Eastenders Flash Forward: The Twist!

Eastenders has been on particularly good form for a while now. Linda has been breaking my heart in every scene; Suki and Eve set the screen on fire with a mere look across the counter at the Minute Mart; Zack’s diagnosis is moving and frustrating in equal measure; I am so confused by the fact that I actually like Sam Mitchell now; I wish Denise would just ditch both Jack and Ravi because they’re both a waste of space; the sensitive handling of Lily’s pregnancy has been fantastic and every episode leaves me crying out, “Why can’t Whitney just be happy?! Why?!”

The writing is so engaging and one of the best things about the show at the moment, I think, is that it has some of the strongest female characters it has had in a long time: Linda, Denise, Suki, Stacey, Kathy, Sharon, Kat, Jean, Eve, Whitney, Chelsea, Shirley, Kim, Karen… the list goes on. Women who have lived. Women who have loved. Women who have suffered. Women who have survived. Women who are strong.

And this shone at its brightest in last night’s special episode, written by Daran Little, where Linda, Kathy, Denise, Sharon, Stacey and Suki all had a lock-in at the pub. All with their own problems. Linda was distraught over seeing a photo of Shirley with rapist, Dean on social media. Kathy stepped up to support her, a rape survivor herself. Denise was still flip-flopping between neglectful, dinosaur husband, Jack and wannabe lover, Ravi while Sharon had just had sex with Keanu and then found out he’d had a fling with Sam (his third Mitchell woman) while living in Spain.

And my favourite moment of the episode was the heart to heart between Stacey and Suki, who opened up to her about her marriage and about Eve. The dialogue was absolutely amazing throughout the whole episode but especially here. I loved the way the episode was filmed – it almost felt live. I felt like I was right there, on a night out at The Vic. The writing was brilliant and all the actors brought their lines to life.

And then came the twist! Once the women toasted the awful men who have used and abused them, we flashed forward to Christmas 2023 and a wedding. However, it wasn’t Kat and Phil’s wedding, as discussed earlier in the episode (they changed the date to ensure that Lily would be in Walford, not with Ryan, as requested/demanded). It was Sharon in a wedding dress (either that or she really didn’t get the memo over what not to wear to a wedding!) and Kat wasn’t even there…!

Stacey had blood on her hands and looked shell shocked (remembering Archie’s death, perhaps?)

And Denise had a broken bottle in her hands – so, did she do the deed?

The man in question was wearing cufflinks so he must have been attending the wedding… so someone Sharon cared enough about to invite? The groom? Keanu? Phil?!?! No way, would they kill Phil off. But why would anyone kill Keanu?

Who else is Sharon close to… Ian? Is he coming back?! Zack? Martin?

Or is it not about Sharon at all? Just a guest…? I mean, the obvious would be Nish. He’s been controlling Suki. If these women have bonded this night, if he attacked Suki, did they step in and protect her? But wouldn’t Eve have been involved in this story somehow? Or has he found out about them and killed her?! NO! That is NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Or Ravi? Does he go too far with Denise? Or Jack?! His anger has been spiralling rather out of control… Any of these women’s husbands/partners would have been invited to Sharon’s wedding – Rocky, Jack (or Ravi?), Nish… I mean, there are a few characters I could happily nominate to get killed off if you’re taking a vote…!

Could it be someone who just infiltrated the wedding? Kathy promised Linda that they would protect her from Dean no matter what. The lock-in started because she was so distraught over the photo. She never got justice for what he did to her. Is this the final conclusion to that story?

So, in conclusion, I have no idea what’s going on! But I am SO excited to find out over the next ten months! This is the first time, to my recollection that Eastenders have played with time in this way. Hollyoaks did it at the end of 2019, flashing forward a whole year, from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Eve and then the pandemic hit and production got shut down for months. Things got so rushed and confused and I don’t think it turned out the way they wanted it to. I for one, completely lost the whole thread of the story. By the end of it, one of the characters was being played by a completely different actor than in he was in the flash forward! It was such a monumental, never been done before thing for them to do and felt so sorry for them that it all got so mixed up. I really hope everything goes smoothly for Eastenders. I have really high hopes for this story and I am so excited! It already has me completely hooked!

Eastenders: All the Reasons We Love Jean Slater

Gillian Wright is one of those not so secret weapons that Eastenders knows they are so very lucky to have. Jean is there to offer love and friendship and support to all who need her. She can swoop in and steal any scene with only one witty line that the other characters have been working so hard to build up. The show’s light was dimmed years ago when she departed to live in Brighton and it brightened again when she returned. I for one, hope that she stays forever!

