Let's be honest about it: The show is treading water once again. Watchable, but treading water. There's something about to break on the horizon, and we all know that Kathy's returning, and most probably, her husband is Sharon's father. Thats something to which everyone is seriously looking forward.
Paul Coker has been cast, played by a Harry Styles lookalike, and judging from the coy publicity blurb, he'll most likely be the young gay lad whom Johnny Carter was, and he'll most likely be Ben's squeeze, thus bringing a brutal end to Abi's romantic illusions.
Neither of those big-stage happenings was hard to fathom, so the surprise element has gone from the show.
It's tired. Too many main-list actors are committed to too many other ventures. Too many characters about whom we don't feel enough to invest are hanging around like a bad smell.
Has it been two months since that brilliant anniversary week? We have a murderer in the hospital, a cold-blooded pyschopath, and we're supposed to feel sympathy? We have a psychopath-in-training in the Beale household, and we're supposed to forget about that?
And, judging from tonight's episode, there's too much action taking place off-camera and not being explained sufficiently to the audience.
Somebody's losing it.
Lord, Help the Mister Who Comes Between Me and MAH Sis-TAHHHHH.
I think the general theme of this is going to be:- Lord, help the sister, who comes between me and my man.
I honestly don't see what the Blisters see in Charlie that's worth fighting for or over. He looks dirty, and he's got a gormless, puzzled look on his face continuously.
As we've seen in tonight's episode, he's shallow, cowardly and cruel.
Anyone who perceives Ronnie to be a delicate flower-type of woman who doesn't deserve to be hurt, doesn't know the psychopath within. Ronnie does the hurting, without compunction. Maybe Charlie genuinely felt compassion for her, sat there in the bed and holding their child - and maybe, again, on Ronnie's part, that was the ultimate manipulation of Charlie's feelings.
I'm certain, as is probably everyone else, that Ronnie heard Charlie and Roxy talking about their tryst. Never one to bring the obvious to the fore, she'd string the pair of them along the way a cat toys with a mouse it's about to kill before striking - most probably - at Charlie. She'd use Roxy's guilt to manipulate and control her.
That's it ... hold the baby ... nice surprise for Charlie ... The baby's spurred her recovery on ... ~And you~ purrs Ronnie to Charlie. She purrs a lot these days, since she can't talk properly yet, but purring becomes her, and she'll eventually pounce like a cat.
For all this is a sudden romance, between Roxy and Charlie, which has come totally out of the blue, it's remarkably nuanced on several levels. Roxy's both frustrated with herself, and worried that Charlie has chosen to split with Ronnie and be with her. She's worried, not only for what it might mean for Ronnie, but also because how this might define her own relationship with Ronnie.
I've already lost Aleks, I'm not about to lose MAH sisTAHHH.
Roxy makes it abundantly clear to Charlie that if she had to choose between Ronnie and Charlie, she'd always choose Ronnie - basically because Roxy is such a childwoman, she can't trust anyone else to put up with her entitled ways, which she thinks are eternally gamine, but Ronnie, who will always clean up the mess she leaves behind, whils convincing her that she totally needs Ronnie to look after and care for her.
Roxy is the one who initially suggests that she and Charlie stop seeing each other - indeed, they need to avoid each other, looking after the baby in shifts, and visiting Ronnie, each on his or her own, a concept he's unwilling to accept.
He's so bullheaded in his determination that he defies Roxy's wishes and bursts in on her visit to Ronnie. During their time alone when Ronnie's having therapy (with the baby), Charlie learns that Roxy's feelings for him are as strong as his, and he determines that Ronnie has to be told the truth, which is when the prescient Ronnie, playsthe fallen Madonna with the big boobies the pale and sickly Madonna, the victim to be protected, and Charlie's balls go bouncing down the corridor, lost forever.
In the end, it's Charlie who breaks with Roxy, but in the worst way possible. Charlie issues the line no Mitchell wants to hear uttered against them.
Stay away from my family. (That's right, CharlieBoy, blame Roxy, when you're as much to blame). Roxy's forbidden even contacting her sister (shades of Alfie) and then told that, once Ronnie's well, they'll be moving from Walford.
