For a Carey Andrews episode, and one that emphasised the circular motif surrounding the Carters at the moment, this wasn't a bad episode by a long shot. It's the sort of episode I like - tight scenario, minimum of characters, juxtaposition of perspective. Of course, there was a spoiling element, but then nothing is perfect.
Alfie and Kat and Mick and Linda.
I liked the format of Alfie's and Kat's dilemma juxtaposed with that of Mick and Linda. I liked the way the episode picked up, literally, from the point on Friday where it left off - Alfie offering to buy the Vic from Mick - and it was as if an introspective race took off to find a point of honesty.
On one level, there were two couples examining a prospect for their respective futures - futures determined by one million pounds and what to do with it. Well, in Mick's case, it would be £900,000. On another level, it's two couples offered a second chance and an escape from pasts they'd both rather forget.
For Alfie, his dream is to buy the Vic, something Kat views as retrograde and pejorative. She's been there and done that. She also knows that the Vic harbours bad memories for them both - specifically, her infidelities and the strain it caused on their marriage. Yet she hast the gall to demand of Alfie why he always does such stupidthings. Without a doubt, Alfie has done stupid things, but then again, so has Kat, especially in the numerous infidelities she's inflicted upon Alfie, the public humiliation she's caused him on various occasions, and the abject cruelty she's inflicted.
For Mick, the money means a way out of a situation which is making him physically and emotionally ill. What's revealed in the Carters' tete-a-tete is that neither of the two are actually coping with the aftermath of Linda's rape, and whilst Linda makes a good show of moving on, Mick is aware that she wakes up crying in the night. Mick is having trouble dealing with the fact that Dean is still across the road, lording his freedom and presumed innocence over the pair of them.
Mick: Where's the justice in that?
Linda: There ain't no justice.
Selling the Vic, for Mick would, on the one hand, mean a new life for him and Linda, away from Dean and Shirley and her accusations of Linda being a liar, a life in the sun; yet he fears that doing this would brand him a coward, make him less of a man and show him to be weak. And in this instance, it's Linda who grasps the mettle, who decides that maybe a change is as good as a rest and encourages him to accept Alfie's offer.
Owning a pub like the Vic had been her dreams, but as she says, sometimes dreams aren't all they're made up to be. She's thinking of the Dean situation and what it's doing to Mick, who's just itching to get his hands on Dean and who knows that he can't.
The Carters' scene takes place in their bedroom, and so do the Moons'. Kat simply can't believe that, with a million quid in their pocket, all Alfie's perspective entails is owning the local boozer. There's so much they could do with that money, but Kat can't seem to articulate what she wants beyond the fact that she merely wants to be a good mum, a stay-at-home mum. She muses about how long it's been since she's seen Zoe - when it was made abundantly clear the other month that Zoe wanted nothing to do with Kat.
At the end of their dilemma, Alfie proposes that they take the boys and move away from Walford. To Australia.
The Moons are moving forward, and leaving the past behind. Once again, as in 2005, it seems that Alfie and Kat can only be happy when and if they leave Walford.
During the course of Mick's and Linda's soul searching, Linda tells Mick for the umpteenth time that she's no objection to Mick reconciling with Shirley. She knows Mick misses Shirley, but Mick cannot reconcile with her whilst she's still defending Dean, so Mick nips out to see Shirley in the cafe.
No one does constricted upset like Shirley, and she was almost sympathetic in that scene, but this was Shirley, taking advantage of Mick's turmoil to push some emotonal blackmail his way. She can see that Mick is upset, that this entire thing with Dean is making Mick ill. Well, it's making Shirl ill as well. After all, as she tells Mick, he's not the only one upset by this.
Mick comes right to the point.
Your son Dean is a liar. He's a rapist and he raped my wife.
But Shirley won't budge, she won't deny Dean and accuses Mick of making her choose between the two. She tells him that they will simply have to agree to disagree. but it's not as simple as that. It's not about who's having whom over for Christmas dinner; it's about Dean raping Mick's wife. Then Mick informs her that he's received an offer from Alfie for the Vic.
