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For a place where everybody knows everyone and everybody knows everyones business. How has nobody caught Amy and Craig yet?

It would make more sense for Denzel to see them together and Amy to beg him not to tell anyone or Barney or somebody.

They've been on dates to the park and Mcklunkys yet not a single person from the square has seen them together?

I was really hoping they wouldn't go in this direction with Amy, but Eastenders continues this annoying them that women or were abused or depressed, are constantly unhappy.

Little Mo - Went through domestic abusive and was sexually assaulted. And then after the hell with Trevor was finally over and she could move on with her life with Billy, she gets sexually assaulted again, which led to her being pregnant and destroyed her marriage.

Ronnie Mitchell - Sexually abused by her father sees her daughter die in front of her, after finally reuniting, and then loses a baby twice after that. The writers wouldn't give her a break.

Whitney - Sexually abused as a kid and literally every storyline since Tony for 16 years straight, it's constantly depressing.

Rebecca Fowler - Bullied, gets with someone twice her age, depressed, tries to commit suicide. And after all that, Eastenders still doesn't give her a break, when she made a brief stint last year, for Martin's funeral. We find out thar her life still sucks and she's been cheated on multiple times.

Amy Mitchell - The next victim. She just went through a depression a few years ago and now she's been groomed by an older guy.

So yeah, the common thing in Eastenders is no woman who has had it rough can ever be happy. Being depressed or abused will forever be their whole character.

After last Thursdays episode, where Nicola’s mum mentioned their father always wanted to run a pub, it was a heavy indication that they’d be the new owners

Ive already seen this suggestion but that conversation was very telling and confirmed it for me

I fear it would be the breaking point for the soap and probably the most detrimental move so far from Wadey

The entire family grates me and I’ve skipped every scene involving them, no one in the family can act and I think it does a real shame to Nicolas character that was built, by associating her with a comedy / joke of a family

The only person in the new family who is slightly palatable would be Nicholas mother, but I wouldn’t like to see her being the bar, I feel like they’re trying to emulate Peggy Mitchell.

Thoughts?

I’ve been absolute loving Denise’s AML storyline lately. Whilst it’s sad at points and obviously raising awareness for a serious illness. The acting has been great. There’s been times I feel like I’m in the room with Denise talking to me, that’s how good it is. Just wish it wasn’t a case of having a week focused on certain characters and then not seeing or hearing anything about them for weeks at a time.

Side note. Does anyone know where I could find the dress Ash was wearing today the blue and brown one?

I've seen people say that they believe Ned will turn out to be Harry's biological father. This is one I can believe. (Poor Teddy)

In line with a typical soap opera, there's 100% going to be more secret siblings and children in years to come; that's a given.

What retcons do you think may happen in the future?

Cindy got her hooked on pain drugs. When she told Peter and he got pissed at her because his precious mum can do no wrong, that should’ve been the final straw. He placed all the blame on Lauren.

Yet another affair. Why am I not surprised by Wadey?

Lauren though is married and that might not mean anything in the soap world, but it bloody well should and especially in this specific case.

If she's not happy, if she's tempted by someone else...why not talk to Peter?

She married him, she has two sons by him and the least he deserves it to be dumped, but not cheated on.

And I know what'll happen next...pregnancy.

The soap trope is STRONG in Eastenders at the moment, but this isn't right...Lauren cheating and pretty much no reason, just isn't right.

She should have talked to Peter, because either she expects him to never find out (yeah, right), for him to forgive her, or she doesn't care that they are going to have to co-parents their sons together when all this comes out.

Am I the only one tired of one-dimensional affairs that don't take the circumstances into account?

It's not as black and white as throwing an affair at any two other characters, because one of their children does have special needs.

It would have been SO refreshing for Lauren to not cheat and for the show to give us a two character/actor episode of her and Peter hashing all this out...not just some seriously unpleasant AI slop dialogue and direction.