He wasn't nice about it, either. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean that - unless Ronnie is willing to move in with Dot and Fatboy, Roxy and Amy are virtually homeless and will have to kip down at Hotel Phil and Sharon? And why did Charlie do this?
Well, there are a few reasons. Maybe he suddenly remembered that Ronnie has killed a man, and maybe he saw through her wicked little game of mother-and-baby enough imagine her frying up his gonads one morning and serving them to him in aspic. So self-preservation kicks in.
Or maybe he foresaw a soupcon of what Ronnie might do to Roxy and is warning Roxy off for her own good.
Who knows? Who cares?
All I know is that Ronnie knows, and she's spooked, herself, by the receipt of a card which we all know is from Vincent Hubbard TMN ...
... who's probably the biggest psychopath of all, telling Ms Elsa Ice Queen Psychopath Mitchell that she "owes" him and that she'll see him sooner than she thinks.
Ooooooh, why do I see a myriad of gangsters and psychopaths sweeping over the heavens that encompass Walford? Maybe 2015 should be dubbed already EastEnders: Gangsters and Psychopaths.
I have a feeling Roxy won't be able to stay away from her sisTAHH for long, or rather, her obsessive sisTAHH might not be able to keep her distance, or CharlieBoy will succumb to his lust for Roxy. Whatever happens, someone's going to end up dead, and my money's on Charlie.
I know she's silly, but I feel sorry for Roxy in all of this. At the end of this storyline, I hope she breaks free of Ronnie's domination and puts her daughter first.
Dot Spies with Her Little Eye Something Beginning with A.
Easily the best scene of the evening was Dot's prolonged scene with CharlieBoy at the prison.
Is Dot prescient? Does she have a sixth sense? How else did she know that Charlie and Roxy had been sleeping together and "carrying on" as she called it. Excellent piece of continuity on Dot's part to draw a parallel between Charlie's namesake, Dot's husband and CharlieBoy, himself. Dot hadn't long given birth to Nick when Charlie I rode off into the sunset with Dot's sister Rose (later fathering Andrew Cotton). Bravo to Leo Richardson for remembering that.
When Charlie protests that he loves Roxy, Dot swiftly condemns that, quite rightly, as adultery. In something even more apt, she then compares Charlie to his father, something to which Charlie takes great affront, and says something that might very well apply to Charlie, himself.
I'm nothing like him. He never loved me. He only loved himself, he was never capable of loving anyone else.
Nick's the cause of all their problems, Charlie reitertes. He's the reason Ronnie had her accident, which makes him indirectly the cause of Charlie and Roxy falling in love, and furthermore, he's the reason Dot's languishing in prison, playing the martyr.
Hmmmm ... it seems as if Charlie's done a pretty good job of loving himself, considering the flash car and big police career he bigged up for himself; and then again, Ronnie's dubbing him the key to her recovery tonight, that just may have jolted his ego upward even more.
I wonder if CharlieBoy is more like Nick than he'd care to admit. Well, like Nick, he always looks as if he needs a bath.
Dot got visitors abounding tonight - first her grandson, then her stepchildren. But by the time Max and Carol had got there, Dot had had time enough to dwell on what Charlie said, and now, not only is she responsible for Nick's death, she's also responsible for Jim's.
Since Newman made it abundantly clear that Dot visited Jim every day, and even shamed his children for not doing so, now it seems that Dot's abandoned Jim for months on end, not visiting him in preference to being around Nick and harbouring him. That means she didn't see Jim from around Hallowe'en. This is true. Not once during the entire time Nick was there did Dot even think about or mention Jim. His kids didn't either.
Now her conscience is bothering her, and she's wondering if he languished there in his bed in that home, alone and neglected, and pining for her. She berates herself for not being there, and maybe seeing his health decline, in order to be able to have done something about it. As Jim suffered, so Dot must suffer also, and she deems herself unworthy of attending his funeral.
Dot the martyr again. (Sigh)
Max's Mea Culpa.
Jay's subtle loyalty to Max provokes an epiphany of decency in him. The line of the night was the simple expression of honesty as to why Jay decided to warn Max about the stolen cars.
You lost your dad. Don't think I don't know how that feels.
