EastEnders October 13th- October 19th 2012

This week in Eastenders saw the Masood family take centre stage. They haven’t been centre stage since the Yusef storyline last year, so it was great to see them acting their hearts out again. The week dawned with Syed and Christian’s partnership ceremony which saw them finally commit to each other.

 

 Syed had doubts about going through with the ceremony and told Christian this and about his kiss with city banker Danny. Christian forgave him and so it seemed all was well. After all, Zainab had told Christian that she admired his determination in not giving up on Syed and that she was proud he was now part of their family. Masood also proudly declared that he had gained a son in Christian and that he was so proud of the family for reaching his point. I had to laugh as it wasn’t that long ago that Masood walked past Christian getting beaten up in the street and did absolutely nothing. This was a key moment for the character of Masood- it showed he had a dark side.

Roxy confessed her worries to Christian and basically told him that she worried that she was losing him to Syed and she didn’t think Syed would ever truly make him happy. This caused some friction between the best friends but this was forgotten when Roxy stepped forward and offered Christian the money to pay back to the Masoods. This money was the cash that Syed had used to pay off a cleaning contractor when in fact he said he was giving it to the bank for the missed mortgage payments.  These lies exploded spectacularly as the bailiffs arrived at the wedding venue (the Arjee Bharjee) and said they were repossessing the property because of four missed mortgage payments.

 

Syed did a runner as this was happening and wanted to run away, but Christian refused. Christian forced Syed to face up to his responsibilities and that he did. Syed told his parents everything and exonerated Tamwar in the process. Masood was absolutely furious and told Zainab he wanted her to leave. And leave she did as we saw a taxi driving away from the square. Will she be back? And will Syed and Christian raise the money to pay back the baliffs?

 

EastEnders October 6th- October 12th 2012

After little Lexi was removed from Lola’s care, we have seen a new side to Lola. Gone is the gobby chav who would get into a fight if you looked at her in the ‘wrong way’. Instead, we have seen a new, mature Lola who has found her true vocation in motherhood. Since her daughter has been taken by social services Lola has been left utterly bereft and inconsolable.

This week saw her struggling to function and not wanting to carry on without her beloved daughter. Thankfully she was spurred to fight for her daughter by Cora who gave her some words of wisdom and said that she couldn’t believe Lola was giving up so easily. Cora implored her not to give up and said little Lexi needed her mother more than ever. This reverse psychology from Cora did the trick and Lola found her motivation that had been lacking.

 

 Lola was granted a three hour visit with her daughter but still found it hard to hand her back to her social worker at the end of this period. Don’t get me started on social services or how they have been portrayed by EastEnders. Trish, who as Lola’s social worker should be supporting her, is cold and not very encouraging. It is no wonder that Lola feels uncomfortable about the whole situation! I don’t think Lexi should have been taken away in the first place.

Lexi’s removal has set up a new storyline which saw Lola tell Phil that Ben is her father. Phil was so shocked and couldn’t get his head around his gay son being a father but offered Lola help in getting Lexi back. Billy told Phil to get lost and that they didn’t need his assistance. It was obvious that Billy was being set up for a fall and by the end of the week he was begging Phil for help. Phil agreed to help, but on one condition: Lola and Lexi would move in with him. Billy was devastated but knew that he had no other option if Lola was to get her daughter back. EastEnders are kind of repeating history here as whoever Billy gets close to always ends up leaving him for Phil: Jay and now Lola. This storyline is just beginning and I’m sure we will see many more twists and turns as the week’s progress.

 

Alice Branning has always been quite plain but this week saw Tanya give her a makeover. Derek was furious at her interference as he branded the makeover ‘tarty’. Frankly, Alice looked lovely and very attractive. Her usual dowdiness masks her true beauty. Unfortunately Alice was mugged and Derek took this opportunity to blame Tanya and her makeover for the mugging.

 

 Alice correctly pointed out that she was mugged for her expensive mobile phone which Derek had himself given her only hours earlier. Derek also mouthed off about Dennis Rickman being stabbed in front of little Denny. Sharon was furious at him for revealing the awful truth in this way: she had told Denny that his dad died in a helicopter crash and that he was a war hero. Obviously she would have to tell him the truth one day but she would have done this in her own way and Derek took this opportunity away from her. Thankfully Alice made him apologise to Sharon and Tanya but this apology wasn’t enough for Sharon to stay away from the pills. Jack discovered her ‘addiction’ and encouraged her to pour the drugs away (which she did). So Sharon ended the week clean from her addiction and living with Jack. But can she really keep away from the pills that have been masking her pain?