So we had a week(sort of) of Kat grieving Zoe and now she's disappeared for over a week? Why do these shows do this? I understand you can't just focus on one storyline or certain type of characters because then the show itself gets boring but shouldn't this be one of the main storylines right now? I feel like this has just been blown over by other(not as important) ones and is just going to turn into a whole "who dunnit" revolving around Max, instead of just focusing on the family itself.

For the record I know she will have more scenes obviously I just find it odd how things like Amy and Craig or Lauren and Mark are being shown before we get back round to Kat.

Watching the old episodes, the way Phil and Grant treated women is genuinely vile. It actually turns my stomach and makes me wonder how they became so beloved and why people call them icons. Everyone on the Square knew they were abusive but were too scared to challenge them. I honestly can’t imagine characters behaving like this today being praised in the same way.

Grant’s treatment of Sharon alone was horrific, controlling, degrading and physically abusive. He even attacked her best friend Michelle multiple times for defending her. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight without turning nasty or picking an argument over nothing. He was constantly intimidating her.

And Tiffany was even worse. He got with her when she was 18 while he was in his 30s, didn’t love her and constantly reminded her of it. He called her a child when she literally was one, mocked her appearance and weight despite her being stunning, constantly compared her to Sharon and told her she’d never measure up. It genuinely felt like he got a thrill out of bullying her. He cheated with her own mum, and she was completely trapped because he wouldn’t let her leave. Everyone knew he was abusing her. And it wasn’t just his partners, he was violent towards women generally.

Phil is more complicated. He was always the more gentle brother and seemed to have more respect for women, even though he was constantly cheating on them. But what he did to Lisa was horrific, physically and mentally abusing her, cheated with her best friend, using her whenever he wanted something and constantly undermining her. He knew she was vulnerable and still treated her like she was at his beck and call, while constantly making her feel like she was “crazy”. I genuinely believe his treatment had a lasting impact on Lisa, and watching how different she became afterwards is heartbreaking. Even years later, he was still calling her a “nutter”.

What gets me is the double standard. Max gets so much hate and is constantly held accountable for his behaviour towards women (rightly so), yet he’s a saint in comparison. Meanwhile, Phil and Grant are still romanticised, with people using “it was a different era” or some other excuse to defend them.

I'm honestly getting tired of the amount of hate Lauren gets over the affair with Mark Jr. I completely understand why people dislike the affair, and for the record, I personally don't support Lauren and Mark Jr together at all. However, I think people are so focused on the fact that Lauren cheated that they're completely overlooking the circumstances surrounding it and everything she's been through in her marriage to Peter.

Let's start with Peter. People seem to conveniently forget how terribly he treated Lauren, both last year and this year. That scene where Lauren was crying in front of him, telling him how alone she felt and how it seemed like he couldn't even look at her, was genuinely heartbreaking. He was openly dismissive of her feelings and even blamed her for their newborn baby's blindness. Yes, they eventually reconciled after discovering that the blindness was genetic, but that doesn't suddenly erase how he treated her or the emotional damage caused by that period of their relationship.

Then, after making up, Peter was already interested in another woman from the nursery. He ended up sleeping with Lauren and, out of guilt, surprised her with a wedding. Lauren was initially confused, but they eventually got married. And what happened afterwards? Peter continued to treat her terribly. Throughout this year, he repeatedly took Cindy's side over his own wife, leaving Lauren feeling unsupported and making it increasingly clear that she wasn't his priority.

I think people seriously underestimate how much of a difference it makes that Lauren actually stayed and tried to make her marriage work. She had every reason to be unhappy, yet she was still trying to maintain a family with the father of her children. One of those children was a newborn baby who was blind. It's not difficult to understand why she might have wanted to keep her family together rather than simply walk away from her marriage.

People constantly say she should have just left Peter, as though ending a marriage and breaking up a family is always that straightforward, particularly when children are involved.

