That's more like it, but then Sharon Marshall always does write a good episode. Being an ardent fan and viewer of the show as well, she understands the characters and their circumstances and knows how to write for them.
It's obvious what the themes were in tonight's episode, but there was one big niggle which jarred against me. You'll see what it was.
Oh, and I must mention that there was plenty of subtle foreshadowing tonight too. Such a difference from the past month.
Theme I: Nature vs Nurture
My Sharona.
Right, niggle bits first.
All of a sudden, under this EP's regime Kevin Wicks becomes "Kevin" to the boy he raised as his son, and Dean's sperm donor becomes "dad." Tonight, the absolutely unthinkable happened. Sharon referred to Carol Stretton Hanley as "Mum." She said it. I was too late with Mum.
Throughout the episode, she referred to her parents as "Den" and "Angie." She's looking for the person to whom she refers as her real dad. Sharon should speak to Liam Butcher. He got it right tonight. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.
Her parents, her real mum and dad were and are Den and Angie. They chose her, loved her, raised her. They made her what she is today; however, as the spouse of an adoptee, I can totally understand Sharon's rationale behind searching for her birth roots. She has always been known as Sharon Watts. "Sharon Stretton" was a name on a birth certificate. She's never known that person or the people responsible for her being. But to listen to Sharon refer to her parents by their names and to hear her refer to Carol Stretton Hanley, who rejected her when Sharon sought her, as "Mum", cut to the quick.
I actually thought Sharon Marshall, the above aside, wrote that portion of the episode quite cleverly. I could hear the frantic background titter of anyone who doesn't suspect that Sharon's birth father will turn out to be Kathy's husband, when no mention was made of his name and when Sharon's birth certificate was shown to list her father as "unknown."
Here's the law: Carol Stretton was an unmarried girl of fourteen when she gave birth. The only way an unmarried couple can have the baby's father's name listed on the birth certificate is if the man/boy in question is present when the birth is registered or gives a written and sworn affidavit of approval to have his name included on the certificate. Other than that, I'm afraid, it's "Father Unknown." But then, well into the episode, there was the fateful scene of Sharon going through the letters Carol had left her and telling Linda that her father's name was Gavin. The letters were all signed "Gavin," and obviously didn't list a return address.
For the sake of continuity and for all Sharon said that Carol and Gavin were in a relationship, I hope it's remembered that Carol was fourteen when Sharon was born, and that she told Sharon in 1990, that Gavin was sixteen when Sharon was born. Anyone showing up older than 62 or 63 as Gavin is a paedophile. End of.
The circumstances of Sharon's adoption was interesting - how she was fostered first by Den and Angie, and then she was adopted by them, specifically at Den's request. Privately, and with the proviso that no one should ever know of this. So it's obvious that Den knew Sharon's father, and it was implied that Sharon's birth father didn't know that Den had adopted her. As Sharon assessed, it looked as though Den was protecting the person in question; however, one has to realise that "Gavin" should be about eight years younger than Den - in other words, not his immediate contemporary; but he could be the younger brother of a contemporary, and maybe Den was protecting Sharon from the family in question.
Linda fed Sharon's imagination by reckoning that Sharon's birth father used a false name, causing Sharon to believe that perhaps Den was her biological parent, which would make her guilty of proper full-on incest with fey Dennis. I think Linda's foreshadowed something. Once again, it's important to note that neither Sharon's Gavin nor Kathy's Gavin have ever had their surname(s) uttered on screen; so Linda could be onto something. If, perchance, this Gavin has the surname of "Sullivan", then could that not be an alias for "Vinnicombe?"
Just saying.
So now we know that Sharon's birth father was from Walford, that he was well familiar with the Vic. Please remember that, before we saw them on screen, we never knew that Mo Harris or Jonnie Allen had strong roots in Walford.