Stacey and Shirley’s attempts to get Jean help were thwarted
(image: Radio Times)

The beauty of Jean is that as well as warming our hearts with her earnestness, her strength and her kindness, she can break them when we witness her constant battle with her mental health. This recent spiral into a manic episode with her bipolar has been devastating to watch, particularly with Stacey, played by the incredible Lacey Turner, who has been desperately trying to get the right help for her mother but with no support. As a bipolar sufferer herself and having lived with her Mum going through these episodes all her life, she knows exactly what the signs are and it has been so hard to see her being ignored by an understaffed and overstretched NHS. Not to mention the ignorance of Jean’s boyfriend, Harvey, who has no concept of the ‘real’ Jean and has been completely unable to recognise that the Jean who jumped into bed with him on their first date, who has been baking like she’s on Bake Off, who tried to hook up with Rocky in the Vic toilets, who has lacked so much compassion for him and everyone around them, who was pushing for a rushed, not to mention expensive wedding and who doesn’t care about her family anymore and would call the police on her own daughter, who is still on probation, is not the Jean we know and love. He has never met that Jean before.

I don’t know if we are meant to feel sorry for Harvey or not. I don’t, really. I don’t feel sorry for him over Aaron, whose views seem to only be a very exaggerated version of his father’s. But because Harvey would never be physically violent, murderous or aggressive to non-white people, we are apparently not meant to consider him racist, just old fashioned. On top of that, if you love someone, you care about their safety. Even if he hadn’t met Jean outside of her manic symptoms, so many of the things she has been doing are unsafe and out of the ordinary of what most people would do. And Stacey was telling him over and over again that there was a problem. He had the warning and he ignored it. Over and over again. The ignorance has been so frustrating. It didn’t need to come to this. He could have helped sooner. Or at all. While Martin and Stacey were tracking Jean down in Southend, he was feeling sorry himself, getting drunk and eating wedding cake, talking about how embarrassed he is that it was Jean’s bipolar that was attracted to him, not Jean herself. Well, that’s not helpful to the situation and yes, he should be embarrassed but not about that, specifically. He doesn’t deserve Jean, quite frankly. The only thing that makes me waver in my opinion was in Monday’s episode when he lent his support to Stacey, as he visited Jean in the hospital. Afterwards, she begged him not to let her face the situation alone and he assured her that he would be there.

Harvey blindly ignored Stacey’s desperate pleas for him to understand her Mum was ill
(image: Digital Spy)

As for last week’s episodes… I hardly have the words. They were incredible – particularly Thursday’s episode. Even if you’re not a big Eastenders viewer, I defy you not to get something out of the beauty of this particular episode. It was written so perfectly (by Lauren Klee) and directed so magically (by Karl Neilson). Gillian Wright was at her absolute best and Lacey Turner was amazing. The episode depicted Jean’s reality compared to what was really going on around her. It made me genuinely emotional, as she charged around Southend in her wedding dress, people laughing at her and getting impatient and some feeling concerned while she flitted from the joy of getting married, apparently to Daniel to becoming confused and frightened and at times, euphoric as she rode rollercoasters and played on the beach.

Jean went to Southdown in her wedding dress, believing she would marry her late partner, Daniel
(image: Digital Spy)

There were so many little moments of genius in this episode, including the heightened confusion of Stacey trying to find Jean in the hall of mirrors. Also, a hilarious little moment of Stacey walking into a mirror, which has become a delightful meme for all to enjoy! And finally, the climax to the episode between mother and daughter, where Jean admitted she was ill and attempted suicide.

Stacey found Jean in the sea, absolutely broken
(image: Digital Spy)

Jean has a long road ahead of her but I am confident she will be able to come back from this and that Stacey will be by her side throughout, as will the rest of the family because that’s what Slaters do. I hope Eve will be included in this, as she has been notably absent during these episodes and up until this point, she has been so supportive of Stacey and she seems to care for Jean very much. Presumably, we are supposed to assume she’s been in the background, helping out but we just haven’t seen her on screen. She is a great character and isn’t used enough. As for Harvey, time will tell, I suppose. But I am so proud of Eastenders for the way in which they tell Jean’s story. She is by far, one of the show’s most beautiful gems.

All About Eve!

