The predictable set in quickly. Peter pooped out and ended up feeding psycho Bobby's fantasy. He hugged Jane good-bye. He had a happy ending and Julia's theme with Lauren ... and Mick's proven to be, like every man in Walford, gormless and a liar.
Then I saw who wrote the episode.
Katie Douglas.
Will somebody please get that woman the hell out of the writers' room?
After more than a week of sheer brilliance, we get this cop-out.
The hero of the piece was Nancy.
Beale Bomb-Out. I was so annoyed about this monumental wimp-out, I literally screamed at the television. Peter's moral fibre fails him the moment he and Lauren exchange secrets, ending with them destroying the final bit of evidence that would link Lucy's killing to Jane and, ultimately, psycho Bobby.
I liked the Peter who popped home just to collect his things, who refused to see Bobby and pushed past Ian. I liked the Lauren who didn't want any part of that set on going to live with her mother.
I still can't figure out why Ian and Jane the Queen Bitch ...
... took it upon themselves to show up on Max's doorstep and passive-aggressively bully him into looking for his daughter and forcing her to make amends with Peter.
They've been together for so long, don't let her end it like this.
For once, Max got it right as a parent. This wasn't his call, it was Lauren's. Still, they found each other over Lucy's grave. I thought there'd be more to that scene, but I was disappointed. The spoilers said Peter and Lauren exchange some secrets. They did, but the audience weren't part and parcel of that process. I know there are some elements that need to be kept from the viewers' ken, but surely we deserved to hear, at least, what Peter said to Lauren. We know what she told him from the last, schmaltzy, cheeseworthy scene.
Did he tell her that Bobby killed Lucy? And did that make it all right with Peter at least? Because he came right back to Walford and reinforced Bobby's behaviour. The fact that Bobby voiced the speculation that he, himself, had killed Lucy is evidence of the fact that he knows exactly what he did. He killed her, and when Jane assured him that he hadn't, he took that at face value, but he knows exactly what he did.
I can't help but clock the facial expressions on this kid, which is why, I'm sure, SmirkingBobbby was recast. Eliot Carrington is capable of looking like a cold-eyed choirboy who could kill you without compunction and then apologise for the deed. He portrayed sufficient manipulative vulnerability, enough to get Peter to do exactly what Jane did - lie to him, thinking it was for the best, when what it will ultimately do is reinforce his previous behaviour.
Silly Cindy is too up her own arse to worry about her child going off on holiday with scratching, weeping Ian, control-freak Jane the Queen and a child-killer.
I know Ben Hardy is leaving full stop, but Jacqueline Jossa is going on maternity leave. Does the fact that they're off for a new life in New Zealand mean that that's it for Lauren and Peter - who, incidentally, haven't been a trio with Lucy since they were little, but only since they were about twelve years old. Hardly little. "Little" is ... like Amy and Dennis. So will Lauren return after a year with a sprog and Peter with a new head? I hope not. We need a good five years for anything to count. I'm sorta kinda at a loss as to what they plan on doing, as in making a living, in New Zealand. Will Steven sponsor them? Is he in any position to do so?
Anyway, bon voyage. They copped out big time for me, especially when they made certain that Summerhayes's discovery was all in vain.
The highlight of this sequence was Max's brilliant good-bye to his undeserving daughter, who finally found it within herself to apologise for all the things she said about him. Max admitted that he'd messed the family up, and Lauren actually deigned to confess that they'd all made mistakes. Now the girl who used to regularly exile her father from his family is exiling herself from Walford.
At the end of the day, it's still all about Peter and Lauren. They didn't deserve Julia's Theme, I'm sorry to Say.
The Brat. The classic scene of the night was Ben's face when Abi showed up at his backdoor with her suitcase, ready to move in. The unintentionally comic scene of the night came when Abi roped Ben into returning for the rest of her stuff. She knocked on the door of the Branning house. Because that's what people do when they visit a house in which they don't live.
When the Beales arrive to make their plea, Abi gets the line of the night, in passing:-
I don't believe it! I've moved out, and Lauren is still all you're talking about!
I love that Max planted the idea in Ben's head about this was the first step in the "natural order of things" - move in, get married, have kids, and the fact that Abi's appropriated Ben's home and Ben's space, at no invitation from him, is bothering him. He likes Abi, but ... Ben's gay.
