Tag: Stacey Slater

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!

Simone Lahbib as Katy Lewis
(metro)

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!