Hollyoaks: #DontFilterFeelings

(Monday 16^th – Friday 20^th March 2020)

Juliet and Sid are in way too deep with Jordan already but this is clearly just the beginning as he refuses to take no for an answer about them selling drugs for him. He threatens to tell Juliet’s family what she has been up to. Deciding to end things once and for all, Juliet opts to be honest with her family. Unfortunately, she overhears Romeo and James doubting her honesty and she cannot bear to prove them right. What she doesn’t hear is the end of the conversation and James putting his absolute faith in her. Subsequently, Sid and Juliet agree to work for Jordan, who has been getting up close and personal with Peri. This is also the first time we see a flicker of attraction on Juliet’s behalf towards Peri, which we know by the end of the year, will turn into love.

Darren is lost in the pit of depression…

Oblivious Mandy goes out for the day, leaving Darren all by himself. Desperate not to be alone, he arranges to spend time with Luke and Kyle. When they leave him to return to their partners in the evening, he is left broken again. He upsets Oscar, who tells him they never have any fun together anymore and pretends to be asleep when Mandy comes home. He cries alone.

When he backs out of the open mic night he has be obsessing over for weeks, claiming to be unwell, Mandy is at her wit’s end with him. When she expresses her concerns to their friends, Kyle also backs out of the open mic night (leaving a spot open for Cindy to insult people), and visits Darren. Once he’s actually got through the door, the boys have the first heart to heart I think they’ve ever had. Kyle suspects that Darren is suffering with depression. He tells him about ‘a friend’ he had while he was in rehab (news to Darren) who suffered terribly with depression. He admits that it never really left him and refers to a coping mechanism he had of pinching his hand when he got anxious. He advises Darren to keep it quiet (terrible advice!), claiming that Mandy won’t understand and will just tell him to man up. That night, Kyle smokes weed alone and cries. His pinches his hand. As all viewers knew, he is the friend he was talking about.

The next day, Darren makes a big effort with Mandy. Kyle visits, worried about Darren after her doesn’t reply to his calls or texts. Nancy is embarrassed when Kyle shows up to school in his green Lycra to very sweetly bring her some lunch. She accepts the lunch but hurriedly sends him away. No wonder the poor guy feels so rejected; she hasn’t exactly made it a secret that she thinks he’s beneath her. They’re meant to be getting married in ten wees and she wasn’t brimming over with joy about that. Plus, she told him that wasn’t cut out to be a father after her miscarriage. And there’s the small matter of her cheating on him with Darren. Her disregard for Kyle is quite obvious. It’s really very sad. And it’s a very interesting story, actually. As a viewer, I’ve very easily noticed the state that Darren has been in but I didn’t realise the depth of despair that Kyle was facing.

Thankfully, Darren does notice Kyle, stoned on skunk and hurries to sober him up, even though it means cancelling his date with Mandy. He is worried about his friend smoking and is sceptical over him doing it to solve his physical pain.

The next day, Mandy is busy but is eager for tickets so she sets Darren and Kyle the task of queuing online for them. Of course, they get distracted with video games and lose their place in the queue. Thankfully, Kyle has a contact at the venue and scores the tickets that way instead so Mandy need never know they messed up.

Edward struggles to control his jealousy of Diane and Tony, particularly on his and his late wife’s wedding anniversary where he tells Diane that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her instead now. Things come to a head when Edward wins a prestigious award and threatens to reveal all about their affair during his speech but backs out at the minute. During the party, Diane takes him aside to make it clear that they are over and Tony must never know about their affair. Edward ‘just so happens’ to still have his microphone on and while Tony is in the middle of his own speech about how proud he is of his Dad, the truth about the affair comes out to the whole room. Eventually, Tony kicks Edward out of the house but gives Diane a choice – him or Edward. She chooses Tony. Good!

Edward is particularly rude to Misbah who only has the best of intentions when she is concerned over him doing too many hours at work. Tony refuses to let his Dad get into his head over Diane.

Liam continues to throw his weight around with his enemies. Liam manages against the odds to get Warren out of prison, only for Liam to have him beaten to within an inch of his life. Liam continues to throw his weight around with Maxine, sending a client round to her house for sex, prompting an argument when she refuses. He doesn’t want to take no for an answer.