So for the first time since returning with a new head, he admits that to Abi - well, in so many words. He still has thoughts and feelings for men. That's euphemistically put, and any girl would have accepted that and bowed out, but not Abi. No, they can get through this "problem" together. They can make it work, or as Abi put it ... I can make it work.
Abi, Ben's gay. This isn't a phase or an affliction. He's gay. It's his sexual orientation, his sexual preference. He's just not that into you, and he never will be.
Tell a lie - Ben's face when Abi insisted on working this "problem" out was a picture of misery.
Cotton-Picking Wittering. Weakest part of the filler bits tonight was the round and roundabout dealing with Dot and Charlie. You got the impression that the scenes with Carol and Roxy were just there to fill up airtime - Dot went before the magistrates and told no one. Dot didn't ask for bail. CharlieBoy was still behind bars. Roxy was lumbered with Amy and Matthew and a sisTAH in the hospital contemplating the fact that she knows Roxy and Charlie got it on.
That was filler. Les's scene was downright embarrassing. The less said about that, the better.
Another Weak and Lying Man. Bravo Nancy Carter. She's like a dog with a bone. She knows something happened to or with Dean in that cellar, and she's not letting go until she knows something.
Mick underestimates his daughter. As well as he thinks he knows her, she knows him better; and she knows when he's feeding her some sort of line. As Peter was, before today, the moral arbiter of his family, so Nancy is of hers. She knows that, whatever happened between Dean and Mick, that Mick's protection of Linda, the way he's encouraging her to move on, based on the possibility that Dean may be dead or hurt, is wrong, simply because it will come back to haunt him.
She refuses for one minute to believe the line he's feeding her and demands he tell Linda the truth, because Linda is stronger than Mick thinks. Hell, Mick knows how strong she is. When he's unable to do that, Nancy steps up and does it, herself.
I don't know if Dean is dead. I would hope he isn't after the events of last week, which would only add another murderer to the Square's exclusive murderer's club. I like Mick, but tonight, through the pen of Ms Douglas, he became what every other man on the Square has become - weak and lying for the wrong reasons. Phil, Max, Alfie, Ian ... they've all been there, and now Mick can join in their fraternity.
Pretty mediocre episode from last week's brilliance.
Then I saw who wrote the episode.
Katie Douglas.
Will somebody please get that woman the hell out of the writers' room?
After more than a week of sheer brilliance, we get this cop-out.
The hero of the piece was Nancy.
Beale Bomb-Out. I was so annoyed about this monumental wimp-out, I literally screamed at the television. Peter's moral fibre fails him the moment he and Lauren exchange secrets, ending with them destroying the final bit of evidence that would link Lucy's killing to Jane and, ultimately, psycho Bobby.
I liked the Peter who popped home just to collect his things, who refused to see Bobby and pushed past Ian. I liked the Lauren who didn't want any part of that set on going to live with her mother.
I still can't figure out why Ian and Jane the Queen Bitch ...
They've been together for so long, don't let her end it like this.
For once, Max got it right as a parent. This wasn't his call, it was Lauren's. Still, they found each other over Lucy's grave. I thought there'd be more to that scene, but I was disappointed. The spoilers said Peter and Lauren exchange some secrets. They did, but the audience weren't part and parcel of that process. I know there are some elements that need to be kept from the viewers' ken, but surely we deserved to hear, at least, what Peter said to Lauren. We know what she told him from the last, schmaltzy, cheeseworthy scene.
Did he tell her that Bobby killed Lucy? And did that make it all right with Peter at least? Because he came right back to Walford and reinforced Bobby's behaviour. The fact that Bobby voiced the speculation that he, himself, had killed Lucy is evidence of the fact that he knows exactly what he did. He killed her, and when Jane assured him that he hadn't, he took that at face value, but he knows exactly what he did.
I can't help but clock the facial expressions on this kid, which is why, I'm sure, SmirkingBobbby was recast. Eliot Carrington is capable of looking like a cold-eyed choirboy who could kill you without compunction and then apologise for the deed. He portrayed sufficient manipulative vulnerability, enough to get Peter to do exactly what Jane did - lie to him, thinking it was for the best, when what it will ultimately do is reinforce his previous behaviour.