 

EastEnders September 29th- October 5th 2012

This week was certainly a step up from last week. Indeed, I actually watched the episodes without clock watching and wondering ‘is this episode ever going to end?’ I find that the better quality episodes go really fast and that the dull ones drag on for what seems like forever when it is still only 30 minutes long. This week saw the return of Kat and Alfie Moon after they had left for a few weeks while Alfie got to grips with Kat’s confession that she had been having an affair. Of course Alfie should have dumped Kat at once but being the softy he is, he forgave her and believed her insistences that she would never cheat on him again. I don’t believe this for one second as Kat has promised this before but then gone on to cheat again.

They returned to the news that Phil had taken over at the Vic and that they were out of jobs. Phil, as owner, had every right to do this as they had just upped and left without any prior warning. Kat and Alfie were crestfallen but Kat insisted that it was her fault and she would persuade Phil to change his mind. I immediately thought Slutter Slater would return and offer Phil sexual favours in order to get their jobs back. Instead, Kat acted like an adult and insisted to Phil that they wouldn’t let him down again and that they were both very sorry for leaving him in the lurch. This act of contrition did nothing to sway Phil and he still stood firm in his decision that they no longer had jobs. Kat realised desperate action was needed and surprisingly she didn’t drop her knickers for Phil. To raise the rent that they had defaulted on, she pawned her late mother’s engagement ring and this obviously was a desperate thing for Kat to do. It worked as Phil listened to her begging and to the news that she had been having an affair and so needed the Vic to fix her marriage. Phil gave her and Alfie one last chance and warned them not to let him down again as next time he wouldn’t be so generous. Alfie was happy but not his usual self so clearly Kat’s affair has affected him in more ways than we had realised. This became evident as he repeatedly asked Kat who her mystery man was. He asked her if it was Michael after seeing her coaching a struggling Michael and then Phil after learning that she had persuaded him to give them their jobs back. Only time will tell whether Alfie fully learns to trust Kat again.

 

The other big storyline this week was baby Lexi being taken away by social services after Alexa reported Lola for assault. Lola did punch Alexa in the face but this was only after she and her gang had bullied Abi continuously and then threatened to kill baby Lexi. I’m not surprised that Lola lost it and punched Alexa because as a parent she was trying to protect her child and Alexa’s threats were vile. Lola shouldn’t have listened to the bullies though as they reported Lola to the police and social services came and took little Lexi.

 

I felt so sorry for Lola when this was happening as despite everything she is a good mum to her daughter and would do anything to protect her. I also felt angry at the social worker for being so swift to take Lexi away. The social worker had barely left Lola alone and had been visiting her daily to check up on her despite Lola giving her no real reason to do so. Lexi was never in any danger and the worst that had happened to her was wearing a tea towel for a nappy for a few minutes while Billy went to buy nappies. The dishes were building up in the sink and the table could have done with a wipe but these are not real reasons for a social worker to constantly harass a young mum. Yes, Lola was on a tag for vandalism but this did not affect her ability to be a mother in any way.  Danielle Harold gave a fantastic performance as the young mum distraught at losing her daughter and proved herself a brilliant actress in a show filled with them. Lola has really stepped up to the plate as a mother and I desperately hope that she gets Lexi back for good.

 

EastEnders September 22nd- September 28th 2012

This week saw recent returnee Sharon Watts get a storyline of sorts. I have been waiting for her to get a proper storyline since she returned and I don’t count the return episodes as a proper storyline as they were quite frankly, rubbish and over the top.

·         This week saw Sharon enter a meeting for addicts and declare herself an addict. And that is it. On the Monday she declared herself an addict and then it wasn’t mentioned at all for the rest of the week which was unrealistic and just stupid. So EastEnders give Sharon something to do and then don’t mention her shocking confession for the rest of the week. That makes sense. Not.

·         It seems Sharon is addicted to painkillers and keeps a stash in her bag and in the filing cabinet at work in order to ease her anxiety. She doesn’t need them for physical pain of course; she is just addicted to the feeling of calm they give her after the terrible anxiety caused by seeing her husband murdered right in front of her. I hope in the coming weeks and months we actually see this explained in some way and see Sharon confiding in her good friends Phil and Ian. (I don’t count Tanya as a proper friend because they’ve only known each other for five minutes.)