Jay's playing it safe, however. He's still keeping a foot in Phil's camp. He told Max that the cars were stolen, but he left Phil's name out of the equation entirely. For all intents and purposes, this was between Max and Karin Smart. (Something else was between them too, but we won't go there).
Max's first reaction is to mark all the cars as "Sold" until he can get in touch with Karin to buy them back. Jay's honesty spurs Max into apologising for his churlish behaviour to Carol, and goes with her to visit Dot, and later, he and Carol go through Jim's box of belongings. Amongst the stuff, they find envelopes that Jim has addressed to each of his living children - Max, Jack, Carol, April and Suzy. Each envelope contains a memento of Jim and a note. Carol's remarks indicate that Jack and April are close by - well, we know Amy stays with Jack sometimes, but April? Another return on the way or a recast. Carol's envelope contains the key to Jim's old lock-up, with instructions for Carol to clean it up, but Max's contains another great piece of continuity - the medal belonging to Jim's father, which Jim accused Max of nicking once, when Jack really did. Max got bashed about the head for that accusation, and he remembers Jim calling him "gutless."
Once again, Max has another epiphany about that, and rips the "Sold" signs off all the stolen motors, with a message for Jay to take to Phil: Max Branning isn't gutless.
Greedy, yes. Horny, most definitely. Gutless? No.
Monsieur Bon Marché
If it's not Kat, it's Donna, and one is as vile as the other. Once again, at the beginning of the piece tonight, Tamwar was just doing his job. He was the Assistant Market Inspector, which means that, in Aleks's absence, he essentially does his job. Asking for sight of the stallholder's insurance is part of the job, and Donna's reaction was surly, rude and eminently disrespectful - especially referring to him as a powerless lackey. He had power enough then and there to shut her stall down and put her out of business.
I do like Tamwar and Nancy. Nancy needed to get out from within that stultifying family environment. She's so breezy around Tamwar. Her natural good nature and confidence bolsters his flagging ego to the point that Tamwar somehow can't believe he's done half the things he's done, including kissing her. Tamwar's envious of herlairines.
Nancy thinks Tamwar should make a move for Aleks's old job, and the sooner the better. When he proves reluctant, she goes behind his back and secures an interview.
I know I'm not much on the weak male epidemic that seems to be the going thing at EastEnders at the moment, but I like the fact that Nancy's going to prove to be Tamwar's backbone.
And Finally ...
There they were. The Carters. Mick sulking and glowering, insisting on matching "Shirley's" offer to pay for Stan's funeral. Pardon, Mick? I thought Buster Bloodvessel, your sperm donor, offered to pay for the funeral. Since when did Shirley have money? She's skint. Her 1 per cent share of the Vic and the "name above the door" prestige isn't a vast fortune. She holds court at Blades, only looking after her son's business interest. Next week, she's back negotiating with Bank of Phil.
This is yet another version of the Same Old Same Old. Mick and Shirley at loggerheads, and Linda, playing the adult, trying to reconcile them. Linda spoke an absolute truth tonight - Dean has fractured the family, what he did, specifically. Prior to that, their only worries were Johnny's and Nancy's boyfriends. Actually, I'd disagree somewhat. The Carter dynamic began to fracture when Shirley insinuated herself back into the core of the family and Mick then began to defer to her and move his partner to the sidelines. Yes, Dean is the catalyst who burst the Carter's fragile bubble, but Shirley is the person who stretched that bubble to the limit.
Still, despite everything she's endured, Linda wants Mick to make peace with Shirley so the family can move on, so, in that time-honoured tradition established by the Brannings ... she plans a family meal, inviting everyone, in particular, Shirley, who's reluctant, until Buster Bloodvessel ...
... plays "Mr Responsible" and grasps the opportunity to sidle into the family unit. There's an uneasy family meal, a soliloquy to Stan's memory delivered by Linda, who admits that she should have laughed more at Stan laughing at her, Tina and Sonia stinking up the place, and an awkward rapprochement in the Carter kitchen between Shirley and Linda - Shirley's prickly thanking of Linda for what she did, and being interrupted by Mick with news that Linda's police liaison officer was stopping by with some news.
