Obsession and Control - Review: 11.09.2013

Obsession and control, two of the identifying characteristics of the psychopath.

EastEnders have a plethora of women on the Square who have been sexually abused; they have a plethora of people with daddy issues; and now they have two psychopaths.

RoNostril and Michael.

Both recognise each other for what they are. At the moment, Michael is the weaker of the two. Why? Well, in EastEnders, in this day and age, he's a man. And men are to be reviled and exposed as weak. This is why all the little hissyfitting fanbois who inhabit the nether realms of Digital Spy and who exclusively find refuge in Walford Web Bullyboi Emporium worship at the altars of the likes of Ronnie and Kat and even Tanya. Ronnie, Kat and Tanya are the men they'll never be, even though they, themselves, are pithy and pisspoor excuses for strong women.

Strong? My arse.

Their existence is nothing without the addition of a man in their lives - someone whom they can disrespect, someone to whom they can lie and treat with great disdain - until, that is, he walks away from them, usually by a tool of their own creation, and then they play the victim.

Playing the victim means you never have to say you're sorry for anything you've done because whatever you've done really isn't your fault.

Michael is also the weaker of the two psychopaths because he's losing control, and he knows it. His wife, whom he'd psychologically browbeaten, when she was hormonal and weary from childbirth and a sick child, has returned hearty and strengthened and now sees through his game of thrones with a jaundiced eye. The only thing he can do to taunt RoNostril is show her a picture of Scarlett, to which RoNostril replied:- 

That's right, because Janine sees through your little game, doesn't she?

That was a fair point, but probably the only thing fair about this disparaging, pejorative and utterly unpleasant female.

Let's begin, shall we, and give the bullybois something about which they can hurl abuse, like a screaming,  wailing banshee of a little ginger child who hasn't got his Maypo ...

Remind you of anyone on Walford Web or Digital Spy?

Poker Face.

That's right, old Poker Face is back, and wherever she goes, you can be sure retconning is sure to follow, and it was in abundance in this episode tonight.

Let me say this: I've never seen a woman so botoxed and face-lifted in my life as Samantha Womack nee Janus. There's not even one line in her face. Not one. And for a forty year-old woman, that's impossible. Facial lines are a person's history. They denote character. They aid in the expression of emotion. Her face is so tight her eyes and eyebrows are tilted, which adds to the cold demeanor of her presence.

People remarked a lot about Jessie Wallace's face in 2010, when she'd returned, because she'd had so much botox, when she emoted, she looked like a gargoyle; but Womack is so botoxed to the hilt that when she emotes, her face never changes; and when she smiles, she looks incredibly cold.

Oddly enough, this goes hand-in-hand with the character she plays.

RoNostril is another faux strong woman, who isn't strong at all. The first place she goes, when she has a chance is running to Jack. This particular situation brilliantly displays her narcissism, another trait of the psychopath.

RoNostril dumped Jack. As soon as she went to prison, she began divorce proceedings. I also seem to recall a pretty malevolent Roxy, telling Jack, with glee, that RoNostril didn't want to see him and that she would be divorcing him forthwith. As if everything that had happened had been Jack's fault.

But, then, Jack is a man.

So RoNostril returns and assumes that Jack will be glad to see her. She flirts and smiles with him. (And remember, she didn't want to see him until she found out he was marrying again). Even when he slams the door in her face, she's there the next day, copping a sly look out the window at him.

Even later she ships narcissism in a flattering attempt to exert control over Roxy, when she forces Roxy to admit that none of her female acquaintances in the Square matched the too-cool-for-school attitude of her older sister, prompting Ronnie to remark that everyone in the Square was just "jealous" of Roxy.

Really, RoNostril? I seem to recall Max Branning describing Roxy as "hamburger" to Tanya's sirloin steak.

Denise jealous of Roxy? Tanya? Carol? That's hard,really hard, to imagine.

Manipulation was out in force tonight, and when manipulation wasn't possible, RoNostril was back to issuing orders to her inferiors - ordering Kat to "get Roxy," not bothered that Roxy living with Alfie might have proven a problem - but then, Alfie is a man, so he is less than relevant; in fact, there's some whopping big dumbass on Digital Spy, going by the inglorious name of Desire, who wonders why Alfie is relevant at all, because he isn't really Tommy's father.

Ahem ... Patrick Trueman isn't Paul's father, but he's relevant to Paul. Kevin Wicks wasn't the father of Carly or Dean, but he's certainly more relevant to them than their mother. Any man can plant a sperm, few can cultivate the result into a responsible human being.