When did this become all about you and not the slightest bit about me? wails Shirley, because for Shirley, everything is all about her. She even uses the standard line of missing Mick and still seeing him as a small boy; but he's not a small boy. He's a man hurting deeply because Shirley's son has ripped his family asunder.
Whilst he's talking with Shirley, Linda's looking at bars in Tenerife and telling Elaine about the move. She's moved on in her mind. Yet when Mick's returned, it's obvious that he doesn't want to sell the Vic. Why should he run? Why should he let Dean roust them out?
Then Linda takes command of the situation. They need to move on from this, and she's dealing with it by focusing on the baby. Maybe Mick should as well. As long as Mick creates this void in his mind where Dean can live and torment them, they can never move on. It's an awful situation, but they are just going to have to learn to live with Dean across the way. Mick's moods and his dilemmas regarding Shirley and Dean are affecting everyone, especially Linda -and now Mick thinks Linda is blaming him for the situation and leaves.
And Linda, following, trips and falls down the stairs.
This is the tragedy of the Carters, and I still care immensely about Linda and Mick. They can't move forward because of Dean's continuing presence and the fact that the baby Linda's carrying might be his. There is no redemption for Dean. He's a rapist. Linda knows it, Mick knows it, and Dean certainly knows it. As long as Dean is around, the Carters are trapped in a continuous circle with no end.
Two Senseless Idiots. I am Team Rebecca here. All the way. Sonia's behaviour was totally despicable tonight and so, really, was Tina's. Once again, Sonia's heaping the blame on Martin, telling their daughter that Martin caused her to hate herself. What a thing to tell a child!
No, Sonia, you caused yourself to hate yourself. Rebecca was right. Sonia was moving Tina in, without any thought of what Rebecca would think of the situation. At least, Rebecca understands the notion of honesty in a relationship, and she thought Tina should know that Sonia had slept with Martin. The basics of the situation is that Sonia cheated on Tina, who has, in the past cheated on Tosh when they were in a relationship, so really, Tina has no room to take the moral high ground here.
Sonia was absolutely pathetic in her begging Tina for another chance, saying she was drunk when she slept with Martin. Actually, Tina was right. All Sonia had to do was say no. Instead, Sonia accepted the offer of sex. She'll accept sex from anyone, male or female. And even Rebecca understood this concept -that Sonia was using Martin, and that wasn't right at all.
But that's exactly what Sonia is - a user. And how pathetically immature she acted around Rebecca in the lounge at Carol's, deigning to share a donut with the kid, and then laying into her, calling her an "interfering little cow". Sonia really doesn't like Rebecca, and she's essentially shunting her aside in a momentous sulk because she wants Tina. Ne'mind what Rebecca thinks. At the end of the day, Sonia's even trashmouthing Carol to Rebecca, whilst living in Carol's (well, Janine's) house, denigrating the sort of conversations she had with her own mother.
Sonia's head is crammed so far up her ample arse that she can't see the light of day. She's her own dildo.
As much as I dislike Sonia, I dislike Tina equally as much. The way she screws up her face and sulks is annoying, and she's drowning her sorrows - was that The Albert or a rare sighting of the R and R. Now Tina knows what it's like to have someone cheat on her skanky arse.
She and Tina deserve each other.
The Odd Couple.
Ronnie accuses Vincent of being arrogant, but her arrogance knows no bounds. She still really thinks she's the bees' knees and infinitely smarter than Vincent. She thinks he's offed the person she takes to be a two-bit drug dealer who would deal to an old lady - hardly high on police priority, says Ronnie, smugly. Well, hello? He's only a witness in a murder trial. My guess is that Vincent, himself, is the dealer.
As for Vincent, another Michael Moon-type who speaks in riddles.
Expect the unexpected. He intones as he leaves her. Who the hell talks that way. In fact, I hated that whole scene where they talked in riddles to each other. Did he expect they'd swan off into the sunset? She wants to know. He served a purpose. What? To get her a gun?