Silly Cindy is too up her own arse to worry about her child going off on holiday with scratching, weeping Ian, control-freak Jane the Queen and a child-killer.
I know Ben Hardy is leaving full stop, but Jacqueline Jossa is going on maternity leave. Does the fact that they're off for a new life in New Zealand mean that that's it for Lauren and Peter - who, incidentally, haven't been a trio with Lucy since they were little, but only since they were about twelve years old. Hardly little. "Little" is ... like Amy and Dennis. So will Lauren return after a year with a sprog and Peter with a new head? I hope not. We need a good five years for anything to count. I'm sorta kinda at a loss as to what they plan on doing, as in making a living, in New Zealand. Will Steven sponsor them? Is he in any position to do so?
Anyway, bon voyage. They copped out big time for me, especially when they made certain that Summerhayes's discovery was all in vain.
The highlight of this sequence was Max's brilliant good-bye to his undeserving daughter, who finally found it within herself to apologise for all the things she said about him. Max admitted that he'd messed the family up, and Lauren actually deigned to confess that they'd all made mistakes. Now the girl who used to regularly exile her father from his family is exiling herself from Walford.
At the end of the day, it's still all about Peter and Lauren. They didn't deserve Julia's Theme, I'm sorry to Say.
The Brat. The classic scene of the night was Ben's face when Abi showed up at his backdoor with her suitcase, ready to move in. The unintentionally comic scene of the night came when Abi roped Ben into returning for the rest of her stuff. She knocked on the door of the Branning house. Because that's what people do when they visit a house in which they don't live.
When the Beales arrive to make their plea, Abi gets the line of the night, in passing:-
I don't believe it! I've moved out, and Lauren is still all you're talking about!
I love that Max planted the idea in Ben's head about this was the first step in the "natural order of things" - move in, get married, have kids, and the fact that Abi's appropriated Ben's home and Ben's space, at no invitation from him, is bothering him. He likes Abi, but ... Ben's gay.
So for the first time since returning with a new head, he admits that to Abi - well, in so many words. He still has thoughts and feelings for men. That's euphemistically put, and any girl would have accepted that and bowed out, but not Abi. No, they can get through this "problem" together. They can make it work, or as Abi put it ... I can make it work.
Abi, Ben's gay. This isn't a phase or an affliction. He's gay. It's his sexual orientation, his sexual preference. He's just not that into you, and he never will be.
Tell a lie - Ben's face when Abi insisted on working this "problem" out was a picture of misery.
Cotton-Picking Wittering. Weakest part of the filler bits tonight was the round and roundabout dealing with Dot and Charlie. You got the impression that the scenes with Carol and Roxy were just there to fill up airtime - Dot went before the magistrates and told no one. Dot didn't ask for bail. CharlieBoy was still behind bars. Roxy was lumbered with Amy and Matthew and a sisTAH in the hospital contemplating the fact that she knows Roxy and Charlie got it on.
That was filler. Les's scene was downright embarrassing. The less said about that, the better.
Another Weak and Lying Man. Bravo Nancy Carter. She's like a dog with a bone. She knows something happened to or with Dean in that cellar, and she's not letting go until she knows something.
Mick underestimates his daughter. As well as he thinks he knows her, she knows him better; and she knows when he's feeding her some sort of line. As Peter was, before today, the moral arbiter of his family, so Nancy is of hers. She knows that, whatever happened between Dean and Mick, that Mick's protection of Linda, the way he's encouraging her to move on, based on the possibility that Dean may be dead or hurt, is wrong, simply because it will come back to haunt him.
She refuses for one minute to believe the line he's feeding her and demands he tell Linda the truth, because Linda is stronger than Mick thinks. Hell, Mick knows how strong she is. When he's unable to do that, Nancy steps up and does it, herself.
I don't know if Dean is dead. I would hope he isn't after the events of last week, which would only add another murderer to the Square's exclusive murderer's club. I like Mick, but tonight, through the pen of Ms Douglas, he became what every other man on the Square has become - weak and lying for the wrong reasons. Phil, Max, Alfie, Ian ... they've all been there, and now Mick can join in their fraternity.
Pretty mediocre episode from last week's brilliance.
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