For a filler episode, this was quite a strong one, although we're getting into promoting another storyline which is infuriating and which is also going to be difficult to watch. Another thing that was disconcerting is seeing, once again, Sharon's search for her father put on hold whilst we engage in a bit of unfunny comedy concerning the Mitchells and the Fox-Hubbards.
However, the episode definitely had its moments.
Bar Wars.
Genetically speaking, Matthew Mitchell-Cotton is going to be one badass psychopathic asshole.
It's in the genes.
Charlie so doesn't love Ronnie. I wonder why? I don't know, but I would think it has something to the fact that maybe he's a little uneasy about being married to a woman who would happily crack the lid of a carboot across his neck whilst he was loading the picnic into the boot, then watch as a breakers' yard crushed his remains. Or maybe he prefers, as he's told Roxy many times, her softer sister, who may be a bit dim, but who's naturally sweet.
Losing Charlie's love and affection, for Ronnie, means losing control of Charlie. Remember Roxy rather astutely assessing in hospital that Ronnie only loved Charlie inasmuch as she was able to control him and have him do her every whim. While she's still recovering and now that she's at home, Ronnie finds she's not as much in control of the situation as she might like to be. Charlie tends to Matthew, or Roxy tends to Matthew; Ronnie has to rest, she's told.
Her suspicion is aroused, however, first by hearing Charlie and Roxy seemingly plot something with Fatboy. When she confronts them about having heard them speaking with "someone", asking who it was (and knowing very well that it was Fatboy), Charlie answers that it was "no one," while Roxy tells the truth. It turns out that today is Nick's second and real funeral. As Dot was not being allowed to go, Charlie had thought to send Fatboy to visit her.
His visit with Dot was filled with character foreshadowing, nonetheless, Dot reminiscing about how the reason she always gave Nick a second chance was down to God decreeing forgiveness. She wasn't sure Nick listened or even believed, then began to wonder if this was something to do with the Cotton blood. Nick's father was just like Nick.
Line of the night: That Charlie Cotton, he'd lie his socks off. And then the camera pans to ... Charlie Cotton (21st Century version) ... well, lying his socks off.
Charlie told Ronnie about Nick's funeral and how he was going, because he had to go. He didn't want Ronnie there. If it weren't for Nick, Ronnie wouldn't have been injured. (Correction: If it weren't for Ronnie ordering Phil to kill Nick and then robbing Phil blind to pay Nick, she wouldn't be in that predicament). Noble Charlie was going alone to pay his respects, with Matthew.
Noble Ronnie thought she'd follow, ordering Ben to get her into her trusty Blauvelt wheelchair, and take her to the funeral, where she sees Charlie and Roxy. Cue Ronnie's Elsa look, especially when she returns home and hears Roxy, Charlie and Amy having a laugh over pizza, and when Charlie brings up a piece for Roxy, she says she's sorry he had to endure the funeral on his own, well ... that Charlie Cotton ... he lied his socks off again.
Charlie wasn't alone, he said ... Matthew was with him.
Oo-er, as Dot would say. I think Ronnie throwing a hissy fit and crushing Charlie's wedding photo to shards of glass can only mean one thing for Charlie ... Les Coker's services.
Ronnie needs karma to bite her arse. Fast.
Rude Masood. I don't know who was worse tonight - Masood or Shirley.
Shirley barging into the cafe and shouting the odds about Shabnam telling Dean their child had died. Dean look cut up about it. Not. As he said, he was more concerned about people not coming through the door, and the reason for that is the reason behind why Shabnam thought to tell him that their baby was dead.
Masood's behaviour was despicable, and I was surprised that Tamwar turned out to be the hero of the piece. However, if I were Tamwar, I would have thought it was obvious why Shabnam told Dean their child had died - she simply didn't want someone like Dean, an accused rapist, to try to interfere in the child's life. And that's exactly what Masood is about to do.
To begin with, he's wrong. It's not the Carters who are collectively mourning "Roya's death." The likes of Mick, Linda, Nancy and Lee have other concerns. It's just one Carter (Shirley), a Wicks (Dean), and a Briggs (Buster), and the only one who seems upset about this is Shirley. Oh, and it wasn't Shabnam who approached Shirley's family. Dean came sniffing.
