Was this a plodding episode? Quite frankly, yes, it was, and it highlighted a lot of the wrong things for the right reasons. I've always found Jeff Povey a bit of a plod, actually, as a writer, and he lived up to his episode tonight.
However, I thought this episode belonged to Shane Richie, who played an absolute blinder. And special mention to Samantha Womack, Declan Bennett and the wonderful Maddie Hill.
In Defence of Alfie. I know it's fashionable amongst some quarters to deride Alfie and wish him gone. I know several people who want the character axed, killed off or just vapourised. I ask them to think again. In fact, I ask them to think again and watch this episode, listening to the dialogue.
Kat and Alfie are an endgame couple, and anyone hating Alfie is buying into four years of lazy writing and Bryan Kirkwood pushing the character of Alfie Moon as the worst aspect of Shane Richie. The sad tragedy of EastEnders at the moment is that it has four of the strongest male leads, acting-wise, in the genre - Steve McFadden, Shane Richie, Jake Wood and Danny Dyer - and yet the writing for each of their characters is nothing short of pathetic, the worst being for Richie.
Like Perry Fenwick, Richie always steps up to the plate and delivers, and he didn't fail tonight.
I know a lot of criticism has been thrown Alfie's way since he started the fire for insurance purposes, and he's been called a host of names, but it did my heart a good turn tonight to learn that the reason the insurance company isn't paying out has nothing to do with Alfie's dodgy claim and everything to do with Mo's dodgy hairspray, the amount of canisters constituting a commercial item; and everyone knows you're not allowed to operate a commercial venture from a private residence.
I really felt moved by Alfie's plight and his desperate efforts to find a solution. I kept hoping for some miracle to erupt and that he'd be blessed with the money for the deposit. I also understand Alfie's propensity to lash out when his back is against the wall. Was he wrong for yelling at Masood? Yes, but as people saw later, Masood understood perfectly why he did. And Alfie's pride is his biggest fault, which is where Kat comes in, foreshadowed by something Stacey, whose life experiences are moulding her into a likeable sage, in the manner of Michelle Fowler, who - upon occasion - could show uncommon good sense.
It was Stacey who pointed out to Alfie how good he and Kat were together, that they were a forever couple and had never let anything worse - and what is worse than infidelity - come between them? Stacey said something which Kat reiterated later - they get so far, they get knocked back and they rise again. The impetus of Kat's love and her desire to commit to Alfie, formally, might just be the impetus Alfie needs. He's certainly at his wit's end, as was evidenced by his reaction to the attitude of the council official. She was only doing her job and had to remain detached, but EastEnders certainly doesn't do council officials any favours in their depiction.
I've always been a fan of Alfie and Kat together, and I deplored the damage done to them as a couple by Kirkwood and Newman's attention to detail regarding Kat's redemption whilst Alfie was left to the mercy of a lazy writing room with a distaste for Shane Richie.
I would ask people if Alfie left, if he were killed off or binned off by Kat, what would be left? A fortysomething single mum, with three small children, a dodgy grandmother doing scams and a market stall, competing against at least two other clothes stalls on the market. Another Bianca, wailing about feeding her kids. Kat is depending on Alfie again for moral support and emotional sustenance, but in a way she's never done before; yet Alfie needs to depend on her unconditional love for him. I hope they succeed, because the last thing the show needs now is another perpetual loser of a male character a la Billy Mitchell, spinning around in circles.
Go Away! Sonia and Dexter, whose scenes tonight were totally and utterly putrid.
The secret guitar lessons Rebecca was receiving from SuperCharlie, Jack of all Trades and Master of Many, came out of the blue. I wondered why she'd turned up on Dot's doorstep and wanted to see him. All I can say is Sonia must be a right old rag, and Rebecca knows it. No wonder Martin retreats to football as much as he can. I can buy she wants to protect her daughter, but using her shyness as a pithy excuse to deny her the opportunity to audition for a specialist music school also has a selfish, almost jealous, tinge to her attitude. Maybe she's jealous that Rebecca plays the guitar better than Sonia played the trumpet.
Am I wrong in thinking that she was close to, if not accusing Charlie of something untoward in his helping Rebecca?
I know it was none of her business, but I'm glad Ronnie stepped in and arranged that display in the pub. I would say Sonia's attitude resonated with her memory of living with a control freak of a parent.
