I honestly think Mick has been fine recently, especially throughout the Ollie autism storyline. A brilliant example of how to approach a situation like that, and I always enjoy Danny Dyer's softer acting more than his stereotypical cockney man of the house crap.

 

But the dreadful way he’s treated his wife who is clearly suffering? Almost exactly the same way he treated his son once he knew about the depression. She’s an inconvenience and showing him up. He’s always treated her nothing more than something to pick him up when he’s down and now that she has an actual issue, it’s still more about how it’s affecting him.

 

With Lee back, it’ll be nice to see this all addressed but I won’t hold my breath.

Tonight’s was great I kind of liked it wasn’t so over the top like it normally is around Christmas but it was still tense with twist and turns . I don’t think Keanu is dead though personally .

There's no doubt for me that Keanu is still alive, Martin Fowler doesn't have it in him to be a murderer. He's just using the video footage to manipulate Ben into doing what he wants. Also to be honest it's a bit extreme to kill someone just because they had an affair with your wife, although it has probably happened in real life.

Oh fgs "Is this character really dead?!" storylines are so tedious :lol:

I can’t see Keanu being dead at all and it would be a bit much to make Martin a murderer. There’s still more to come tomorrow I expect.

 

Was a tad disappointed that Lisa walked out the room halfway through the episode and never came back.

They never kill off men. If Keanu were a woman, then yeah, but he's a man on Eastenders. They probably had Lauren come back and jump in front of the bullet or something.

Linda’s involved in the Martin story somehow as well isn’t she although how she is I suspect will be revealed in the flashback.

 

I loved some of the one liners tonight though Phil telling Sharon to find a stable looool and Louise!!!! FFS I’m gutted she’s going now. They really could’ve turned her into the next big soap bitch. I loved her delivery in that line to Keanu. She was playing him all along. A savage queen!

 

I don’t think we will see Keanu on screen until the NYD episode now though.

Edited December 26, 20195 yr by Jordan Lee

He's alive. Men on Eastenders have more plot armour than any main character in Game of Thrones!

Louise was the most iconic part tonight tbh! Didn't think she had it in her.

 

Keanu definitely isn't dead, they'll leave it until the NYD flashback but I think Martin will be playing Ben and he'll have made Keanu go on the run so nobody knows. They've jumped the shark as it is with Martin but to have him be a murderer as welll....

Really enjoyed that. Perhaps not as intense as the last two Christmases but I do think in those cases the show put all its eggs in one basket whereas this Christmas feels like there's more to come as well as supplying plenty of moments in the Christmas episode itself. I enjoyed Sharon standing up to Phil and giving him some home truths. Sharon had an affair because of the years of disrespect and lack of interest Phil has shown her. It wasn't about any particular feelings Sharon had for Keanu - it could have been anyone - it was the fact he paid attention and made her feel like a person and alive. I think that deep down Phil knows this and, beyond the pride and ego, this is why it hurts him so much. I'd have liked to have seen more back and forth as there's so much history to be tapped into, but both actors delivered the goods and I'm interested to see where they go from here.

 

This Christmas also felt like more of an ensemble than the previous two. The Slater scenes were great light relief and a good way of showing other families. I was particularly pleased we got to see the underused Foxes tonight, with a welcomed cameo from Kim.

 

Tilly Keeper as Louise was superb tonight. Her confrontations with Sharon and Keanu were great and the coldness she displayed at Keanu getting kidnapped was chilling. The way the opening chords of 'Wonderful Christmastime' came in just fitted so well.

 

Definitely not buying Keanu being dead (

there's paparazzi photos of him, Martin and Karen at the airport

) but I enjoyed the way it played out as it doesn't leave any character particularly damaged other than what they already are.

 

Agreed with Joseph that Mick has been much improved lately. I thought his reactions to Linda have been both realistic and true to character - we as the audience know Linda is an alcoholic and is suffering but to anyone else she's being nasty and out of control. Not that I hate Linda for this either, I think Kellie has played it perfectly and has brought enough vulnerability to the performance.

 

Eager to see where it goes from here. Judging by the spoilers, it seems like this won't just be swept under the carpet within a couple of weeks and I'm excited for the flashback episode - we essentially get two Christmas Day episodes!

Great episode and had plenty in it and I didn't want it to end, really really good.

But the dreadful way he’s treated his wife who is clearly suffering? Almost exactly the same way he treated his son once he knew about the depression. She’s an inconvenience and showing him up. He’s always treated her nothing more than something to pick him up when he’s down and now that she has an actual issue, it’s still more about how it’s affecting him.

