Because my English Springer Spaniel was busy giving birth to 8 lovely puppies on Tuesday night, I was rather busy that evening and rather tired on Wednesday, so I've just got around to watching this episode just now.
Wow ... a myriad of pejorative male characters affecting the women they are supposed to love. My highlights were the small moments, which I'll explain further below.
If I had to entitle this episode, I would name it An Air of Contrivance.
The Day the Cokers Croaked. Wnen EastEnders wants to contrive something, it has a bad habit of going overboard. In fact, that's one of its weaknesses, and I don't know whether to blame the writers or the viewers. Possibly both, but more the writers, who think the viewing public are so stupid or so obtuse, they need everything spelled out to them in the most obvious way. In stating the bleeding obvious, it's often an insult to viewers who appreciate the art of nuance or some sort of subtlety at least.
Don't get me wrong. I love Les and Pam, even as hammy as Les is, yet another pantomime character to rival Dot's head bobbing with his exaggerated facial expressions. They're the nicest and most likeable new characters the show's introduced in a long time. It's just that I wish TPTB credited the viewer with enough intelligence to garner that the Cokers don't wash as a red herring in relation to Lucy's death.
Off-screen, Pam's told Billy about the circumstances in which she "killed someone." Someone someplace amidst the lower echelon of flotsam and jetsam viewers surely must reckon that Pam killed Lucy, but she didn't. With all the broad hints about her son's death anniversary and yet another mention of the as-yet-unseen Paul, the grandson, it's obvious that Pam euthanised Lawrie, their son. For whatever reason, we'll find out over a long-and-drawn-out course of time. But the fact remains that they've told Billy, and it's affected him so much that he needs time to get his head around the deed, so he's effectively avoiding them.
On the one hand, I can see Billy's turmoil. It may bring back memories of the time Honey tried to abandon and even wanted to kill Janet. But on the other hand, depending on Lawrie's medical/physical problems, Billy is one of the few genuinely compassionate Mitchells and able to accept the reasons behind Pam's actions. So I don't buy this reluctant and averring Billy for one instant. That's yet another poor plot device to play to the pits in an attempt to drum Pam up as a possible and infeasible suspect.
Whatever. Billy won't go to the police. The Cokers should realise, if they don't already know, that the Mitchells would never grass to the police.
Has there ever been a future character mentioned as much as Paul Coker? Wait ... yes, of course ... Syed Masood. I've no doubt we'll see Paul sometime in the course of next year, when whatever male ingenue currently in the show decides to leave. He's replacement material.
The Addams Family. The Dot Cotton Mystery deepens. Of all Dot's male relatives, blood (the Cottons) and step (the Brannings), no one is more genuinely fond of her than Fatboy, who really should be morphing more into Arthur and less into a stereotype who's past his sell-by date. Arthur's concern for Dot is touching, and he's worried that she hasn't been seen for several days and that he's been prevented from seeing her.
Psychopath Alert ... I give you Charlie Cotton. His eyes were dead when he had his encounter with Carol, who wasn't above leaving the house until she'd seen Dot. He had no choice, really, but to allow her to enter the front room and view Nick in all his glory, considering the fact that she knew Nick was alive.
Lindsey Coulson and John Altman exchanged few words, but their interaction and their brief scene was classic - classic Nick and classic Carol.
Charlie: Carol, this is my dad, Nick.
Carol to Nick: Oh, I know very well who YOU are.
Nick: 'Ello, sis.
The best thing about the Cotton yarn (pun intended) is the gallows humour which keeps surfacing, and the obvious facts about which one is forced to acknowledge but hadn't realised before - like Carol has never been in Walford when Nick was around, so this really was the first time she'd seen him ... or the fact that Carol and Max are Nick's step-siblings.
Dot's in survival mode - not literally, but she's saying the right things, for Nick's sake, oddly, and keeping Charlie at arm's length, hence the answer to Carol that Nick was there because she wanted him there and her request that Carol not say anything. The last exchange between them, when Dot hugged and kissed Carol, something she'd never done before, was strange, yet touching, even after Dot had called Carol out for her remark about having liked Nick better ehen he was dead. The last exchange between Carol and Charlie indicated that Carol has the measure of him completely - this isn't Carol's problem; it's Charlie's, and the problem is what he must do with Nick, and how this will affect Dot.
Someone mentioned something to me today about Charlie as a psychopath. As much as Ronnie's psychopathic obsession is having a child, Charlie's is having a family. For most of his life, it was just he and his mother, and she's as much a strange character as Mrs Doyle's evil twin. Being around Dot exposed him to a grandparent, and an extended family of step-cousins (Bianca and her kids), and he was pushing his obsession, past caring what his mother said or did, until Nick emerged and threw a spanner in the works.