I wish Sonia would just leave. I must admit, I can't see Martin sticking with her when he arrives, and Tina the Court Jester and her puking on shoes and pilfering is welcome to her.
The other dud was Dexter. It's not all about you, Dexter, and can't you see that Nancy is just not that into you? It's Tamwar's birthday and all you can think to do is badger Nancy about your non-performance in the back of someone else's car the other night, at the same time begging for more. Nancy, to her credit, was being as nice as she could be, without telling him to bog off. He's a bloody nuisance and the sooner he leaves, the better.
Ronnie and Charlie Sitting in a Tree. What can I say? I like them together. Far better than Ronnie and Jack. They had the lines of the night, containing a plethora of foreshadowing:-
Ronnie: This coming from the cop who's not a cop?
Charlie: I'm not the only one with secrets.
No, Charlie, you aren't, and if your real profession is your only secret, then Ronnie's secret is far, far worse than yours, but why do I feel that you are still hiding something major?
The Masoods. First of all, Mas shouldn't have shaved his beard.
Secondly, Tamwar baffles me. He knew that there was a party organised in the Vic for him, by his father and by his friends - Nancy and Johnny - yet his indifference was galling. I know he doesn't like the attention, but FFS, show some gratitude. Shabnam was just as bad, in her pithy disapproval of an event in the pub. She's worse than Zainab ever was - in fact, has she so totally immersed herself in faux morality that she's forgotten that, when she had another head, she used to drink - alcohol - in the pub? Kush needs to get her drunk and let her loose on the pole dancing. She can be such a stick that it means nothing to her that Tamwar at least has friends who care enough about him to organise a party and even to buy replacement presents for him when the one they ordered doesn't arrive, and she's nothing less than rude to them.
Don't get me wrong. I like the character, but when she gets on one of her "what-will-the-mosque-say" turns, I turn off to that attitude. Even Zainab ventured into the pub near the end of her tenure, and not everyone goes to the Vic to drink booze - cf: Phil and Lauren. What a moral stick.
Zainab got an indirect, but rather pejorative reference from Masood, but the question is: Where did Shabnam get that money?
Actually, the money gift was a bit low, keeping it secret that way, and it also gave the impression that she was trying to buy Tamwar's loyalty.
However, I thought this episode belonged to Shane Richie, who played an absolute blinder. And special mention to Samantha Womack, Declan Bennett and the wonderful Maddie Hill.
In Defence of Alfie. I know it's fashionable amongst some quarters to deride Alfie and wish him gone. I know several people who want the character axed, killed off or just vapourised. I ask them to think again. In fact, I ask them to think again and watch this episode, listening to the dialogue.
Kat and Alfie are an endgame couple, and anyone hating Alfie is buying into four years of lazy writing and Bryan Kirkwood pushing the character of Alfie Moon as the worst aspect of Shane Richie. The sad tragedy of EastEnders at the moment is that it has four of the strongest male leads, acting-wise, in the genre - Steve McFadden, Shane Richie, Jake Wood and Danny Dyer - and yet the writing for each of their characters is nothing short of pathetic, the worst being for Richie.
Like Perry Fenwick, Richie always steps up to the plate and delivers, and he didn't fail tonight.
I know a lot of criticism has been thrown Alfie's way since he started the fire for insurance purposes, and he's been called a host of names, but it did my heart a good turn tonight to learn that the reason the insurance company isn't paying out has nothing to do with Alfie's dodgy claim and everything to do with Mo's dodgy hairspray, the amount of canisters constituting a commercial item; and everyone knows you're not allowed to operate a commercial venture from a private residence.
I really felt moved by Alfie's plight and his desperate efforts to find a solution. I kept hoping for some miracle to erupt and that he'd be blessed with the money for the deposit. I also understand Alfie's propensity to lash out when his back is against the wall. Was he wrong for yelling at Masood? Yes, but as people saw later, Masood understood perfectly why he did. And Alfie's pride is his biggest fault, which is where Kat comes in, foreshadowed by something Stacey, whose life experiences are moulding her into a likeable sage, in the manner of Michelle Fowler, who - upon occasion - could show uncommon good sense.