The news? Again, no surprise. The CPS isn't prosecuting Dean. They don't reckon there's sufficient evidence for a case - in other words, it's Linda's word against Dean's. As it would only ever be, reflecting the difficulty of proving guilt in cases such as these.
It still doesn't mean Dean is without guilt, however.
Decent episode.
Paul Coker has been cast, played by a Harry Styles lookalike, and judging from the coy publicity blurb, he'll most likely be the young gay lad whom Johnny Carter was, and he'll most likely be Ben's squeeze, thus bringing a brutal end to Abi's romantic illusions.
Neither of those big-stage happenings was hard to fathom, so the surprise element has gone from the show.
It's tired. Too many main-list actors are committed to too many other ventures. Too many characters about whom we don't feel enough to invest are hanging around like a bad smell.
Has it been two months since that brilliant anniversary week? We have a murderer in the hospital, a cold-blooded pyschopath, and we're supposed to feel sympathy? We have a psychopath-in-training in the Beale household, and we're supposed to forget about that?
And, judging from tonight's episode, there's too much action taking place off-camera and not being explained sufficiently to the audience.
Somebody's losing it.
Lord, Help the Mister Who Comes Between Me and MAH Sis-TAHHHHH.
I think the general theme of this is going to be:- Lord, help the sister, who comes between me and my man.
I honestly don't see what the Blisters see in Charlie that's worth fighting for or over. He looks dirty, and he's got a gormless, puzzled look on his face continuously.
As we've seen in tonight's episode, he's shallow, cowardly and cruel.
Anyone who perceives Ronnie to be a delicate flower-type of woman who doesn't deserve to be hurt, doesn't know the psychopath within. Ronnie does the hurting, without compunction. Maybe Charlie genuinely felt compassion for her, sat there in the bed and holding their child - and maybe, again, on Ronnie's part, that was the ultimate manipulation of Charlie's feelings.
I'm certain, as is probably everyone else, that Ronnie heard Charlie and Roxy talking about their tryst. Never one to bring the obvious to the fore, she'd string the pair of them along the way a cat toys with a mouse it's about to kill before striking - most probably - at Charlie. She'd use Roxy's guilt to manipulate and control her.
That's it ... hold the baby ... nice surprise for Charlie ... The baby's spurred her recovery on ... ~And you~ purrs Ronnie to Charlie. She purrs a lot these days, since she can't talk properly yet, but purring becomes her, and she'll eventually pounce like a cat.
For all this is a sudden romance, between Roxy and Charlie, which has come totally out of the blue, it's remarkably nuanced on several levels. Roxy's both frustrated with herself, and worried that Charlie has chosen to split with Ronnie and be with her. She's worried, not only for what it might mean for Ronnie, but also because how this might define her own relationship with Ronnie.
I've already lost Aleks, I'm not about to lose MAH sisTAHHH.
Roxy makes it abundantly clear to Charlie that if she had to choose between Ronnie and Charlie, she'd always choose Ronnie - basically because Roxy is such a childwoman, she can't trust anyone else to put up with her entitled ways, which she thinks are eternally gamine, but Ronnie, who will always clean up the mess she leaves behind, whils convincing her that she totally needs Ronnie to look after and care for her.
Roxy is the one who initially suggests that she and Charlie stop seeing each other - indeed, they need to avoid each other, looking after the baby in shifts, and visiting Ronnie, each on his or her own, a concept he's unwilling to accept.
He's so bullheaded in his determination that he defies Roxy's wishes and bursts in on her visit to Ronnie. During their time alone when Ronnie's having therapy (with the baby), Charlie learns that Roxy's feelings for him are as strong as his, and he determines that Ronnie has to be told the truth, which is when the prescient Ronnie, plays
In the end, it's Charlie who breaks with Roxy, but in the worst way possible. Charlie issues the line no Mitchell wants to hear uttered against them.
Stay away from my family. (That's right, CharlieBoy, blame Roxy, when you're as much to blame). Roxy's forbidden even contacting her sister (shades of Alfie) and then told that, once Ronnie's well, they'll be moving from Walford.
He wasn't nice about it, either. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean that - unless Ronnie is willing to move in with Dot and Fatboy, Roxy and Amy are virtually homeless and will have to kip down at Hotel Phil and Sharon? And why did Charlie do this?
