Okay, I'll say it. Sharon and Janine are Walford royalty. They were both raised in the Vic, by less-than-perfect fathers whom they adored. They have massive daddy and trust issues; they had problems with their maternal role models as well.
They're both in trouble now and massively sympathetic. I'm glad the first two episodes of this week featured the real Queen of Walford and the Crown Princess. I feel massively for both.
First Janine.
I honestly think Michael loves her. I do, and I think what he told Katshit on his wedding day was part of his own trust issues and insecurities coming to the fore, and I'm glad he saw her for the transparent bitch she was and called her out about it. But Michael is as broken as Janine, and I don't blame her for still not trusting him. He's a cold fish who has to trust his emotions and open up to her. She has been let down so regularly in the past that, coupled with being hormonal after a traumatic birth and most probably suffering from Post-Partum Depression, Janine is all over the place. She doesn't need reassurance from the world, she needs reassurance from Michael. And a woman whom she could trust wouldn't go amiss either. It's these times when Pat is sorely missed. Or Dot.
So where's the all-caring Earth Mother Matriarch-to-be Cora when you need her? Janine copes alone, when someone like Carol or even Bianca could be of service.
Her paranoia is so poignant especially juxtaposed with the cold, deliberate bitchiness of Kat, and that enigmatic smile of approval from Mo. I hope karma hits them hard.
Now Sharon.
I'd forgotten what sheer, magnetic chemistry she and Steve McFadden have. They conveyed as much in what they didn't say as what they did. The best moment in the entire episode was when Phil and Sharon were driving to the hotel and Phil asks her why she didn't contact him if she'd been back in the country for "a couple of weeks." Sharon's retort was to ask what Phil would have done had she done so, and she received a knowing look.
That was followed by Sharon's enquiry about Phil's engagement, and her remark that Shirley "wasn't his type." Phil asks what his type was, and again, he's met with a knowing look.
Phil loves Sharon, pure and simple, and the other poignant moment was when Phil met Denny, Dennis Rickman's son. (Although less said about that moppet the better - I smell a male version of Tiffany Butcher coming on).
The action around the non-wedding was gripping - not the most because it told us, essentially, that Sharon had been lying to Phil, that she'd been working as a barmaid in a seedy pub for sometime and that she'd been doing something naughty. What? Alcoholism? Cocaine? Prostitution?
Please remember this: In October 2009, when Sharon turned forty, Ian made a trip to the US for her fortieth celebration. When he returned, he was waxing lyrical to Jane about Sharon's home there - a setup like Southfork, he said. 2009. Three years ago. Hold. That. Thought. Because a retcon moment is on the horizon.
Another thing about the non-wedding: Jesse Birdsall. Where the hell has he been and why haven't Eastenders tried to secure his services for this show? I've ALWAYS thought he'd fit right in like a glove. He makes Jack Branning look fey, and he's got the capability of being a very watchable villain, a la Steve Owen, although darker. And sexier. I hope this isn't the last we see of John. Pity, if it is.
But he's a plot mechanism at the moment to show the world how much Phil still cares for Sharon. He'd drop anything and Shirley in a New York minute for her.
I can't wait until they are together, and they will be.
Ben is one sociopathic little prick, and I'm glad he's about to meet his comeuppance shortly. You could just see the wheels in his mind turning when Shirley told about her schoolfriend who had a breakdown and committed suicide, especially after they entered the bathroom and it looked as though Ben wanted to shave Ian. Shirley thought better. I don't blame her. I wouldn't leave Ben alone with Ian or anyone, as proved later, when he more than subtly threatened Ian, insinuating what he'd do to him if he "got in the way" of the Mitchells' happiness. I've no doubt Ben wouldn't top Ian right then and there. He's killed once and got a thrill out of that. It's much easier to do so again.
And all the while with Sharon, I'm sympathising with Shirley also, her empathy with Ian, when she told him what it felt like to walk out on her family - something that's never been fully explored with Shirley, and an emotive moment which drove her to Denise's house to look at pictures of Carly's little boy, who, appropriately, is named after her older brother who died. Another plot device, which is going to not only lead into another storyline featuring Shirley, but also exposed her, at last, to Heather's murder weapon.
Downside: Lola wants a babydaddy, and I'm disappointed in Jay if he turns to that little slut when Abi's return is immenent. Her total amorality was shown tonight in the blase manner in which she treated Ben, who is, unelieveably, the father of her child. I hope she leaves. I'm tired of teenaged angst. But for this storyline, the episode would have been perfect. Even Whitney isn't half as annoying as Lola.
