Only the one scene last night and it was just Ben, giving Lola a few choice words about keeping her nose out of the Raymond business.
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
Lola’s in shock that Ben’s got a little brother; that Phil was the one who got Denise pregnant. I knew she must have been aware that Denise was pregnant and gave birth to a baby she gave up for adoption (as that’s not really the kind of thing you can hide on the Square!), but looks like the fact it was Phil’s wasn’t actually common knowledge. But thanks to Lexi’s eavesdropping, Lola knows now and she’s struggling to even get her head around it, that Lexi has an uncle and that he’s laying in a kid’s ward. Ben’s a bit taken aback by the comment that Lexi’s got an uncle she’s never seen, and points out that none of them have met him (well, except Phil… and Callum, technically.) Lola’s not impressed by the technicality though and wonders why she wouldn’t have been told about it. Her outrage frustrates Ben, because Denise gave the baby up for adoption and he thought that was the end of it. I think it’s clear that Ben doesn’t have any particular attachment to Raymond, at least not right now; and he certainly isn’t especially supportive of bringing him into the family. I think it’s more a case of him being resigned to the fact that Phil does want that, knowing that it’s a lost cause trying to convince him otherwise, to get him to see that the odds are he’s going to get knocked back because he gave up his rights three years ago.
He admits to Lola he’s got no idea what Phil wants (maybe he doesn’t want to say out loud that Phil wants yet another son replacement because Ben’s not good enough), but suggests she doesn’t ask him and keeps out of it because it’s got nothing to do with her, or Denise. When Lola points out that Denise is Raymond’s mother, Ben corrects her, saying she made her choice when she signed the adoption papers, but makes out that Phil didn’t have a choice because Sharon was on the scene. And while it’s true that Phil struggled with the idea of giving Raymond up, he ultimately agreed, I think, because he recognised that he wasn’t fit to look after him, having just had the liver transplant (you can watch the scenes from 2017 here).
Ben tells Lola that Phil wants to step up now (the same phrase Callum used on Monday, to which Ben replied ‘I don’t know’; he’s obviously now decided this is the case) and tells Lola that she’s going to keep her nose out and her mouth shut. He can obviously sense a loyalty to Denise from Lola and doesn’t want her telling on Phil, because even though he might not be onboard with Phil’s plan, he knows that there’ll be a feeling of betrayal if Denise got wind of it, and Phil won’t be happy. There’s no question that the way he spoke to Lola was out of order, and I think it was him putting on a bit of a ‘family first’ front, getting a bit threatening and demanding in the hopes it would intimidate Lola into not saying anything – shades of the way he was with her last year when they first arrived back in Walford. But Lola’s less scared of him now, and although she agrees that they’re clear, her face tells Ben she’s not pleased. And Ben lets out a breath when Lola leaves, as if he’s setting down his armour.
Later on, she decides the right thing to do is to tell Denise what’s going on; she’s been there with Phil before when she was fighting him for custody of Lexi, she’s probably aware that Phil might play dirty to get the rights to a child he and Denise lost access to. I think she’s mistaken that Denise has rights as a mum, something that Ben was right in pointing out – but if Phil’s going to try and get custody, Denise should know.
Lola’s “betrayed” the Mitchells here, and Phil’s going to be furious. But Lola thought she was doing the right thing. Sound familiar? Obviously it’s not on the same scale as what’s going on with Callum but I still think it will be interesting to see Phil’s reaction, Lola’s defense and how they’ll reconcile – and what that might mean for Callum.
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