The rainbow bunting came out in my house recently when Eve marched onto our screens in Eastenders and what a march it was! Honestly, when Heather Peace announced on social media that she had joined the cast… well, it was actually more exciting than the day that Simone Lahbib made her announcement (but only because my wife and I both adore Heather and with Simone, I stand alone). In fact, for the entirety of Simone’s stint, I sensed an undercurrent of jealously – lots of ‘your Simone is on screen’ – that sort of thing. It was all very unbecoming.

Heather Peace as Sam in Lip Service
(insidemediatrack.com)

But my wife and I were both smitten with Heather since the ill-fated Lip Service, the Scottish version of The L Word. Then she popped up in Waterloo Road. We have seen her twice in concert, including going to see her in Eastbourne for our first anniversary. So yes, you can imagine the excitement at the thought of her being on TV again several times a week!

As for her character, I have to say that Eve made possibly the best entrance I have seen in a very long time! To turn up, flirt with Shirley and then punch Martin and Zack is quite the entrance! I already love the dynamic between her and Stacey (who I suspect she does have feelings for) and since her departure and return, I can see a slight glimmer of her and Jean beginning to bond. It was a great twist that she is actually a solicitor, which adds to the layers of her character (as opposed to the lack of layers when she was wandering around in her pants!)

Eve and Stacey: Reunited
fashionmodelsecret.com

I was very disappointed that Sean and Jean scared her away, although those scenes were brilliant – Heather Peace, Rob Kazinsky and Gillian Wright were just dynamite together. I was thrilled to see her back, drunk and causing merry hell with Suki. Now I am very much looking forward to seeing what havoc she might cause and to what connections she will make. Heather Peace and the character of Eve are most definitely a great addition to the show!

Eastenders: The Party

(Monday 13^th – Tuesday 21^st April 2020)

We had our usual episodes of Eastenders on Monday and Tuesday this week and last week, although I still can’t quite work out why it isn’t better spaced out, such as Tuesday and Thursday like it used to be back in the olden days. Right now, apart from good, old Doctors and repeat of Hollyoaks, we have not a single soap on a Thursday now and Eastenders gets both their episodes all out in a huge rush at the beginning of the week. Why? It could slot in very nicely before Question Time. I’m pretty sure that For Love or Money didn’t have to be shoved in that particular time slot, whatever that is. Does anyone know what that is? It’s got Kym Marsh in it, apparently.

Anyway, to remind you of the past fortnight’s episodes before an entire week passes until you can watch it again, Vinny had an ill-advised party to prove to Ruby that he would be the perfect DJ at the club. Well, she seemed to be impressed. Before she left for her yoga class and missed the whole thing. Which turned out to be a blessing in the end, as of course, the whole thing spirals out of control. These soap characters just never learn, do they?

Iqra persuades Ash to attend the party and soon regrets it as while the police show up to break things up, some guy spouts homophobic abuse at them and ends up getting decked by Vinny. Iqra is shocked to see a completely different side to her girlfriend who leaps into action and hides Iqra, Vinny and the barely conscious thug in the bedroom, assuring the police that nobody else is in the building and dropping in that she is a Doctor. She gets the guy cleaned up and pays him off with the money Vinny was charging from the party, warning him to keep his mouth shut. Iqra is understandably shocked to see such a harsh, ruthless side to her girlfriend that she never knew existed before and Ash spends a lot of the flip-flopping between wanting to be with Iqra and being angry with her for not actually doing anything wrong.

Thankfully, her mother returns early and wades in on the potential breakup, finally pushing the girls back together. One weird thing though – they seem to say ‘I love you’ apparently for the first time. Haven’t they been together for a year or something? And don’t they live together? I’m not saying they should follow Alex in Home and Away and get a mortgage before they’ve so much as lived together but waiting this long to say I love you?! Bit weird.

Back to the party… Outside, there is a huge commotion with the partygoers fighting the police and causing mayhem. Some bright spark throws a brick at a police car. Keegan and Tiffany, whose only crime was being too happy (he got his business loan, cheered up at last, gave Tiffany an engagement ring and then they had a bunk up in the ice cream van – they weren’t even at the party) end up caught up in the chaos.

When the brick is thrown, Keegan panics and attempts to run, having been arrested so many times before but of course, running draws attention to him and he is immediately arrested and accused. Later, he is asked why he ‘resisted arrest’. Well, he didn’t particularly but quite frankly, while there’s violence going on all around you and you’ve just been arrested, not for the first time, for something you didn’t do, wouldn’t you protest a bit? What a stupid bloody question!