So RoNostril orders Kat to do her bidding ... bring Roxy to her. Now. Never mind Alfie.

Kat: When did vis become my problem?

Well, Kathleen, when you brought yet another raving psychopath right back to your house. Big Mo would certainly have something to say about that. And you were so afraid of your consequences that you lied about her identity to Joey and Alice Branning, Jack's nephew and niece, as well as to Alfie, who isn't relevant. 

Nine months after the consequences of Kat's lying to Alfie, and she's still lying to him, in order to protect fucking RoNostril.

(Spot the similarity):-

(Sniff sniff).

The whole gist of tonight's narrative with RoNostril was her manipulative skills. A psychopath taps into a person's vulnerabilities and uses his/her charm to get them to do what they want. For example, she knew Dot to be a Christian and a forgiving soul.

Easy pickings.

For the record, Alfie never forbade Roxy from seeing RoNostril. Never. In as little as two episodes ago, he sat at a table in Ian's restaurant and told her she could see her sister whenever she wanted. He simply didn't want to see the woman, nor did he want her around Tommy, and that's fair enough, considering what she'd done to his family. But I cannot stress enough that, up until today's episode, Alfie had not not not forbidden Roxy from seeing her sister.

I contend that no normal person would want to live cheek-by-jowl with someone who'd committed an unspeakable crime against their family. No one. This is why the entire premise of this storyline has been retconned to the hilt only for the purpose of allowing a character with a fetish following to return to a cash cow which will provide the means for paying her children's school fees - from the taxpayer, I might add.

RoNostril wanted to see Roxy - she especially wanted to see Roxy after her prime obsession, Jack, had blanked her. She had to see if her influence was still intact. But Kat was right, also, when she delivered her news to Roxy. She'd done her job. Now it was up to Roxy to figure out how to see her sister.

Another thing I know is, despite the fact that Roxy is being sacrificed at the altar of Saint Kat, she has progressed as a character. Her relationship with Alfie is, undoubtedly, the first adult relationship she she has had in her life. Roxy fell in love with Alfie, remember, not the other way around; and even though the viewer knows Alfie is fond of Roxy and truly loves Kat, we do know that he's attempting to move on from a relationship that had become increasingly toxic and where he was treated, emotionally, like a piece of shit. 

It wasn't that long ago that it was Roxy, who was telling Alfie she loved him, and Alfie gently knocked her back by telling her that he owed his loyalty to Kat and his family. Is Alfie using Roxy? Maybe, but I think he's genuinely fond of her and sincerely wants to move on from Kat and her deceit, which hurt him deeply. 

Since RoNostril's departure, Roxy has grown and matured as a character, and she was progressing nicely until Newman decided that Roxy had to be sacrificed on the road to Kat's redemption. However, with the return of RoNostril, Roxy has regressed to a child-like existence, much in the same was Bianca has been retarded since her return.

First, she childishly and, in an entitled way, thought Alfie would eventually be "all right" with RoNostril, not only hanging around, but actually staying in the pub.

She was wrong.

Last night, saw her run, blubbing, into the Square when she caught a glimpse of RoNostril skulking across the Square. She was crying like a big, overgrown child, like the big, overgrown child that she was when she arrived on the Square, with RoNostril there to pick up the mess in her wake.

It's down to RoNostril as well, to be so manipulative, that Dot even inadvertantly agrees to an act of deception, most unlike Dot, in manoeuvring RoNostril into the Vic in Alfie's absence. Dot has never ever been one for approving of one half of a romantic relationship in deception of another. Dot easily could have summoned RoNostril to the launderette - neutral ground - for the meeting. Instead, she fanagles RoNostril into the Vic, after offering a panacea of a Bible verse about being able to forgive oneself and directing that at RoNostril

What?

In RoNostril's mind, there's nothing to forgive. She knew very well what she was doing, and she knew what she was doing yesterday, when she came into Roxy's space and cooed over Tommy as if she were entitled to do so.

Alfie's initial reaction was spot on. He had every right to be angry at finding RoNostril, the woman who'd callously dropped her dead baby into his son's crib and took the living child, keeping him for four months, allowing Alfie to believe Tommy was dead.

Still RoNostril didn't leave. Instead, she and Roxy shared a trip down retconned Memory Lane, and it became evident that RoNostril had no intention of going anywhere. 

I found her attitude to Roxy's relationship offensive. In fact, she was offended that Roxy had actually entered into an entirely adult relationship. When Roxy gets the vibe of that offense, she demands to know what RoNostril is thinking, and as she did when she found out Roxy was pregnant, she erupts in a tantrum in which she presents herself as the victim.