Well, there are a few reasons. Maybe he suddenly remembered that Ronnie has killed a man, and maybe he saw through her wicked little game of mother-and-baby enough imagine her frying up his gonads one morning and serving them to him in aspic. So self-preservation kicks in.
Or maybe he foresaw a soupcon of what Ronnie might do to Roxy and is warning Roxy off for her own good.
Who knows? Who cares?
All I know is that Ronnie knows, and she's spooked, herself, by the receipt of a card which we all know is from Vincent Hubbard TMN ...
... who's probably the biggest psychopath of all, telling Ms Elsa Ice Queen Psychopath Mitchell that she "owes" him and that she'll see him sooner than she thinks.
Ooooooh, why do I see a myriad of gangsters and psychopaths sweeping over the heavens that encompass Walford? Maybe 2015 should be dubbed already EastEnders: Gangsters and Psychopaths.
I have a feeling Roxy won't be able to stay away from her sisTAHH for long, or rather, her obsessive sisTAHH might not be able to keep her distance, or CharlieBoy will succumb to his lust for Roxy. Whatever happens, someone's going to end up dead, and my money's on Charlie.
I know she's silly, but I feel sorry for Roxy in all of this. At the end of this storyline, I hope she breaks free of Ronnie's domination and puts her daughter first.
Dot Spies with Her Little Eye Something Beginning with A.
Is Dot prescient? Does she have a sixth sense? How else did she know that Charlie and Roxy had been sleeping together and "carrying on" as she called it. Excellent piece of continuity on Dot's part to draw a parallel between Charlie's namesake, Dot's husband and CharlieBoy, himself. Dot hadn't long given birth to Nick when Charlie I rode off into the sunset with Dot's sister Rose (later fathering Andrew Cotton). Bravo to Leo Richardson for remembering that.
When Charlie protests that he loves Roxy, Dot swiftly condemns that, quite rightly, as adultery. In something even more apt, she then compares Charlie to his father, something to which Charlie takes great affront, and says something that might very well apply to Charlie, himself.
I'm nothing like him. He never loved me. He only loved himself, he was never capable of loving anyone else.
Nick's the cause of all their problems, Charlie reitertes. He's the reason Ronnie had her accident, which makes him indirectly the cause of Charlie and Roxy falling in love, and furthermore, he's the reason Dot's languishing in prison, playing the martyr.
Hmmmm ... it seems as if Charlie's done a pretty good job of loving himself, considering the flash car and big police career he bigged up for himself; and then again, Ronnie's dubbing him the key to her recovery tonight, that just may have jolted his ego upward even more.
I wonder if CharlieBoy is more like Nick than he'd care to admit. Well, like Nick, he always looks as if he needs a bath.
Dot got visitors abounding tonight - first her grandson, then her stepchildren. But by the time Max and Carol had got there, Dot had had time enough to dwell on what Charlie said, and now, not only is she responsible for Nick's death, she's also responsible for Jim's.
Since Newman made it abundantly clear that Dot visited Jim every day, and even shamed his children for not doing so, now it seems that Dot's abandoned Jim for months on end, not visiting him in preference to being around Nick and harbouring him. That means she didn't see Jim from around Hallowe'en. This is true. Not once during the entire time Nick was there did Dot even think about or mention Jim. His kids didn't either.
Now her conscience is bothering her, and she's wondering if he languished there in his bed in that home, alone and neglected, and pining for her. She berates herself for not being there, and maybe seeing his health decline, in order to be able to have done something about it. As Jim suffered, so Dot must suffer also, and she deems herself unworthy of attending his funeral.
Dot the martyr again. (Sigh)
Max's Mea Culpa.
Jay's subtle loyalty to Max provokes an epiphany of decency in him. The line of the night was the simple expression of honesty as to why Jay decided to warn Max about the stolen cars.
You lost your dad. Don't think I don't know how that feels.
Jay's playing it safe, however. He's still keeping a foot in Phil's camp. He told Max that the cars were stolen, but he left Phil's name out of the equation entirely. For all intents and purposes, this was between Max and Karin Smart. (Something else was between them too, but we won't go there).