Due to the Coronavirus, Hollyoaks has had to suspend filming

For now, Hollyoaks still airs on Channel 4 at 6:30pm with a sneak peek 7pm on E4

These reviews are based on the E4 episodes

Eastenders: Baby of Mine

(Monday 16^th – Tuesday 17^th March 2020)

The Coronavirus has suspended filming of Eastenders and now all the other soaps so this week, we only got two episodes (Monday and Tuesday). I will try and keep people informed over changes to schedules as I can.

So… something has definitely shifted in the Atkins household since Gray’s brutal assault on Chantelle. While he is walking on eggshells, she has completely shut him out and clearly feels broken by what he has done to her. She refuses to let him near her, including hiding from him when she gets dressed, as she is wrapped in bandages to try and heal all her cuts and bruises. When he does walk in on her and sees what he has done to her, he is visibly shaken but it may just be too late. She even flatly informs him that she has taken a job at the call centre with Kheerat and refuses to apologise for it, despite his objections. All we can hope is that this may be the beginning of her finding the strength to leave him.

Gray continues to work on Whitney’s case while she reluctantly recovers from her collapse in hospital. She is still refusing to eat. Gray searches Whitney’s room in frustration, looking for any kind of clue that Leo was stalking her and finally, looks up and sees the hole in the ceiling. He and Sonia then discover the creepy loft room, full of evidence of stalking and a planned attack on Whitney. This could be the ultimate key to her release. Gray appeals to his boss about his job, confident that Whitney’s case is now something he can win but it doesn’t look as if it is going to be that easy.

Sharon continues to struggle to be a mother to Kayden, although Linda is proving to be a true friend, offering to look after both him and her. She takes her to register the birth and is a genuine, kind, listening ear.

Sharon is further broken when she receives the news that Denny’s body has been released and she can go ahead with the funeral. Kathy goes with her to begin making plans with Jay. She goes to see the coffin (presumably it was too much to show a child in coffin on Tuesday night!) and breaks down, telling him that she could never love anyone the way she loves him. Well, that doesn’t bode well for the baby.

After a chat with Denise about when she had Raymond adopted and having left Kayden with Karen pretty much all day, the inevitable happens… Sharon takes the baby back to Karen and hands him over. She tells her that she can’t be a good mother to the baby and she wants him to have a good life with her.

Keegan and Denise have a heart to heart over the difficulties black people face in this world. Keegan is upset that his father wasn’t around to prepare him. When he returns him, he talks to Bailey who is full of all the dreams under the sun. He warns Mitch to prepare her for future now so she isn’t hurt and shocked when she’s older if she doesn’t get the same opportunities as other people. Mitch reluctantly talks to Bailey who feels very sad that she could be treated in a different way. And I think viewers are left sad too. This whole storyline is sad. Because it shouldn’t be true. It should never have been true. And now, in 2020 this should not be people’s lives.

Ben is approached by an old ‘colleague’, the guy he got caught up with who abducted Louise. Remember that boring plot? Yes, all that is coming back. Brilliant. Callum is suitably worried but Ben is adamant that just because he is deaf, it doesn’t mean he can’t be stupid, I mean, himself. The couple attend another Doctor’s appointment and they are set for the cochlear implant in around four weeks (presumably unless the Coronavirus reaches Walford and they cancel all non-emergency surgery). And the Doctor does that awful thing of constantly talking to Callum instead of Ben. Offensive. You’d think a Doctor, especially in that particular field, would know better.

Isaac continues to make his presence felt in the Square. He gets very drunk on a school night, then quits his job to take on a teaching position at Walford Primary. Well, it looks like he is here to stay. Great. He’s not annoying at all.

Due to the Coronavirus, Eastenders has had to suspend filming

It will air as normal this week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7:30/8:00pm, BBC1

Doctors: The Truth is Out There

(Monday 16^th – Friday 20^th March 2020)

Daniel, Zara, Izzy and Joe spend the day together and Izzy challenges the adults about their ‘secret relationship’, pointing out that Joe phoned her when he found them in bed together. Daniel and Zara decide to be honest with the kids but Joe doesn’t want to know. Izzy points out that it’s hard for Joe to trust them; he doesn’t want his world to be shattered again if they were to break up. On her advice, they go very gently with him. That kid has had a personality transplant since the last time she was in the show!