This is Eastenders' at its best, and I hope the momentum continues this week and beyond.
They're both in trouble now and massively sympathetic. I'm glad the first two episodes of this week featured the real Queen of Walford and the Crown Princess. I feel massively for both.
First Janine.
I honestly think Michael loves her. I do, and I think what he told Katshit on his wedding day was part of his own trust issues and insecurities coming to the fore, and I'm glad he saw her for the transparent bitch she was and called her out about it. But Michael is as broken as Janine, and I don't blame her for still not trusting him. He's a cold fish who has to trust his emotions and open up to her. She has been let down so regularly in the past that, coupled with being hormonal after a traumatic birth and most probably suffering from Post-Partum Depression, Janine is all over the place. She doesn't need reassurance from the world, she needs reassurance from Michael. And a woman whom she could trust wouldn't go amiss either. It's these times when Pat is sorely missed. Or Dot.
So where's the all-caring Earth Mother Matriarch-to-be Cora when you need her? Janine copes alone, when someone like Carol or even Bianca could be of service.
Her paranoia is so poignant especially juxtaposed with the cold, deliberate bitchiness of Kat, and that enigmatic smile of approval from Mo. I hope karma hits them hard.
Now Sharon.
I'd forgotten what sheer, magnetic chemistry she and Steve McFadden have. They conveyed as much in what they didn't say as what they did. The best moment in the entire episode was when Phil and Sharon were driving to the hotel and Phil asks her why she didn't contact him if she'd been back in the country for "a couple of weeks." Sharon's retort was to ask what Phil would have done had she done so, and she received a knowing look.
That was followed by Sharon's enquiry about Phil's engagement, and her remark that Shirley "wasn't his type." Phil asks what his type was, and again, he's met with a knowing look.
Phil loves Sharon, pure and simple, and the other poignant moment was when Phil met Denny, Dennis Rickman's son. (Although less said about that moppet the better - I smell a male version of Tiffany Butcher coming on).
The action around the non-wedding was gripping - not the most because it told us, essentially, that Sharon had been lying to Phil, that she'd been working as a barmaid in a seedy pub for sometime and that she'd been doing something naughty. What? Alcoholism? Cocaine? Prostitution?
Please remember this: In October 2009, when Sharon turned forty, Ian made a trip to the US for her fortieth celebration. When he returned, he was waxing lyrical to Jane about Sharon's home there - a setup like Southfork, he said. 2009. Three years ago. Hold. That. Thought. Because a retcon moment is on the horizon.
Another thing about the non-wedding: Jesse Birdsall. Where the hell has he been and why haven't Eastenders tried to secure his services for this show? I've ALWAYS thought he'd fit right in like a glove. He makes Jack Branning look fey, and he's got the capability of being a very watchable villain, a la Steve Owen, although darker. And sexier. I hope this isn't the last we see of John. Pity, if it is.
But he's a plot mechanism at the moment to show the world how much Phil still cares for Sharon. He'd drop anything and Shirley in a New York minute for her.
I can't wait until they are together, and they will be.
Ben is one sociopathic little prick, and I'm glad he's about to meet his comeuppance shortly. You could just see the wheels in his mind turning when Shirley told about her schoolfriend who had a breakdown and committed suicide, especially after they entered the bathroom and it looked as though Ben wanted to shave Ian. Shirley thought better. I don't blame her. I wouldn't leave Ben alone with Ian or anyone, as proved later, when he more than subtly threatened Ian, insinuating what he'd do to him if he "got in the way" of the Mitchells' happiness. I've no doubt Ben wouldn't top Ian right then and there. He's killed once and got a thrill out of that. It's much easier to do so again.
And all the while with Sharon, I'm sympathising with Shirley also, her empathy with Ian, when she told him what it felt like to walk out on her family - something that's never been fully explored with Shirley, and an emotive moment which drove her to Denise's house to look at pictures of Carly's little boy, who, appropriately, is named after her older brother who died. Another plot device, which is going to not only lead into another storyline featuring Shirley, but also exposed her, at last, to Heather's murder weapon.
Downside: Lola wants a babydaddy, and I'm disappointed in Jay if he turns to that little slut when Abi's return is immenent. Her total amorality was shown tonight in the blase manner in which she treated Ben, who is, unelieveably, the father of her child. I hope she leaves. I'm tired of teenaged angst. But for this storyline, the episode would have been perfect. Even Whitney isn't half as annoying as Lola.
This is Eastenders' at its best, and I hope the momentum continues this week and beyond.
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