Masood needs to realise something. If the child whom Fatima thinks is Roya is, in fact, the child in question, her name is now Jade, and she's been raised, possibly with one foster family, possibly with more than one, as such and most likely, not as a Muslim. I agree with Tamwar. What, exactly, does Masood propose to do? Bring the child back to live with him and Tamwar? Because Shabnam is going forward with her own life, planning her wedding to Kush. She has told Masood explicitly that she doesn't want to know the child, and he should accept and respect her wishes. To go against her behind her back and undermine her is the height of disrespect, and he will deserve every ounce of shit that will rain down on him for such action.
Besides, as a grandparent, he has no right to the child. The child is in foster care, a ward of the state. For seven years, this child may have lived a stable life. She's got an identity that isn't in tune with either Masood's or Shirley's culture. The courts and Social Services would think long and hard, indeed, before they would consider either the Masoods or Shirley and Dean as suitable carers for this child.
I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that Jade isn't Roya - and if she is, isn't it confusing enough that Masood would try to re-name her? I have a feeling that Fatima is mistaken and that Shabnam's child has been adopted, which means she'll never find out where she is and who she is, until the child is an adult and comes looking for her.
Let's hope so.
Both Masood and Shirley were despicable tonight, and the way Masood is treating Shabnam is awful. No wonder he'll team up with his BFF Jane the Queen to find the child.
Speaking of cows ...
The Evil Queen. I find it hard to believe that Jane is feeling guilty - indeed, that Ian is feeling guilty - about chucking Cindy out. What really is at the bottomof their concern is that they're bricking it, thinking Cindy's told their dirty little secret to someone outside the family coven.
I also have a feeling that Liam knows where Cindy is, and she isn't in Devon "with friends." It would be easy enough to alert dippy Gina and ask her to have a ring-round amongst people Cindy knew in the area. If she's thrown in the towel for her exams, we've got yet another underqualified youngster on the programme, when she was quite intelligent.
Liam's hiding her someplace, but I'm glad the message Cindy gave out was that she never wanted to see Ian or Jane the Queen again. Good. Let them choke on all their phony words of loving her and missing her. They're shit-scared Cindy's going to sing like a bird about what really happened to Lucy.
However, the episode definitely had its moments.
Bar Wars.
Where did that big epiphany moment Phil had last week, the one where he laid everything on the line and gambled on Sharon being overwhelmed by the house and neighbourhood where (we think, we know) Gavin and Kathy live, where did it go, and how did it devolve, once again, into Phil fixing a posh breakfast for Sharon, and reckoning a big fancy meal "up West" would float her boat?
This is traditional Phil, and it's what he always does. He still thinks, after all these years, that all Sharon needs is something shiny waved in front of her and she rolls over. When Phil thought Sharon had lost The Arches whilst he was in prison, he cut her cold. There was hardly a time he didn't get a snide remark in about her inability to do business, but when Phil loses Sharon's business by totally underhanded and illegal practices, he expects her to get onside and play the game.
Sharon was right to remind him that she'd always supported him in his ventures, even when intinct told her that she was wrong to do so, but she supported him because that's what a wife is supposed to do, even taking the flak for The Arches in order to protect Ben.
Whilst Sharon goes off to parlay with Vincent about the running of the bar, the first thing Phil does is try to organise a Mitchell family dinner at Beales, something no one seems to want to attend.
When Vincent's in businessman mode, he's almost bearable, although I find it funny that Richard Blackwood, playing Vincent Hubbard, and heavily tattooed, has a prominent tattoo on his right arm, sporting his initials "R B" against a decorative background. I suppose "R B" in this instance could stand for "Right Bastard". He actually seems interested in what Sharon says until Kim enters.
I'm confused about how we're supposed to perceive Kim. Is she supposed to revert to being a comedy figure now? Because she isn't funny. Is she supposed to be the bitch in this instance? Vincent is right in his assessment that Kim will get bored quickly with running a business - when the B and B was going, it was always Denise who did the heavy work, whilst Kim lolled about.
The positive thing taken from this storyline is Phil's support and encouragement for Sharon in this endeavour. Yes, he lost The Albert for Sharon, but she marched right into dealing with Vincent and took her share back. The cocktail competition, in the middle of the afternoon, was a bit ludicrous. I don't know who'll win the two-bar competition, Sharon or Kim, but Kim won't want to be doing any sort of hard graft to sustain it. I'm actually finding now that I prefer Vincent to Kim, and I'm pretty dismayed that Denise has, once again, been relegated to being Kim's straight man.
