Dean Wicks is returning, a character for whose return I've lobbied for years. Matt di Angelo has matured into a fine young actor, his character is the right age demographic and when he last left the show, he showed promise of being an edgy, angry young man with inner vulnerability - the next Grant (lite), Dennis or Sean? Who knows? But we need to examine the reasons behind Shirley's abandonment of her children, and we need to see her as a mother more than the two-day exercise we had with Carly back in late 2012.
The only problem is that Dean (not Deano, now Dean) is returning as part of an increasing family dynamic that, in the words of EastEnders' own website, is set to "dominate" the Square this year.
He will join the ever-decreasing gaggle of Carters, many of whom have been rectified and all of whom have been created for Linda Henry's Shirley, whom DTC hopes to make the focal point of the Square.
Are we about to see this year's and this producer's Brannings?
Watch this space.
All I can say is that tonight, apart from one brief escapade, was a superb episode. Apart from the Masoods and a brief appearance by Max, there wasn't a Carter or a high-level Branning in sight. And there was a new teen who was totally unlike any other teen we've seen in a long time.
I'm not surprised that the episode was so good tonight. It heralded the return of Gillian Richmond, who wrote for the show from Sharongate through to Diederick Santer. Quality showed.
The Awful Truth (at Last).
There used to be an advert years ago in the US for Toyota, with the catchphrase being, "You asked for it, you got it ... Toyota."
Well, you've been asking for it since Sharon returned - the Dennis Reveal. Are you satisfied?
Letitia Dean and Steve McFadden proved that they actually still do have the chemistry for which they were famous - all they needed was a writer who acknowledged and was aware of that history.
Phil has loved Sharon for over twenty years, but make no mistake: Dennis aside, the real love of Sharon's life was Grant, and I thought he'd get a mention tonight. Sharon asked for honesty from Phil and - surprise surprise! - Phil delivered.
He spilled the beans, he confessed. He really must love Sharon, because he was never this honest with Shirley, except for telling her that he could never promise fidelity. In fact, he deceived Shirley in a way he never did with Sharon, covering up Ben's killing of Heather.
This wasn't the Phil who would normally lie with a straight face and hope for the best, this was a man willing to do anything to keep the woman he loved, even if he risked losing her.
The scenes at the Arches, which were interspersed with the equally tense scenes in the Butcher-Jackson storyline and the Masood storyline, were electric. My only production criticism of this episode was its over-dependence on extreme close-ups of the characters involved.
So now Sharon knows that Ronnie killed Carl, which - for me - is far more important than learning about Phil's peripheral part in Dennis's death. But how much more does Phil know about Carl's death that he isn't telling her? He says he doesn't know how Ronnie killed Carl, but surely he'd have noticed the missing car from The Arches, and surely whoever owned the car would be enquiring about its whereabouts, if not calling the police, because that was theft.
Does he know where she disposed of the body? Many people are speculating that Ronnie's setting Phil up to be charged with this crime, and if the car in question was a car whose log book bore Phil's name - i.e., if he were working on the car with a view to selling it, the scrapyard could trace the car with the body right back to Phil.
Let's assume she knows as much as Phil knows. That's leverage to put Roswell in her putrid place, but it's also dangerous enough for Roswell to keep an evil eye on Sharon.
In confessing this to Sharon, there was the first of two minor continuity errors in these scenes. On hearing that Phil had cleaned up the "mess" that Carl left behind, Sharon couldn't believe that Phil had had anything to do with a murder.
Dennis did some bad fings, but 'e was never a murderer.
Really, Sharon?
How about this?
Sharon knew that Dennis was a murderer. He killed Jack Dalton.
Of course, the confession of Phil's part in Carl's demise was merely the prelude to ... The Big Reveal - Phil admitting his part in Dennis's death.
As well as this was done and acted, this angered me a bit. First of all,there was the second continuity error - which was that Phil found Jonnie Allen with his hands around a pregnant Sharon's neck.
Not so.
Sharon did tell Phil what happened with Jonnie, but begged him not to tell Dennis, which Phil then promptly did, and for a reason. As he explained tonight, he didn't want to lose Sharon. He didn't want her to go. But he didn't want Dennis to die, and the reason Dennis did die was that he was stupid enough to put aside his temper and consider his wife and unborn child. He beat the shit out of Jonnie, then left him his mobile phone to call for help, which Jonnie did. And Dennis died.
