Mr Little is in the building again. Absolutely spot-on episode and the cast were pitch perfect.
Obviously, June Brown and John Altman stood out tonight, but Jacqueline Jossa owned the episode, and for once, her facial expressions were an absolute necessity.
The killer is so obviously a Beale, and I'm still thinking it's Peter, but Lauren's fear factor seemed to jump an octave around Jane the Queen, whom I'd really want to see led away, blanket over head, into a police car.
Good to see Keeble again.
Suffice it to say that the Friday the Thirteenth episode was a suitably creepy beginning to the beginning of the end of a ten-month wait.
You're One of Us Now.
Anyone clock that Lauren hadn't exactly given Keeble everything? She kept back the telltale piece of foolscap and Summerhayes's phone. It's the piece of paper, which holds the final clue to the killer's identity, and of course, Emma's phone records her last text message. Also, Lauren hasn't told Stacey who the killer is, but by the look on Stacey's face at the end of the episode, it's a fair bet that Stacey either thinks Peter's the killer, or she knows it's one of the Beales.
There was a fair bit of emotional blackmail cropping up throughout the episode tonight, starting with Lauren's panicked attempt to shut Stacey up encouraging her to help the police more in Lucy's investigation.
You OWE me! You ruined my life! You broke my parents' marriage up, and you're the reason Bradley died!
Not entirely true. The Brannings broke up because of Max's repeated infidelities as well as Tanya's undermining and her materialism, and Stacey wasn't the reason Bradley died. Bradley died trying to jump from one building to another. Had he not died, he'd have copped a prison sentence for Stacey.
Left on her own, Lauren was given the choice of an evening with an alcoholism counsellor or a dinner party at the Beales'.
That was a really weird dinner party. The only males present were Ian, Ben and Peter. Sonia was there, but no Liam? Liam is Ian's great-nephew, and Sonia is his soon-to-be ex-cousin by marriage who's done nothing but trashmouth Ian's cousin and aunt. I guess she was there because she's Jane the Queen's instant friend and automatic matron of honour.
Phil's absent, yes, but Lee and Nancy could have manned the pub, allowing Mick to attend - still, I suppose things are a bit dodgy between Mick and Ian, after the kerb-crawling incident. But Alfie wasn't invited? Seriously? Alfie is Ian's best mate, and he wasn't invited. Instead, we got Sharon, Linda and Sonia in the kitchen gossiping - and Sonia couldn't resist relating the circumstances around Mel's brief engagement and marriage to Ian (within earshot of Jane the Queen)...
... a discombabulated Peter; Cindy, Ben and Abi looking uncomfortable, and Ian looking insufferably smug.
Into the Valley of Death rode Lauren reluctantly, and from the moment she entered the house, you could smell the fear emanating from her. Her eyes said everything. She was uneasy around Peter, but I noticed that her biggest fear was being around Jane.
Did you notice how Lauren physically jumped when Jane said:-
I have a confession to make.
Oddly enough, I thought she was going to say she really didn't see Lauren at the Beale's front door that night, but instead, she wittered on about missing Tanya, and how she and Tanya used to bitch about their husbands (puke) and talk about their kids - sorry, Jane, you have no children.
The weird thing was, the more Jane talked, the more afraid Lauren became, the closer Jane invaded Lauren's space, the more Lauren backed away from her, especially when Jane creepily assured Lauren that Lauren could talk to Jane anytime she wanted and how Jane was glad Lauren was marrying Peter ...
... because that means you're one of us now.
(Run, Lauren, run!) And she did look as though she'd like to bolt out of that door.
It that didn't spook her, Jane's reaction to Denise's gate-crashing of the party did.
The Beales disgust me, especially in their treatment of Denise. Ian's snide remark, insinuating that Denise had been drinking all day, deserved a smack. Denise is the way she is because of the way Ian treated her - especially after Jane arrived. Jane insinuated and undermined Denise's position in that family. She fucked Ian right in the room where the party was congregating when Ian was still with Denise. When this was found out, Jane didn't even have the courtesy to look Denise in the eye and tell her. She told Masood, instead, as if Denise wasn't worthy of her concern.
Denise's original and sober assessment of Jane the Queen was the correct one - she was a self-righteous, judgemental bitch who pretended to be everyone's friend and then shat on them from a great height. Denise's attempt to set the record straight to Jane on Ian tonight was classic and true. Ian is such a weasel, he was willing to ship Patrick to a care home in order to prevent Patrick from telling Denise that Ian had been frequenting prostitutes.
And that bovine bitch ...
