How about a bit of The Doors to send Ben on his merry way?
Yes, this is the end, old Ben ...
Always a liar, always a manipulator, yet always managing to slip himself up simply by just going that mile too far.
The second part of this two-parter was a perfect exercise in the mind games of a "fairmly" meme and the power it holds over desperate people.
Sometime ago, someone on a forum remarked that what we're really seeing is the skagend of the Mitchells. Peggy is gone. Even "family" became too much for her to bear and she walked away from it all. Sam and Grant are elsewhere. All that was left of the "real" Mitchells was Phil, a fiftysomething mamma's boy and bully, still hankering after the blonde he always manages to let slip from his grasp, addicted to booze and later drugs; Ben, the son unlike any son he'd ever hoped to have, gay, manipulative, lying, easily offended, secretive; the two runts of the Mitchell litter - Billy the perenniel loser and Roxy the eternal child; an add-on attachment Mitchell in Lola, who doesn't even have the Mitchell surname ... and two faux Mitchells: Shirley and Jay, two real losers in life, who found a new identity and a sense of importance in their association with the Mitchells.
Jay even assumed the Mitchell name. Shirley hoped against hope for marriage, which would validate her into the Mitchell fold.
Tonight all that was shattered, but tonight also showed how reluctant both Jay and Shirley were to relinquish that identity, that security and that sense of power which came with being a part of the premier family of Walford. Remember the way both Jay and Shirley used to swagger around Walford, almost menacing in their new-found Mitchellness?
Shirley: Do you know who I am?
Jay: Do you know who I am?
We know now.
Shirley's such a sad cow that for an instant, just an instant, she was almost tempted to protect the person who had murdered her best friend. For an instant, she was going to deny Heather justice for Phil. She almost threw away everything she'd discovered tonight in order to imprison herself in the Mitchell family gaol - worthless, friendless and pathetic.
She did the right thing. And her cry to Phil, when he returned the next morning, demanding where "the boys" were, was visceral:
"You asked me to protect the person who murdered my best friend!"
Now she knows, for certain, whom Phil sought to protect all along. The coppers knew - Crisp and Marsden - they knew exactly what Phil was attempting and how he'd do it. Stick to the story, don't waver. In the end, even Phil couldn't save Ben. As Richie the bent solicitor told him, stop worrying about what Ben would say, just stick to your story. So in the end, Phil sought to save himself.
In the previous episode, the most poignant and powerful scene was when Shirley realised Jay had been present when Heather died and when she wished those scenes would never leave Jay's head. They were all about Jay's head tonight, and it was significant that he was so pitiably trying to hold onto a family who could and were ready to discard him at will, that it wasn't until he'd been given "permission" from Ben that he actually told the truth.
In his head, he's no better than the Mitchells. And now that he's grassed, he's worse. He really has no one; and as we'll see in coming episodes, even Billy feels compelled to deny him. Shirley is grieving anew, and he is alone.
I didn't view Ben as vulnerable when he left, alone, in the darkened police vehhicle. His attitude and mien towards DS Crisp told it all, and that quirky little smile he allowed himself when he knew that Jay had done what Ben told him and had been charged for a lesser crime and bailed, meant that Ben had arrived at the altar of Mitchelldom influence earlier. Ben will be nobody's bitch inside, however long he stays in prison - and one must remember that he killed Heather when he turned sixteen, which means he will be sentenced as an adult.
Ben is now the Mitchell, because Ben's committed a crime which his father and his uncle always stopped short of committing: murder.
Now, we'll turn to Phil's panic and the knowledge that Shirley holds the power now - the power to send him down as well.
The other two concurrent storylines tonight also showed two of Walford's premier scions on their uppers. Sharon accepts lodging at Jack's flat and seduces him, simply because this was supposed to be her wedding night. What? Something's wrong here.