What was interesting to hear was Phil actually confessing to having killed Dennis, blaming himself for his death and actually saying that Dennis was dead because of him. Wrong.
Dennis was dead because of Dennis's own stupidity. He was a grown man. No one twisted his arm to confront Jonnie, no one demanded that he do it. As Sharon said, they were leaving for a new life with their unborn child.
At least, we got a soupcon of what happened in Florida in the wake of Dennis's death and before Denny's birth, with Sharon even for one brief fleeting moment considering the suicide of herself and her unborn child. In her words, she was a wreck. That's more than was said about her six-year sojourn (if it were indeed six years) in Florida in the almost two years she's been in the show.
Yet after the reveal, itself, Sharon is still back living with Phil - because, she said, she had no other place to go, but Phil got the last word with Sharon in the episode. He told her he loved her, and he'd loved her for the past twenty years.
And that's something he never really told Shirley.
Honker.
I have to admit, I was never the biggest fan of Sonia,especially in her later years, but I found myself warming to her in this episode. This was the warm, familiar, friendly Sonia, sensible Sonia, not Sonia the forthright and self-righteous.
She seems to have a good-sized house, in a nice middle-class neighbourhood, someplace within spitting distace of Walford. Near enough for Carol to make a visit by public transport.
It also seems that she is a nurse now, referenced her early shift and the ward sister being off. And she appears to be reconciled with Martin, who was late that evening because of his five-a-side commitment. What does Martin do? In Manchester, he worked in a supermarket. And now that they are reconciled, is he going to be an unseen presence, being referenced here and there as playing football, visiting Michelle, whatever; or is she going to flit between her home and Walford with mythical Martin a ghost-like being to be spoken of but never seen?
One wonders if James Alexandriou is returning, but I'd heard that Alexandriou had moved on into direction, production and presenting. Or will this be another re-cast?
I did like Rebecca, however, and it's ironic that the BBC in general shot itself in the foot years ago with the Rebecca-Goes-Home storyline, because as BBC News confirmed tonight, birth parents who give their children up for adoption can never get them back, no matter what the circumstances.
Still, Rebecca sticks out like a sore thumb in relation to the her other peers on the Square - namely hairy Cindy the Greek. Rebecca is quiet, studious, intelligent, well-spoken and talented. In other words, another Alice. I fear for her.
The scenes between Sonia and Carol were touching and it was poignant that Carol turned to her one daughter with some sort of medical knowledge, and she was actually being positive about her treatment, even though she was worried about losing her hair and getting ill.
What let this story down was Sonia's advice to Carol, who knew that she was being despatched to Sonia's to "rest," when it was really Bianca's endeavour to get her away from David for a few days to give her some space and away from his manipulations. Bianca was right. David is in this for David, not because he loves Carol, but because she's a means to an end.
Carol asks Sonia if people can change, and Sonia wisely replies that it depends on the person. Then Carol gives a soliloquy about how she feels on the few occasions David's walked back into her life - there haven't been many. She's fourteen again. That's not love, that's pure horniness; and Carol's felt that for any man who's shown an interest in her. What would really put the cat amongst the pigeons would be for Dan Sullivan to show up.
Here's the ethos of this family of women, especially Bianca and Carol. The "mother" is always the child. Carol is still the horny teenager who drops everything when David makes an appearance. He toys with her until someone more attractive comes along, and then she's dumped. Again. Sonia was the adult in the room tonight. But this is the same dynamic with Bianca and Whitney. Bianca is a feckless child, often brought down to earth by Whitney on the rare occasion when she uses common sense.
Carol returning to David tonight is one big mistake. Why?
Leopards Don't Change Their Spots.
Here's why. When Max Branning refused David's offer of 100 grand to buy into the "lucrative" car lot, David - who, two minutes previously, had been assuring Max that he'd grown up - keys one of the two cars on the forecourt.
That really is the act of a mature fifty-odd year-old man. It's not. It's the wanton act of vandalism of a petty and spoiled child.
Here's the third continuity error of the night: Why is David offering Max money for the business? Presumably that's to buy into the business, itself; presumably, he'll offer a substantial amount of the remaining money to Roxy when she returns because she owns the damned thing, and not long ago, on Christmas Eve, David was ringing Roxy's mobile with a business proposition to make to her.