Tonight we saw the inexorable Denny for the first time since Boxing Day. He's obviously missing Phil, his role model, and he's also obviously learned the way a Mitchell man should behave around their mothers. He's sullen and rude, telling Sharon pointedly to "shut up." He's sulking out for a games console, which Sharon is keeping from his greedy little grasp, but Denny is quick to tell her that Phil would get if for him. There's Phil again - buying up sons to weigh against the one who's a disappointment to him.
There's a twist to the tale of Sharon's search. All I will say is that her father is not Pete Beale, and I'm still saying that "Gavin" is Kathy's husband. And Sharon's father. Only DTC would take a random name of two off-screen characters and make lemonade for two of the show's iconic, original female leads.
BabyMamma.
For just a brief moment tonight, I actually felt sorry for Cindy. She punched above her weight, fooled around with sex with TJ and ended up up the duff. She then decided to have the baby, because the child would have been something which would have been entirely hers; yet she never stopped to think about what caring for a baby would actually entail, and how, at sixteen, you cease to become a teenager like everyone else and become a mum.
Cindy now realises she wants to be a kid. She wants to go to school and maybe even do something educationally or professionally with her life. She's confilcted because when the Beales took Beth away for a month, Cindy didn't miss her at all. Now they're back, and Jane the Queen has coldly and arrogantly stepped into the fray and is now doing everything for Beth that Cindy should be doing.
And how to undermine a young mum as a person ... Beth cries. Ian smugly admits that "they" had got her sleeping all night during the holiday. Cindy goes out to buy nappies and returns to find Jane feeding and cooing with Beth. When Cindy remarked that she wanted to feed Beth, she's told by Ian to get dressed and go to school. Ian would take the child to nursery and Jane would be there in the afternoon. When Cindy complains that Beth doesn't remember her, Jane briskly poo-poohs the idea. Jane the Queen will spend the afternoon with Beth. Cindy is ordered to school. Why? Because - hurrah hurrah - the school authority is on the Beales' collective arses because of the unauthorised absence of Bobby Beale from school for the past month. Not even Jane the Queen could convince the authorities that the blameless Beales should be exempt from a fine.
I realised tonight, in the wake of Lucy's death, how vile the Beales actually are - Ian hugging that odious, murder accomplice, Jane, and then dashing off in hot pursuit of Cindy for taking her child from nursery - a nursery place for which Ian is quick to remind Cindy that he provides the fees. They pursued her, harassing her into the public, haranguing her for what they perceived to be her selfishness. She is selfish. And unlikeable. And cold. But she certainly didn't deserve the screechmatch that she got from Ian and Jane the Queen, who is all of a sudden, an expert parent.
The most pukeworthingly hateful moment of the episode came when Ian and Jane gave themselves a collective pat on the back for being what they consider to be good parents - just loving your children and being there for them constitutes that - as well as hiding their crimes and misdemeanors. It seems that Peter and Lauren, who - apart from the money with which their parents provided them - don't really have a pot in which to piss, have now managed to find a flat in New Zealand. I suppose New Zealand has a shortage of entitled pricks who sell fruit and vegetables and surf for a living and pregnant layabouts looking to spit out an achorbaby.
The Beales are amongst some of the worst parents on the Square.
I truly think Cindy loves her child, but I don't think she's mature enough or prepared to be a parent. She is simply too young. She was always going to fob the baby off on Ian and Jane, and I think she's ashamed of the fact that she didn't miss the responsibility when the child was away. I also think that she's extremely nervous around the baby - thanks all the moreso to that bovine bitch Jane. A baby can pick up on a mother's anxieties and that makes the child anxious too, which is probably why Beth is fretful around Cindy. Also at seven months, she could be teething.
I know Cindy's thinking about having the baby adopted. She's seen how quickly a child so young can forget her mother, and she figures that having her adopted would be the best thing for all concerned. Liam, who looks more and more like a cheap, greased spiv, reminded me a lot of Robbie Jackson, who strove against Sonia's having Rebecca adopted. He's ready to be a parent, but I think Cindy is worldly-wise enough to know that she's too young for settling down, especially the way she blew Liam's suggestion that he quit school and they pair up to raise Beth.