 

 

·         Syed Masood is a character that has been underused for months now and his only real storyline since his 2010 wedding is his money worries and the fact that he has stolen from the family business in order to clear his debts which have built up as a result of Janine’s exit. Left in danger of bankruptcy, he forged a cheque on behalf of Tamwar and then lied to Zainab about Tamwar’s business debts. Zee then gave her son her life savings and ordered him to pay off Tam’s debts and not to tell anyone. So Syed has returned to his 2009 self and this is the lying, shifty character who is ultimately a coward beneath the bravado. I also don’t buy Zainab’s continued interest in his partnership with Christian. She was a homophobe until like five minutes ago and I bet Zainab is kicking herself now considering she gave Yusef’s inheritance to Kim and Denise to rebuild the B&B and now it turns out she really needs it. Syed confided in a city banker who was dining at the restaurant and who was clearly flirting with him. Will Syed cheat? (I’m guessing the answer is yes as he and Christian are due to leave next month.)

·         Michael Moon is nutty at the best of times but he’s really lost it now! He’s snappy with almost everyone and this week he confessed to Roxy that he didn’t care what happened to Scarlett and this scared him. I agree with Roxy- he needs help and if I were her I’d be straight on the phone to social services because he’s clearly not coping with his daughter without Janine. I never thought I’d say this but he really needs Janine at his side as without her he is weak and lacking the spark that he previously had. In the meantime, it looks like we will be treated to more scenes of Michael looming over Scarlett’s pram and then palming her off with the latest neighbour who agrees to baby sit while he attends a ‘really important business meeting’.

·         Derek and Joey’s feud of sorts picked up pace as Joey called the police and attempted to set his dad up with the police. It all started when Joey pretended to be friendly to his dad and instead was plotting his downfall. Derek and Joey began to reminisce about Derek’s old car and Joey told of his regret in that he never actually got to drive the car. Derek told Joey he would ‘sort it’ and of course Joey thought that Derek would steal one to show him and so called the police and told them that there would be a stolen car parked outside the R&R club that night. What Joey didn’t realise was that Derek was one step ahead of him and so brought along a toy car which he brought out of his pocket much to Joey’s disbelief. Joey was left humiliated and I can’t say I’m bothered either way as I haven’t particularly warmed to the character.

 

All in all it was a fairly good week, but nothing explosive happened which is worrying as we are entering autumn which is traditionally the season in which plots begin to seriously heat up.

EastEnders September 15th- September 21st 2012

After Bryan Kirkwood’s often up and down tenure as Executive Producer of EastEnders, I was hoping Lorraine Newman would produce and oversee episodes of greater quality. Unfortunately, the past week was consistent in being bad after the quality episode of last Friday which saw Janine’s temporary exit which allowed actress Charlie Brooks to take a six month break.

The week centred on characters which are unlikeable and who moan at their dire situations when the viewer is trying really hard to care. I really thought EastEnders would be of a better quality as we approach autumn as this is the period which traditionally sees the greatest drama and storyline culminations. The quality was so bad that I can’t motivate myself to write a lengthy piece on the week. Instead, I will do bullet points:

We had:

·         Lola’s social worker calling literally every episode which was highly unrealistic as social workers do not do this in real life!

·         Billy Mitchell’s role of the loser of the Square confirmed as Michael sacked him and left him without a job.

·         Cora Cross “getting on my wick” as Strictly’s Len Goodman would put it. She is always rude to people for no reason and now I can see why she has had an ASBO!

·         Denise and Sharon sniping at each other for no reason. I want these two to be friends, not frenemies! Why can’t Denise be given a proper storyline?! Diane Parish is fantastic but not being used to her potential which really irks me.

·         Michael fuming at Janine’s exit and her actions since (she froze the business accounts leaving him virtually penniless)

·         Phil very nearly hitting the bottle but being persuaded not to by Sharon who instead told him to fight on and run his businesses to give himself something to focus on. This saw the unpleasant Phil Mitchell to return- he was rude and arrogant when bossing Jean and Fatboy about.

·         Jack upsetting Sharon by organising a babysitter for ‘Denny’ (call him Dennis please Sharon, Denny is wearing thin!) without her permission. It all turned out ok though as Sharon and Jack made up (but not love. Yet...)