Masood Finds His Balls.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. That's Shakespeare, but it could apply to Masood, with regard to the latest rude Masood to make an appearance.
Line of the night: My daughter the racist.
Masood is right. NuShabnam is a snide, self-righteous, racist little bitch, and that is Masood's house. He is her father, and she's the biggest kind of religious hypocrite. She can backtrack all she wants now, trying to mend fences by saying she only meant that she wanted to see her father with a Muslim woman, but there are Muslims who are white, and Shabnam said "white woman."
She is hypocritical, because all the while she's preaching that rubbish, she's breaking one of the basic tenets of the Koran and her faith, by disrespecting her father in his home. The alcohol was the bane of contention. The Masoods didn't drink, but they served alcohol in the Arjee Bahjee when they owned it, and if they decide to allow guests to drink in their house, so be it.
The big disappointment was Tamwar the Wet, who lamely asked Masood if he wanted him to stay.
Suit yourself.
Besides making excuses for his putrid sister, he doesn't stand his ground and decide to stay with his father, who needs him. Even when Fatboy is perceptive enough to realise that Masood is in a dark place and needs the support of his son. Nope. Tamwar whines that his ball-breaking bitch of a sister needs him.
She needs a slap. So off they go to Uncle Imzamam's and Aunt Fatima's to be indoctrinated even more.
Masood should have thrown their sorry arses out. Tamwar chose religion over his father's emotional crisis.
Good episode. Good writing. Not so great research.
The only problem is that Dean (not Deano, now Dean) is returning as part of an increasing family dynamic that, in the words of EastEnders' own website, is set to "dominate" the Square this year.
He will join the ever-decreasing gaggle of Carters, many of whom have been rectified and all of whom have been created for Linda Henry's Shirley, whom DTC hopes to make the focal point of the Square.
Are we about to see this year's and this producer's Brannings?
Watch this space.
All I can say is that tonight, apart from one brief escapade, was a superb episode. Apart from the Masoods and a brief appearance by Max, there wasn't a Carter or a high-level Branning in sight. And there was a new teen who was totally unlike any other teen we've seen in a long time.
I'm not surprised that the episode was so good tonight. It heralded the return of Gillian Richmond, who wrote for the show from Sharongate through to Diederick Santer. Quality showed.
The Awful Truth (at Last).
There used to be an advert years ago in the US for Toyota, with the catchphrase being, "You asked for it, you got it ... Toyota."
Well, you've been asking for it since Sharon returned - the Dennis Reveal. Are you satisfied?
Letitia Dean and Steve McFadden proved that they actually still do have the chemistry for which they were famous - all they needed was a writer who acknowledged and was aware of that history.
Phil has loved Sharon for over twenty years, but make no mistake: Dennis aside, the real love of Sharon's life was Grant, and I thought he'd get a mention tonight. Sharon asked for honesty from Phil and - surprise surprise! - Phil delivered.
He spilled the beans, he confessed. He really must love Sharon, because he was never this honest with Shirley, except for telling her that he could never promise fidelity. In fact, he deceived Shirley in a way he never did with Sharon, covering up Ben's killing of Heather.
This wasn't the Phil who would normally lie with a straight face and hope for the best, this was a man willing to do anything to keep the woman he loved, even if he risked losing her.
The scenes at the Arches, which were interspersed with the equally tense scenes in the Butcher-Jackson storyline and the Masood storyline, were electric. My only production criticism of this episode was its over-dependence on extreme close-ups of the characters involved.
So now Sharon knows that Ronnie killed Carl, which - for me - is far more important than learning about Phil's peripheral part in Dennis's death. But how much more does Phil know about Carl's death that he isn't telling her? He says he doesn't know how Ronnie killed Carl, but surely he'd have noticed the missing car from The Arches, and surely whoever owned the car would be enquiring about its whereabouts, if not calling the police, because that was theft.
Does he know where she disposed of the body? Many people are speculating that Ronnie's setting Phil up to be charged with this crime, and if the car in question was a car whose log book bore Phil's name - i.e., if he were working on the car with a view to selling it, the scrapyard could trace the car with the body right back to Phil.
Let's assume she knows as much as Phil knows. That's leverage to put Roswell in her putrid place, but it's also dangerous enough for Roswell to keep an evil eye on Sharon.
In confessing this to Sharon, there was the first of two minor continuity errors in these scenes. On hearing that Phil had cleaned up the "mess" that Carl left behind, Sharon couldn't believe that Phil had had anything to do with a murder.
