#calebmalone

Wednesday 10th February 2021

Hello again everyone! Hope your week is going well so far! Just want to say thank you for all your support over the past year! I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next year has in store for EastEnders. Already there are so many exciting storylines, characters coming and going. I can't wait for all of it to come!

Now following Wednesday's episode, the first thing I want to talk about is Max. I guess its fair to say that the poor man has been struggling over the past few days/weeks. After accidentally stumbling across a leaflet for a clairvoyant, he felt that possibly it could help with his emotions and maybe reaching out to his deceased daughter, Abi. When the lady arrives, she's nothing like you would expect … no turban on her head, no crystal ball, pretty normal from the looks of things. She slowly begins to talk and question Max about Abi, at first it seems that he doesn't seem to believe the nonsense about ghosts and spirits. She advises Max to not question it all, but just to talk and let it flow. He begins to talk about when Abi was a little girl and how he called her his "Princess". I have to say, when it comes to reminiscing about Abi, I also miss her character. There was a time when she did become a bit of a brat, but then what teenagers don't go through that phase? The one thing which Abi always loved though, was her Dad. He was her hero. I guess you could say that she was very much a "Daddy's Girl".

Understandably, as Max reminisces, its gets a bit too emotional for him. I do start to really feel for the guy, okay he has made (countless) mistakes in the past, but to be fair, he's not really a bad guy is he? The clairvoyant informs him that Abi remains close and states the fact that she does forgive him and she still loves him. This appears to be a comfort to Max, hearing confirmation that his daughter is always close to him. Later on in the evening, Jack returns home whilst Max is doing the washing up, when he notices the clairvoyant leaflet on the kitchen counter, at first he seems baffled that Max has gone ahead and approached one. Informing him that he needs to be careful as they are co-artists, however Max notifies Jack that there was no ghosts going around the house, but most importantly that he felt a close connection with Abi, which is what he's been needing for a very long time. To be fair, Jack can't argue with that, if his brother insists that he felt his deceased daughter, then there's simply nothing left to be said. We know Max's exit is slowly creeping upon us, but the one thing that I'm left questioning is - what will happen to baby Abi? Will Max take her with him? Or will he leave her with Rainie and Stuart and allow them to bring her up? Or maybe leave her with Jack? Who knows?

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The next thing I've got to mention is Gray and the Carter family! After hearing news from the detective that Tina has been spotting shoplifting, Mick seems to feel that there could be some hope that Tina will come home. But Shirley still can't help but feel that Tina disappearing, living on the streets, shoplifting to survive is all her fault, even though Mick and Gray try to console her and inform her that she's not to blame. The horrible thing that they don't know though, is that Gray has paid a homeless woman to portray herself as Tina, to make the Carter family believe she could still be alive. As I'm watching this particular storyline continue, I really don't know how much further Gray can take this, what is he going to do next? If the scent goes cold once again on Tina's whereabouts, how else is he going to make it look like she's still alive? Does he still have Tina's phone? I have to say though, I do feel for Shirley right now, blaming herself for really no reason. Mick tries to console her, stating that she was also looking after her son during the time when Tina went missing, she simply couldn't be in two places at once. How was she supposed to know Tina would go missing?! I have to be honest though, I hate how much Gray is being so two-faced!!! Informing the Carter family that he's going to do all he can to help locate Tina, knowing full-well that she's dead and he in fact murdered her. That's just pure evil isn't it?!

Oh, I know I've said this many times before, but I really can't wait for Gray's secrets to be revealed! The Carter family are going to want to get their revenge! Suddenly Shirley makes the drastic decision that she's going to leave in search of her sister, she's going to walk the streets and possibly go knocking at Tina's friends in an attempt to find her. When Gray hears this news, he tries to persuade her not to as it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but Shirley has her mind made up and nothing anyone says or does is going to change her mind! Is looks as if as soon as Gray got past one hurdle, something else props up and he's got to try and find another way of stopping them from finding out the truth. How will he be able to stop this one?! Can I also just mention that regardless of hating the character of Gray, Toby-Alexander Smith is doing such an incredible job in portraying him, his performance is just - Wow! If it ever comes to it, I'd like to see him win a Best Villain award, it would be so well deserved!