Max's first reaction is to mark all the cars as "Sold" until he can get in touch with Karin to buy them back. Jay's honesty spurs Max into apologising for his churlish behaviour to Carol, and goes with her to visit Dot, and later, he and Carol go through Jim's box of belongings. Amongst the stuff, they find envelopes that Jim has addressed to each of his living children - Max, Jack, Carol, April and Suzy. Each envelope contains a memento of Jim and a note. Carol's remarks indicate that Jack and April are close by - well, we know Amy stays with Jack sometimes, but April? Another return on the way or a recast. Carol's envelope contains the key to Jim's old lock-up, with instructions for Carol to clean it up, but Max's contains another great piece of continuity - the medal belonging to Jim's father, which Jim accused Max of nicking once, when Jack really did. Max got bashed about the head for that accusation, and he remembers Jim calling him "gutless."
Once again, Max has another epiphany about that, and rips the "Sold" signs off all the stolen motors, with a message for Jay to take to Phil: Max Branning isn't gutless.
Greedy, yes. Horny, most definitely. Gutless? No.
Monsieur Bon Marché
If it's not Kat, it's Donna, and one is as vile as the other. Once again, at the beginning of the piece tonight, Tamwar was just doing his job. He was the Assistant Market Inspector, which means that, in Aleks's absence, he essentially does his job. Asking for sight of the stallholder's insurance is part of the job, and Donna's reaction was surly, rude and eminently disrespectful - especially referring to him as a powerless lackey. He had power enough then and there to shut her stall down and put her out of business.
I do like Tamwar and Nancy. Nancy needed to get out from within that stultifying family environment. She's so breezy around Tamwar. Her natural good nature and confidence bolsters his flagging ego to the point that Tamwar somehow can't believe he's done half the things he's done, including kissing her. Tamwar's envious of herlairines.
Nancy thinks Tamwar should make a move for Aleks's old job, and the sooner the better. When he proves reluctant, she goes behind his back and secures an interview.
I know I'm not much on the weak male epidemic that seems to be the going thing at EastEnders at the moment, but I like the fact that Nancy's going to prove to be Tamwar's backbone.
And Finally ...
There they were. The Carters. Mick sulking and glowering, insisting on matching "Shirley's" offer to pay for Stan's funeral. Pardon, Mick? I thought Buster Bloodvessel, your sperm donor, offered to pay for the funeral. Since when did Shirley have money? She's skint. Her 1 per cent share of the Vic and the "name above the door" prestige isn't a vast fortune. She holds court at Blades, only looking after her son's business interest. Next week, she's back negotiating with Bank of Phil.
This is yet another version of the Same Old Same Old. Mick and Shirley at loggerheads, and Linda, playing the adult, trying to reconcile them. Linda spoke an absolute truth tonight - Dean has fractured the family, what he did, specifically. Prior to that, their only worries were Johnny's and Nancy's boyfriends. Actually, I'd disagree somewhat. The Carter dynamic began to fracture when Shirley insinuated herself back into the core of the family and Mick then began to defer to her and move his partner to the sidelines. Yes, Dean is the catalyst who burst the Carter's fragile bubble, but Shirley is the person who stretched that bubble to the limit.
Still, despite everything she's endured, Linda wants Mick to make peace with Shirley so the family can move on, so, in that time-honoured tradition established by the Brannings ... she plans a family meal, inviting everyone, in particular, Shirley, who's reluctant, until Buster Bloodvessel ...
... plays "Mr Responsible" and grasps the opportunity to sidle into the family unit. There's an uneasy family meal, a soliloquy to Stan's memory delivered by Linda, who admits that she should have laughed more at Stan laughing at her, Tina and Sonia stinking up the place, and an awkward rapprochement in the Carter kitchen between Shirley and Linda - Shirley's prickly thanking of Linda for what she did, and being interrupted by Mick with news that Linda's police liaison officer was stopping by with some news.
The news? Again, no surprise. The CPS isn't prosecuting Dean. They don't reckon there's sufficient evidence for a case - in other words, it's Linda's word against Dean's. As it would only ever be, reflecting the difficulty of proving guilt in cases such as these.
It still doesn't mean Dean is without guilt, however.
Decent episode.
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