He was, however, prescient in his remark tonight about blood relations and non-blood relations - about how a parent not related to a child by blood could be just as loving and just as effective as someone who was blood kin. Had he thought about it more in depth, he could have drawn upon his own family's experience - Ricky assuming the role of father to Morgan or Pat mothering Frank's children. Or Bianca and Whitney. He was brilliantly articulate about that point, but it referred more to the situation which Sharon was experiencing than anything happening with Cindy and her child.
On the one side, she has Liam pressuring her into keeping the baby, being a mother to the child, telling her that she really wanted the baby because that's all he understands and never fathoming her doubts; on the other side, she has the Beales, preaching and harping at her to spend time with the baby, yet snatching the child from her in order to undermine her abilities and sticking their oar in to remind her how selfish she is and how she's only under the Beale roof as a favour.
Jane seriously wants to open her beady eyes and think about what Cindy knows about her and what she could do to her if Jane continues being Queen Bitch that she is.
No wonder the kid is down on confidence. Even when the Beales suggested Cindy take Beth for a walk, Jane was right there snivelling and offering to come along.
Cindy walks away from a crying Beth in the park.
I guess the gist here is for Jane and Ian to adopt Beth, but we need to remember that Beth has the much-vaunted Cindy gene, something which Bobby doesn't possess and Ian is aware of that. Remember Ian's remark You're not Lucy?
One Cindy-gened baby, one budding psychopath and a clueless, deluded bitch of a mother who'll cover for him, and you have disaster.
Run, Cindy, run! And take Beth with you. In fact, run to the nearest police station and shop Jane's fat arse.
Theme II:Not Men at Work.
Another Bitch, Another De-Balled Man. Please, God, show Stacey the way to Martin. There was nothing more foul than the putrid Sonia sneaking out of the Vic after a night carpet-munching with Tina and looking like the cat that ate the canary. That's right. The first night she had Rebecca back, she spent with Tina. Let Nana Carol, fresh from having cancer and in the middle of the menopause, deal with a teenaged girl going to school.
She's so happy, she even tells Martin they can work together on this, even though she hasn't told Rebecca about Tina yet. I hope Rebecca decks her. It's funny how when Sonia smiles, she still looks like she can't decide whether it's time to shit or get off the pot.
Martin spent the majority of the episode trying to avoid suggestions that Rebecca come to visit or that Kush comes around his house for a few beers. Martin has no home and no job. We know that Ian's looking for someone to front the fruit and veg stall, and since it's a family stall, it should be family. I wanted to throttle Fatboy for mincing about Martin losing his wife to another woman. Fatboy lost his balls to a can of tuna in Dot's refrigerator.
Back to the Future with the Moons. So Kat does still care about Alfie, especially when he hands over his wages he got from working a bar up West. Now, he's reduced to sweeping the market, which in reality, wouldn't be a badly paid job. Arthur Fowler, Robbie Jackson and Gus did much the same and all managed to live prett well, considering. We had a soupcon of foreshadowing when Alfie noticed the scratchcards in the Minute Mart. He refused to buy one, but I think that means that in the future he will. Watch this space for the millionaire Moons.
Ian offers him the fruit and veg stall, but I suppose when Alfie finds out about Martin's circumstance, he hands the reins over to Martin.
Mo keeps Kat's secret money - so secret that not even Kat knows about it - in her mattress. As you do.
Honourable Mentions. Kristian Kiehling must have injured his arm in real life. I like Roxy Mitchell, and I think she'll do really well by Ineta now that she knows what her problem is. I just hate the fact she's cheated on Aleks.
The kids were all back tonight - well, Amy, Ineta and Denny were.
Masood's hypocrisy knows no bounds. He lectures Kush about Shabnam's standing in the Muslim community and he can't keep away from the bookies.