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The final thing I need to mention is the main focus of the episode, Lucas and Denise! At the beginning of the episode, we see that Denise is trying to get in touch with Lucas, after her discussion with Chelsea in the previous episode, eager to get Lucas on that plane to Ibiza and frame him. Eventually Lucas agrees to meet with Denise and hear to what she has to say. As they meet in Lucas's apartment, Denise tries her absolute best to convince him to make his relationship with Chelsea work. I just want to mention the specific moment when Denise is trying to persuade Lucas that their daughter still loves him, even though she knows full well that it isn't true, it looks as if she has to force the words out of her mouth as it makes her sick to the stomach to even say such a thing. The look in Denise's face I thought, was brilliant! She drops the biggest hint of all though that if he really wanted to go the full hog with getting his daughter back on his side, he should go to Ibiza with her. Now, this was really interesting - the look in Lucas's face changed slightly, almost as if he knew full well what Denise's intention was. He knows that Chelsea was going to plant drugs on him and frame him, but to hear Denise talk about it, makes him suspicious that she could be in on the plan also. Lucas isn't dumb, he knows exactly what they're planning, but without giving any hint that he knows, he gently nods his head and agrees to Denise's suggestion. However, later on Lucas is seen alone in the church, praying. Now I think this is the moment where people think "Oh, has he actually changed his ways?" Because it certainly had me thinking! He appears to be deeply upset to realise that the people he cares about the most, refuse to believe he's changed and is convinced that they will only ever see him as the killer he once was. He lets out a heartfelt, devastating cry which leads to the pastor confronting him and asking him what's wrong. He opens up to the minister, informing him about his knowledge about Chelsea and Denise coming up with a plan to frame him, it's then he questions the minister - What is the point in him trying to change his ways when his family don't believe in him? For a moment, it looks as if he really is going to stop trying.

Returning to the Square, as Lucas returns from the church, Denise is finding herself getting distracted in the salon. As Raymond sits happily with a ball, Denise is having to deal with irritable customers on the phone, suddenly she receives a phone call from the pastor who just so happened to be with Lucas earlier, as she goes to grab the phone, she notices that little Raymond has suddenly disappeared. Raymond had taken himself outside and began kicking his little ball around, but unbeknown to him, a cart had come lose from a car was slowly rolling backwards towards him. Denise pops out and sees the vehicle heading towards the small boy and desperately calls out his name - out of nowhere Lucas leaps into action, pushing little Raymond of out harms way. I have to be brutally honest, for a split second, when Raymond disappeared I had assumed that Lucas had taken Raymond, just to get his own back on Denise - but maybe Lucas really has changed his ways?! Denise is more than relieved to see that Raymond is unharmed. Later on, when everyone is gathered to the Vic and Denise is happy to see that Raymond has no lasting trauma, Chelsea subtly thanks her Dad for saving Raymond and takes the little boy home. It's then that Lucas and Denise finally get to sit down and discuss things, Lucas acknowledges that him saving Raymond isn't going to change people's opinion of him and it won't make up for the terrible things he's done in the past, but he pleads to Denise that if Chelsea is willing to give him a second chance, he really doesn't want to mess things up. It's then that Denise drops the bombshell that their daughter is actually in deep trouble, even though she doesn't explain details, Lucas seems to click on to the subject very quickly, acknowledging that he knows about Ibiza and the drugs and that she was attempting to set him up, which leaves Denise incredibly stunned! Eventually they arrive back at the house and Denise realises she can't hide what she knows anymore. She informs him that Chelsea has an ex-boyfriend named Caleb, and in fact he was the one who kidnapped her and hid her in a warehouse, it all makes perfect sense to Lucas that this Caleb was actually the one behind his attack, as a warning to his daughter, he did both of these things to her parents as a warning to her. They both come to realise that this Caleb is a very dangerous man and if Chelsea doesn't pay her debt, he will come after the whole family. Lucas steps into action, informing Denise that he's not going to stand for someone blackmailing his daughter, attempting to attack her family just to warn her. He informs Denise he's going to find Caleb and kill him!!