And Roxy's become perspicacious. She's right. RoNostril never talks about what's on her mind; instead, she likes to get inside other people's and manipulate them, which is exactly what she does with Roxy, asking her about her relationship with Alfie and feigning happiness for her when she finds that Roxy genuinely loves Alfie.

But why does Roxy have to justify Alfie's taste in shirts and the fact that he's not a classically handsome man? Sometimes women (and even more rarely, men) fall for someone who's kind and funny and warm. This leads into an entirely retconned version of Roxy's life in the wake of RoNostril's absence and leading up to her love affair with Alfie.

• Roxy says she was out all night, picking up men indiscriminately and neglecting Amy.

Not true. Roxy literally led the life of a nun, after RoNostril left. In fact, we rarely saw her until near the end of 2011, when she was presented as isolated and bored with her life as a single mother, attending Mother-and-Toddler sessions to sing "The Wheels on the Bus," and accepting an actually rare night on the tiles with Christian and Kim. Of course, that was the night Ben and Jay left Amy alone long enough for her to nearly drown in the bath, but Roxy didn't elaborate on Amy's "accident" to RoNostril. Nor did she elaborate on the custody battle that followed with Jack. Nor did she elaborate on the fact that the only one night stand we saw her have was one with Jack on the day Jack received his decree absolute. (I'm sure RoNostril would have loved that one - especially since she confessed to Roxy that she thought about Jack every day. Roxy would probably be sporting another scar on her face). Also, she didn't tell RoNostril about her fruitless pursuit of Max Branning, when his wife was recovering from cancer.

• When questioned by RoNostril about why on earth Roxy didn't turn to Christian, Roxy replied that Christian "abandoned" her.

Again, not true. Christian didn't abandon Roxy. He married his partner and left Walford. He was committed to Syed, and for a long time Roxy was jealous of this relationship. Or was the writer of this episode trying to imply, yet again, more childishness from Roxy, regarding her view of Chistian maturing and marrying and moving on?

However, Roxy was right in her assessment of Alfie emotionally supporting her, especially when the Mitchells imploded in the wake of Ben being revealed as Heather's murderer.

RoNostril's presence is a regression for Roxy. How long before she starts wearing pinafores and Mary Jane shoes in order for RoNostril to exercise more control over a child-like Ronnie totally dependent on her older sister for emotional support?

The Way They Were.

TPTB are pushing the Big Bad Alfie meme and the dumbasses are buying it. Alfie places a lot of personal emphasis on honesty in a relationship, which is pretty incongruous considering his past career was that of a conman. It's also incongruous because he's less than honest in his relationship with Roxy, but he hasn't been unfaithful. He's genuinely trying to move on from a tortuous relationship with a woman who wanted her cake and wanted to eat it too. And he's distrustful of Kat.

Tonight, she earned even more of his distrust, and he learned that Roxy couldn't be trusted either.

Something bothered me tonight in a couple of subtle inserted phrases. 

On Monday evening, Roxy admitted to Alfie, of her own volition, that if she went to see RoNostril, she'd get sucked right back into that cycle of dependency she had before, where RoNostril led and Roxy followed. RoNostril took the credit and Roxy took the flak. Alfie thanked her for, this time, putting him and Tommy first; and RoNostril was offended that Roxy was actually putting Alfie's needs and emotional concerns before hers.

I stress, yet again, that Alfie never once forbade Roxy from seeing her sister. He told her, unreservedly, that she could see, even visit for a time, RoNostril whenever she wanted. He just did not want the woman in his home. Fair enough, considering. And, I'm sorry, but when you commit to someone, that someone becomes your number one priority.

When they were married, Alfie would put Kat before his brother or any of his cousins. RoNostril even put Jack before the almighty Mitchells. Yet Roxy is expected to put her sister before the man whose proposal of marriage she accepted. Roxy is expected to put RoNostril before everyone. In that scene where RoNostril was giving Roxy the third degree, you know who she reminded me of?

Archie Mitchell. That's right, another psychopath. Every intonation every nuance of her voice was dear old Archie. 

Yet when Archie discovered RoNostril still there in his home, laughing and making jokes about him with Roxy, he was right to demand that Roxy choose right then and there. Once again, he wasn't forcing Roxy not to see her sister. He was questioning with whom her loyalties and her real honesty lay - with her sister or with him.