Sid spends more time with his brother, Lawrence but struggles not to tell him the truth. Lawrence is worried that Sid’s father is unhappy but Sid is dismissive over the problems that his parents have in their marriage. Lawrence’s mother objects to his friendship with Sid. Finally, someone has noticed their similarity!

Lawrence invites Sid to an open mic night at The Icon with his friend, Tony, who clearly doesn’t like him imposing on their friendship. Tony and Lawrence both successfully do some stand up comedy but Sid chokes when he reads poetry as he spots Lawrence’s mother glaring at him. Lawrence’s Mum gives Sid a stern warning and Sid promises that neither him, nor his father are out to upset Lawrence or disturb his life in any way, he just wants to get to know his brother.

Karen has a difficult visit with Jimmi, realising that he has assimilated with prison life now and given up hope for his future and his case. Thankfully, his friends have not given up and Al is still trying to find leads and explanations as to how on earth Jimmi got framed in the first place. SJ leads Al to a thug called Harvey who he manages to have a meeting with. He challenges him about SJ and the money being stashed at The Icon. He asks him about Jimmi and threatens him with the police. However, he is in way over his head and is escorted out before having the living daylights beaten out of him. Meanwhile, the guy he followed into the pub seems to have had an even worse fate…

Ayesha stitches Al up but he lies about having fallen down the stairs. Not buying it for a second, Karen challenges Al and then calls Rob in to speak to him. Al confesses everything, worrying Rob as Harvey is a serious criminal. He tells him he was lucky to get away. However, they do have some leads in Jimmi’s case now, thank goodness. I can’t help asking, surely this must be over soon?

We then have a seemingly random episode where Daniel is called to a fight in the prison. A clearly traumatised a prisoner attacks Jimmi’s old cellmate, Leon, triggered by him tapping his foot to music. It soon transpires that his previous cellmate, George, hanged himself and he woke up to the sound of his foot tapping the wall of the cell. The two men were in love with each other and he holds himself responsible for his suicide.

However, the episode isn’t as random as it seems. In the next episode, Daniel is working late at the prison, still troubled by the man’s tale and the date of his boyfriend’s suicide. It was the day before Jimmi was mugged. Remember that weird mugging when they didn’t take anything and it seemed more like an assault? It seemed very targeted and never really made any sense.

Meanwhile, Bear tackles Al who has blatantly skived off work. He finds him back in the dodgy pub he got beaten up in the day before. Al manages to send Bear away and the sneaks into the office and who should he see with Harvey? Jimmi’s lawyer! Well, he always looked a bit shifty… No wonder he never got anywhere with the case!

Back in the prison, Daniel continues to research George and finally comes up with an answer, calling reluctant Jimmi in to see him. George is the therapy patient he turned into the police for murder last year. Daniel suspects the assault was a reaction to George’s death and when it didn’t work, whoever was responsible, took things further. And as it turns out, George is the son of none other than Jimmi’s lawyer, John Butler.

Al turns to Rob with all his new information and they take everything to the police investigating Jimmi’s case. Al has also set Valerie on a mission to investigate John Butler’s law firm, all dressed up as her posh alter ego, Natasha Fitzsimmons. Oh, Valerie, you do provide the most delightful light relief. I adore you. Of course, John Butler has gone to ground. ‘Natasha’ manages to run rings around the receptionist though and snoops as much as possible. The police are not impressed but really, they are embarrassed to have made such a hash of their own operation. Al, Rob, Emma, Karen and Valerie have done more work on the case in a few days than the police have in months. No wonder this storyline has taken so long to resolve!

Back at the prison, Leon is acting very strangely. He makes a phone call, saying he has received ‘the signal’. Hanging up and spotting Jimmi, he stabs him! Everyone is shocked. Leon is visibly upset. I am upset! Jimmi and Leon were supposed to be friends. Maybe Leon had just been keeping an eye on him. I don’t know anything anymore!