Thursday 17th September 2020

Good evening everyone! I am very aware that I am very far behind right now, my apologies for being incredibly late. I don't think I've ever been behind with episodes this much before. Due to being away from my laptop/computer for about 4 days, I've not been able to write up about the past 2 episodes. Of course I'm aware there is an episode to air tonight, I'm going to try my absolute best to catch up and write up my blogs as quickly as possible so I can catch up with the rest of you all.

Firstly, there have been quite a few different stories about EastEnders cast in the headlines recently, but there are three which I am quite eager to focus on. The first one being, that Jake Wood who plays the incredible Max Branning will be sadly leaving the soap after portraying the Branning brother for 15 years. I for one, will be very sad to see Max go! He's been an incredible part of the soap and has been a part of so many iconic storylines. During his time on the Square Max has had 4 marriages, 10 affairs, 4 children (2 of which have died after falling from the Queen Vic roof!), been buried alive and been framed for murder! The door, luckily, has been left open for Max to return in the future. As far as I'm aware, we've still got Max until the end of the year, apparently with him being such a huge character of the soap, his exit is expecting to be a really hard hitting BIG one! I'll be sad to see Max go, but I'm thrilled that they've left the door open for him to return one day.

Secondly, it has been announced today that Lacey Turner will also be leaving the soap, only temporarily I'll add, as 4 weeks into her return on the Square, Lacey found out she was pregnant with her second child. Lacey will also be leaving on Maternity Leave at the end of the year, it is rumoured that perhaps Max and Stacey will end up leaving the Square together, with their history, who knows? Anything is possible when it comes to EastEnders. I am so thrilled for Lacey, it'll be a shame to see her leave again, but I'm sure her return will be massive when she comes back from Maternity Leave.

Lastly, it's been revealed that Maisie Smith has signed up to take part in this years Strictly Come Dancing! Fans will know she took part in the Children In Need special of Strictly along with Rudolph Walker (Patrick), Ricky Champ (Stuart) and Louisa Lytton (Ruby). She ended up winning and it looks as if that she did performance so well, she's gone for doing the show properly. She has announced that she will be filming EastEnders while also doing Strictly!

Right, after all the excitement of the recent EastEnders cast news, lets jump right into Thursday's episode! So as I remember, the previous episode ended with Chantelle on the Kheerat saying she was ready to cash in and be with him, little to her knowledge that Gray was standing right behind her, listening to her conversation. The episode starts right where the last one was left off, Chantelle clearly has no idea that Gray is stood right behind her as she asks Kheerat to do her the favour of grabbing the memory box from under her bed. She even gives him the security code for the alarm over the phone as Gray watches and listens. As she hangs up the phone as is given the doughnuts for the children, Gray makes his way out of café and leaves, Chantelle still none the wiser! 

At the Mitchell house hold, Callum is getting ready for Stuart's Stag Do! Ben arrives with a bottle in tow, Callum is visibly surprised to see him, not even expecting him to join him at his brother's Stag night! Ben assures him that he's happy to go along. Callum decides to ask his boyfriend about the set up that he had planned for Danny, Ben reveals to him that Danny was found in a car with the stolen money in his boot and the police had arrested him. Callum is clearly relieved to her that Ben's plan actually worked, only the downside is that Phil is unaware of what has happened. Ben promised him he'd inform his Dad, but Ben deciding to let his guard down told Callum that he doesn't want to lie to his boyfriend anymore. He's going to start an be more honest with him. I think that statement meant more to Callum than anything ... the amount of times Ben has lied to Callum, to be fair he always did it to keep him from being hurt or in trouble, his heart was always in the right place, even though lying to his boyfriend hurt Callum. Meanwhile, at the police station, Danny is being questioned by police! He states to the police that he's been set up, but refuses to say by who! 

At the club, Ruby is struggling as things start to fall down on top of her. Whitney sees her with her head in her hands and asks if she's alright. It's then Ruby opens up and informs Whitney of her money issues. She reveals she told Martin that she loves him, but her fears have escalated that he doesn't love her back. Plus she's also worried about the fact that she's lied to him about her money problems and he has no idea that she's struggling. Whitney advises her to do the right thing, stop lying to Martin and start telling him the truth, if he truly loves her back, he'd do anything to help! While Ruby and Whitney are having this conversation in Ruby's club, in the Vic, Martin and Kush are also having a similar conversation. Martin reveals to Kush that unfortunately nothing has come of his attack, because the person who attacked him wore a mask, it's pretty much impossible for him to know who it was who attacked him. It's then he also mentions to Kush that Ruby dropped the L-Bomb on him! Kush is also quite surprised to hear the news, but is also shocked to hear that Martin didn't say the L word back to her. Kush states that Martin needs to make up his mind, does he really want to be with Ruby? Or was he just enjoying the ride?

Also waiting in the pub to start their special celebrations are Stuart and Rainie! Can I just say how brilliant they both look? Rainie in her sparkly gold dress and veil and Stuart in his big leather jacket with the badge saying "Groom!" they both look very dapper in their party gear. 

