I still haven’t fully recovered from that episode – the drama is only just getting started so I fear for my heart rate during the episodes we still have coming up! Ben and Callum’s scenes in the Arches felt so intense and intimate that I’m not even mad we didn’t get a kiss or a stag shag. We had character development from both of them, and not to mention that duff duff!
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
The episode starts with the hens at Chantelle’s house, excited about the night ahead, and then the stags at the flat, who are looking a little less than enthusiastic, in particular our main man Callum. Stuart gives a speech (he really does love to lay it on thick, doesn’t he?) and calls Callum the nicest, kindest, most honest bloke he knows. This obviously gets Callum squirming because he is fully aware of that elephant in the room. And Callum is an honest guy in general, he doesn’t like keeping secrets (nor is he physically able to most of the time), but his sexuality is something he’s hidden for years, so he’s had practise in that particular area. At the mention of Ben though, Stuart’s mood changes and Callum notices. There’s a silent exchange between them, and you can tell Callum is silently begging him not to do anything. But he also knows what his brother did at Pride.
Meanwhile, at the car lot, Jay is trying to convince Ben to go to the stag do. And Jay really is the best straight friend a gay guy can have. “A group of drunk, handsome, straight men you can try and turn, this is your dream night out!” But Ben is really not feeling it. I’m glad I interpreted his reaction on Tuesday as reluctance – there’s no way he can be happy at the thought of having to watch Callum pretend for hours that he’s excited to marry a woman. He compromises with Jay, who tells him they lose a good man tomorrow. And that must hurt for Ben, who knows all too well the accuracy of that statement.
Back at Callum’s stag, Mick is trying to explain his drinking game to the rest of the guys, and it’s not going well. This was a pretty funny scene, with characters who rarely interact getting the chance to bounce off each other, and Mick’s growing frustration that they’re not getting the game, while Jay is suggesting a game of Who Are Ya. Callum tries to compromise by saying they’ll do both (not sure that’s practical, hun) and says he’ll be a milkman, resulting in the most hilarious hand gestures that prompt Mitch to tell him to stop. Just amazing.
When Mick asks where Stuart is, Callum is instantly uneasy. His very first thought is worry about what he’s done to Ben, but he has to pretend to go along with the stag celebrations in the meantime.
Back at the car lot, Ben is still mulling things over. On the plus side, he would get to see Callum, but seeing him putting on an act would be the flip side of that coin. Before, Ben had no problem goading Callum in public, knowing Callum couldn’t challenge him back. But Ben’s moved past that and doesn’t feel like toying with Callum. I think reality’s hit and it’s suddenly not so fun anymore. However, he reads a text from Jay who wants him to have a drink, so he appears to make the decision to go along. However, he doesn’t get too far before he’s hitting the outside window of the car lot office and dropping to the ground. Sickening as it is to know that Stuart’s knocked him out once again, I did really like how the scene was shot – Stuart isn’t actually seen but we know for sure that it’s him. Ben’s then dragged out of shot to wherever Stuart’s decided to keep him.
The stags have made it to the Vic, and when Callum gets his phone out to text Whitney because he said he would every hour (because he’s overcompensating, or for protection in case he’s whisked away during the stag celebrations and no one knows where he is? Probably the former.) Jay and Mick take his phone and put it behind the bar – something tells me this will be important later.
A shifty Stuart arrives saying he had to sort something out. He looks at Callum and Callum guesses he’s done something to Ben, which is compounded when Jay says Ben’s not answering his phone. When he finally downs the pint that’s forced on him, he confronts Stuart at the bar, and he’s very forceful in asking what he’s done to Ben. So forceful in fact, that Stuart actually relents and tells him. I think in that moment, Stuart is taken aback by the urgency in Callum’s voice and the worry over Ben. He’d thought he was doing Callum a favour but perhaps the penny’s dropped that this isn’t the way to make Callum happy. Callum leaves to get Ben just as the stag celebrations get going. And thank god he left when he did, as a Sumo turns up and picks Robbie up, thinking he’s the stag thanks to Stuart’s “skinny and white shirt” description, and through to the back of the Vic – I dread to think why. But I just thought about how mortified that would have made Callum! There’s Ben rescuing him rather than the other way round.