Dennis did some bad fings, but 'e was never a murderer.
Really, Sharon?
How about this?
Or this?
Sharon knew that Dennis was a murderer. He killed Jack Dalton.
Of course, the confession of Phil's part in Carl's demise was merely the prelude to ... The Big Reveal - Phil admitting his part in Dennis's death.
As well as this was done and acted, this angered me a bit. First of all,there was the second continuity error - which was that Phil found Jonnie Allen with his hands around a pregnant Sharon's neck.
Not so.
Sharon did tell Phil what happened with Jonnie, but begged him not to tell Dennis, which Phil then promptly did, and for a reason. As he explained tonight, he didn't want to lose Sharon. He didn't want her to go. But he didn't want Dennis to die, and the reason Dennis did die was that he was stupid enough to put aside his temper and consider his wife and unborn child. He beat the shit out of Jonnie, then left him his mobile phone to call for help, which Jonnie did. And Dennis died.
What was interesting to hear was Phil actually confessing to having killed Dennis, blaming himself for his death and actually saying that Dennis was dead because of him. Wrong.
Dennis was dead because of Dennis's own stupidity. He was a grown man. No one twisted his arm to confront Jonnie, no one demanded that he do it. As Sharon said, they were leaving for a new life with their unborn child.
At least, we got a soupcon of what happened in Florida in the wake of Dennis's death and before Denny's birth, with Sharon even for one brief fleeting moment considering the suicide of herself and her unborn child. In her words, she was a wreck. That's more than was said about her six-year sojourn (if it were indeed six years) in Florida in the almost two years she's been in the show.
Yet after the reveal, itself, Sharon is still back living with Phil - because, she said, she had no other place to go, but Phil got the last word with Sharon in the episode. He told her he loved her, and he'd loved her for the past twenty years.
And that's something he never really told Shirley.
Honker.
I have to admit, I was never the biggest fan of Sonia,especially in her later years, but I found myself warming to her in this episode. This was the warm, familiar, friendly Sonia, sensible Sonia, not Sonia the forthright and self-righteous.
She seems to have a good-sized house, in a nice middle-class neighbourhood, someplace within spitting distace of Walford. Near enough for Carol to make a visit by public transport.
It also seems that she is a nurse now, referenced her early shift and the ward sister being off. And she appears to be reconciled with Martin, who was late that evening because of his five-a-side commitment. What does Martin do? In Manchester, he worked in a supermarket. And now that they are reconciled, is he going to be an unseen presence, being referenced here and there as playing football, visiting Michelle, whatever; or is she going to flit between her home and Walford with mythical Martin a ghost-like being to be spoken of but never seen?
One wonders if James Alexandriou is returning, but I'd heard that Alexandriou had moved on into direction, production and presenting. Or will this be another re-cast?
I did like Rebecca, however, and it's ironic that the BBC in general shot itself in the foot years ago with the Rebecca-Goes-Home storyline, because as BBC News confirmed tonight, birth parents who give their children up for adoption can never get them back, no matter what the circumstances.
Still, Rebecca sticks out like a sore thumb in relation to the her other peers on the Square - namely hairy Cindy the Greek. Rebecca is quiet, studious, intelligent, well-spoken and talented. In other words, another Alice. I fear for her.
The scenes between Sonia and Carol were touching and it was poignant that Carol turned to her one daughter with some sort of medical knowledge, and she was actually being positive about her treatment, even though she was worried about losing her hair and getting ill.
What let this story down was Sonia's advice to Carol, who knew that she was being despatched to Sonia's to "rest," when it was really Bianca's endeavour to get her away from David for a few days to give her some space and away from his manipulations. Bianca was right. David is in this for David, not because he loves Carol, but because she's a means to an end.
Carol asks Sonia if people can change, and Sonia wisely replies that it depends on the person. Then Carol gives a soliloquy about how she feels on the few occasions David's walked back into her life - there haven't been many. She's fourteen again. That's not love, that's pure horniness; and Carol's felt that for any man who's shown an interest in her. What would really put the cat amongst the pigeons would be for Dan Sullivan to show up.