·         Max acting shifty and giving Tanya a calendar with cats on which showed their wedding day as this Christmas Eve. This aroused my suspicions as the calendar had cats on and Kat is seeing a Branning brother behind Alfie’s back...

·         Zainab being weirdly enthusiastic about Syed and Christian’s upcoming civil partnership considering she was homophobic just two years ago.

·         Syed spiralling further and further into debt as he stole £10,000 from his brother’s business in order to pay a debt. I find it hard to care about this as it has been announced that Syed and Christian will both be leaving in November. This is typical EastEnders: give characters a storyline when it has been announced that they are leaving. This has happened before with Vanessa Gold and Julie Perkins who were not used for months and only made interesting and given something to do when they were on their way out.

·         Tyler return and punch Joey after Joey mocked him for losing the Emporium.

·         Kim Fox being her usual idiotic self. Does she not do serious? Her constant ‘comedy’ is wearing thing and is losing its effectiveness.

All in all, a fairly poor week. I seriously hope the next few weeks pick up quality wise and feature characters who are written well and who are not moaning at their circumstances despite their circumstances being their own faults (Lola, Michael,  Billy).

EastEnders September 8th- September 14th 2012

This week in EastEnders has mostly been about two couples- Kat and Alfie, and Janine and Michael. The episodes throughout the week were building up to one big crescendo and this was Kat’s confession to Alfie and Janine’s paranoia and eventual exit.

This all started on Monday with Janine once again asking Billy to help her spy on Michael and report his movements to her. Janine wanted Michael watched because she didn’t trust him around other women and also because she didn’t trust him around her beloved cash. Janine also installed spyware (unsuccessfully) on his computer and tried to make Michael come home by enticing him home with various gifts throughout the day. This behaviour started to unsettle Michael who began to worry about his new wife’s state of mind. As the week ended, Janine gave Michael a briefcase with £450,000 cash inside it. She said that if he really wanted her money that much he could have it. But if he took the cash, he was to never come near her or Scarlett ever again. This infuriated Michael as he couldn’t believe that Janine still didn’t trust him after everything they had been through with baby Scarlett and her premature birth. This led to a heart-to-heart with Janine saying she just couldn’t trust him and Michael saying that initially he had been after her money, but that he had grown to love her and that the money didn’t matter to him anymore. Michael also said some nasty, spiteful things in the heat of the moment. He believed Scarlett was better off without Janine and that she could never love anyone as much as she loved her cash. This touched a nerve with Janine as she realised she was right. This was heart breaking to watch as you knew Janine was ill and needed help. She had after all, been paranoid about her husband while also looking after a baby. The strain proved too much for Janine as she insisted that Michael was right. She could never be a wife and mother and so it was best if she left the square. As Janine drove off in floods of tears it was left to Michael to whisper “but I love you” as held their baby in his arms.  So it's bye bye Janine but thankfully it's only for six months as Charlie Brooks take a break.

 

Meanwhile, the week started with Kat throwing away the key to the flat where she had been meeting her mystery lover. She clearly did this to avoid temptation and make her focus on her family. Jean later found the key and put it on the bar in case a customer had lost it. This made Kat give into temptation and meet her mystery lover once again. This time she spent the night there and woke up the next day feeling ashamed of her actions and in need of an alibi. Luckily for her, Kim agreed to give her an alibi but only after Kat told her where she had been. Did Kat tell Kim everything? Of course she didn’t. Instead she lied to her and Kim bought her story of helping an old friend called ‘Debbie’. I wonder if this is a subtle clue by the writers- D for Debbie and Derek. I’ve always believed her lover is Derek (as much as the thought repulses me). So Kat’s lies had eased Alfie’s suspicions but these suspicions were aroused again as Kat received a bouquet of flowers from her lover with a card saying he loved her. Kat hid the card and said her flowers were from her dad. Alfie knew that a father doesn’t send rose to his daughter and insisted on his wife being honest with him. Kat insisted there was no one else but later buckled and told Alfie everything apart from whom the mystery man was. A disgusted Alfie threw her out into the night but later took her back as she insisted that she wasn’t sure if she loved her mystery man but that she loved her family unit more. Alfie agreed to go away with her for a week and see if he could forgive her.

 

Yawn!