Tiffany begs Jack for help but he’s a bit useless, not wanting to upset his senior who insists that he saw Keegan throw the brick himself. Even with bodycams, it’s a case of Keegan’s word against his. He gets Keegan sent home on bail but it’ll be a rough road ahead, I think. How frightening. And disgusting that a young lad can be treated in such a way. Pre-judged and mistreated for no reason other than skin colour.

Keegan (and Tiffany) have a really bad day…

Understandably, Keegan does not have a good rest of the week. He storms around the Square feeling like nobody understands what he is going through, not helped by getting evicted from Ted’s flat as he and Tiffany finally get caught for subletting. Things are tense as they squash back into Karen’s and when he seriously loses his temper, Tiffany takes a stand, forcing them to move in with Uncle Jack. Hmm… I’m not sure that will improve things. Jack is refusing to stand up for Keegan with his colleagues. That in turn is causing tension between him and Denise who believes Keegan and Tiffany are telling the truth. This should be an interesting story as it plays out.

Stuart’s proposal doesn’t quite go to plan…

Meanwhile, Stuart is still desperate to propose to Rainie but after his previously failed attempt, decides to go less traditional, dressing up as a vampire and hiding in a coffin. Obviously. Why wouldn’t he?! Rainie is horrified and hides in the bathroom. I think my favourite moment of all the episodes is Stuart banging on the door telling her that she is worth more than those people.

“What people?”
“All of ‘em!”

It’s enough for Rainie to realise just how much he loves her and she accepts his proposal. And after a bit of a tussle with Max (and some words of wisdom from Whitney), she is free to get divorced. Hooray! They are such an odd couple but they absolutely work. And they are brilliant characters too, so cleverly written and portrayed. To have arrived as ‘baddies’, especially Stuart, one of the most hated characters in soap and to have become so popular, is no mean feat.

Now, I am rather confused by the latest development in Whitney’s plot. Firstly, I know Whitney is a trusting character but did she really think that Leo’s Mum was just being nice to her and just wanted a cosy chat? She stabbed her son! Honestly, this is how Whitney ended up in this situation in the first place. She ignored Tiffany’s warnings and dated Leo despite the fact that he was an absolute weirdo with all the charm of damp wallpaper. Then his Mum shows up and she thinks it’s a good plan to tell her every single detail of what happened. Muppet.

Also, how daft is his mother? Her son battered her and locked her in the boot of a car. He almost killed her. I know ‘a mother’s love’ and all that but she is physically aware that he was absolutely bonkers. He was obsessed with his vile father and clearly not turning out better than him. He manipulated Whitney, stalked her, terrorised her, lived in her loft, utterly traumatised her and then tried to kill her only she got their first. And this woman knows the level of violence he was capable of because he attacked her too. What is she thinking?!

From here, Leo’s Mum condemns Whitney all over social media. Interfering but well-meaning Sonia (who is seriously starved of her own plots these days), steals Whitney’s phone to try and keep it from her. The biggest plot hole of course is that Whitney doesn’t notice that her phone is missing. Who on earth leaves the house without checking their phone and who would stand on an empty stall all morning without getting their phone out at least once, if not multiple times to check their messages/social media etc., especially a young person like Whitney? Soaps always use the lost/stolen device and it’s just unrealistic. People react to being without their phones these days as if one of their actual limbs have fallen off!

Under pressure (and not even aware of the damage she has done to her case), Whitney decides that she has no choice but to run away. Knowing the future she faces behind bars, Max gives her the money to start off but when Gray comes through with shutting the social media posts down and Whitney realises the depth of love and support she has behind her, she changes her mind. Unfortunately, she is then attacked by Leo’s Mum! Well, with hers and Tony’s genes, the bloke didn’t stand a chance of being normal, did he?

And now may we all take a moment to thank Eastenders for the joy of Kush in all his loveliness. Kat has vanished, thanks to the suspension of Jessie Wallace and while Jean is joyfully celebrating the end of needing to use her wig with her friend, Kush stays in the kitchen with suddenly-has-a-speaking-part-Tommy, who admits that he is having problems at school. He is struggling with his reading and some of the other kids have been making fun of him but he doesn’t want anyone else to know, especially not his Mum. When Kush takes him to school, he has a word with Isaac, his teacher, who explains that Tommy may be dyslexic. Jean speaks for us all when she tells Kush what a blessing his is to their family.

Due to the Coronavirus, Eastenders has had to suspend filming

It will air from now on only on Mondays (8pm) and Tuesdays (7:30pm) on BBC1