Back at the holiday destination where the Taylor family are staying, Chantelle returns with the doughnuts for her children. She's look so excited to see them, as she enters the room she asks where her children are. Karen reveals to them that Keegan and Tiffany had taken them to get ice creams, we can see that behind Chantelle there's a shadow in the hall way of something or someone lurking, as Karen reveals how excited the children are, Chantelle breathes a sigh of relief. Only then to hear a voice behind her "So am I!" Gray appears from the hall and Chantelle is suddenly is in deep shock as she sees her violent husband standing in front of her. Her face drops and she softly says that she wasn't expecting him to come. Gray instantly states that it was the children's idea, stating that they wanted him around. The first thought in Chantelle's mind is to instantly go and find them, she needs to see them! Karen stops her in her path and tells her not to worry, they'll be back soon and that they all have a fun-filled night ahead planned. Karen suggests Chantelle takes Gray to their room, Chantelle is hesitant, but when Gray makes the slight dig at her by saying "Glad someone appreciates me around here!" Chantelle pretty much trapped in a corner and feels forced to take Gray to her room.

Once in their room, Gray makes a sarcastic comment saying the room is a 5 star! Chantelle sighs and claims she knew Gray wouldn't like it. But then he smiles at her, tells her he loves the room. Chantelle is wanting to be as far away from Gray as possible, she makes an excuse to leave and let him get settled while she goes and sees the kids. Gray is then approaching her, closing the door slightly as she is forced to make a decision to either step in or out of the room, she is pretty much backed into the corner as he approaches her. Stating that he knows her, he is inside her head and warns her not to forget it! He instructs her that during their stay they'll appear all nice and happy with their family, but they will leave the following morning. Chantelle decides to agree, knowing that he'll only attack her again if she doesn't. She leaves the room and goes to see her children, the voices of the kids can be heard shouting with excitement "Mummy!" - Gray then takes it upon himself to search Chantelle's suitcase. At first, all you can see are the children's belongings such as toys and clothes, but then as he searches deeper into the case, he finds her make-up bag with poker chip inside. Back on the Square, Kheerat is watching the Atkins house, waiting for Gray to make an appearance, we then see Gray go to change the house alarm code on his phone. Is Kheerat going to be able to make it into the house in time before he changes the alarm?!

Back in the Mitchell's, Ben and Callum are making themselves ready for Stuart's big night! Ben is promising to give Stuart and brilliant time. Callum can see that Ben is doing everything in his power to make him happy, he smiles to himself as they leave for the party. As they leave, Callum asks his boyfriend if his offer of him moving in still stands. Ben smiles and nods, "Of course!", Callum smiles back, "I'd better get packing then!" - at the one moment in their life, they're happy and looking forward to the future. Ben begins to lead the way, only to be stopped in his tracks by the police and ends up being arrested for armed robbery. Has Danny actually decided to grass Ben up?! Callum can only wait and watch as his boyfriend is taken by his boss! He takes a sneaky look around the corner of a wall while Ben goes to sit in the police car, only quickly turns away when boss looks around. Has he been seen and will his boss put two and two together? Will he question Callum's involvement with Ben?! 

While all this is happening out on the Square, in the Vic both Stuart and Rainie are looking miserable as they sit and wait for their friends and family to come and join them for their parties. Rainie assures Stuart with Callum would have something up his sleeve in store for him, but Stuart feels disheartened as there literally appears to be no one around him to celebrate his Stag Do. You can see he's hurting, both of them are - as much as they are disliked people on the Square, I do believe that everyone deserves a bit of happiness and they both deserve happy Stag and Han parties. While they mope in the corner of the Vic, Ruby makes her way in and approaches Kush and Martin. Kush decides to leave them to it, but as Ruby is trying to explain herself to her boyfriend, Martin interrupts and tells her that realises how he made her feel, but not saying the L word back. Ruby instantly tells him not worry and forget about it, as that isn't what she came in to talk to him about. But Martin states that he can't forget what she's said, and he reveals to her that he feels exactly the same way about her. "I love you, too!" - A huge smile is plastered on Ruby's face! They both share a laugh and a smile as they both finally reveal their feelings for one another. Suddenly, across the other side of the bar, Ian makes his way into the pub. He slams a wad of paper on the bar for Sharon to look at, she first approaches him with a smile - still trying to make amends for turning him down, only to then realise what his intentions are. He states he's got a list of all the targets he wants her to reach, she simply tries to explain to him that his targets and figures are not realistic, she tells him, basically what everyone else is thinking - it's not about the money, the whole reason why he is acting this way is because she turned him down, she instructs him that he needs to take the rejection as a man and move on! He ignores her completely and just tells her that if she can't make the money, he will find someone who will!