Yes, sisters are close, but EastEnders invented the concept of the sibling-friend, beginning with the Slaters - five women who never once integrated in female-female friendships with any other woman or girl on the Square. Kat didn't acquire a female friend who wasn't a relation until she took over the stall with Bianca (although her friendship with Kirsty worked better). The Mitchell sisters took the sibling-friend to artwork level. RoNostril looked down on every other female in the Square, even after that pathetic attempt to bond her with Bianca and Dot's even more pathetic comparison of them to Pauline and Ethel. And the closest thing to female friends Roxy had in RoNostril's wake were Shirley and Jean; and Shirley stole from her.

And now for another retcon alert!

Alfie's talk with Kat about RoNostril. Kat says that sometimes she feels that RoNostril is the only person who understands  her. Why? This has nothing to do with a childhood of sexual abuse. Instead, it has everything to do with the night Tommy was kidnapped. She feels that on that night, they both lost someone. 

Eh?

RoNostril lost her son, whom she dumped in the Moons' crib, but Kat reckoned that was the night she "lost" Alfie.

Sorry, bitch, but you were working fine on losing Alfie when you returned to Walford in September 2010. You systematically physically assaulted him in the street, emotionally abused him and openly and publically disdained his manhood, and he took everything you threw at him. This shit about Alfie not crying is also retcon par excellence. Either the writer didn't dare research the babyswap episodes or he pandered to the lowest common denominator of adolescent or diva queen fanboi or girl with that horseshit about Alfie not crying or talking to Kat throughout that period, because that's all he did, including reminding her ass that he had lost a child too, not just her. He was her emotional rock and he took all the shit she dished him in the aftermath, including the knee-trembler in the alleyway with the deliveryman, and he cried when he discovered that.

So once again, Saint Kat is exonerated from blame now in the wake of the babyswap, because the failure of her marriage - indeed, the cause of her numerous infidelities - isn't down to her obtrusive behaviour, but down to the fact that Alfie didn't cry or try to talk to her - which he did, on numerous occasions.

Please stop insulting the intelligence of the long-term viewer in hope that the stupidity of the lightweights carries your flagship programme. That's how you lose, not retain or gain, viewers.

Oh, and the fact that Kat wants to brush the babyswap under the carpet and "move on" is an insult to the character as a mother, because that is something that a real parent, especially a mother, will never forget.

The only positive to come out of those scenes was the obvious chemistry that still remains, when played and written correctly, between Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace. The love that the two characters have was written palpably - Alfie wants to move on with Roxy, Kat wants to put on a brave face, but doesn't think she'll find another bloke, because he would have a hard act to follow.

What a shame she didn't appreciate Alfie more when he was her husband.

But then, Alfie is a man, and he's irrelevant. At least, that's what we're supposed to believe.

An Innocent Man.

Ian Beale is another irrelevant man. A year after his breakdown and he is being treated like a cross between a manchild and a fool.

Equally as stupid was Denise's emotional wrench at moving across the Square from the totally unfunny Kim and her father figure Patrick - close enough for Denise and Kim to be able to shout across the street from upstairs windows.

It amazes me how other women make the odd snide comment, either to Denise's face, about Ian or under their breath, like Jean - who seems to have forgotten that she maligned Ian, as well as demolished his restaurant, for which she's lucky she wasn't prosecuted. The image of Ian cowering behind the locked doors of Scarlett's, fearful of the wrath of Kirsty Branning was demeaning to one of the few remaining original characters. It's as disrespectul as this lot of incompetents' handling of Sharon. People who have no respect for the history of the show should be smacked.

And where does Kirsty, a barmaid, get off barring Ian from the pub. For what? Yes, we know he lied. Yes, we know he'll probably be in a mess of trouble when it's found out, but that necessitates barring from the pub?

The line of the night, actually went to Denise, who barred the entire tribe of Brannings from The Minute Mart, based on Joey's uncalled-for rebuke of Ian. He used to like Ian? Really? Funny, I seem to recall him ordering about Ian's own house, calling him "old man," and ordering him to start pulling his weight. Sharon was right to frogmarch him out of the store, and to offer Ian a silent gesture of touching his shoulder in comfort.

Denise voiced what we've all thought. We're sick of the Brannings.

Shirley Valentine (Not).

Shirley's going, but we know she's not. 

Oh, yes, she is ... but not to Greece. I hope Carl kills her and then fumigates himself.

As she said so, herself, she won't be missed. And what a touching scene of farewell with Jay and Lexi. What a shame she couldn't muster that much maternal sympathy for the three children she abandoned.

A one-hour special in a week devoted to a psychopath. And so far, it's failing against its two main competitors, in what is obviously a dismal attempt to right the wrong of the babyswap debacle.

Oh well, the shippers are happy. If you're being bullied into keeping your mouth shut on several fora now devoted to Ronnie-worship, you have a free voice here.