Here's the niggle ... If Sharon hadn't sold the pub back to Peggy, if she hadn't decided she didn't want the pub any longer, Peggy wouldn't have had the pub. Hang on a minute ... Peggy was forced to sell the Vic in 2001 because Frank - guess what? - stole from her. Wiped her out financially. Yes, she was annoyed that Sharon, helped by Steve Owen, bought the pub; but in 2002, Sharon - guess what? - sold the pub back to Peggy and used the money made to establish Angie's Den (ex-the E20 and subsequently Scarlett's and R and R). The only reason the Vic was eventually lost to Peggy was down to Marcus, on behalf of Den, scamming silly Sam out of all the Mitchell assets.
So when, exactly, did Sharon "sell the pub out from under" Peggy? And as for her ruining Grant's life, well ... it looks as though Grant's doing ok to me, and as for the hatred Peggy bears for Sharon, here are her last scenes when she left the Square for Florida -with Phil accompanying her and with Peggy's blessing ...
That doesn't look like undying hate to me or hell freezing over.
Newman started this retcon about Peggy's undying hatred of Sharon, and now DTC is pushing the myth. Oh, and before I forget it, didn't Grant and Sharon actually reconcile their past, amicably, when he was on the Square before and Sharon was there?
As much as seeing Peggy was a nice surprise, it was soured by the retconned circumstance of this, as a vehicle for getting Ronnie back on the stage.
That's how a nice surprise can have its downside.
Tonight's episode was carried by Sharon and Ben. Ben's a genuinely nuanced and complicated character. Last night, we saw his hard edge with Jay, his dark side; tonight - and it may have been an act - we saw that he really is genuinely a scared kid who wants his father's love and acceptance. He wants Phil with Shirley because Shirley is familiar to him, but isn't he aware that Shirley's feelings toward Ben won't change if she's with Phil?
Roxy gave Sharon some good food for thought, and something Sharon should have remembered from her past association with the Mitchells, Phil will always, always put his children before any wife or partner, even if she happens to be a mother of one of those children. Remember how he psychologically and emotionally destroyed Lisa? Even Linda encouraged Sharon to get to know Ben, although she wouldn't give an answer to Sharon's rhetorical question about whether or not Linda would tolerate a murderer under her roof with her children. But Sharon did what we don't see a lot of characters do on this programme - she admitted she was wrong. OK, maybe she did this to ensure her relationship remained solid (or as solid as it could be) with Phil. The important thing is that she recognised and accepted that Phil's son was a part of his life, as much as Dennis is a part of hers, and that marrying Phil meant that Ben was part of the package.
And this has thrown a spanner in Phil's works - now he's genuinely conflicted. Here's the woman he wants to betray, on the word of Shirley Queen of Scrotes, and she's welcoming Ben into her family dynamic, saying he could stay as long as he wanted; whereas Shirley is so damned obsessive, deluded and entitled enough to think - and actually state - that Ben wouldn't change anything between her and Phil. She even was so arrogant as to tell Phil that she didn't want him to stop seeing Ben, she just didn't want Ben around her.
But, Jesus, is Phil so weak that he can't tell Shirley to back off? Is he really willing to ditch Ben in favour of giving Shirley what she wants? Or is he playing her now? The moment he detected a change in Sharon's attitude to Ben, his face changed imperceptively. Just whom is Phil going to humiliate?
Even that evil old toad, Aunt Babe, realised enough to tell Shirley that, as a couple, she and Phil would not make it even to the starting line, if Shirley's attitude to Ben continued. But that's Shirley - demanding 100 per cent loyalty and fidelity from the man who looked her in the eye three years ago and told her he couldn't commit. She looked so sour and bitter tonight - as Babe told her, she smelled desperate, continuously calling Phil and getting no reply.
And clock the look exchanged between Johnny and Ben, after the obviously foreshadowing remark from Mick for Johnny to give Ben a wide berth. Who didn't see that coming?
And so the gun is inadvertantly packed and ready to go to the Vic.
Once again, tonight, ever so subtly, Linda's childishness is emphasised ...
It's a wedding, L, not Narnia.
The question of Lexi here, also, is very interesting. Phil's adamant that Ben get to know his daughter. Ben is adamant that he doesn't want to know his daughter. Lola, Jay and Billy are adamant in not wanting Ben to know his daughter - not so much from fear of Ben, but from fear that Phil will now want custody of Lexi for Ben. Phil's behaviour in that situation tonight was ugly and despicable, not insisting but demanding and thuggish. Ben has rights, yes, but Ben is choosing not to exercise those rights.