... had the audacity to assume the moral high ground and condescend to Denise, smugly calling Ian "the love of her life."
Funny, how she wasn't saying that when she left Walford before as "Jane Clark". Funny, how, all of a sudden, her brusque but affectionate mother has become the mother of all bitches. Funny, how wardrobe and make-up have given Jane the Queen the ultimate Donna Reed Fifties-style hairdo to emphasise what a perfect little homemaker she is not.
It was that exchange between Jane the Queen and Denise which did it, entirely, for Lauren, who left immediately, high-tailed by a desperate Peter; and it wasn't a coincidence that Stacey, ever in the background, happened to hear Lauren dump Peter. Stacey knew, there and then, that if Lucy's killer wasn't Peter, it was at least a Beale.
And so the chilling note is written, in a card addressed to Jane.
I know what happened to Lucy.
So is Jane the killer, or is she covering for Peter? Or is it Ian? It's one of the three.
Emotional Rescue.
Stan is a prick, and Shirley is rich to remark about his emotional blackmail. "Emotional blackmail", passive-aggressive bullying is a way of life amongst the Carters, although I have to say, I do like Mick Carter and Danny Dyer's portrayal of him.
Shirley is right; what happened between Dean and Linda wasn't her fault, but neither Stan nor Shirley get it. Yes, Dean's gone, and yes, both of them backed Dean's claims. With Dean gone, there should be an effort to build bridges with Mick, but what Mick should be demanding of both of them, is some sort of apology to Linda for implying and saying directly that she lied about the entire rape accusation.
And I don't understand - Dean's gone (at least until next week), so is Shirley saying she is wrong or does she still believe he is innocent of rape? Is she telling Dean one thing and Mick the other? Yes, Mick is her son, but she'll only be able to carry out this facade if Dean doesn't return, and it was mentioned that he'd gone for good so many times tonight that you know he's coming back. Besides, he's still got a business in Walford. Who's running that? Lola?
Ne'mind. Shirley's happy again, and that's all that matters.
Old Nick.
Well, there you go. The end of a legend and the original EastEnders' bad boy. You know something? Walford will never be the same, at least not for June Brown and Dot Branning.
Nick arrived on Hallowe'en and died on Friday the Thirteenth. He died in the same house and the same room where he'd killed Reg Cox. In fact, he confessed to Dot tonight, that he was responsible for Reg Cox's death, something she never knew, and something that tipped her over the edge about Nick.
This was a poignant piece tonight and true to continuity of what has been revealed in the past about Dot's and Nick's relationship as mother and son. Nick has referenced before that Dot wasn't that great a mother, always laying down rules, quoting the Bible and praying for his soul. Dot thought that was what a mother was supposed to do, to teach her son right from wrong. Nick was most poignant when he admitted that he didn't want a teacher, he wanted a mum.
Blind almost to the end, Dot couldn't perceive of when Nick started to go bad, he'd been such a perfect child, but Nick tried to tell her again and again that Dot saw only what she wanted to see.
Nick's been a revelation this time around, with John Altman playing a tour de force. His one-liners this time have been hysterical, and even at the point of death, he comes up with a brilliant piece of dark humour.
Dot (wailing): Oh, what did I do to deserve someone like you?
Nick: You got LAID!
I have to admit, I whooped with laughter at that.
Nick knew he was dying, and he didn't want anyone with him at the moment of death but his old ma. Not Charlie, not his grandson. If anyone doubted that Nick was a psychopath, they had only to listen to him begin to reminisce about trying to kill Mark Fowler - stopped by Dot, who remembered that effort as resulting in Ashley's death instead.
Dot did the ultimate act of love for Nick tonight. Nick didn't want to go back to prison, which is where he was going, had the police or even an ambulance been called. Dot went next door to call an ambulance, with Charlie and Nick's grandson, two more generations of Cottons, very much alive and well in the front room. That's when she knew Nick's time was up. She tells Nick she didn't call an ambulance, she prayed instead - and decided to let Jesus decide if Nick were to live or die.
Well, we know what decision was made. Sometimes when you love someone so much, you have to let them go, and Dot let Nick die, but not before confessing, herself, that it was, indeed, her fault that Nick turned out the way he did, that she turned a blind eye to his faults, that she was never a demonstrative mother because that wasn't the way people did things in those days.
This was one of the saddest endings I'd ever seen on this programme - Nick in the throes of death, asking Dot to stay and come closer, and Dot, not daring to kiss Nick until he had died, with a promise of seeing him the next morning.
Brilliant stuff.
Daran Little is back.
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