And Carol proves once again that she's another one of the few multi-layered characters on the programme, who need to be used correctly. In this episode, she was. There are times when I want to throttle Carol, when I really hate her selfishness, her self-absorption and her pessimism; but as quick as anything, she can be a strong, wise and likeable woman. She was just that on Tuesday, especially with Arthur. She told him just enough about Dot and warned him off without resorting to telling a lie. She had seen Dot, and Dot now had her family around her. It was best if Arthur gave them some space.
And then she invited him to stay at the Butcher-Jackson house as long as he wished.
We need to see more of this Carol.
Ever Decreasing Circles. There's a Nick Lowe song whose chorus repeats And so it goes, but where it's going, no one knows.
You get that feeling with the Carters - yet another episode of L crying off a headache and Mick dancing attendance, with a smidgeon of unintentional passive-aggressive behaviour.
The storyline has actually moved onto another level - that of the pregnancy and what she should do about it. At the moment, she's considering an abortion, of course, saying nothing to Mick. The chance opportunity of babysitting the Moon twins brought about another subtle remark from Mick hinting at wanting another child - how looking after a baby is like riding a bike, you never forget how; how it's been a long time since they've dealt with babies (nudge nudge wink wink), exactly the sort of scenario L doesn't need to hear.
Being granted a glimpse of Sharon the Background Character, it's good to know that Sharon is suss enough to ascertain that something isn't right with L, but L will say nothing, not even after the offer of free drinks at The Albert. Mick's worried, however - about whether or not Sharon is holding Shirley's sin against her sibling-son and is relieved to hear Mrs Mitchell doesn't equate him with Shirley's amorality.
Do abortion clinics really do telephone consultations? Apparently some do, but the conversation in the Carter bathroom against the sound of running water so Mick couldn't hear, was frustrating from Linda's end; however, at least we now know that she is uncertain as to who is the father of the baby, thus confirming what I have suspected - that she and Mick were having sex right up to the day of the rape.
I wanted to scream at the answers to her questions - my'usband doesn't know, I don't want him to know ... it's because I love him that I'm having the termination ... I'm not sure whether it's his or not, and it's really not fair having a kid that isn't his ...
My God, the people at the clinic couldn't care less, but this sounds as though she's a woman who's had an affair and got up the duff by her bit on the side! All she needed to say was that she was raped, her husband didn't know and couldn't know, and that would have been enough - although the people at the clinic would have urged her to go to the police. Still, L wants this termination because she wants things to go back to the way they were.
They won't. Believe me, Linda, whether you wanted to do so or not, you have been with another man. You were raped, and the longer you leave telling anyone the harder it will be to convince them. Even harder with a baby, because we know you won't get an abortion.
The Carters provided the other brief highlight of the episode, and this has to do with what is obviously the beginning of the end for Stan, who was caught in a lie when he told the odious Babe that he was off to see Cora that day.
Ladies and gents, and Mr Duck, Cora has acquired class. The scene in the cafe, with Cora sitting at the table, when Babe approaches.
Babe: 'E stand you up then?
Cora: Who?
Babe: Stan. 'E said 'e was seeing you.
Babe stands for a moment.
Cora: Are you sitting down?
Babe sits, and Cora gets up and leaves.
Bravo, Cora!
A Moon for the Misbegotten. DTC and his merry men and women need to be taken out and slapped for the tragedy that they've allowed Alfie Moon to become. I can totally understand Kat's insecurities, but - you know - her scars aren't bad, it's early days and they're the sort of scars that, after healing, won't be that noticeable with make-up, even the one on her shoulder. In fact, she looked good when she and Stacey were in The Albert, and Jessie Wallace always looks best with understated make-up.
The other thing I noticed about this storyline was what a pretty speaking voice Lacey Turner has acquired in her time away from the show. It's really well-modulated and sounds lovely now.
It's amazing that Billy can live for - what? - three years squatting in a flat and no one's noticed at all, but the Moons are turfed out within weeks.
This is yet another drawn-out circular storyline, with Alfie shitting himself at every sighting of Stacey. The storyline does neither Alfie nor Stacey any favours, and the sooner it's done and dusted, the better. Alfie and Kat are an endgame couple, irregardless of the fact that TPTB seem to have manipulated most viewers into Alfie-hatred mode. The couple won't be axed. Long-term characters are thin on the ground, and both actors are committed to the show. However, if one goes, the other will follow. As I've stated before, if DTC reunited Kat and Alfie only to to rip them apart or kill one of them off, he's no better than Bryan Kirkwood.
Decent episode, but not a great one.
And just an afterthought ... this was the episode that aired on Armistice Day. I know we had a snippet back in August dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Great War, but it's not like the show to ignore Armistice Day, to the point that none of the characters, even Dot, were wearing poppies. Bad boy, Dominic! Go to the naughty step, you little elf.