Also, since Patrick and Denise were quick to toddle over to The Albert to buy Kim's cocktails, I can only assume that poor old Buster was seconded into babysitting Pearl, since we didn't see him throughout all of the episode.
"That Charlie Cotton ... He'd Lie His Socks Off."
This is traditional Phil, and it's what he always does. He still thinks, after all these years, that all Sharon needs is something shiny waved in front of her and she rolls over. When Phil thought Sharon had lost The Arches whilst he was in prison, he cut her cold. There was hardly a time he didn't get a snide remark in about her inability to do business, but when Phil loses Sharon's business by totally underhanded and illegal practices, he expects her to get onside and play the game.
Sharon was right to remind him that she'd always supported him in his ventures, even when intinct told her that she was wrong to do so, but she supported him because that's what a wife is supposed to do, even taking the flak for The Arches in order to protect Ben.
Whilst Sharon goes off to parlay with Vincent about the running of the bar, the first thing Phil does is try to organise a Mitchell family dinner at Beales, something no one seems to want to attend.
When Vincent's in businessman mode, he's almost bearable, although I find it funny that Richard Blackwood, playing Vincent Hubbard, and heavily tattooed, has a prominent tattoo on his right arm, sporting his initials "R B" against a decorative background. I suppose "R B" in this instance could stand for "Right Bastard". He actually seems interested in what Sharon says until Kim enters.
I'm confused about how we're supposed to perceive Kim. Is she supposed to revert to being a comedy figure now? Because she isn't funny. Is she supposed to be the bitch in this instance? Vincent is right in his assessment that Kim will get bored quickly with running a business - when the B and B was going, it was always Denise who did the heavy work, whilst Kim lolled about.
The positive thing taken from this storyline is Phil's support and encouragement for Sharon in this endeavour. Yes, he lost The Albert for Sharon, but she marched right into dealing with Vincent and took her share back. The cocktail competition, in the middle of the afternoon, was a bit ludicrous. I don't know who'll win the two-bar competition, Sharon or Kim, but Kim won't want to be doing any sort of hard graft to sustain it. I'm actually finding now that I prefer Vincent to Kim, and I'm pretty dismayed that Denise has, once again, been relegated to being Kim's straight man.
Also, since Patrick and Denise were quick to toddle over to The Albert to buy Kim's cocktails, I can only assume that poor old Buster was seconded into babysitting Pearl, since we didn't see him throughout all of the episode.
"That Charlie Cotton ... He'd Lie His Socks Off."
Genetically speaking, Matthew Mitchell-Cotton is going to be one badass psychopathic asshole.
It's in the genes.
Charlie so doesn't love Ronnie. I wonder why? I don't know, but I would think it has something to the fact that maybe he's a little uneasy about being married to a woman who would happily crack the lid of a carboot across his neck whilst he was loading the picnic into the boot, then watch as a breakers' yard crushed his remains. Or maybe he prefers, as he's told Roxy many times, her softer sister, who may be a bit dim, but who's naturally sweet.
Losing Charlie's love and affection, for Ronnie, means losing control of Charlie. Remember Roxy rather astutely assessing in hospital that Ronnie only loved Charlie inasmuch as she was able to control him and have him do her every whim. While she's still recovering and now that she's at home, Ronnie finds she's not as much in control of the situation as she might like to be. Charlie tends to Matthew, or Roxy tends to Matthew; Ronnie has to rest, she's told.
Her suspicion is aroused, however, first by hearing Charlie and Roxy seemingly plot something with Fatboy. When she confronts them about having heard them speaking with "someone", asking who it was (and knowing very well that it was Fatboy), Charlie answers that it was "no one," while Roxy tells the truth. It turns out that today is Nick's second and real funeral. As Dot was not being allowed to go, Charlie had thought to send Fatboy to visit her.
His visit with Dot was filled with character foreshadowing, nonetheless, Dot reminiscing about how the reason she always gave Nick a second chance was down to God decreeing forgiveness. She wasn't sure Nick listened or even believed, then began to wonder if this was something to do with the Cotton blood. Nick's father was just like Nick.
Line of the night: That Charlie Cotton, he'd lie his socks off. And then the camera pans to ... Charlie Cotton (21st Century version) ... well, lying his socks off.