 

With Lee back, it’ll be nice to see this all addressed but I won’t hold my breath.

Oh he's absolutely not treated Lee well, though I was specifically referring to Mick in the past couple of months rather than as a whole in his character. It's the little things that matter, and the fact that he simply came to the ASD diagnosis with questions while Linda scoffed was a really positive touch, and it showed the much-needed softer side of his character. He's undoubtedly flawed and far from my favourite character but Mick is far more tolerable than he was when Lee was last in it imo. Equally, I think Liam hit the nail on the head - his reactions to Linda have been realistic, even if they're not perhaps what we'd do ourselves. The writing for Mick has vastly improved in recent times.

 

It was a really strong Christmas episode, it panned out pretty much as I expected I guess but I'm expecting to see some twists and turns to shake that up!

It’s true to character but I hate his character. Leaving his clearly struggling wife alone in hospital because he doesn’t want her to ‘ruin’ Christmas, it’s simply an awful thing to do no matter what’s happened. Not up there yet with telling his son he should have killed himself but we’re getting there. Linda only exists to make everything ok for him and she can’t do that right now so f*** her? Disgusting. And it’s for this reason I can’t feel sorry for him having a panic attack. And it’s not just him, Shirley and Tina weren’t exactly rushing to Linda’s bedside either.

 

Louise coldly revealing she didn’t give a shit about Keanu was iconic. She was a true Mitchell in that moment.

 

I loved that Sharon revealed her motivations for having the affair and that they were consistent with what we saw at the time. I hope this is a new chapter for her and that she won’t be back with Phil by next Christmas when the baby is inevitably revealed to have been his all along.

I still think the baby will be Phil's and I've always thought that. Yes sharon revealing why she had the affair was true to how she felt as she begged Phil not to go away.louise was brilliant last night and I loved Jean putting the roast potatoes in her bag!!

There's a potentially very exciting chapter ahead for Sharon but I hope we can get some exploration of Phil's feelings beyond "shout shout punch punch". He clearly does love her and it's more than just his pride that's hurt. He wouldn't have reacted like this if it were someone like Shirley who had cheated on him. Interestingly, Phil was happy to cheat on Shirley but I don't recall him ever cheating on Sharon. Notice how he said he would kill Sharon for what she did but it's only Keanu that he's gunning for. I'm so eager for Phil to be held accountable and to reflect on his behaviour, especially if Sharon and Phil do reunite at some point. I'm not too mad at the thought of them getting back together but they cannot go back to the way they were otherwise this whole story has been for nothing.

"At least no one fell down the stairs!" :rofl: Slaters are at their best when they are chaotic and comedic!

There's a potentially very exciting chapter ahead for Sharon but I hope we can get some exploration of Phil's feelings beyond "shout shout punch punch". He clearly does love her and it's more than just his pride that's hurt. He wouldn't have reacted like this if it were someone like Shirley who had cheated on him. Interestingly, Phil was happy to cheat on Shirley but I don't recall him ever cheating on Sharon. Notice how he said he would kill Sharon for what she did but it's only Keanu that he's gunning for. I'm so eager for Phil to be held accountable and to reflect on his behaviour, especially if Sharon and Phil do reunite at some point. I'm not too mad at the thought of them getting back together but they cannot go back to the way they were otherwise this whole story has been for nothing.

 

Phil did cheat on Sharon with Shirley, although it was after he’d figured out that Sharon was trying to fleece him.

I rewatched this and I howled at Jean stuffing roasties in her bag in the most unsubtle way :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Phil did cheat on Sharon with Shirley, although it was after he’d figured out that Sharon was trying to fleece him.

Oh of course, how did I forget that? :drama: But as you say, that was out of anger at the betrayal more than anything else; the point I was trying to make is that Phil has never been dissatisfied with Sharon and gone with someone else. He does seem to genuinely love her, but he thinks that them being married is enough of a display of affection. The reason Sharon got with Phil in the 90s was more or less the same reasons she got with Keanu: he paid attention and treated her right, only there was genuine feelings born from that. This is what I was hoping may have been brought up during Sharon and Phil's confrontation - as Sharon said, they've been in this position before and I would have liked that history to be explored more as a way of getting through to Phil. Maybe once the more sensational angle has been explored, we can get down to these more human reactions.

Mick is still awful.