Wow ... a myriad of pejorative male characters affecting the women they are supposed to love. My highlights were the small moments, which I'll explain further below.
If I had to entitle this episode, I would name it An Air of Contrivance.
The Day the Cokers Croaked. Wnen EastEnders wants to contrive something, it has a bad habit of going overboard. In fact, that's one of its weaknesses, and I don't know whether to blame the writers or the viewers. Possibly both, but more the writers, who think the viewing public are so stupid or so obtuse, they need everything spelled out to them in the most obvious way. In stating the bleeding obvious, it's often an insult to viewers who appreciate the art of nuance or some sort of subtlety at least.
Don't get me wrong. I love Les and Pam, even as hammy as Les is, yet another pantomime character to rival Dot's head bobbing with his exaggerated facial expressions. They're the nicest and most likeable new characters the show's introduced in a long time. It's just that I wish TPTB credited the viewer with enough intelligence to garner that the Cokers don't wash as a red herring in relation to Lucy's death.
Off-screen, Pam's told Billy about the circumstances in which she "killed someone." Someone someplace amidst the lower echelon of flotsam and jetsam viewers surely must reckon that Pam killed Lucy, but she didn't. With all the broad hints about her son's death anniversary and yet another mention of the as-yet-unseen Paul, the grandson, it's obvious that Pam euthanised Lawrie, their son. For whatever reason, we'll find out over a long-and-drawn-out course of time. But the fact remains that they've told Billy, and it's affected him so much that he needs time to get his head around the deed, so he's effectively avoiding them.
On the one hand, I can see Billy's turmoil. It may bring back memories of the time Honey tried to abandon and even wanted to kill Janet. But on the other hand, depending on Lawrie's medical/physical problems, Billy is one of the few genuinely compassionate Mitchells and able to accept the reasons behind Pam's actions. So I don't buy this reluctant and averring Billy for one instant. That's yet another poor plot device to play to the pits in an attempt to drum Pam up as a possible and infeasible suspect.
Whatever. Billy won't go to the police. The Cokers should realise, if they don't already know, that the Mitchells would never grass to the police.
Has there ever been a future character mentioned as much as Paul Coker? Wait ... yes, of course ... Syed Masood. I've no doubt we'll see Paul sometime in the course of next year, when whatever male ingenue currently in the show decides to leave. He's replacement material.
The Addams Family. The Dot Cotton Mystery deepens. Of all Dot's male relatives, blood (the Cottons) and step (the Brannings), no one is more genuinely fond of her than Fatboy, who really should be morphing more into Arthur and less into a stereotype who's past his sell-by date. Arthur's concern for Dot is touching, and he's worried that she hasn't been seen for several days and that he's been prevented from seeing her.
Psychopath Alert ... I give you Charlie Cotton. His eyes were dead when he had his encounter with Carol, who wasn't above leaving the house until she'd seen Dot. He had no choice, really, but to allow her to enter the front room and view Nick in all his glory, considering the fact that she knew Nick was alive.
Lindsey Coulson and John Altman exchanged few words, but their interaction and their brief scene was classic - classic Nick and classic Carol.
Charlie: Carol, this is my dad, Nick.
Carol to Nick: Oh, I know very well who YOU are.
Nick: 'Ello, sis.
The best thing about the Cotton yarn (pun intended) is the gallows humour which keeps surfacing, and the obvious facts about which one is forced to acknowledge but hadn't realised before - like Carol has never been in Walford when Nick was around, so this really was the first time she'd seen him ... or the fact that Carol and Max are Nick's step-siblings.
Dot's in survival mode - not literally, but she's saying the right things, for Nick's sake, oddly, and keeping Charlie at arm's length, hence the answer to Carol that Nick was there because she wanted him there and her request that Carol not say anything. The last exchange between them, when Dot hugged and kissed Carol, something she'd never done before, was strange, yet touching, even after Dot had called Carol out for her remark about having liked Nick better ehen he was dead. The last exchange between Carol and Charlie indicated that Carol has the measure of him completely - this isn't Carol's problem; it's Charlie's, and the problem is what he must do with Nick, and how this will affect Dot.
Someone mentioned something to me today about Charlie as a psychopath. As much as Ronnie's psychopathic obsession is having a child, Charlie's is having a family. For most of his life, it was just he and his mother, and she's as much a strange character as Mrs Doyle's evil twin. Being around Dot exposed him to a grandparent, and an extended family of step-cousins (Bianca and her kids), and he was pushing his obsession, past caring what his mother said or did, until Nick emerged and threw a spanner in the works.
