Good ep today though cannot stand that Zoe has completely gone back to before being in prison just now on the hunt for Jasmine's phone. "She's my daughter I got to find it".

Not more Ben drama and he's not even on screen! Ben Wadey pandering to the Ballum stans on this one. Callum needs something else please.

Great reveal at the end.

Do you think they lured Michelle Ryan back with the idea she’d spend all her time telling people she needed to find various things?

Anyway, looks like the son is on his way so maybe the story can actually move on.

But that atrocious dialogue ‘Hi Jasmine, it’s me, your brother, Josh’ I mean who would even say that like they’re introducing themselves for the first time?

1 hour ago, T Boy said:

Do you think they lured Michelle Ryan back with the idea she’d spend all her time telling people she needed to find various things?

💀

Looks like Sam's stay has been extended! SO happy. I assume it's to tie in with Grant's short return.

I actually really like Sam, she's so underused

Legit, Zoe is always looking for something 😭

Apparently it’s leaked that Gemma Bissix will be returning as Clare.

She's shit

On 19/02/2026 at 23:05, T Boy said:

Do you think they lured Michelle Ryan back with the idea she’d spend all her time telling people she needed to find various things?

Anyway, looks like the son is on his way so maybe the story can actually move on.

But that atrocious dialogue ‘Hi Jasmine, it’s me, your brother, Josh’ I mean who would even say that like they’re introducing themselves for the first time

That is just awful ... just AWFUL!!! 🤣

I hope he keeps it up with evrryone, to be iconic. Hi Kat, it's me, Zoe. Your daughter. Hi Linda, it'd me, Elaine, your mother.

Also, we finally have a strong opportunity for the EP to introduce this Clare as Claire Devine!!! He has links at Hollypaks and can easily make it work. I hope he does and she brings Claire Devine chaos to the Square

We don’t need Clare Devine in Eastenders. That’s what went wrong the last time they brought Clare back.

33 minutes ago, T Boy said:

We don’t need Clare Devine in Eastenders. That’s what went wrong the last time they brought Clare back.

No, they didn't explain she was Claire Devine, so having Clare Bates acting like Claire Devine went down like a lead balloon. They need to explicitly state she IS Claire Devine, living under a pseudonym in Liverpool, ans then have her cause chaos. A second Janine, but one who isn't bullied by everyone, but does the bullying, is very welcome!

17 hours ago, Auld Lang Peen! said:

No, they didn't explain she was Claire Devine, so having Clare Bates acting like Claire Devine went down like a lead balloon. They need to explicitly state she IS Claire Devine, living under a pseudonym in Liverpool, ans then have her cause chaos. A second Janine, but one who isn't bullied by everyone, but does the bullying, is very welcome!

No x

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Tim? Another pointless introduction. He'll probably blackmail Johnny now into sleeping with him or some bullshit. It's all such paper thin writing!

(Gagged at him having a picture of himself on a shelf in his own home)

More heavy handed dialogue today. 'Sunday lunch', 'it's dead in here on a Sunday'.

We get it, it's a Sunday based episode. That much was obvious when everybody turned up for a big dinner in the middle of the day without needing to mention it once, let alone again.

Good to see Claire back though and Sam staying a bit, I would hope it will be a strong and fitting send off for Nigel when it happens.

Why did it need to be a Sunday? Was it just a plot device to have everyone round at the Brannings? It could've been an evening meal during the week at that point. Where was Amy? That wasn't explained. Penny and Oscar were great in those scenes though.

On 16/02/2026 at 18:44, lewistgreen said:

I did like today's episode though, felt a tad more business as usual but that's probably because Bryan Kirkwood wrote it.

Wait… is BK a good thing for the show these days? I remember his stint as EP about 15 years ago now. He was awful!

26 minutes ago, Scene said:

Wait… is BK a good thing for the show these days? I remember his stint as EP about 15 years ago now. He was awful!

As a writer he's great. As an EP... well... that baby swap storyline will forever haunt him I guess. He did give us "bubbly's in the fridge" so forever iconic?

4 minutes ago, lewistgreen said:

As a writer he's great. As an EP... well... that baby swap storyline will forever haunt him I guess. He did give us "bubbly's in the fridge" so forever iconic?

Ok fair, as long as he doesn’t have EP powers again. 😅 Still not over him killing off Pat!

Today's episode was actually painful to sit through. Christ.

11 hours ago, lewistgreen said:

Why did it need to be a Sunday? Was it just a plot device to have everyone round at the Brannings? It could've been an evening meal during the week at that point. Where was Amy? That wasn't explained. Penny and Oscar were great in those scenes though.

They think they need to explain the most unimportant stuff, and thrn thry leave glaring plotholes everywhere else!

Yeah given how heavy handed the exposition has been of late, why couldn’t they throw in a line to explain where Amy was? I can’t even think of a reasonable place she could have been?

Pregnancy stories aren’t always great but I feel this could be a good story for Vinny and Penny. Two often forgotten characters.

Callum is the worst police officer ever.

Kitty Castledine is brilliant, I’m glad she’s finally getting something to sink her teeth into with Penny’s pregnancy storyline.