At least his corker was good - he knows what happened to Carl White.
Glad someone's remembered Carl. Now if only EastEnders would remember to serve this bitch some hot karma.
Alfie and Kat and Mick and Linda.
I liked the format of Alfie's and Kat's dilemma juxtaposed with that of Mick and Linda. I liked the way the episode picked up, literally, from the point on Friday where it left off - Alfie offering to buy the Vic from Mick - and it was as if an introspective race took off to find a point of honesty.
On one level, there were two couples examining a prospect for their respective futures - futures determined by one million pounds and what to do with it. Well, in Mick's case, it would be £900,000. On another level, it's two couples offered a second chance and an escape from pasts they'd both rather forget.
For Alfie, his dream is to buy the Vic, something Kat views as retrograde and pejorative. She's been there and done that. She also knows that the Vic harbours bad memories for them both - specifically, her infidelities and the strain it caused on their marriage. Yet she hast the gall to demand of Alfie why he always does such stupidthings. Without a doubt, Alfie has done stupid things, but then again, so has Kat, especially in the numerous infidelities she's inflicted upon Alfie, the public humiliation she's caused him on various occasions, and the abject cruelty she's inflicted.
For Mick, the money means a way out of a situation which is making him physically and emotionally ill. What's revealed in the Carters' tete-a-tete is that neither of the two are actually coping with the aftermath of Linda's rape, and whilst Linda makes a good show of moving on, Mick is aware that she wakes up crying in the night. Mick is having trouble dealing with the fact that Dean is still across the road, lording his freedom and presumed innocence over the pair of them.
Mick: Where's the justice in that?
Linda: There ain't no justice.
Selling the Vic, for Mick would, on the one hand, mean a new life for him and Linda, away from Dean and Shirley and her accusations of Linda being a liar, a life in the sun; yet he fears that doing this would brand him a coward, make him less of a man and show him to be weak. And in this instance, it's Linda who grasps the mettle, who decides that maybe a change is as good as a rest and encourages him to accept Alfie's offer.
Owning a pub like the Vic had been her dreams, but as she says, sometimes dreams aren't all they're made up to be. She's thinking of the Dean situation and what it's doing to Mick, who's just itching to get his hands on Dean and who knows that he can't.
The Carters' scene takes place in their bedroom, and so do the Moons'. Kat simply can't believe that, with a million quid in their pocket, all Alfie's perspective entails is owning the local boozer. There's so much they could do with that money, but Kat can't seem to articulate what she wants beyond the fact that she merely wants to be a good mum, a stay-at-home mum. She muses about how long it's been since she's seen Zoe - when it was made abundantly clear the other month that Zoe wanted nothing to do with Kat.
At the end of their dilemma, Alfie proposes that they take the boys and move away from Walford. To Australia.
The Moons are moving forward, and leaving the past behind. Once again, as in 2005, it seems that Alfie and Kat can only be happy when and if they leave Walford.
During the course of Mick's and Linda's soul searching, Linda tells Mick for the umpteenth time that she's no objection to Mick reconciling with Shirley. She knows Mick misses Shirley, but Mick cannot reconcile with her whilst she's still defending Dean, so Mick nips out to see Shirley in the cafe.
No one does constricted upset like Shirley, and she was almost sympathetic in that scene, but this was Shirley, taking advantage of Mick's turmoil to push some emotonal blackmail his way. She can see that Mick is upset, that this entire thing with Dean is making Mick ill. Well, it's making Shirl ill as well. After all, as she tells Mick, he's not the only one upset by this.
Mick comes right to the point.
Your son Dean is a liar. He's a rapist and he raped my wife.
But Shirley won't budge, she won't deny Dean and accuses Mick of making her choose between the two. She tells him that they will simply have to agree to disagree. but it's not as simple as that. It's not about who's having whom over for Christmas dinner; it's about Dean raping Mick's wife. Then Mick informs her that he's received an offer from Alfie for the Vic.