First of all, although she's blonde and a former Mitchell, Sharon is not Jack's type. She's older than he and Jack likes'em dumb and younger. They also have no chemistry, and I can't help but thinking that TPTB are trying desperately to justify Scott Maslen's continued presence on the show. Nice guy, but another piece of wood, and Letitia Dean deserves better. Honestly, if they have to go to this length to justify the Brannings as a force, please ... give up. Max is the only one worth keeping because he's the only nuanced one. Happy Jack, horny Jack just acts dumb and looks dumber with that idiotic smile plastered on his face.
DamienDen is also becoming more and more annoying. This is the second coming of Tiffany, and it's going to get worse. How many six year-olds have their mother seductively sing them to sleep? Sorry, I'm a Grant-and-Sharon person, and I never ever bought into fey Dennis. Now we have Little Lord Fautleroy Dennis, who knows he's cute and knows the camera's about ... just like Tiffany. Yuck.
And finally, this about Lucy ...
Really, because this is what she needs. Oh, for Pat's backhand swipe! Or Pauline's forehand cracking smack. Ian is still suffering. Eastenders annoys the hell out of me, the way they treat anyone who has to have some sort of psychiatric or psychological treatment. Ian should be in a facility talking about his breakdown, receiving therapy and coming to terms with what happened.
Instead, he's made to ferret around his house, apologising for his every move and to be told not to make noise because the toxic Stick Insect who's his daughter had moved her wooden penis into Ian's old room and she's taken over.
Pardon me, how did she manage to get those transfer-of-contracts done and dusted so quickly? And shouldn't that solicitor, if he were responsible, have pointed out that Ian didn't really appear to be in sound mind, so a good case against coercive ownership could be made at a later date. Ian is clearly not in his right mind and needs help. He's been hoisted on a guilt trip by this skinny little bitch, and I hope that lying, deceitful piece of shit she's known five minutes and whom she's fucking every night scams the living shit out of her.
Someone needs to squash her rancid skinny ass.
Lucy Beale
The question now is whether or not Eastenders can maintain this momentum. Just when you think it can, however, you remember Kat and the Mystery Shaggerman loom on the horizon.
Yes, this is the end, old Ben ...
Always a liar, always a manipulator, yet always managing to slip himself up simply by just going that mile too far.
The second part of this two-parter was a perfect exercise in the mind games of a "fairmly" meme and the power it holds over desperate people.
Sometime ago, someone on a forum remarked that what we're really seeing is the skagend of the Mitchells. Peggy is gone. Even "family" became too much for her to bear and she walked away from it all. Sam and Grant are elsewhere. All that was left of the "real" Mitchells was Phil, a fiftysomething mamma's boy and bully, still hankering after the blonde he always manages to let slip from his grasp, addicted to booze and later drugs; Ben, the son unlike any son he'd ever hoped to have, gay, manipulative, lying, easily offended, secretive; the two runts of the Mitchell litter - Billy the perenniel loser and Roxy the eternal child; an add-on attachment Mitchell in Lola, who doesn't even have the Mitchell surname ... and two faux Mitchells: Shirley and Jay, two real losers in life, who found a new identity and a sense of importance in their association with the Mitchells.
Jay even assumed the Mitchell name. Shirley hoped against hope for marriage, which would validate her into the Mitchell fold.
Tonight all that was shattered, but tonight also showed how reluctant both Jay and Shirley were to relinquish that identity, that security and that sense of power which came with being a part of the premier family of Walford. Remember the way both Jay and Shirley used to swagger around Walford, almost menacing in their new-found Mitchellness?
Shirley: Do you know who I am?
Jay: Do you know who I am?
We know now.
Shirley's such a sad cow that for an instant, just an instant, she was almost tempted to protect the person who had murdered her best friend. For an instant, she was going to deny Heather justice for Phil. She almost threw away everything she'd discovered tonight in order to imprison herself in the Mitchell family gaol - worthless, friendless and pathetic.
She did the right thing. And her cry to Phil, when he returned the next morning, demanding where "the boys" were, was visceral:
"You asked me to protect the person who murdered my best friend!"