Friday 12th February 2021

Part 1

Hello again folks! Hope you've all had a lovely Valentines weekend! I apologise for this post being up a bit late, it's the only time I've had to watch the episode and I of course wanted to celebrate my own Valentines Day. Anyway, I know I'm going to be a little bit behind, but if all goes to plan, I should be caught up by Thursday's episode. I just want to thank you all for being supportive and patient with me.

But not delaying it any further, let's focus on the first episode of Friday evening. Firstly lets focus on Chelsea and Lucas. The previous episode ended with Lucas threatening to kill Caleb after finding out the truth behind Chelsea setting him up. In this episode it appears as if Lucas is still eager to get back into his daughter's good books. He arrives at the house, informing both Denise and Chelsea that if she can re-book the flights to Ibiza, he's willing to go. (Even though he knows full well that it'll be for delivering drugs!) Denise seems a bit shocked and voices her concerns that he was going to go after Caleb. For a split moment I question whether Chelsea knows that Lucas is aware of her trying to set him up, but of course my question is answered much later on. After excusing himself from his visit with Denise and Chelsea, Chelsea notices her phone has gone missing, suddenly it comes to their realisation that she last had her phone when her Dad was there. He had simply took her phone, knowing her pass code and attempted to find Caleb's address. This is where Denise has to tell her daughter everything, informing her daughter that Lucas knew about the drugs but the one thing he didn't know or understand was why, but now he's found out about Caleb, in his mind, it all makes perfect sense.

However, now Chelsea realises her Dad knows anything, she finally puts him straight. She storms round to her Dad's apartment and demands to speak to him, luckily it looks as if Lucas hasn't got his hands on Caleb just yet, as each time Lucas has been round to his house, he hasn't been there, but of course that doesn't mean he's going to stop looking for him. When they get inside, Chelsea decides to be brutally honest with her Dad informing him that everything she had said and done had been lies. Even using the horrible words that it brought her sick to her stomach having to act as if she loved her Dad, but deep down she still very much hates him to the core for what he did. She explains how his actions in the past have effected her life, how everyone looks at her with dirty looks as if she's the one to blame, not him. You can tell that the truth appears to really hurt Lucas, he apologises for making his daughter's life hell and begs that if there's anything he can do to make it up to her, he will do so. To which she then responds by informing him that if he doesn't go to Ibiza and deliver the drugs as originally planned, it won't be just her life at stake but quite possibly Denise's life also. She informs him that if he leaves Caleb alone and does as he's asked, that will be the only way he'll be able to make things up to her. Now this leaves me asking whether Lucas actually will go through with delivering the drugs? What do you think? Something tells me that something is going to happen and Lucas will be caught red-handed and sent back to jail. What do you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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The next thing I need to talk about kind of entwines two families, Mick, Linda, Jack and Max. So the first time we see the Carter couple, of course they are still fretting about Tina, even after hearing from Shirley that she's not had any luck in locating their sister, they still cling onto the hope that eventually Tina will be found. Also, it looks as if Mick is slowly getting back to some form or normality after revealing everything to his wife over Christmas/New Year. Today however looks as if he'll be going back to the police station to review his statement. Whilst the Carter's have this going on in their lives, it looks as if Max is visibly struggling. Jack has been concerned about his brother after learning that he had a visit from a clairvoyant the previous day, he voices his concerns to Rainie, but of course she seems to take everything as a joke and just belittles Max, stating that she's not surprised how much of a down spiral he's taken after everything that happened with Linda. Realising that speaking to Rainie isn't going to make things better, Jack leaves and eventually finds himself back at the police station, as he chats with a fellow colleague about the type of day they're having, his colleague informs that he's dealing with a child sex abuse case - only when another police officer enters the room, from the hallway Jack sees Mick sitting in the room, which of course answers so many questions. He's visibly shocked by seeing his friend and finding out what he knows, but somehow this may be able to put Max's mind at rest.