Stacey's discovered the clue which tells her that the fire in the Slater/Moon house was deliberate. Alfie's discomfort and guilt was as palpable as his obvious love for Kat. This is a very harrowing storyline to watch, especially discomforting was Kat's remark about everything looking up for the Moons - her and Alfie being together, the children, and Kat beginning to feel good about herself. I hope this doesn't mean a desperate repeat of "the Dirty Girl" sydrome.
This was a good episode, but not as good as Monday's or last week's. The continuance of the Peggy-hates-Sharon retcon ruined it.
So when, exactly, did Sharon "sell the pub out from under" Peggy? And as for her ruining Grant's life, well ... it looks as though Grant's doing ok to me, and as for the hatred Peggy bears for Sharon, here are her last scenes when she left the Square for Florida -with Phil accompanying her and with Peggy's blessing ...
That doesn't look like undying hate to me or hell freezing over.
Newman started this retcon about Peggy's undying hatred of Sharon, and now DTC is pushing the myth. Oh, and before I forget it, didn't Grant and Sharon actually reconcile their past, amicably, when he was on the Square before and Sharon was there?
As much as seeing Peggy was a nice surprise, it was soured by the retconned circumstance of this, as a vehicle for getting Ronnie back on the stage.
That's how a nice surprise can have its downside.
Tonight's episode was carried by Sharon and Ben. Ben's a genuinely nuanced and complicated character. Last night, we saw his hard edge with Jay, his dark side; tonight - and it may have been an act - we saw that he really is genuinely a scared kid who wants his father's love and acceptance. He wants Phil with Shirley because Shirley is familiar to him, but isn't he aware that Shirley's feelings toward Ben won't change if she's with Phil?
Roxy gave Sharon some good food for thought, and something Sharon should have remembered from her past association with the Mitchells, Phil will always, always put his children before any wife or partner, even if she happens to be a mother of one of those children. Remember how he psychologically and emotionally destroyed Lisa? Even Linda encouraged Sharon to get to know Ben, although she wouldn't give an answer to Sharon's rhetorical question about whether or not Linda would tolerate a murderer under her roof with her children. But Sharon did what we don't see a lot of characters do on this programme - she admitted she was wrong. OK, maybe she did this to ensure her relationship remained solid (or as solid as it could be) with Phil. The important thing is that she recognised and accepted that Phil's son was a part of his life, as much as Dennis is a part of hers, and that marrying Phil meant that Ben was part of the package.
And this has thrown a spanner in Phil's works - now he's genuinely conflicted. Here's the woman he wants to betray, on the word of Shirley Queen of Scrotes, and she's welcoming Ben into her family dynamic, saying he could stay as long as he wanted; whereas Shirley is so damned obsessive, deluded and entitled enough to think - and actually state - that Ben wouldn't change anything between her and Phil. She even was so arrogant as to tell Phil that she didn't want him to stop seeing Ben, she just didn't want Ben around her.
But, Jesus, is Phil so weak that he can't tell Shirley to back off? Is he really willing to ditch Ben in favour of giving Shirley what she wants? Or is he playing her now? The moment he detected a change in Sharon's attitude to Ben, his face changed imperceptively. Just whom is Phil going to humiliate?
Even that evil old toad, Aunt Babe, realised enough to tell Shirley that, as a couple, she and Phil would not make it even to the starting line, if Shirley's attitude to Ben continued. But that's Shirley - demanding 100 per cent loyalty and fidelity from the man who looked her in the eye three years ago and told her he couldn't commit. She looked so sour and bitter tonight - as Babe told her, she smelled desperate, continuously calling Phil and getting no reply.
And clock the look exchanged between Johnny and Ben, after the obviously foreshadowing remark from Mick for Johnny to give Ben a wide berth. Who didn't see that coming?
And so the gun is inadvertantly packed and ready to go to the Vic.
Once again, tonight, ever so subtly, Linda's childishness is emphasised ...
It's a wedding, L, not Narnia.
The question of Lexi here, also, is very interesting. Phil's adamant that Ben get to know his daughter. Ben is adamant that he doesn't want to know his daughter. Lola, Jay and Billy are adamant in not wanting Ben to know his daughter - not so much from fear of Ben, but from fear that Phil will now want custody of Lexi for Ben. Phil's behaviour in that situation tonight was ugly and despicable, not insisting but demanding and thuggish. Ben has rights, yes, but Ben is choosing not to exercise those rights.
Stacey's discovered the clue which tells her that the fire in the Slater/Moon house was deliberate. Alfie's discomfort and guilt was as palpable as his obvious love for Kat. This is a very harrowing storyline to watch, especially discomforting was Kat's remark about everything looking up for the Moons - her and Alfie being together, the children, and Kat beginning to feel good about herself. I hope this doesn't mean a desperate repeat of "the Dirty Girl" sydrome.
This was a good episode, but not as good as Monday's or last week's. The continuance of the Peggy-hates-Sharon retcon ruined it.
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