EastEnders: the SPOILERS thread!

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the EastEnders spoilers thread, where we post and talk about any EE spoilers we've read about, including those in early release episodes on iPlayer.

Link below to watch episodes on BBC iPlayer - these are usually dropped at 6am on broadcast days - and you can read brief synopses of upcoming episodes:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m86d

Maybe Whispering Julie will return to work now to pay for this flash care home with their own front doors and pleasant carers.

Wasn’t it Eve who said something like Nigel ‘is this square’ was all a bit odd

it made me cry when Oscar said ‘we’re not gonna see him again are we?’ And George said he didn’t think so. I think we will have the odd care home scene, obviously with grunt when he gets back then that’ll be it. They seem to have done ok with the storyline though so maybe for the best

Apart from Julie, the only person I can imagine visiting Nigel is Yolande. Lexi might, although possibly not as Phil isn't.

I guess Julie will hang around in the background until she's needed for the Nigel storyline, and then move away. She was selling the house in Scotland to pay the fees but I don't think she ever said it had sold.

No-one mentioned Howie in the Pink Suit at the Albert ?
DH and I were debating ( aka arguing ) who sang that .
I had "Pato Banton" in my head , he said Eddie Grant .
The version I remember is UB40 ft Bato Banton ( don;t know if Eddie Grant was involved at all)

I have also decided you can keep Max/Teddy/Grant/Sausage/Ravi/Mark

Tim is really quite delicious in a nasty little wasp sort of way . Only his looks not his personality !

The idea that half of Albert Square has signed up to go and visit Nigel is well meant but a bit ridiculous as he won't know who they are and it will confuse him to have visitors he doesn't remember. The scene with him in the Vic was also evidence of people having their hearts in the right place (dropping everything at work to go to the pub as always) but didn't really do Nigel a lot of good. He's a good actor though, very convincing.

I do think they have done the Nigel storyline well over all and have done some research into the subject a little so that there is some sensitivity there for any viewers who are going through something similar. Poor Phil though.

Julie is such an unlikeable character.

When Nigel was recalling Grant trying to drown him, Phil did look a bit shocked . I thought that jacket he was holding was going to end up over Nigel's face !

Not that Phil would smother Nigel to stop him talking ............

Nigel won't suddenly blame Grant for attempted murder , and even if he does , they would think he was getting confused with his bath incident and Mark being there (who Nigel probably mixes up with Grant )

@70isaLimitNotaTarget oh that is a point, I was thinking that Nigel was mixing up Phil with Grant, but of course he thought Mark was Grant, because in Nigel's mind Grant is a young man. I had forgotten Mark helped haul him out of the bath.

I was thinking no one mentioned Howie and his ridiculous suit (and his amazing ability to talk sense into Patrick). No one cares about Howie including me😂 . I am not pleased to see him back, poor actor and dreary character. But I guess what else are they going to do with Kim nowadays.

It’s been sung by numerous artists, you’re right pato banton sang it later but I think it’s originally a sixties song

I just googled, it was indeed Eddy grant in the equals 1967 and Pato banton with ub40 much later so you both win 🤣🙌🏼

I think they did the Nigel story well enough, but there was so little support available that they were having to make all the decisions themselves. That must be so hard.

I liked the fact Nigel’s storyline has been handled realistically insofar as he has been steadily declining, lashing out, behaving erratically etc which is similar to the way a relative of mine with Dementia behaved before the end. They haven’t sugarcoated the condition and Paul Bradley has played an absolute blinder. The drinks in the Vic scenes were a bit weird though. The Bon Voyage and Congratulations banners😂

Rest of the current storylines are sending me to sleep. I wonder if Priya working in the car lot will lead to her hooking up with Max as there was speculation she was the pregnant woman in his bed during the flashback. Is Jay just a silent owner now? Lauren hasn’t even mentioned the fact he has moved away and is apparently able to hire staff without asking him.

One thing on the Nigel storyline though. Would Julie have had to sell the house to pay for his care? We did with my late father in law but he was the only one living there, surely as she survives him they would have to use any savings to x amount but not make her homeless?

She would not have been forced to sell because she effectively lived there. But the local authority probably would not have offered that particular care home. Choice would have been limited. However, a dementia care home near or in London is going to cost humongous amounts and I think she sold a small house in Scotland. So the funds are not going to last long

That’s a good point but I bet Phil will cover some costs from the magic safe if it means Julie can move out

I actually (reluctantly) like Julie because I find her quite real in her reactions to things. She seemed unfair to Clare by not telling her about the diagnosis, but once she explained that Clare hadn't even replied when Nigel went missing that made sense. She basically doesn't know what to do, so alternates between different viewpoints which is actually realistic. When Phil left Nigel and he nearly drowned in the bath, I expected Julie to be furious but in fact she empathised with Phil and said it could have happened on her watch as well. She really wanted to look after Nigel herself but has slowly realised that he's not the same man any more, which is so hard. I think she and Phil have in the end made a good team for Nigel.

Phil has said he will help with the costs, so Julie need never worry because his safe is never empty. And unlike most dementia patients, Nigel will inevitably die within a few months so costs will be limited.

I didn't find Julie unrealistic, just annoying. She never seemed to grasp how to deal with Nigel's dementia, fair enough to start with but the problem was she never learned, despite seeing how well Nigel responded to Phil's tactics. She carried on the same old way - annoyingly!

I agree with @thisoldcity about liking Julie. Another thing I found realistic is that she’s still hurt and angry about Clare stealing Nigel and Debbie’s wedding ring. All in all, she’s one of the better drawn characters, played really well by Karen Henthorn.

I think whispering Julie found it hard to accept Phil knew how to look after Nigel and understood his cues better than she did. Which is fair enough as they were married for donkeys years and Phil was, in her mind, just an old friend who hadn’t seen Nigel in decades and who she knew to be a violent bully so not exactly fond of him. A nice touch that in the end she thanked him and realised how much he cared for Nigel. I suppose she will stick around as long as Nigel is in the care home and expect the storyline will be tied up when Grant returns and Nigel dies peacefully in his sleep with a Julia’s theme exit.

Phil was knocking out the park Thursday ( and Nigel )
You can tell they are proper actors!
Was well done.

I see from the spoilers that we were wrong about Nigel disappearing, he is on screen again next week as Lexi goes to visit him.

And Max finally buys the car lot. Where does he get his money from!

From memory he owned it years ago so hes ( almost ) gone full circle . He just needs the buy a house on the square next .

Poor Lexi. Her mum died, her dad is in prison , Jay has gone, Johnny and Callum at loggerheads most of the time or blow hot and cold , Nigel thinks she is young Clare , her g/ parents don’t have a huge amount to do with her and ( probably) Nigel will pass away soon ( ish)
No wonder she carries on like she does!

All she needs now is for Emma to swan back into her life !

70s, that would put the tin lid on it if Emma shows up !
Where max gets his dosh from I’ve no idea either. He seems loaded