The Top Ten BIGGEST Moments From Eastenders This Week!

So this week wasn’t as big as the one before it but then it never was going to be, was it? One thing that definitely did have an impact on the week in Walford was that most of the big names had been involved in the heist and so were now in hiding. This wasn’t completely awful as it allowed characters that don’t get as much screen time to make their mark but it did inevitably mean that, at times, it felt like the were lower. However we did still have a week full of drama with plot twists, returning faces and even one exit.

10. Ben has the money!                                     

Okay so I’ll admit that I did not see that twist coming. I mean in hindsight, it was quite obvious but we’d had absolutely no indication that Ben had any idea what was going on. It was a good twist but I couldn’t help but reminded of the old adage ‘don’t tell me, show me.’ If we’d even had a few hints that Ben was plotting to steal the money, it’d have made for a more exciting pay off.

Image:Daily Express

9. Everyone went racist for no reason.     

 One thing that didn’t settle with me this week was that not one but two characters became xenophobic and small minded for no real reason. Ian Beale went all conspiracy theory when he saw a white kid go into the home of Masood’s aunt and uncle. This, though difficult to watch, was at least releant and in keeping with Ian’s character who has shown himself to be xenophobic in the past. What really bugged me was the fact that Karen Taylor, out of nowhere, told a stranger who she found in the laundrette to ‘go back where he came from’.  It made absolutely no sense because Karen has never acted like that before. And though it was obviously a plot point to introduce conflict between her and the laundrette owner, it was built on the assumption that the audience would believe it because of Karen’s tendency to be loud and the fact she is poor. This is completely unfair and you can do better, ‘Eastenders’.

8. The laundrette is reopening.                 

Having said that, it did bring good news in that the laundrette is reopening! I’m hopeful that this will be a really good opportunity for Karen’s character to integrate herself in the Square as, once she attempted to apply, it was always inevitable she would get the job. Dot’s coming back to the Square next week and I think those two could make a very good team. I’m also hoping that we are going to see far more of Mr. Apostulous who did make a strong entrance this week.

7. Masood is living in an ice cream van.

So we found out Masood isn’t doing as well as he’d have liked everyone to believe. His ice cream empire is more an old broken down van that he sleeps in. Luckily the show decided not to have this as a slow burn storyline and it was all out in the open by the end of Thursday. This was a smart move because it gives a convincing reason to move him back into the house with his extended family and get him involved in the drama of the Square once more.

6. Ashard and Mariam’s foster child goes missing.

Yeah so it was rather quickly announced that Masood’s aunt and uncle, Mariam and Ashard, were foster parents and have been doing it for a very long time. We were introduced to their latest charge, Daisy. She’s found relatively quickly but it seems that we’re going to get a storyline about social services looking into their suitability given that a child in their care went missing. I just hope that a positive outcome is settled quickly and that we can start to see more of the children that they foster in the coming weeks.

5. Tiffany is back!

So it looked like Whitney might be leaving the square at the start of the week but this was thrown up in the air by the arrival of her younger sister, Tiff. It’s pretty clear that neither of them will be leaving Albert Square anytime soon as the final scene on Friday revealed that Bianca has apparently attempted suicide. I’m not entirely convinced on this because that would probably mean that Tiff and Whitney would head to Milton Keynes to be with her and that doesn’t seem to be on the cards. During the course of the week, Tiff already faked phone calls and even a pregnancy to stay on the Square so is it possible that she’s went as low to lie about Bianca’s mental health? I doubt that she’s lying but she might not be telling the whole truth. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

4. Ciara’s enforcer is Mel Owen.

Another old face returned to Watford and was revealed to be the enforcer that Ciara called to help get her money back on New Year’s Day. She makes sure to call around all the faces that she remembered from the old days but she was really there to find the money. It didn’t take long for her to realise that Ben had the money and as he planned his escape to France, Mel was quick on his heels.