And Carol proves once again that she's another one of the few multi-layered characters on the programme, who need to be used correctly. In this episode, she was. There are times when I want to throttle Carol, when I really hate her selfishness, her self-absorption and her pessimism; but as quick as anything, she can be a strong, wise and likeable woman. She was just that on Tuesday, especially with Arthur. She told him just enough about Dot and warned him off without resorting to telling a lie. She had seen Dot, and Dot now had her family around her. It was best if Arthur gave them some space.
And then she invited him to stay at the Butcher-Jackson house as long as he wished.
We need to see more of this Carol.
Ever Decreasing Circles. There's a Nick Lowe song whose chorus repeats And so it goes, but where it's going, no one knows.
You get that feeling with the Carters - yet another episode of L crying off a headache and Mick dancing attendance, with a smidgeon of unintentional passive-aggressive behaviour.
The storyline has actually moved onto another level - that of the pregnancy and what she should do about it. At the moment, she's considering an abortion, of course, saying nothing to Mick. The chance opportunity of babysitting the Moon twins brought about another subtle remark from Mick hinting at wanting another child - how looking after a baby is like riding a bike, you never forget how; how it's been a long time since they've dealt with babies (nudge nudge wink wink), exactly the sort of scenario L doesn't need to hear.
Being granted a glimpse of Sharon the Background Character, it's good to know that Sharon is suss enough to ascertain that something isn't right with L, but L will say nothing, not even after the offer of free drinks at The Albert. Mick's worried, however - about whether or not Sharon is holding Shirley's sin against her sibling-son and is relieved to hear Mrs Mitchell doesn't equate him with Shirley's amorality.
Do abortion clinics really do telephone consultations? Apparently some do, but the conversation in the Carter bathroom against the sound of running water so Mick couldn't hear, was frustrating from Linda's end; however, at least we now know that she is uncertain as to who is the father of the baby, thus confirming what I have suspected - that she and Mick were having sex right up to the day of the rape.
I wanted to scream at the answers to her questions - my'usband doesn't know, I don't want him to know ... it's because I love him that I'm having the termination ... I'm not sure whether it's his or not, and it's really not fair having a kid that isn't his ...
My God, the people at the clinic couldn't care less, but this sounds as though she's a woman who's had an affair and got up the duff by her bit on the side! All she needed to say was that she was raped, her husband didn't know and couldn't know, and that would have been enough - although the people at the clinic would have urged her to go to the police. Still, L wants this termination because she wants things to go back to the way they were.
They won't. Believe me, Linda, whether you wanted to do so or not, you have been with another man. You were raped, and the longer you leave telling anyone the harder it will be to convince them. Even harder with a baby, because we know you won't get an abortion.
The Carters provided the other brief highlight of the episode, and this has to do with what is obviously the beginning of the end for Stan, who was caught in a lie when he told the odious Babe that he was off to see Cora that day.
Ladies and gents, and Mr Duck, Cora has acquired class. The scene in the cafe, with Cora sitting at the table, when Babe approaches.
Babe: 'E stand you up then?
Cora: Who?
Babe: Stan. 'E said 'e was seeing you.
Babe stands for a moment.
Cora: Are you sitting down?
Babe sits, and Cora gets up and leaves.
Bravo, Cora!
A Moon for the Misbegotten. DTC and his merry men and women need to be taken out and slapped for the tragedy that they've allowed Alfie Moon to become. I can totally understand Kat's insecurities, but - you know - her scars aren't bad, it's early days and they're the sort of scars that, after healing, won't be that noticeable with make-up, even the one on her shoulder. In fact, she looked good when she and Stacey were in The Albert, and Jessie Wallace always looks best with understated make-up.
The other thing I noticed about this storyline was what a pretty speaking voice Lacey Turner has acquired in her time away from the show. It's really well-modulated and sounds lovely now.
It's amazing that Billy can live for - what? - three years squatting in a flat and no one's noticed at all, but the Moons are turfed out within weeks.
This is yet another drawn-out circular storyline, with Alfie shitting himself at every sighting of Stacey. The storyline does neither Alfie nor Stacey any favours, and the sooner it's done and dusted, the better. Alfie and Kat are an endgame couple, irregardless of the fact that TPTB seem to have manipulated most viewers into Alfie-hatred mode. The couple won't be axed. Long-term characters are thin on the ground, and both actors are committed to the show. However, if one goes, the other will follow. As I've stated before, if DTC reunited Kat and Alfie only to to rip them apart or kill one of them off, he's no better than Bryan Kirkwood.
Decent episode, but not a great one.
And just an afterthought ... this was the episode that aired on Armistice Day. I know we had a snippet back in August dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Great War, but it's not like the show to ignore Armistice Day, to the point that none of the characters, even Dot, were wearing poppies. Bad boy, Dominic! Go to the naughty step, you little elf.
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