Charlie told Ronnie about Nick's funeral and how he was going, because he had to go. He didn't want Ronnie there. If it weren't for Nick, Ronnie wouldn't have been injured. (Correction: If it weren't for Ronnie ordering Phil to kill Nick and then robbing Phil blind to pay Nick, she wouldn't be in that predicament). Noble Charlie was going alone to pay his respects, with Matthew.
Noble Ronnie thought she'd follow, ordering Ben to get her into her trusty Blauvelt wheelchair, and take her to the funeral, where she sees Charlie and Roxy. Cue Ronnie's Elsa look, especially when she returns home and hears Roxy, Charlie and Amy having a laugh over pizza, and when Charlie brings up a piece for Roxy, she says she's sorry he had to endure the funeral on his own, well ... that Charlie Cotton ... he lied his socks off again.
Charlie wasn't alone, he said ... Matthew was with him.
Oo-er, as Dot would say. I think Ronnie throwing a hissy fit and crushing Charlie's wedding photo to shards of glass can only mean one thing for Charlie ... Les Coker's services.
Ronnie needs karma to bite her arse. Fast.
Rude Masood. I don't know who was worse tonight - Masood or Shirley.
Shirley barging into the cafe and shouting the odds about Shabnam telling Dean their child had died. Dean look cut up about it. Not. As he said, he was more concerned about people not coming through the door, and the reason for that is the reason behind why Shabnam thought to tell him that their baby was dead.
Masood's behaviour was despicable, and I was surprised that Tamwar turned out to be the hero of the piece. However, if I were Tamwar, I would have thought it was obvious why Shabnam told Dean their child had died - she simply didn't want someone like Dean, an accused rapist, to try to interfere in the child's life. And that's exactly what Masood is about to do.
To begin with, he's wrong. It's not the Carters who are collectively mourning "Roya's death." The likes of Mick, Linda, Nancy and Lee have other concerns. It's just one Carter (Shirley), a Wicks (Dean), and a Briggs (Buster), and the only one who seems upset about this is Shirley. Oh, and it wasn't Shabnam who approached Shirley's family. Dean came sniffing.
Masood needs to realise something. If the child whom Fatima thinks is Roya is, in fact, the child in question, her name is now Jade, and she's been raised, possibly with one foster family, possibly with more than one, as such and most likely, not as a Muslim. I agree with Tamwar. What, exactly, does Masood propose to do? Bring the child back to live with him and Tamwar? Because Shabnam is going forward with her own life, planning her wedding to Kush. She has told Masood explicitly that she doesn't want to know the child, and he should accept and respect her wishes. To go against her behind her back and undermine her is the height of disrespect, and he will deserve every ounce of shit that will rain down on him for such action.
Besides, as a grandparent, he has no right to the child. The child is in foster care, a ward of the state. For seven years, this child may have lived a stable life. She's got an identity that isn't in tune with either Masood's or Shirley's culture. The courts and Social Services would think long and hard, indeed, before they would consider either the Masoods or Shirley and Dean as suitable carers for this child.
I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that Jade isn't Roya - and if she is, isn't it confusing enough that Masood would try to re-name her? I have a feeling that Fatima is mistaken and that Shabnam's child has been adopted, which means she'll never find out where she is and who she is, until the child is an adult and comes looking for her.
Let's hope so.
Both Masood and Shirley were despicable tonight, and the way Masood is treating Shabnam is awful. No wonder he'll team up with his BFF Jane the Queen to find the child.
Speaking of cows ...
The Evil Queen. I find it hard to believe that Jane is feeling guilty - indeed, that Ian is feeling guilty - about chucking Cindy out. What really is at the bottomof their concern is that they're bricking it, thinking Cindy's told their dirty little secret to someone outside the family coven.
I also have a feeling that Liam knows where Cindy is, and she isn't in Devon "with friends." It would be easy enough to alert dippy Gina and ask her to have a ring-round amongst people Cindy knew in the area. If she's thrown in the towel for her exams, we've got yet another underqualified youngster on the programme, when she was quite intelligent.
Liam's hiding her someplace, but I'm glad the message Cindy gave out was that she never wanted to see Ian or Jane the Queen again. Good. Let them choke on all their phony words of loving her and missing her. They're shit-scared Cindy's going to sing like a bird about what really happened to Lucy.
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