Good episode. More from Miss Marshall, please.
It's obvious what the themes were in tonight's episode, but there was one big niggle which jarred against me. You'll see what it was.
Oh, and I must mention that there was plenty of subtle foreshadowing tonight too. Such a difference from the past month.
Theme I: Nature vs Nurture
My Sharona.
Right, niggle bits first.
All of a sudden, under this EP's regime Kevin Wicks becomes "Kevin" to the boy he raised as his son, and Dean's sperm donor becomes "dad." Tonight, the absolutely unthinkable happened. Sharon referred to Carol Stretton Hanley as "Mum." She said it. I was too late with Mum.
Throughout the episode, she referred to her parents as "Den" and "Angie." She's looking for the person to whom she refers as her real dad. Sharon should speak to Liam Butcher. He got it right tonight. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.
Her parents, her real mum and dad were and are Den and Angie. They chose her, loved her, raised her. They made her what she is today; however, as the spouse of an adoptee, I can totally understand Sharon's rationale behind searching for her birth roots. She has always been known as Sharon Watts. "Sharon Stretton" was a name on a birth certificate. She's never known that person or the people responsible for her being. But to listen to Sharon refer to her parents by their names and to hear her refer to Carol Stretton Hanley, who rejected her when Sharon sought her, as "Mum", cut to the quick.
I actually thought Sharon Marshall, the above aside, wrote that portion of the episode quite cleverly. I could hear the frantic background titter of anyone who doesn't suspect that Sharon's birth father will turn out to be Kathy's husband, when no mention was made of his name and when Sharon's birth certificate was shown to list her father as "unknown."
Here's the law: Carol Stretton was an unmarried girl of fourteen when she gave birth. The only way an unmarried couple can have the baby's father's name listed on the birth certificate is if the man/boy in question is present when the birth is registered or gives a written and sworn affidavit of approval to have his name included on the certificate. Other than that, I'm afraid, it's "Father Unknown." But then, well into the episode, there was the fateful scene of Sharon going through the letters Carol had left her and telling Linda that her father's name was Gavin. The letters were all signed "Gavin," and obviously didn't list a return address.
For the sake of continuity and for all Sharon said that Carol and Gavin were in a relationship, I hope it's remembered that Carol was fourteen when Sharon was born, and that she told Sharon in 1990, that Gavin was sixteen when Sharon was born. Anyone showing up older than 62 or 63 as Gavin is a paedophile. End of.
The circumstances of Sharon's adoption was interesting - how she was fostered first by Den and Angie, and then she was adopted by them, specifically at Den's request. Privately, and with the proviso that no one should ever know of this. So it's obvious that Den knew Sharon's father, and it was implied that Sharon's birth father didn't know that Den had adopted her. As Sharon assessed, it looked as though Den was protecting the person in question; however, one has to realise that "Gavin" should be about eight years younger than Den - in other words, not his immediate contemporary; but he could be the younger brother of a contemporary, and maybe Den was protecting Sharon from the family in question.
Linda fed Sharon's imagination by reckoning that Sharon's birth father used a false name, causing Sharon to believe that perhaps Den was her biological parent, which would make her guilty of proper full-on incest with fey Dennis. I think Linda's foreshadowed something. Once again, it's important to note that neither Sharon's Gavin nor Kathy's Gavin have ever had their surname(s) uttered on screen; so Linda could be onto something. If, perchance, this Gavin has the surname of "Sullivan", then could that not be an alias for "Vinnicombe?"
Just saying.
So now we know that Sharon's birth father was from Walford, that he was well familiar with the Vic. Please remember that, before we saw them on screen, we never knew that Mo Harris or Jonnie Allen had strong roots in Walford.