Alfie’s problem is that he forgives her every time. He finally showed some courage by throwing her out but took her back not an hour later as she turned on the water works and agreed to phone her lover in front of him and tell him that it was over for good. In my opinion Alfie needs to move on from Kat with someone else. Roxy perhaps? The reason I ponder this is because Kat cannot stay faithful to him and to be frank, Alfie deserves better than to live his life wondering if Kat has cheated on him- again.

 

In other news….

Lucy further softened towards Ian as he went for his meeting with his ‘mental health people’ (as Sharon so eloquently put it). Ian broke down and told Lucy that he was sorry for everything but would try to be there for her in future….

Alice told Derek that he had to let her live her life and stop interfering. Derek promised to stay out of her business but I can’t see this happening!

Tanya comforted a heartbroken Abi and told her that she would find someone else. Abi told Tanya that she didn’t want anyone else- she couldn’t help loving Jay despite knowing what he had done.

EastEnders September 1st- September 7th 2012

Another week in soap has passed but what has been happening?

EastEnders- The week’s BIG story

Finally! This week saw some proper kitchen sink drama in EastEnders, courtesy of an unbalanced Shirley Carter who is played to perfection by Linda Henry. Shirley’s life has unravelled ever since she discovered the horrific truth about who killed her best friend Heather. Leaving Phil and vowing to destroy him, Shirley turned to drink to numb her pain. As the week progressed we saw Shirley becoming increasingly volatile after Kat chucked her out of the Vic because she blamed her for the bed bug infestation. (The real source was Kat as it turned out her flat she shared with her mystery lover was the place from which she had spread the bugs).

Thankfully, Jean took pity on Shirley and told her that she needed to sort her life out while she still had the chance. She urged Shirley to move on as living in Walford was clearly eating away at her. This was true and the scenes were acted to perfection by Gillian Wright and Linda Henry. We even had some dark comedy as Shirley branded Jean a “nutter” and saw some real chemistry between the two. I hope this unlikely friendship is developed when Shirley returns later in the year. Back to this week, and Jean’s kindness and words of wisdom didn’t last long as Shirley turned to booze again and ended up sleeping on a bench in the square and on the floor outside the minute mart. Denise showed her some compassion and urged her to come back to the B&B with her as she really needed to pull herself together. After bumping into Jay and being urged by Patrick to forgive him, Shirley attacked him and told him that she would never forgive him for the lies he had told to protect Ben.

 

Clearly dismayed at her inability to forgive (and who can blame Shirley for that?!), Denise said that maybe Shirley should move on. Denise and Jean’s words of wisdom were both spookily accurate- Shirley had to heal away from a place that held such bad memories. Indeed, days earlier Shirley had nearly been attacked after a man wouldn’t take no for an answer. Luckily Phil punched him and sent him on his way but Shirley still didn’t want to know.

 

Indeed, Phil realised that Shirley needed her daughter’s help after she visited him and tried to make him turn to drink again. Not a good move when he’s an alcoholic, eh Shirl! Phil said that he wouldn’t turn to drink because he loved her and wanted to be there for her when she came round and forgave him. This angered Shirley and deciding that she would leave Walford, she stumbled through the square before falling into a gutter still clutching her bottle of scotch. This was what Carly first saw as she returned to the square and being unsurprisingly disgusted at her mum’s condition, she proceeded to walk straight back out of her life.

This led us to the last episode of the week and what a treat it was!

Denise pleaded with Carly to stay and hear her mum out. Phil also approached Carly and offered her cash to take her mum away from the Square. Of course we were left wondering if he wants her away from the Square because of her health or because she keeps threatening to tell the police that he was protecting Ben all along. Carly was disgusted at Phil’s offer and raged that he had taken half of her mum away. Yes, Carly did listen and stuck around long enough to have a mini heart- to –heart with her estranged mother.

 

 There was a beautiful moment when Shirley held her newborn grandson in her arms and smiled a proper genuine smile. This was so nice to see as we rarely see Shirley smile! Carly then offered her mum the chance to go and live with her until she got back on her feet so to speak. Shirley accepted and after forgiving Jay for his part in Heather’s death, warned Phil that when he least expected it, she would be back! So that is the end of Shirley for a few months at least as Linda Henry takes a well deserved break. This storyline has really brought Shirley to the forefront of the show and this can only be a good thing!

 

In Other News:

Zainab showed some compassion towards Ian and accompanied him to the doctors.

Sharon and Tanya made friends after Sharon confessed that Dennis has been murdered.

Lucy began to soften towards Ian.