I gave that a resounding 8 out of 10, solely because of the brilliant scene with Linda Henry and Letitia Dean.
The Eternal Triangle
.I know EastEnders has had a bad reputation in recent years for its propensity towards love triangles, but there never has been one before like Ben, Abi and Jay. I'm not normally a fan of whatever brat pack is running things on the show, but this is so hilarious, it's almost a comedy in itself, especially because the obnoxious Abi is due some major karma for her atrocious attitude of the last year - none the least for her killing of poor Tramp.
Abi's head is so far up her arse and filled to the brim with her own self-importance and entitlement, that it's going to be an absolute pleasure to see her brought back to reality with a hard bump. I hope it hurts. This is a girl who's imposed herself, uninvited, on a family dynamic, who hasn't worked or bothered with working since she threw her chances at a university education away. She invented a reason why Jay wasn't giving her 100 per cent of his total attention, and in the end, he binned her - but not for the reason she thought.
She got with Ben, totally on the rebound frome Jay and totally to show Jay that, whilst he was sniffing around Lola, someone else was sniffing around Abi. Abi was so flattered with the attenton Ben paid her that, not only did she forget he was gay, she believed him when he told her he was "cured." Because whilst Abi initially used Ben as a rebound ploy against Jay, she fell for him; and Ben is simply using Abi as what is known as a "beard" - a female companion who masks the fact that her male companion is gay. He's convinced both Phil and Max that his homosexuality was merely a phase.
And all the while he was convincing them of that, he was coming onto everyone from Johnny Carter to Jay.
The most hilarious point of last week's episodes was when Jay blurted out about Ben trying to kiss him and then in the next breath, retracted his statement.
Jay knows Ben is gay. No matter how much Ben might deny it, no matter how much Ben might say he loves Abi, Jay knows he loves her like a mate, and that at the end of the day, Abi's going to get hurt.
Abi, in the meantime, thinks Jay is acting out in jealousy that Ben is with her now. Her ego must be soaring. After Jay confronts Ben, he leaves him and Abi to talk, and Ben masterminds a stroke of genius that he hopes will get Abi out of their house and his hair. He only tells her seeing her together with Ben every day under the same roof is hard for Jay to handle. In other words, he puts the ball in Jay's court. Maybe he thinks Abi will feel guilty and move out - in fairness, she does think this and offer to do so later - but she actually confronts Jay about it, accusing him of not putting their relationship behind them. Jay's not only astounded, he's fed up with the pair of them and utters one of the best lines of the night:-
Look, you two bury your heads if you want to, but don't come crying to me when it all goes wrong.
I am so looking forward to diving karma biting Abi's arse for the way she and Ben guffawed at Lola blowing Jay out.
The Search for Daddy Cool.
The Eternal Triangle
.I know EastEnders has had a bad reputation in recent years for its propensity towards love triangles, but there never has been one before like Ben, Abi and Jay. I'm not normally a fan of whatever brat pack is running things on the show, but this is so hilarious, it's almost a comedy in itself, especially because the obnoxious Abi is due some major karma for her atrocious attitude of the last year - none the least for her killing of poor Tramp.
Abi's head is so far up her arse and filled to the brim with her own self-importance and entitlement, that it's going to be an absolute pleasure to see her brought back to reality with a hard bump. I hope it hurts. This is a girl who's imposed herself, uninvited, on a family dynamic, who hasn't worked or bothered with working since she threw her chances at a university education away. She invented a reason why Jay wasn't giving her 100 per cent of his total attention, and in the end, he binned her - but not for the reason she thought.
She got with Ben, totally on the rebound frome Jay and totally to show Jay that, whilst he was sniffing around Lola, someone else was sniffing around Abi. Abi was so flattered with the attenton Ben paid her that, not only did she forget he was gay, she believed him when he told her he was "cured." Because whilst Abi initially used Ben as a rebound ploy against Jay, she fell for him; and Ben is simply using Abi as what is known as a "beard" - a female companion who masks the fact that her male companion is gay. He's convinced both Phil and Max that his homosexuality was merely a phase.
And all the while he was convincing them of that, he was coming onto everyone from Johnny Carter to Jay.
The most hilarious point of last week's episodes was when Jay blurted out about Ben trying to kiss him and then in the next breath, retracted his statement.
Jay knows Ben is gay. No matter how much Ben might deny it, no matter how much Ben might say he loves Abi, Jay knows he loves her like a mate, and that at the end of the day, Abi's going to get hurt.
Abi, in the meantime, thinks Jay is acting out in jealousy that Ben is with her now. Her ego must be soaring. After Jay confronts Ben, he leaves him and Abi to talk, and Ben masterminds a stroke of genius that he hopes will get Abi out of their house and his hair. He only tells her seeing her together with Ben every day under the same roof is hard for Jay to handle. In other words, he puts the ball in Jay's court. Maybe he thinks Abi will feel guilty and move out - in fairness, she does think this and offer to do so later - but she actually confronts Jay about it, accusing him of not putting their relationship behind them. Jay's not only astounded, he's fed up with the pair of them and utters one of the best lines of the night:-
Look, you two bury your heads if you want to, but don't come crying to me when it all goes wrong.