When did this become all about you and not the slightest bit about me? wails Shirley, because for Shirley, everything is all about her. She even uses the standard line of missing Mick and still seeing him as a small boy; but he's not a small boy. He's a man hurting deeply because Shirley's son has ripped his family asunder.
Whilst he's talking with Shirley, Linda's looking at bars in Tenerife and telling Elaine about the move. She's moved on in her mind. Yet when Mick's returned, it's obvious that he doesn't want to sell the Vic. Why should he run? Why should he let Dean roust them out?
Then Linda takes command of the situation. They need to move on from this, and she's dealing with it by focusing on the baby. Maybe Mick should as well. As long as Mick creates this void in his mind where Dean can live and torment them, they can never move on. It's an awful situation, but they are just going to have to learn to live with Dean across the way. Mick's moods and his dilemmas regarding Shirley and Dean are affecting everyone, especially Linda -and now Mick thinks Linda is blaming him for the situation and leaves.
And Linda, following, trips and falls down the stairs.
This is the tragedy of the Carters, and I still care immensely about Linda and Mick. They can't move forward because of Dean's continuing presence and the fact that the baby Linda's carrying might be his. There is no redemption for Dean. He's a rapist. Linda knows it, Mick knows it, and Dean certainly knows it. As long as Dean is around, the Carters are trapped in a continuous circle with no end.
Two Senseless Idiots. I am Team Rebecca here. All the way. Sonia's behaviour was totally despicable tonight and so, really, was Tina's. Once again, Sonia's heaping the blame on Martin, telling their daughter that Martin caused her to hate herself. What a thing to tell a child!
No, Sonia, you caused yourself to hate yourself. Rebecca was right. Sonia was moving Tina in, without any thought of what Rebecca would think of the situation. At least, Rebecca understands the notion of honesty in a relationship, and she thought Tina should know that Sonia had slept with Martin. The basics of the situation is that Sonia cheated on Tina, who has, in the past cheated on Tosh when they were in a relationship, so really, Tina has no room to take the moral high ground here.
Sonia was absolutely pathetic in her begging Tina for another chance, saying she was drunk when she slept with Martin. Actually, Tina was right. All Sonia had to do was say no. Instead, Sonia accepted the offer of sex. She'll accept sex from anyone, male or female. And even Rebecca understood this concept -that Sonia was using Martin, and that wasn't right at all.
But that's exactly what Sonia is - a user. And how pathetically immature she acted around Rebecca in the lounge at Carol's, deigning to share a donut with the kid, and then laying into her, calling her an "interfering little cow". Sonia really doesn't like Rebecca, and she's essentially shunting her aside in a momentous sulk because she wants Tina. Ne'mind what Rebecca thinks. At the end of the day, Sonia's even trashmouthing Carol to Rebecca, whilst living in Carol's (well, Janine's) house, denigrating the sort of conversations she had with her own mother.
Sonia's head is crammed so far up her ample arse that she can't see the light of day. She's her own dildo.
As much as I dislike Sonia, I dislike Tina equally as much. The way she screws up her face and sulks is annoying, and she's drowning her sorrows - was that The Albert or a rare sighting of the R and R. Now Tina knows what it's like to have someone cheat on her skanky arse.
She and Tina deserve each other.
The Odd Couple.
Ronnie accuses Vincent of being arrogant, but her arrogance knows no bounds. She still really thinks she's the bees' knees and infinitely smarter than Vincent. She thinks he's offed the person she takes to be a two-bit drug dealer who would deal to an old lady - hardly high on police priority, says Ronnie, smugly. Well, hello? He's only a witness in a murder trial. My guess is that Vincent, himself, is the dealer.
As for Vincent, another Michael Moon-type who speaks in riddles.
Expect the unexpected. He intones as he leaves her. Who the hell talks that way. In fact, I hated that whole scene where they talked in riddles to each other. Did he expect they'd swan off into the sunset? She wants to know. He served a purpose. What? To get her a gun?
At least his corker was good - he knows what happened to Carl White.
Glad someone's remembered Carl. Now if only EastEnders would remember to serve this bitch some hot karma.
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