3. Scenes on a ferry!!!

So on Friday’s episode we were treated to some scenes aboard the ferry from Dover. (Quick aside: the taxi that Ben took from Walford to Dover would cost about £250 which is mental but hey, he has just stolen loads of money so I guess it doesn’t matter much.) Now I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t entirely convinced that all the scenes were completely necessary but it was still quite nice to have drama away from the square.

2. Masood and Karen went toe to toe for the laundrette job.

After Masood’s lack of an ice cream empire are exposed on Thursday’s episode, he tries to get the laundrette job. The eventual payoff – Masood convincing the owner to take a chance on Karen - was worth it but we were treated to more of Karen’s newly found racism. I’m really hoping that they cut this out in future because whilst some of the scenes between the two were funny, one which was essentially just them throwing unfair insults at each other just fell completely flat. It did so because neither had insults which fitted to their character, instead they were just generic and felt out of place. But as I say, all is well that end’s well and at least Karen has eventually secured the job – for now, at least!

1. Ben leaves the Square.

In the biggest development this week, Harry Reid bowed out as the sixth incarnation of Ben Mitchell. Whilst his final episode was decent enough, I did feel slightly short changed that we didn’t have a final iconic scene between him and Phil. The twist that someone had exchanged the money in the black bag for copies of the Walford Gazette was pretty good. I imagine that this will probably save him from the wrath of Ciara who was soon going after Ben as he arrived in France. The thing is that this final scene just reinforced that this exit felt very much like it wasn’t an exit at all. He is the latest in a string of characters that have been given exits which don’t really justify their run in the soap. Then again, it is almost inevitable that before the year is out Ben will be back on our screens, albeit played by a new actor!

Image: Digital Spy

The Top Ten Most EXPLOSIVE Moments in Eastenders This Week

As the first week of the New Year comes to a close, resolutions come into full swing. One of mine is a weekly run down of the ten biggest moments in Albert Square.  And what a great week to start off on with the episodes mainly taken up by plans for a heist and the arrival of a whole set of new characters. It goes without saying that if you’ve not watched this week’s antics and you don’t want to be spoiled then it’s probably best that you leave now.

10. Max is a changed man.

We find Max at the start of the week not at the bedside of Lauren or Abbie but sleeping rough in the backseat of a car. Bit random. He sets about doing a weird ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ parody as he tries to sell back all the properties that Weylands acquired. It didn’t really make sense. All you need to take from this is that the storyline about destroying Albert Square is over. Hurrah.

9. ‘It’s a lot of nonsense. Forget about it’

Staying on that note, we’re treated to an excellently brutal end of a storyline that just wasn’t meant to be. Do you remember that apeshit episode in August when Phil told Jay that Jase wasn’t actually his Dad and that he had in fact killed the biological father in the car lot fire? Well it doesn’t matter because it was all swept under the carpet in approximately ten seconds as Max told Jay that he’d dreamt the whole story up and it should be forgotten. It doesn’t make any sense but my advice is the fewer questions the better and we should all just be happy that everything in the world of Jay and Phil has been restored to normal.

8. Jack and Max are friends again.

Again, in a series of ‘We’re rewriting everything’, they’ve decided to make Max and Jack brothers in arms once more. It was probably for the best since in the coming weeks, Max is going to need all the support he can get. In fairness, it was a good scene and it made sense that Max would reach out to his brother on the first anniversary of Roxy and Ronnie dying. What was slightly strange but no one else remembered but hey, if you began poking holes in the realism of the square this week then we’d probably be here until the end of time.

7. Kathy has a tea party that is girls only.

Another feature of the New Year Episode was a party hosted in the café by Kathy. It was quite nice to have a reason to get all the female characters together. They laughed and bickered together showing that they could be a powerful unit on their own. It did annoy the feminist in me that whilst all the men were getting ready to have a heist, the girls were sat gossiping whilst drinking alcohol-infused tea. That’s probably a little harsh though as it was really an excuse to increase Kathy’s reputation as the matriarch of the Square and that can only be a good thing.