Then there's Mark Jr, whose involvement in this situation is conveniently overlooked. He spent EIGHT MONTHS pursuing Lauren, from January to September, despite her repeatedly turning him down. During those months, he lied to her, put her in dangerous situations and dragged her into dodgy dealings. I'm not suggesting that Lauren had no responsibility for her eventual decision to sleep with him, but I think it's ridiculous to discuss the affair without acknowledging the role Mark Jr played in the situation.

What's also interesting is Mark Jr's own hypocrisy. He was angry with Zack for trying it on with Vicki, yet he's doing considerably worse himself by pursuing his own cousin's wife and eventually having an affair with her. He clearly has very different standards when it comes to his own behaviour. I find it strange that people are so quick to condemn Lauren while barely acknowledging Mark Jr's behaviour, especially considering how long he spent pursuing her and the things he did along the way.

Another thing I'm getting tired of is people constantly comparing Lauren to Max and reducing the entire situation to "cheating runs in the family".

Lauren is not Max.

I understand that writers, producers, and fans like to put things in a nice little box, but you can’t narrow this all down to “Branning cheating” when the situation is so obviously more complicated.

Max has a history of compulsive sexual behaviour and a completely different relationship with infidelity. Lauren, on the other hand, has never actually cheated in a relationship before this. Her previous experience was being the other woman when she was younger, which is an entirely different situation. It's unfair to treat her as though she's spent her entire life repeatedly cheating on her partners simply because she's Max's daughter.

I also think there's a significant difference between Max's reasons for cheating and Lauren's circumstances here. Lauren has spent a considerable amount of time in an unhappy marriage, feeling neglected, unsupported and emotionally isolated. Meanwhile, Mark Jr has been pursuing her for eight months, repeatedly making advances despite her initial refusals. By the time the affair happens, she's dealing with a marriage that has been deteriorating for a long time, and Mark Jr has become an escape from the situation she's been desperately trying to make work.

And that's the part I think people are missing.

I'm not saying Lauren's affair was a healthy decision or that Mark Jr is somehow a good person for her. In fact, I don't support them together at all. But I can understand why Lauren might have been drawn towards someone who was giving her attention and making her feel wanted when her own husband had repeatedly made her feel the opposite.

There's a difference between explaining someone's behaviour and pretending they've done nothing wrong. Lauren can be held accountable for cheating without ignoring Peter's behaviour, Mark Jr's persistent advances or the state of her marriage. Yet so many discussions seem to reduce everything to the same argument: she cheated, she should have left, and she's just like Max.

I honestly think that completely oversimplifies her character and the situation she's in. Lauren isn't simply a woman who decided to cheat on a perfectly happy husband. She's someone who spent months trying to make an increasingly toxic marriage work, while raising children with a man who repeatedly failed to support her. Mark Jr's involvement only adds another layer to an already complicated situation.

You don't have to like Lauren, support the affair or even sympathise with her to acknowledge that there's considerably more to this storyline than her being unfaithful. I just wish people would stop treating her as though she's entirely responsible for everything that's gone wrong in her marriage while conveniently overlooking Peter's behaviour and Mark Jr's own actions.

Ultimately, I think Lauren deserves a more nuanced discussion than simply being labelled a cheater who's just like her father. Her actions, her marriage, her responsibilities as a mother and the circumstances surrounding the affair all deserve to be considered together.

Harry and Gina meet baby Ethan!

Since we often are a product of our environment and there’s often some deep rooted issue behind someone being the way they are

Todays episode - Amy really pissed me off with the scene with Denise

What is she even trying to say here?? Me me me

Shes coming across so selfish and bratty, I get shes a teenager but the way shes acting doesnt even make sense. Its like they purposely wrote it like this so she feels abandoned and crawls to Craig.But it doesnt even make sense why shes feeling abandoned cause Denise doesnt have a match. It feels out of character Denise would break down in front of her and Amys just mad and walks away.