Tonight we saw the inexorable Denny for the first time since Boxing Day. He's obviously missing Phil, his role model, and he's also obviously learned the way a Mitchell man should behave around their mothers. He's sullen and rude, telling Sharon pointedly to "shut up." He's sulking out for a games console, which Sharon is keeping from his greedy little grasp, but Denny is quick to tell her that Phil would get if for him. There's Phil again - buying up sons to weigh against the one who's a disappointment to him.
There's a twist to the tale of Sharon's search. All I will say is that her father is not Pete Beale, and I'm still saying that "Gavin" is Kathy's husband. And Sharon's father. Only DTC would take a random name of two off-screen characters and make lemonade for two of the show's iconic, original female leads.
BabyMamma.
For just a brief moment tonight, I actually felt sorry for Cindy. She punched above her weight, fooled around with sex with TJ and ended up up the duff. She then decided to have the baby, because the child would have been something which would have been entirely hers; yet she never stopped to think about what caring for a baby would actually entail, and how, at sixteen, you cease to become a teenager like everyone else and become a mum.
Cindy now realises she wants to be a kid. She wants to go to school and maybe even do something educationally or professionally with her life. She's confilcted because when the Beales took Beth away for a month, Cindy didn't miss her at all. Now they're back, and Jane the Queen has coldly and arrogantly stepped into the fray and is now doing everything for Beth that Cindy should be doing.
And how to undermine a young mum as a person ... Beth cries. Ian smugly admits that "they" had got her sleeping all night during the holiday. Cindy goes out to buy nappies and returns to find Jane feeding and cooing with Beth. When Cindy remarked that she wanted to feed Beth, she's told by Ian to get dressed and go to school. Ian would take the child to nursery and Jane would be there in the afternoon. When Cindy complains that Beth doesn't remember her, Jane briskly poo-poohs the idea. Jane the Queen will spend the afternoon with Beth. Cindy is ordered to school. Why? Because - hurrah hurrah - the school authority is on the Beales' collective arses because of the unauthorised absence of Bobby Beale from school for the past month. Not even Jane the Queen could convince the authorities that the blameless Beales should be exempt from a fine.
I realised tonight, in the wake of Lucy's death, how vile the Beales actually are - Ian hugging that odious, murder accomplice, Jane, and then dashing off in hot pursuit of Cindy for taking her child from nursery - a nursery place for which Ian is quick to remind Cindy that he provides the fees. They pursued her, harassing her into the public, haranguing her for what they perceived to be her selfishness. She is selfish. And unlikeable. And cold. But she certainly didn't deserve the screechmatch that she got from Ian and Jane the Queen, who is all of a sudden, an expert parent.
The most pukeworthingly hateful moment of the episode came when Ian and Jane gave themselves a collective pat on the back for being what they consider to be good parents - just loving your children and being there for them constitutes that - as well as hiding their crimes and misdemeanors. It seems that Peter and Lauren, who - apart from the money with which their parents provided them - don't really have a pot in which to piss, have now managed to find a flat in New Zealand. I suppose New Zealand has a shortage of entitled pricks who sell fruit and vegetables and surf for a living and pregnant layabouts looking to spit out an achorbaby.
The Beales are amongst some of the worst parents on the Square.
I truly think Cindy loves her child, but I don't think she's mature enough or prepared to be a parent. She is simply too young. She was always going to fob the baby off on Ian and Jane, and I think she's ashamed of the fact that she didn't miss the responsibility when the child was away. I also think that she's extremely nervous around the baby - thanks all the moreso to that bovine bitch Jane. A baby can pick up on a mother's anxieties and that makes the child anxious too, which is probably why Beth is fretful around Cindy. Also at seven months, she could be teething.
I know Cindy's thinking about having the baby adopted. She's seen how quickly a child so young can forget her mother, and she figures that having her adopted would be the best thing for all concerned. Liam, who looks more and more like a cheap, greased spiv, reminded me a lot of Robbie Jackson, who strove against Sonia's having Rebecca adopted. He's ready to be a parent, but I think Cindy is worldly-wise enough to know that she's too young for settling down, especially the way she blew Liam's suggestion that he quit school and they pair up to raise Beth.