6. Kim emotionally comes clean about her miscarriage.

So basically ‘The Daily Express’ ran a stupid story about how people thought it was discussing that Kim, Denise and Carmel all sat on the floor of the pub toilet to talk about Kim’s loss. That was entirely missing the point though. Kim is forced to confess as Denise finds a pregnancy test and for once adds two and two together to get four. She is understanding and compassionate giving the Kim the closure she needed. Not only that but given the fact she came birth to one child in the same spot, it seemed quite fitting that she’d also find acceptance in the same spot.

5. The heist goes completely wrong.

I mean you didn’t need to be a psychic to work out this one was going to happen, did you? Aidan gives the boys the full plan and everything seems to be going smoothly until Shirley decides to try and lock Mick away so that he can’t be part of the team. Eventually he gets out and I honestly thought they’d done that thing where you put the conflict in the middle so you can end with it all going swimmingly. LOL NO.

4. Mick gets SHOT.

Aye so I was totes wrong. The New Year’s Day special ends with someone getting shot. That person turns out to be Mick. It’s not really that serious an issue though and whilst the next episode was dedicated to getting him treatment without going to the hospital, we soon work out that he’s going to be totally fine. Got to hand it to the writers though, it was a very fun way to introduce two new characters and got the balance of fun but also jeopardy just about right.

3.  Masood is back and he’s brought some incredible family members with him!

So we already new Masood was coming back but isn’t it absolutely incredible to have him back for good? It was a joke – basically criminal, really – which the old governor gave Masood the boot and it’s brilliant to see him returned to the Square. He brings with him an Aunt and Uncle we’ve never seen before. It was nice for the soap to have some meta dialogue that basically bemoaned the lack of diversity in Walford. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of that. I’m hoping that along with more BAME diversity we might also see the Square become more queer as well. But that’s a chat for another time. Back to these new characters. Whilst I’m sure the Uncle will in time become a familiar face, the Aunt – Mariam - basically became an instant classic. Tough talking and also a one time nurse that’s able to help Mick, she was unbelievably incredible and loveable within the first twenty minutes of airtime.

2. The guy that shot Mick ends up working in the pub.

Alright, so this was random but in a brilliant way. Before the heist begins, Mick gets a text from an old friend of Lee’s saying he’ll be in town. His name is Halfway and it turns out that he’s one of the armed guards that is travelling with the van Aidan is planning to rob. Halfway is obviously out of his depth and is mortified to have shot Mick. He apologises and ends up working in the Queen Vic before the week is out. You couldn’t make this up!!!

1.  Aidan’s true intentions are revealed.

Well it turns out that Aidan had a reason for coming back to the Square and it’s all to do with Vincent. Basically, Aidan was planning on killing Vincent in a revenge act. When Vincent was a police informant he gave information that ended up getting Aidan’s brother, Conor, behind bars. Conor ended up killing himself so Aidan blames Vincent and decides to seek vengeance by murdering Vincent. Have no fear though because Phil steps in, saving Vincent.

I did say that it was a mammoth week in Eastenders and I wasn’t lying. I’ve not even been able to fit in that Lauren is on the mend but that Abby is brain dead. Max is refusing to let them turn the machines off though and has sought out a court order. Also, it turns out Aidan was robbing off his ex wife who is now on the Square looking for her money. She can’t find the money but it turns out that Aidan got Billy to hide it who has now lost it so no one knows where it is. We’ll have to tune in next week to work out what’s going on. I’m proper excited because Mel Owen is returning. Whoop, Whoop. 

Eastenders: In Yorke we Trust?

Ever had a bad couple of months that you wished you could just flush down the toilet? If only you were part of a soap opera. Eastenders, to be specific. If you’re just a casual viewer, you might be a little confused at what’s going on at the moment. Since Christmas Day, the soap has seemed barking mad at times. It’s just a readjustment period though, everything is going to be okay.

To understand what’s going on in the world of Albert Square, we’ve got to go back to Summer 2016 in the real world. Dominic Treadwell-Collins exits as executive producer with Sean O’Connor taking the reins. O’Connor was most famous for his work on The Arches. It’s a long running radio drama that gained a lot of praise for a storyline he developed around domestic abuse.

