It’s a busy week for Ben this week, as the stuff with the Panesars continue, and he also finally finds out about Kat and his dad.
Mon 1st March – Jonny O’Neill
When Kheerat catches a thief stealing cans from the Minute Mart, he tries to teach him a lesson by making threats about the Panesars’ reputation. Vinny points out that the Panesar name means nothing in Walford and they need to team up with the Mitchells. The Panesar brothers then meet up with Ben to discuss becoming partners.
Kheerat and Ben meet with Stas at The Arches, while Vinny waits on stand-by with Stas’s cash. Things go wrong when Stas insists that he doesn’t trust Ben after learning that the Mitchells have been bad-mouthing him. He insists that he wants his money back. Vinny is rushing to The Arches with the money, but gets intercepted by the thief from earlier on.
Tues 2nd March – Jonny O’Neill
Ben and Kheerat continue to wait for Vinny at The Arches and struggle to deal with an impatient Stas. Meanwhile, the thief has back-up from his brothers and confronts Vinny in an alley. Vinny has the bag of cash for Stas in his possession, putting him in a precarious position.
Thurs 4th March – Kim Revill
Ben tries to warn Phil that it was Kat who grassed them up to Stas, but Phil admits that he’s now seeing Kat.
Fri 5th March – Kim Revill
Ben encourages Phil to use a dating app to find a more suitable match.
So following on from Ben’s offer on Friday, Kheerat is persuaded by Vinny to swallow his pride and team up with the Mitchells; apparently not just because they need help with the job, but because in general it will help them climb the ladder in terms of respect in the community. I mean, I’m not totally sure the Mitchell name means a whole lot in Walford either (it’s more distaste rather than fear), but regardless, the Panesars hold a meeting with Ben to discuss partnering up.
For reasons unknown, they also decide to have Ben there when they meet Shell Suit Stan in the Arches. Considering he dropped Ben after hearing about his disrespect, everyone should have seen this coming – Stas refusing to work with Ben because he doesn’t trust him. I think Kheerat should maybe have just done the job with Ben’s help and then given Ben his cut on the sly. Maybe they thought they could offer to wash even more cash for Stas if they let him know they’ve teamed up – but it’s, of course, backfired, and Stas wants his money back. Thing is, Vinny has the money, and is stopped on his way to the Arches by a thief he had a run in with earlier.
I’m not going to lie, I love the sound of these scenes – comical, silly gangster mishaps that really just highlight everyone’s incompetence. Tuesday runs on from Monday (both written by Jonny O’Neill, a Ballum king!), and Ben and Kheerat are trying to calm down a now gun waving Stas as Vinny’s cornered by the thief and his brothers with the bag of cash. How will he get out of that one? I reckon he’ll have to hang onto the cash if Stas is to leave without hurting anyone.
This is probably wishful thinking, but I suspect Callum definitely knowing about Shell Suit Stan and about Ben losing the deal (and probably the new deal as well) might be significant. I’m thinking if Vinny doesn’t escape himself (and in an alley, it doesn’t seem likely), maybe Cop Callum chases the thief and his brothers away – leaving Vinny with the bag of illegal cash which Callum will obviously do nothing about because he knows it belongs to Shell Suit Stan. Whether he would accompany Vinny to the Arches or not though, I’m not too sure about. I’m not sure if Vinny even knows Stas is waving a gun around at this point.
I also feel like Kat is in the mix somewhere, if Ben is to find out she’s the one who ratted him out to Stas. Maybe she turns up to the Arches at some point, possibly if she spots something going on, but then I’m not sure she would do that without letting Phil know, and it doesn’t really seem like he’s involved. Maybe Stas describes the person who tipped him off, or even gives her name. Lots of maybes!
We don’t know how this all gets resolved, but I reckon either Stas gets his money back, with Kheerat and Ben losing the deal completely; or he doesn’t get it but is threatened with prison because Callum now has the cash and he would do well to clear off and not say another word. I know, I know, complete clowning, but I can’t help but think Ben and Kheerat get outside help from somewhere because I doubt they’ll get out of it scot-free otherwise. And I also think it seems a bit of a waste not to play on the fact that Callum is a cop who happens to know everything about Ben’s criming and can wield that power now and again. But who knows, we’ll have to wait and see!
On Thursday, as mentioned, Ben now knows Kat was the one who grassed them up to Stas, so he tells Phil, thinking he’ll have no idea, but finds out that not only does Phil already know, he’s also ‘seeing’ Kat. And clearly, Ben thinks it’s a joke, but alas, it is very much not a joke. And to continue my wishful thinking of Callum involvement, either in this episode or in Friday’s ep when Ben suggests Phil go on a dating app to find someone more suitable for him (what kind of mythical creature would that be then?), I’d love a moment where Callum actually sticks up for Phat a bit, reasoning that everyone said the same thing to him about Ben and, well, they were wrong weren’t they? They’re getting married and Callum is the happiest he’s ever been. I think it could actually be quite nice. Plus it’s not really something Ben can argue with. Plus it could be quite amusing to see them bicker over the legitimacy of Phil and Kat as a couple, which is a debate that is already happening amongst fans.
Not much in the way of other news apart from Ballum being included in an article on BBC Bitesize about memorable LGBTQ moments in EastEnders history, as part of LGBT+ History Month. They even made it onto the BBC Homepage the other day!
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