After hearing Jack's concerns, it looks as if Rainie takes it upon herself to check on her ex-husband. She happens to mention that him losing his wife and having many failed relationships, as well as losing two children and the others living elsewhere, it's no wonder he's having an emotional breakdown. She suggests keeping Abi for one extra night, just to help him out. Later on in the episode, unfortunately, Max has drunk himself to oblivion. He's clearly feeling lost, depressed maybe, Jack manages to find his brother before he causes harm to himself or anyone else, its then when he's convinced his brother to back inside that Max opens up about how he's feeling. Losing Linda seems to have tipped him over the edge, he confesses that he actually loved Linda and still can't understand why she would choose Mick over him. It looks as if Jack is finding it hard seeing his brother struggling so much the way he is, perhaps it wasn't for him to tell, but I personally believe he informed Max out of concern for his brother. He drops the bombshell that it wasn't because him that Linda ended things, to which Max looks really confused, as if he knows his brother is hiding something from him. Jack reveals to his brother that the main reason Linda chose to stay with Mick was because Mick was sexually abused, and she chose to stand beside her husband. Now part of me believes that Jack had no right to inform Max about the Carter's personal life, regardless whether he had sworn Max to secrecy. The way things are going, it's only going to be a matter of time before the whole Square knows about Mick. Of course they'll be sympathetic, but that is something that Mick never wanted, he never wanted to be the subject gossip of the Square, he didn't want people's sympathy, he doesn't want people looking at him differently, as a victim. The only thing I think now is that Max is probably going to fight even more to get Linda back, now he knows the truth, but it will only make Linda more suspicious, and when she realises both Jack and Max know about her husband, she's going to flip!! Will Mick's secret be safe? What does this mean for Max now? Is he going to fight for the woman he loves? What do you guys think?! Please feel free to let me know what you think.

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The final thing I need to mention is Sharon. The episode begins with Sharon being woke by horrendous banging, of course she's only going to act as anyone else would, on edge and grabs something to defend herself with. As she opens the door she sees two work men carrying huge boxes, looking as if they're either delivering things of simply packing belongings away. They reveal that it actually turned out to be Kathy who hired them to remove her belongings. Kathy is a worried Mother, lashing out as her new daughter-in-law, believing that Sharon knows more about Ian's disappearance than she's letting on. As much as Sharon still tries to defend herself, Kathy is desperate for answers on the whereabouts of her son. Interestingly, when Kathy and Sharon continue to argue in the Vic, a solicitor turns up out of the blue, informing Sharon that she has documents to sign. But the most interesting piece of information she gives is that Ian is actually her client, and as of the previous day he was alive - much to Kathy's shock. She pleads for the solicitor to share any news, a phone number or address for her son, but of course under client confidentiality, she's unable to give her the information she's desperately after. Looking at the documentation, Sharon reveals that Ian has decides to annual their marriage - which to be fair, was to be expected, but the the next big shock is that he has also signed the Queen Vic over into her name. Sharon is now legally the owner of the Queen Vic! Of course, these leaves Kathy reeling, claiming that Sharon now has everything she's ever wanted and it's all because of her son! Part of me does feel sorry for Sharon at this point, okay she did try to kill Ian by poisoning him, but she still has no idea where he's disappeared to. I feel for Kathy also, as learning that her son was poisoned by his wife and now he's vanished, who else would be to blame?! But it may look that Sharon won't be in the Vic for long.

Later on, Mick and Linda are both sat in the Vic, Linda looks over at the bar at her ex-friend and can't seem to understand why she is looking so cheery. She overhears Karen mention that Sharon is celebrating something - Linda is curious as to what exactly she has to be celebrating over. She suggests to her husband to pick up a takeaway for them and informs him she'll meet him at home. As Mick agrees and leaves the pub, Linda approaches the bar. Sharon is happy to see Linda, it looks as if she's wanting to get their friendship back on track, even though Linda can't forgive her friend for framing Tina for Ian's attack. Sharon pleads that if there was anything she could do to make up for it, she would. It's then Linda drops the big bombshell, as she swoons over the Queen Vic bust, she informs Sharon to sell the pub back to her family - hinting that it'll be the only way to make up for what she's done. At first, Sharon seems very reluctant, especially considering that it's been finally been made legal in her name, the last thing she wants to do is lose it. But Linda blackmails her, if she doesn't sell the Vic over to the Carter's, she will go to the police and not only tell them what Sharon told her, but she'll also drop Phil into it also, as the police have been wanting to get their hands on Phil Mitchell for a very long time.