Here's the ethos of this family of women, especially Bianca and Carol. The "mother" is always the child. Carol is still the horny teenager who drops everything when David makes an appearance. He toys with her until someone more attractive comes along, and then she's dumped. Again. Sonia was the adult in the room tonight. But this is the same dynamic with Bianca and Whitney. Bianca is a feckless child, often brought down to earth by Whitney on the rare occasion when she uses common sense.
Carol returning to David tonight is one big mistake. Why?
Leopards Don't Change Their Spots.
Here's why. When Max Branning refused David's offer of 100 grand to buy into the "lucrative" car lot, David - who, two minutes previously, had been assuring Max that he'd grown up - keys one of the two cars on the forecourt.
That really is the act of a mature fifty-odd year-old man. It's not. It's the wanton act of vandalism of a petty and spoiled child.
Here's the third continuity error of the night: Why is David offering Max money for the business? Presumably that's to buy into the business, itself; presumably, he'll offer a substantial amount of the remaining money to Roxy when she returns because she owns the damned thing, and not long ago, on Christmas Eve, David was ringing Roxy's mobile with a business proposition to make to her.
Masood Finds His Balls.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. That's Shakespeare, but it could apply to Masood, with regard to the latest rude Masood to make an appearance.
Line of the night: My daughter the racist.
Masood is right. NuShabnam is a snide, self-righteous, racist little bitch, and that is Masood's house. He is her father, and she's the biggest kind of religious hypocrite. She can backtrack all she wants now, trying to mend fences by saying she only meant that she wanted to see her father with a Muslim woman, but there are Muslims who are white, and Shabnam said "white woman."
She is hypocritical, because all the while she's preaching that rubbish, she's breaking one of the basic tenets of the Koran and her faith, by disrespecting her father in his home. The alcohol was the bane of contention. The Masoods didn't drink, but they served alcohol in the Arjee Bahjee when they owned it, and if they decide to allow guests to drink in their house, so be it.
The big disappointment was Tamwar the Wet, who lamely asked Masood if he wanted him to stay.
Suit yourself.
Besides making excuses for his putrid sister, he doesn't stand his ground and decide to stay with his father, who needs him. Even when Fatboy is perceptive enough to realise that Masood is in a dark place and needs the support of his son. Nope. Tamwar whines that his ball-breaking bitch of a sister needs him.
She needs a slap. So off they go to Uncle Imzamam's and Aunt Fatima's to be indoctrinated even more.
Masood should have thrown their sorry arses out. Tamwar chose religion over his father's emotional crisis.
Good episode. Good writing. Not so great research.
I can hardly believe I'm saying this but.. I find myself in agreement with regard to Sonia.
ReplyDeleteI don't read the TV mags or publicity but as Carol approached the house I knew that it was going to be Sonia's.
I grabbed the Sky remote ready to fast forward through the scenes [that's how much I despise her] but she seemed different. Quieter, maturer, calmer and of course slimmer. Let's hope it lasts.
Go Masood !
Bang on about David. You wrote exactly what I thought - "I've grown up now" then keys the car in retaliation for getting a fuck off tablet from Max. Nice ! [& there was even a little childish smirk - forgetting that he still works there & now there's a 50% chance that he will have to try & sell the same car complete with scratch mark or pay to get it fixed which ultimately reduces any profit from the final sale.
If David was ½ the business man he thinks he is then why bother with the car lot ? Set up your own.
Re Thursday episode.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why that it was that with all the geezers playing cards at Masoods, that Fatboy was not playing ?
It seems that he has forgot that he no longer lives with Dot and is now fussing about Mas the same way. The way he went to speak to Alfie asking him to throw the game because Mas was betting with Dumwars Uni fund was unbelievable.
Mas is a grown man & so for that matter is Fatboy & it's about time he grew a pair and dropped the holier than thou routine. Yes he is younger than the other fellas but that doesn't mean he can't join in. I always hung out with geezers 10years + older than me & it was awesome, a real laugh.
If I was Masood & found out about his little chat with Alfie I would boot him out.
If David was ½ the business man he thinks he is then why bother with the car lot ? Set up your own.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly! And how does 100 grand come into it? Maybe its the stock? Lets see, about 4 low/medium price cars, a filing cabinet and some car wash. The yard doesnt look that professional, usually there is just a boy there cleaning cars, playing at being a salesman. They know nothing about cars, finance deals or warranties. Like most businesses on EE, they are not realistic. Much like the Arches, how do they survive? Everyone lives in the square, so hardly walk anywhere, let alone drive.
PP