It was Stacey who pointed out to Alfie how good he and Kat were together, that they were a forever couple and had never let anything worse - and what is worse than infidelity - come between them? Stacey said something which Kat reiterated later - they get so far, they get knocked back and they rise again. The impetus of Kat's love and her desire to commit to Alfie, formally, might just be the impetus Alfie needs. He's certainly at his wit's end, as was evidenced by his reaction to the attitude of the council official. She was only doing her job and had to remain detached, but EastEnders certainly doesn't do council officials any favours in their depiction.
I've always been a fan of Alfie and Kat together, and I deplored the damage done to them as a couple by Kirkwood and Newman's attention to detail regarding Kat's redemption whilst Alfie was left to the mercy of a lazy writing room with a distaste for Shane Richie.
I would ask people if Alfie left, if he were killed off or binned off by Kat, what would be left? A fortysomething single mum, with three small children, a dodgy grandmother doing scams and a market stall, competing against at least two other clothes stalls on the market. Another Bianca, wailing about feeding her kids. Kat is depending on Alfie again for moral support and emotional sustenance, but in a way she's never done before; yet Alfie needs to depend on her unconditional love for him. I hope they succeed, because the last thing the show needs now is another perpetual loser of a male character a la Billy Mitchell, spinning around in circles.
Go Away! Sonia and Dexter, whose scenes tonight were totally and utterly putrid.
The secret guitar lessons Rebecca was receiving from SuperCharlie, Jack of all Trades and Master of Many, came out of the blue. I wondered why she'd turned up on Dot's doorstep and wanted to see him. All I can say is Sonia must be a right old rag, and Rebecca knows it. No wonder Martin retreats to football as much as he can. I can buy she wants to protect her daughter, but using her shyness as a pithy excuse to deny her the opportunity to audition for a specialist music school also has a selfish, almost jealous, tinge to her attitude. Maybe she's jealous that Rebecca plays the guitar better than Sonia played the trumpet.
Am I wrong in thinking that she was close to, if not accusing Charlie of something untoward in his helping Rebecca?
I know it was none of her business, but I'm glad Ronnie stepped in and arranged that display in the pub. I would say Sonia's attitude resonated with her memory of living with a control freak of a parent.
I wish Sonia would just leave. I must admit, I can't see Martin sticking with her when he arrives, and Tina the Court Jester and her puking on shoes and pilfering is welcome to her.
The other dud was Dexter. It's not all about you, Dexter, and can't you see that Nancy is just not that into you? It's Tamwar's birthday and all you can think to do is badger Nancy about your non-performance in the back of someone else's car the other night, at the same time begging for more. Nancy, to her credit, was being as nice as she could be, without telling him to bog off. He's a bloody nuisance and the sooner he leaves, the better.
Ronnie and Charlie Sitting in a Tree. What can I say? I like them together. Far better than Ronnie and Jack. They had the lines of the night, containing a plethora of foreshadowing:-
Ronnie: This coming from the cop who's not a cop?
Charlie: I'm not the only one with secrets.
No, Charlie, you aren't, and if your real profession is your only secret, then Ronnie's secret is far, far worse than yours, but why do I feel that you are still hiding something major?
The Masoods. First of all, Mas shouldn't have shaved his beard.
Secondly, Tamwar baffles me. He knew that there was a party organised in the Vic for him, by his father and by his friends - Nancy and Johnny - yet his indifference was galling. I know he doesn't like the attention, but FFS, show some gratitude. Shabnam was just as bad, in her pithy disapproval of an event in the pub. She's worse than Zainab ever was - in fact, has she so totally immersed herself in faux morality that she's forgotten that, when she had another head, she used to drink - alcohol - in the pub? Kush needs to get her drunk and let her loose on the pole dancing. She can be such a stick that it means nothing to her that Tamwar at least has friends who care enough about him to organise a party and even to buy replacement presents for him when the one they ordered doesn't arrive, and she's nothing less than rude to them.
Don't get me wrong. I like the character, but when she gets on one of her "what-will-the-mosque-say" turns, I turn off to that attitude. Even Zainab ventured into the pub near the end of her tenure, and not everyone goes to the Vic to drink booze - cf: Phil and Lauren. What a moral stick.
Zainab got an indirect, but rather pejorative reference from Masood, but the question is: Where did Shabnam get that money?
Actually, the money gift was a bit low, keeping it secret that way, and it also gave the impression that she was trying to buy Tamwar's loyalty.
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