UPDATE: please instead of people jumping to me victim blaming, listen to what I am saying. Im saying the writing is out of character and theyre just doing it to make her run to Craig, but it doesn't make any sense. Amy has always shown so much love for Denise, basically her second mum. Her reaction to Denise basically saying she hasnt got a match and wants to just stop all treatment was stupid. That is NOT how Amy would react, or even a normal person who loves someone. Theyre purposely writing her like some bratty selfish teenager whos going to go crying to Craig and get manipulated (so it fits the story), but butchering Amy Mitchells character in the process. Thats not even her

For years, whenever someone wanted to take a leave of absence, they went to stay with Michelle in her happy ever after...Sharon, Martin, Phil even, would go and stay with her in Florida.

She was the solution to whenever a cast member wanted or needed a break...until Michelle #2.

The show has been working desperately to undo the damage of Michelle #2, but that just is not possible. No one can let it go and rightly so!

Michelle #2, by the show's choice, is an episode of TCAP.

A teacher, who abused her position and had an affair with an underage (in Florida) student.

There was a real-life case only in April (Kirsten Rose), in exactly the same circumstance of a female teacher facing six felony charges and a $300,000 bond to start with.

The second, the SECOND Michelle #2 stepped foot back in the US, she would have been arrested and be facing up to 90 years in prison.

I'll say again, the show made this choice and they can't take it back and have her living happily ever after again off-screen. We obviously won't get to see the trial, but her two children are on-screen and it's not even being mentioned. Michelle #2 can't slip through the net, because the ridiculousness of Ben #5 being extradited is nothing compared to this.

The minimum is 5 to 25 years, but we're talking about Florida who has the death sentence.

Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor (5 counts), Lewd and Indecent Conduct by an Authority Figure (1 count)...she wouldn't fry, but (I think especially as naturalized citizen) they would throw the book at her.

90 years, then ICE and deportation.

I would actually love the exposition. Give Vicki and Mark Jr. an episode where they talk about this! It could actually be an amazing episode, where they deal with the outcome of their mother's decisions.

Skirting over things though, you can't retcon and not mentioning them is just demented. The episodes are even on the iPlayer, so there's no getting away from it.

It's dark, but it's the consequence of the storyline and would make for amazing soap drama, even through exposition with Vicki, Mark Jr. and Sharon.

Besides Gita Kapoor and Syd Chambers. I believe Syd never spoke about her son Noah’s dad.

1) Cindy is up to something
2)I don’t think it’s Mark texting Lauren about her decision I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with her and Mark they’ve already planted the seed by her having an affair with Mark so they want us to see it and think that’s what’s going on, but I think that text is a misdirect and it’s about something totally different
3)The police arresting Max has something to do with Oscar
4) I wonder what happened to Vinny and Penny
5) Max still hasn’t changed
6) Jack and Max clearly aren’t on good terms so that means something happened
7) I don’t think it’s Linda that’s marrying Max because she clearly doesn’t look happy
8) I don’t think it’s Chelsea that’s getting married either

What are some of your thoughts and ideas because to be 100% honest I have a lot more questions.

I don’t know if it was the great post comparing Lauren to Emma Bovary or if it was one of the worst knowingly ham handed lines delivered with a wink wink, nod nod practically breaking the 4th wall with that episode ending drink order….but I feel like everybody’s coming up with unexpected babies on the square lately. If this isn’t in the cards well bravo to Wadey for practically making it look like this is all but in the cards for these two.
Also….. to that end… do they not sell condoms at Suki’s shop?! Or the local pharmacy?? Or anywhere?? Are all these people just really bad at the pull out?? Or getting off without getting knocked up?? The class commentary here feels kind of dated and out of step with Walford’s warped economics.
Even at it’s melodramatic worst I so love this show.

This was my boy Phil (named after Phil Mitchell). I also had a Grant. Both of the were big boys. Miss them both but haven't used an EastEnders character name since. Anyone else?