Callum searches for Ben in the Arches, eventually saying his name and hearing the banging from the boot of the car sitting in the garage. Once let out, Ben grabs Callum in a fit of anger, demanding to know where Stuart is. I honestly can’t blame Ben for lashing out, he was probably lying in the boot terrified he wouldn’t get out. And seeing Callum, the reason behind Stuart’s actions, had him seeing red. Callum is trying to calm him down, but that only prompts Ben to ask him what he’s going to do if he doesn’t. He’s goading him for a response. Ben’s voice breaks while he does it though – his cracks are showing. He wants Callum to take control, make a choice in that moment, telling him it’s his move. Instead of shouting back, Callum reaches out for him, grabbing a handful of his shirt as if to try and ground Ben, to ground himself. Then there’s a tense silence as Ben waits for Callum’s move. But Callum doesn’t know what move he’s going to make himself. Tony’s expressions in these few seconds are everything – Callum is clearly fighting with himself over whether to punch Ben or kiss him. And it looked like he was going for the letter when he moved his hand up Ben’s shoulder to pull his shirt in closer. So close, yet so far. He breaks eye contact and that breaks the moment as Ben, frustrated, turns to leave. However, Callum grabs onto his arm and holds it – to stop Ben going after Stuart or because he didn’t want to stop the contact? Callum says he doesn’t want any more trouble, while Ben, full of bitterness, tells him he doesn’t know what he wants. And here, Ben yanks his arm away, accidentally hitting Callum in the face with his elbow. He immediately regrets it, goes to say he didn’t mean to, but Callum sees red and punches him back. I think he was waiting for an excuse to let his anger out and that did it. He yells at Ben that he’s sick of everyone thinking they know what’s best for him, that he knows. It’s the most angry we’ve ever seen Callum, and he frustrated at people making decisions for him, putting him into these situations when he just wants a stress-free life. He’s not angry at Ben, he’s angry at the situation he’s found himself in. He’s sick of it, in fact. So sick he literally throws up, partly due to the booze and probably also partly due to panic.
When we cut back to the scene later, Callum is sitting on the floor, leaning against the car as Ben brings over some beer and sits down as well – the garage pit separating them. Apparently Ben actually cleaned up Callum’s sick – and if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
Callum starts to talk – he expects Ben to tell him that he’s weak, stupid and lying to himself. He is pretending Ben must be thinking those things, but I believe he thinks it of himself too, but at this stage he wouldn’t outright admit that. He admits to being confused, and not knowing how to put things right but stresses again that he loves Whitney. He points out that “this” and her are completely different things (‘this’ being used instead of ‘you’ is quite telling – Ben is not the issue, it’s what he has brought out of Callum, what he represents, that he’s referring to). Whitney is safe and stable, and what he’s used to, while ‘this’ is volatile and impulsive, and something he still doesn’t understand. He’s trying his hardest to shut it down, and he knows Ben won’t buy it, so he points out the difference between them – that he’s not ‘stuck in the past, thinking everyone’s against [him], trying to fight the world all the time.’ And that might be true, but once again he’s treating his sexuality as a past tense, when it’s his present too. He might not be fighting the world, but he’s fighting himself. He really sees Whitney as his future because it’s the only future he’s envisioned for himself. He won’t allow himself to think of any other alternative.
Ben’s just been listening til now, but when Callum goes to leave, he accuses him of being a coward, that if he loves Whitney so much then why is he marrying her on a lie? The emphasis is on the fact that Whitney doesn’t know the truth and less about Callum’s own feelings about getting married. But Ben can’t tell him to not marry her or assume Callum’s own feelings, so instead he’s going for the angle that Callum is keeping secrets from her, trying to make him see that Whitney will get hurt at some point and he’s just prolonging it. And Callum agrees. He knows Ben is right. So off he goes, leaving Ben shaking his head and taking another swig of his beer. I’m not sure what Ben is thinking, but I don’t think he really believes Callum would actually tell Whitney the truth.
Callum arrives at E20, with the hen party in full swing as he fights his way to his fiancee. He watches her dancing and having fun with a smile – he has a genuine fondness for Whitney, she’s his best friend, and that’s partly why it’s so hard for him – he really does believe she’s his best chance at happiness. He tells Whitney they need to talk, and the cut on his lip is enough to sober Whitney up and take him seriously.
Ben’s standing outside his house with a beer when he spies Mel walking past. Never one to pass up an opportunity, he walks out and bumps into her, making her drop all her meds meant for Hunter. He tells her she has until ten to give him information about Lisa, watching her as she opens her front door. Then it’s revealed that somehow Ben’s managed to get a hold of a set of keys, which I can only assume are the keys to the flat where Hunter is being kept. With Ben having already seen Mel outside the flat, he knows she’s hiding something in there – or someone. It makes me think he might come face to face with Hunter next week, which could be interesting..
Callum and Whitney are back in their flat. Whitney fusses over him, saying they should have had a joint do so she could look out for him, but the fussing is only making Callum feel worse so he tells her to stop. Whitney picks up on his distress and tells him whatever it is, they’ll sort it. And then finally, the bombshell. “I cheated on you.” And even though I knew it was coming from the spoilers, I had my hand over my mouth when Callum answers Whitney’s question of who with a softly spoken “Ben Mitchell.” A reveal like that is so rarely done in soap, with the character actually admitting to cheating, more or less unprompted. And it was unbelievably brave for Callum to do that, as surely he must know that Whitney going through with the marriage now is up in the air, not to mention the revelation that he cheated on her with a man. The thing about Callum is he is such a moralistic character; he’s much more likely to just omit the truth rather than lie, which is what happened when Whitney found the letters from Chris. And Ben tapped into that. I think Callum is just tired from the weight of his guilt, and thinks that at least if he tells Whitney the truth, he can marry her having faced the past (something that links back to what he said to Bobby). But while what happened with Ben is in the past, what made him do it still exists inside of him, and it’s something that’ll always be with him, whether he acknowledges it or not.
It remains to be seen exactly how they go from that revelation, to Whitney still making her way to the church in her dress. Tonight is going to be one hell of an episode, I reckon. Roll on 8pm!
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