I am so looking forward to diving karma biting Abi's arse for the way she and Ben guffawed at Lola blowing Jay out.
The Search for Daddy Cool.
Message to DTC and his writing room: Please stop using the term real dad and, for fuck's sake, stop Sharon, an adoptee, from using it.
Any and all adoptees would never use that term referring to the sperm donor who coupled with the incubator who gave them life. The term for Carol Stretton Hanley is birth mother. The term describing Gavin is birth father. Angie and Den were Sharon's real parents.
Something is interesting to note here - neither Sharon's Gavin nor Kathy's Gavin had their surnames revealed on air. Years ago, on the old website bio page, Sharon's birth father was listed as GavinBennett. Off-screen, Kathy's husband was named as Gavin Sullivan. That doesn't mean that they are two different people. It just means that (a) this is an opportunity for an ignorant writing room to retcon ... (nooooo), or (b) it's an opportunity to introduce a dodgy geezer, who - at one time - was known as Gavin Bennett, but who became Gavin Sullivan when needs must or the devil rides him to South Africa.
To paraphrase the kid in The Sixth Sense ... I see gangsters.
Any and all adoptees would never use that term referring to the sperm donor who coupled with the incubator who gave them life. The term for Carol Stretton Hanley is birth mother. The term describing Gavin is birth father. Angie and Den were Sharon's real parents.
Something is interesting to note here - neither Sharon's Gavin nor Kathy's Gavin had their surnames revealed on air. Years ago, on the old website bio page, Sharon's birth father was listed as GavinBennett. Off-screen, Kathy's husband was named as Gavin Sullivan. That doesn't mean that they are two different people. It just means that (a) this is an opportunity for an ignorant writing room to retcon ... (nooooo), or (b) it's an opportunity to introduce a dodgy geezer, who - at one time - was known as Gavin Bennett, but who became Gavin Sullivan when needs must or the devil rides him to South Africa.
To paraphrase the kid in The Sixth Sense ... I see gangsters.
Sharon begins the episode by deciding against looking for her birth father and ends the episode by deciding to search for him, by virtue of finding an old address amongst a gaggle of letters addressed to Carol Stretton.
What changed her mind? Well, it was an encounter in the cafe with her old nemesis, Shirley, in a brilliantly scripted and directed scene which showcased both actresses' strengths.
Shirley, newly returned from a hospital visit to identify a dying man who might be Dean. Her encounter with Sharon starts off badly, with Shirley muttering that it would be better for all concerned if Dean were dead and wondering why Sharon was concerned about her, when Sharon had such a perfect life.
The two sit and talk over tea - Sharon paying, as offered by Shirley - and Sharon reveals that she knows that Mick is Shirley's son. Shirley is surprised, until Sharon reminds her that Phil is her husband and Linda her friend. They shared confidences with her.
Shirley opens up to Sharon, talking about how she never once stopped loving any of her children, even Mick, and she didn't bring him up. This strikes a chord with Sharon, who muses that Shirley was so young when she had him. Too young to know what she was doing, Shirley admits, but that didn't mean she loved him any the less. However, she felt as if she were being forced to choose between Mick and Dean, she could see this silent threat in Mick's eyes.
Sharon's taken in the part about Shirley's youth being part and parcel of why she gave Mick up, and she tells Shirley that she dhouldn't be forced to choose between her boys. She needs to tell Mick this, and she needs to fight for both of her sons.
The scene ended with Sharon returning to her "perfect" life and with both women having a begrudging amount of respect for each other, and parting with the lines of the night:-
Shirley: I'll still hate you in the morning.
Sharon: I wouldn't have it any other way.
The Pep Talk. Arguably, the weakest scenes in the show tonight were the Fox scenes, which seemed to be time-fillers of Kim worrying about being a mother to Pearl against a backdrop of putting a crib together. The gist of this was that Denise believes Kim's lie about not knowing who Pearl's father is, and so she decides that she'll be Pearl's "father" (shades of the time when Shirley promised to raise George with Heather). Of course, we know from Kim's surreptitious text received from Vincent TMN*, wanting to see both Kim and their baby.
More Secrets and Lies. How to fuck up an issue storyline. Watch the rape crisis storyline concerning the Carters. This should be all about Linda and how she's dealing with the aftermath of this. Already, they've made her pregnant, and no matter what anyone says, this is still very much a "Who's the Daddy" scenario, but now, it's turned into the gigantic question of Is Dean Dead and Did Mick Kill Him?
Now it's a murder mystery, with the mystery being "has there been a murder?" A dying young man was found in a burned-out car, possessing Dean's wallet and driver's licence. The car was stolen. Police arrive to inform Shirley, as next-of-kin, and to ask her to come to the hospital to see if she can identify him.
Immediately Nancy innocently remarks to Linda that this couldn't be Dean, because Linda had spoken to him only just that day. That's when she twigs that not only Mick, but also Linda, had lied to the girl. As the evening wears on, not only does Nancy demand answers about Dean, she also demands that Mick accompany Shirley to the hospital, for support, as Shirley had asked him to do.