Now she knows, for certain, whom Phil sought to protect all along. The coppers knew - Crisp and Marsden - they knew exactly what Phil was attempting and how he'd do it. Stick to the story, don't waver. In the end, even Phil couldn't save Ben. As Richie the bent solicitor told him, stop worrying about what Ben would say, just stick to your story. So in the end, Phil sought to save himself.
In the previous episode, the most poignant and powerful scene was when Shirley realised Jay had been present when Heather died and when she wished those scenes would never leave Jay's head. They were all about Jay's head tonight, and it was significant that he was so pitiably trying to hold onto a family who could and were ready to discard him at will, that it wasn't until he'd been given "permission" from Ben that he actually told the truth.
In his head, he's no better than the Mitchells. And now that he's grassed, he's worse. He really has no one; and as we'll see in coming episodes, even Billy feels compelled to deny him. Shirley is grieving anew, and he is alone.
I didn't view Ben as vulnerable when he left, alone, in the darkened police vehhicle. His attitude and mien towards DS Crisp told it all, and that quirky little smile he allowed himself when he knew that Jay had done what Ben told him and had been charged for a lesser crime and bailed, meant that Ben had arrived at the altar of Mitchelldom influence earlier. Ben will be nobody's bitch inside, however long he stays in prison - and one must remember that he killed Heather when he turned sixteen, which means he will be sentenced as an adult.
Ben is now the Mitchell, because Ben's committed a crime which his father and his uncle always stopped short of committing: murder.
Now, we'll turn to Phil's panic and the knowledge that Shirley holds the power now - the power to send him down as well.
The other two concurrent storylines tonight also showed two of Walford's premier scions on their uppers. Sharon accepts lodging at Jack's flat and seduces him, simply because this was supposed to be her wedding night. What? Something's wrong here.
First of all, although she's blonde and a former Mitchell, Sharon is not Jack's type. She's older than he and Jack likes'em dumb and younger. They also have no chemistry, and I can't help but thinking that TPTB are trying desperately to justify Scott Maslen's continued presence on the show. Nice guy, but another piece of wood, and Letitia Dean deserves better. Honestly, if they have to go to this length to justify the Brannings as a force, please ... give up. Max is the only one worth keeping because he's the only nuanced one. Happy Jack, horny Jack just acts dumb and looks dumber with that idiotic smile plastered on his face.
DamienDen is also becoming more and more annoying. This is the second coming of Tiffany, and it's going to get worse. How many six year-olds have their mother seductively sing them to sleep? Sorry, I'm a Grant-and-Sharon person, and I never ever bought into fey Dennis. Now we have Little Lord Fautleroy Dennis, who knows he's cute and knows the camera's about ... just like Tiffany. Yuck.
And finally, this about Lucy ...
Really, because this is what she needs. Oh, for Pat's backhand swipe! Or Pauline's forehand cracking smack. Ian is still suffering. Eastenders annoys the hell out of me, the way they treat anyone who has to have some sort of psychiatric or psychological treatment. Ian should be in a facility talking about his breakdown, receiving therapy and coming to terms with what happened.
Instead, he's made to ferret around his house, apologising for his every move and to be told not to make noise because the toxic Stick Insect who's his daughter had moved her wooden penis into Ian's old room and she's taken over.
Pardon me, how did she manage to get those transfer-of-contracts done and dusted so quickly? And shouldn't that solicitor, if he were responsible, have pointed out that Ian didn't really appear to be in sound mind, so a good case against coercive ownership could be made at a later date. Ian is clearly not in his right mind and needs help. He's been hoisted on a guilt trip by this skinny little bitch, and I hope that lying, deceitful piece of shit she's known five minutes and whom she's fucking every night scams the living shit out of her.
Someone needs to squash her rancid skinny ass.
Lucy Beale
The question now is whether or not Eastenders can maintain this momentum. Just when you think it can, however, you remember Kat and the Mystery Shaggerman loom on the horizon.
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