At the holiday home, the Taylor family are huddled together around the TV, watching an old-style, black and white horror movie. As Chantelle walks in the room to join her family, Gray smiles at her, expecting her to take a seat beside him. Chantelle walks towards her parents and grabs a seat beside her Dad, much to Gray's disappointment. As Mitch and Chantelle begin to reminisce about watching the movie together when she was younger, Gray can't help but watch and glare at Chantelle. Is he actually jealous of the relationship she has with her father?! She then tells her Dad she loves him and snuggles up to him. Part of me is thinking that while Chantelle is watching the movie, she's actually wanting to be the woman in the movie who appears to be running away from a monster. Is Chantelle thinking about how she could run away from the monster in her life?! 

At the police station, Ben is now being questioned by police. He's been asked questions about whether himself and his Dad were at the scene of the crime. All Ben is answering is "No comment!" The Detective reveals that they have images of Ben on the CCTV, but once again Ben states "No comment!" the Detective then decides to end the questioning for the time being, but without being recorded, he informs Ben that Danny is willing to grass him up to the police. Ben once again tries to worm his way out, telling the Officer that he doesn't know him. It's only then when he pulls out a statement, Ben appears shaky, he reaches behind his ear (I'm unsure at this point what he's grabbing) - either grabbing at his hearing aid or the actual imprint, takes it off/out and places it on to the desk and demands to see his lawyer. Outside in the corridor, Callum and Jack are sharing a tense conversation. It looks as if Callum is asking Jack for help, whether he can find out the charges of what Ben might be facing. Jack informs him that he can't get involved, and neither should Callum. Callum claims that he can't stand back and do nothing, but Jack then advises him that if he values his career, then he should. 

While the Taylors are watching their horror movie, Kheerat, back at the Square, is seen sneaking into the Atkins household. Going by the instructions that Chantelle gave him, he types in the code. Only suddenly the house alarm begins blaring. Kheerat doesn't know to do, he begins to panic and flies up the stairs. As the house alarm is going off, Gray gets a notification on his phone, he claims to Chantelle that someone has broken into their house and shows Chantelle his phone. The look on her face is concern and worry, is she worried for Kheerat's sake? She claims it must be some kind of mistake, but Gray instructs her to get ready and he informs her that they're leaving. Chantelle is of course hesitant to go, but Gray hurries her along, so she feels she has no choice but to follow him. 

Back at the police department, Callum is waiting to hear news of Ben. His boss suddenly appears, surprised to see him. He does, however, reveal that he saw him at the house when they arrested Ben. He then asks the question what his involvement with Ben is. When Callum bows his head and looks to the floor, the Detective then realises the truth behind their involvement together. He starts asking quite personal questions, whether they had been together long. Callum claims that that has nothing to do with anything, but the Detective informs him that he had to let them know whether he has had a relationship with a criminal, otherwise he could end up being sacked. The Detective is very sneaky here, he claims he is happy to have caught Danny Hardcastle, he claims Ben will do but the one person he is wanting to catch, is Phil Mitchell! He asks what Callum's relationship with Phil is like, but to be fair, they haven't really made any form of relationship. This is where he starts to bribe Callum, he says that there is a way he can turn a blind eye, and get rid of the CCTV of Ben, the only thing Callum needs to do is get him Phil Mitchell! But, part of me thinks that Callum wouldn't do that! Would he turn his boyfriend's Dad in, just to save his boyfriend? Could there be some other way he can sort it? It would break Ben's heart if his boyfriend was to serve his Dad up to the police! This is interesting dilemma Callum has found himself in, what is he going to choose to do?! 

Back at the holiday destination, Gray is rushing Chantelle to get them all home. Chantelle is very hesitant to go, she asks why not she and the children stay and Gray goes on his own. Gray informs her that the children are already set and waiting in the car, he claims that they're scared and wanting to go home. Chantelle is looking more and more defeated the more she tries to stay. Mitch looks as if he can see what's going on, there's a VERY important moment here when you can see he senses something. This is the moment where you feel Chantelle will finally say something! Mitch says to Chantelle that if she really wants to stay, she can, that's all she has to say. He is sure Gray can cope on his own. There's a moment of silence, the camera goes from Mitch's face, to Gray's and then Chantelle - you can see she is wanting to scream at the top of her lungs that she wants to stay with her family. Gray is looking at her from across the room with serious, dead eyes - she sighs deeply and says she'll go with Gray.  She goes to leave the room but before she goes, she turns back and says one last goodbye to her Mum and Dad. They both wish them a safe journey and say that they'll see them tomorrow. Chantelle leaves the room as Gray follows and wishes them a lovely evening. 

As they leave the room, Karen sighs a heavy sigh in disappointment that they've had to leave. Mitch looks as if he knows something isn't right, but decided to stay quiet. Chantelle is seen walking along the corridor, carrying her coat in her arms, she looks lost and defeated yet again as Gray has managed to worm his way into her plans and bring her back home. Gray follows from behind and gives such an evil look, you know things are not going to be right when they get back home. Will they find Kheerat in their house? Will he have managed to escape before they return?! Only bad things are going to happen next!