The trouble is that the pace and drama expected of a prime time TV soap is not the same as one that airs on Radio 4. Perhaps the writing was on the wall from then. O’Connor decided that the soap would take a back to basics approach. I was willing to get in on that. I wrote last December that I was excited he was making the soap less fantasy and more realistic.

I stand by that. It shouldn’t be forgotten that he brought in one of the best families to join the square in recent times. The Taylors are a family written off as scum, scroungers and cheats but at their heart, they’re a close knitted unit just trying to get by. They worked because they were given time to fit into the fabric of the square. O’Connor’s mistake all too often was he’d jump far too fast without laying the groundwork. So all of the sudden Denise Fox has no money and can’t even afford a biscuit. It wasn’t bad or unrealistic but it came out of nowhere and so didn’t work. Denise also wasn’t acting in a way that made sense to her character by not reaching out to those close to her. He was choosing social realism over believable characters which reduced its effectiveness.

His treatment of fan favourites was also pretty diabolical. It is true that O’Connor couldn’t help Kellie Bright going on maternity leave therefore requiring Linda to be off screen by last Christmas but the way that the Carter family acted in her absence was just random and unbelievable. The defining feature of the Carter couple was that they would never cheat on each other and then all of a sudden Mick might be shagging his son’s fiancée?

It wasn’t going well. O’Connor seemed to be doubling down. He brought in this slow burn storyline about Max trying to bring down the square. The fact that it was a slow burn wasn’t the problem. Slow burn storylines can work excellently, curating realistic characters reacting to decisions and spiralling into a situation that a few short months ago wouldn’t have made sense. The reintroduction of Wilmott-Brown, the rapist of Kathy Beale, did work very well in one way. It reinvigorated the character of Kathy, making her an indispensable part of the Square once again.

But for every good character decision, we were treated to three or four terrible ones which were to facilitate the Wilmott-Brown storyline. Basically that storyline involved the rich Wilmott-Brown buying up everything in the square so that he could tear them all down and build stylish flats no one there could afford therefore destroying the community spirit of Walford. It’s not a bad storyline but it became all encompassing. For example, an ill thought out plot that had Phil confess to killing Jay’s Dad – who wasn’t who Jay thought he was – was done simply so that Jay would have a reason to sell a plot of land to the son of Wilmott-Brown.

This led to O’Connor almost certainly being fired from his position though the official line is that he left early to focus on films that he is working on. John Yorke, famous for his work on the Who shot Phil? Storyline, effectively replaced him as executive consultant. Whilst his first credited episode was Monday 27^th November, it was over the Christmas period that he really began to make his mark. He did this by systematically undoing all the work that had been set up by O’Connor.

In early December, Wilmott-Brown was suddenly revealed to have a terminal illness that had never been mentioned before. His son, Luke was ‘dealt with’ by Phil. By that I mean that we saw him being thrown into a van by a couple of goons and he was never mentioned again. Wilmott-Brown suffered some type of stroke and his daughter, Sophie, decided to sell back all the deeds to the rightful owners.

This led to a very strange New Year’s episode. Max, whose two daughters fell off the Queen Vic roof on Christmas Day spent the first day of the New Year negotiating the return of deeds to their rightful owners. It didn’t really make sense since he probably should have been at the bedside of his children but it did signal an end to the O’Conor storyline. In one hilarious scene, Max told Jay in one sentence that the stuff about his Dad was all nonsense dreamt up to make him not like Phil. Just like that, the storyline was thrown into the trash.

Things are looking up for Eastenders now. Yorke is now at the point that he’s got a clean slate to paint his own picture. It appears that he’s putting a lot of his efforts into a new storyline focusing on a heist carried out on New Year’s Day which was led by fan favourites. I’m excited to see what he has planned for the year to come. Can we trust in Yorke to restore the Square to its former glory? Only time will tell.