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.