He was, however, prescient in his remark tonight about blood relations and non-blood relations - about how a parent not related to a child by blood could be just as loving and just as effective as someone who was blood kin. Had he thought about it more in depth, he could have drawn upon his own family's experience - Ricky assuming the role of father to Morgan or Pat mothering Frank's children. Or Bianca and Whitney. He was brilliantly articulate about that point, but it referred more to the situation which Sharon was experiencing than anything happening with Cindy and her child.
On the one side, she has Liam pressuring her into keeping the baby, being a mother to the child, telling her that she really wanted the baby because that's all he understands and never fathoming her doubts; on the other side, she has the Beales, preaching and harping at her to spend time with the baby, yet snatching the child from her in order to undermine her abilities and sticking their oar in to remind her how selfish she is and how she's only under the Beale roof as a favour.
Jane seriously wants to open her beady eyes and think about what Cindy knows about her and what she could do to her if Jane continues being Queen Bitch that she is.
No wonder the kid is down on confidence. Even when the Beales suggested Cindy take Beth for a walk, Jane was right there snivelling and offering to come along.
Cindy walks away from a crying Beth in the park.
I guess the gist here is for Jane and Ian to adopt Beth, but we need to remember that Beth has the much-vaunted Cindy gene, something which Bobby doesn't possess and Ian is aware of that. Remember Ian's remark You're not Lucy?
One Cindy-gened baby, one budding psychopath and a clueless, deluded bitch of a mother who'll cover for him, and you have disaster.
Run, Cindy, run! And take Beth with you. In fact, run to the nearest police station and shop Jane's fat arse.
Theme II:Not Men at Work.
Another Bitch, Another De-Balled Man. Please, God, show Stacey the way to Martin. There was nothing more foul than the putrid Sonia sneaking out of the Vic after a night carpet-munching with Tina and looking like the cat that ate the canary. That's right. The first night she had Rebecca back, she spent with Tina. Let Nana Carol, fresh from having cancer and in the middle of the menopause, deal with a teenaged girl going to school.
She's so happy, she even tells Martin they can work together on this, even though she hasn't told Rebecca about Tina yet. I hope Rebecca decks her. It's funny how when Sonia smiles, she still looks like she can't decide whether it's time to shit or get off the pot.
Martin spent the majority of the episode trying to avoid suggestions that Rebecca come to visit or that Kush comes around his house for a few beers. Martin has no home and no job. We know that Ian's looking for someone to front the fruit and veg stall, and since it's a family stall, it should be family. I wanted to throttle Fatboy for mincing about Martin losing his wife to another woman. Fatboy lost his balls to a can of tuna in Dot's refrigerator.
Back to the Future with the Moons. So Kat does still care about Alfie, especially when he hands over his wages he got from working a bar up West. Now, he's reduced to sweeping the market, which in reality, wouldn't be a badly paid job. Arthur Fowler, Robbie Jackson and Gus did much the same and all managed to live prett well, considering. We had a soupcon of foreshadowing when Alfie noticed the scratchcards in the Minute Mart. He refused to buy one, but I think that means that in the future he will. Watch this space for the millionaire Moons.
Ian offers him the fruit and veg stall, but I suppose when Alfie finds out about Martin's circumstance, he hands the reins over to Martin.
Mo keeps Kat's secret money - so secret that not even Kat knows about it - in her mattress. As you do.
Honourable Mentions. Kristian Kiehling must have injured his arm in real life. I like Roxy Mitchell, and I think she'll do really well by Ineta now that she knows what her problem is. I just hate the fact she's cheated on Aleks.
The kids were all back tonight - well, Amy, Ineta and Denny were.
Masood's hypocrisy knows no bounds. He lectures Kush about Shabnam's standing in the Muslim community and he can't keep away from the bookies.
Good episode. More from Miss Marshall, please.
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