Mick refuses.
Then Nancy proves her maturity above and beyond that of her parents. She recognises that the events of the night are less to do with Dean and more to do with Shirley. Because it isn't Shirley's fault that Dean raped Linda.
Not only that, but when Shirley returns, Nancy demands that Mick, out of common decency, needs to tell Shirley what happened between him and Dean that evening in the cellar, but Mick is adamant that this isn't going to happen.One of the highlights of the evening came when a visibly vulnerable Nancy pointedly told Elaine to stop patronising her. I know Nancy's immature - her parents have over-protected her to the point that she's 21, but sounds 12, and a lot of that has to do with her epilepsy, but Nancy needs to be drawn away from her family more into the community.
She was the only person who volunteered to go to the hospital to support Shirley. Mick railed at Stan about stopping her, but really, Nancy is an adult. Stan couldn't stop her from going if she wanted to go. In the end, she was the only member of that family who thought Shirley deserved to know what Mick had done to Dean, no matter that she hated Dean, herself.
Nancy needs some friends.
What changed her mind? Well, it was an encounter in the cafe with her old nemesis, Shirley, in a brilliantly scripted and directed scene which showcased both actresses' strengths.
Shirley, newly returned from a hospital visit to identify a dying man who might be Dean. Her encounter with Sharon starts off badly, with Shirley muttering that it would be better for all concerned if Dean were dead and wondering why Sharon was concerned about her, when Sharon had such a perfect life.
The two sit and talk over tea - Sharon paying, as offered by Shirley - and Sharon reveals that she knows that Mick is Shirley's son. Shirley is surprised, until Sharon reminds her that Phil is her husband and Linda her friend. They shared confidences with her.
Shirley opens up to Sharon, talking about how she never once stopped loving any of her children, even Mick, and she didn't bring him up. This strikes a chord with Sharon, who muses that Shirley was so young when she had him. Too young to know what she was doing, Shirley admits, but that didn't mean she loved him any the less. However, she felt as if she were being forced to choose between Mick and Dean, she could see this silent threat in Mick's eyes.
Sharon's taken in the part about Shirley's youth being part and parcel of why she gave Mick up, and she tells Shirley that she dhouldn't be forced to choose between her boys. She needs to tell Mick this, and she needs to fight for both of her sons.
The scene ended with Sharon returning to her "perfect" life and with both women having a begrudging amount of respect for each other, and parting with the lines of the night:-
Shirley: I'll still hate you in the morning.
Sharon: I wouldn't have it any other way.
The Pep Talk. Arguably, the weakest scenes in the show tonight were the Fox scenes, which seemed to be time-fillers of Kim worrying about being a mother to Pearl against a backdrop of putting a crib together. The gist of this was that Denise believes Kim's lie about not knowing who Pearl's father is, and so she decides that she'll be Pearl's "father" (shades of the time when Shirley promised to raise George with Heather). Of course, we know from Kim's surreptitious text received from Vincent TMN*, wanting to see both Kim and their baby.
More Secrets and Lies. How to fuck up an issue storyline. Watch the rape crisis storyline concerning the Carters. This should be all about Linda and how she's dealing with the aftermath of this. Already, they've made her pregnant, and no matter what anyone says, this is still very much a "Who's the Daddy" scenario, but now, it's turned into the gigantic question of Is Dean Dead and Did Mick Kill Him?
Now it's a murder mystery, with the mystery being "has there been a murder?" A dying young man was found in a burned-out car, possessing Dean's wallet and driver's licence. The car was stolen. Police arrive to inform Shirley, as next-of-kin, and to ask her to come to the hospital to see if she can identify him.
Immediately Nancy innocently remarks to Linda that this couldn't be Dean, because Linda had spoken to him only just that day. That's when she twigs that not only Mick, but also Linda, had lied to the girl. As the evening wears on, not only does Nancy demand answers about Dean, she also demands that Mick accompany Shirley to the hospital, for support, as Shirley had asked him to do.
Mick refuses.
Then Nancy proves her maturity above and beyond that of her parents. She recognises that the events of the night are less to do with Dean and more to do with Shirley. Because it isn't Shirley's fault that Dean raped Linda.
Not only that, but when Shirley returns, Nancy demands that Mick, out of common decency, needs to tell Shirley what happened between him and Dean that evening in the cellar, but Mick is adamant that this isn't going to happen.One of the highlights of the evening came when a visibly vulnerable Nancy pointedly told Elaine to stop patronising her. I know Nancy's immature - her parents have over-protected her to the point that she's 21, but sounds 12, and a lot of that has to do with her epilepsy, but Nancy needs to be drawn away from her family more into the community.
She was the only person who volunteered to go to the hospital to support Shirley. Mick railed at Stan about stopping her, but really, Nancy is an adult. Stan couldn't stop her from going if she wanted to go. In the end, she was the only member of that family who thought Shirley deserved to know what Mick had done to Dean, no matter that she hated Dean, herself.
Nancy needs some friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment