, that may have resonated with Jay, but not anymore. Jay knows, and states, that whenever Ben's around, Jay ends up getting into trouble. Jay's the one with the conscience, not Ben. And, like Denise before him, Jay addresses the other elephant in the room:-
No! I'm not your brother. Ian's your brother, and you've ruined him!
The last image of Ben, barrelling out of the Mitchell house, trolling down the deserted Square, only to meet Johnny and beg a drink off him. When Johnny refuses and Ben tries to sneak a snog as a prelude for some sympathy sex, Johnny, wisely, jumps back.
I want to know what Ben's done. He's a pejorative character, but I find Harry Reid good in the role. He's the wrong kind of hard Mitchell.
Sweet Johnny, Lovely Lola and Insipid Abi. Johnny was the only Carter in the show tonight and I'll miss him. And how sweet was Lola. Abi treated her like shit, and Lola wouldn't be dismayed. She kept trying to mend fences, assuring Abi that she wasn't with Jay and that Jay didn't dump Abi for Lola - Lola's too nice to state the bleeding obvious - that Jay dumped Abi because of Abi's stinking, smug attitude. She is her mother's daughter. She looked like the cat who stole the cream when she told Lola she had a new boyfriend.
The scene between Lola and Abi produced one of the most hilarious lines of the night from Lola, when told by Abi that Ben was her new hunk.
Ben? Ben who?
It also highlighted Abi's obvious ignorance of life. Ben can't be gay, because he slept with Lola, and now he's with Abi. Well, yes, Abi, he can be, especially if he's in denial, again, about his sexuality.
The other great line of the night came from Sweet Johnny.
Lola: Once you're gay, are you, like, always gay?
Johnny: I was the last time I checked.
Ben and Abi so deserve one another.
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