Well, the angst continues! But last night felt more Callum focused this time, as he got all sorts of advice and warnings in his ear before standing his ground against a resistant Ben – because he knows him and his tells. The wedding (and their future) is still on, Callum won’t hear anything else.
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
Our first glimpse of Ballum post Tuesday, and it’s Ben looking very sorry for himself, hunched over the kitchen table and staring into space. Phil comes in and asks the question we want to know too – where’s Callum? Phil comments that he didn’t see him that morning, and I love the idea that Phil seeks Callum out every morning, or has only just realised that he comes to expect Callum’s cheery goodbye wave now that he didn’t get it for once.
When Ben doesn’t answer, Phil addresses him again – he really does want to know where the heck Callum is. But Ben really doesn’t want to answer; he can’t bring himself to. After trying to think of what to say to his dad, he settles on ‘we’re just having a bit of a break from each other.’ A comment that sounds like he hasn’t lost all hope, or doesn’t want to voice it if he has. He doesn’t want to tell Phil the wedding’s off – or anyone for that matter.
Phil guesses they’ve had a ruck, just as Kathy did the previous day, and I feel like Ben might have been anticipating the same outcome, the blame being put on him, and he’s already full of that self blame already; he doesn’t need to hear it again. He gets up to leave, hesitating when Phil asks about the wedding; but doesn’t confirm or deny. He ends up rushing out like a scared little boy, leaving a puzzled Phil in his wake – who shouts after him that he’s already paid for the honeymoon. Because if there’s one reason the wedding better go ahead, it’s the non-refundable trip to Majorca Phil’s paid for.
It’s clear Ben hasn’t told Phil about Callum’s undercover revelation, which would suggest if there’s a choice to be made, he’s already made it.
Next, we’ve got the Highways strolling through the market, Stuart speaking to a downcast Callum while Vi trails behind them eavesdropping. Stuart is, for once, firmly Team Ballum, telling him not to worry about Ben, comparing the two of them to himself and Rainie – admitting they have massive blazing rows too, and that Rainie once put lasagne in his favourite shoes; but that it’s a sign of passion, and of love. For maybe the first time in his life, Stuart’s on the money. Ballum are a fiery passionate couple, and it shows an equal emotional investment in each other. Something Callum and Whitney certainly never had, and it looks like Stuart is finally starting to understand that.
Callum’s in an unusually despondent mood, but turns out Ben’s not the worry, it’s Phil. Guess he’s feeling a little more nervous about Phil finding out than he made out to Ben in the previous ep, especially now that Ben’s shut down on him, and presumably assumed the role of a mini-Phil to push Callum away. Callum knows the influence Phil can have on Ben, and maybe has fears that in his absence, Ben’s picked a side.
Stuart dismisses the worry though, tells him to forget about Phil – because him and Ben are lasagne in your shoes type of love. Implying that it’s worth whatever Phil might rain down on him, that what he and Ben have is worth fighting for. Who knew Stuart was capable? He assures Callum the sofa is his until he sorts everything out – obviously believing they will. Callum still doesn’t look too sure, but he appreciates Stuart’s words.
Vi reminds Callum of her presence, piping up to comment on the fact that Rainie is still avoiding her, and after hearing about the lasagne in the shoes anecdote, appears concerned about the relationship. Not that Callum really cares, especially not at the moment, and he doesn’t bother to comment. And because of that, Vi starts to lay into him, commenting on his lack of fighting spirit and no wonder the army kicked him out. I’m certainly offended on Callum’s behalf – he has immense fighting spirit that he’s proved over and over, she’s just caught him at a bad time – not that she knows that I guess. When he tries to dismiss her and leave, she stops him again, commenting on the gays and their hissy fits. Obviously her purpose here was to rile Callum up, and she riled me up a bit and all. She tells him it’s only a relationship, not life and death – so obviously quite unaware of the details and Phil’s reputation. Basically, she doesn’t know what the fuss is about. But as Callum spies Phil leaving the house across the square, it’s a sign that he is perhaps thinking it’s life and death. But is that really the case? Guess we’ll find out soon.
In the cafe, Callum’s having a tea when Phil enters, and they immediately lock eyes. Callum’s panic is clear to see, especially when Phil informs him that he’s spoken to Ben. He must be assuming that Ben told him about the confession, and he’s poised to try and calm Phil down. Whatever Phil’s been told, he can’t believe it and asks Callum if it’s true….. is the wedding off?! (One can only admire and relate to Phil’s passion for a Ballum wedding.) After a long moment that Callum spent psyching himself up to admit to the undercover operation, he’s thrown off at the truth, that Phil is distraught about the wedding, not his perceived betrayal. He doesn’t know what to say then, stammering out that he doesn’t know. It’s not an emphatic ‘no’ yet… but it will be.
Phil moves to take a seat opposite him then, wanting to get to the bottom of what is going on. I think he takes Callum’s silence as a sign that it’s not something that can’t be sorted out though, so he ends up not waiting for an explanation. He just asks if Callum loves Ben – a question that’s easy for Callum to answer, he’s just still a little stunned that he’s not being ripped a new one. Instead, Phil’s telling Callum that before this argument, Ben’s never been happier, and it’s down to Callum. Ain’t he a soppy git? He reminds Callum he’s part of the family and he wants him to sort things out. Basically, things Callum is sure he would not be saying if he knew anything about what he confessed to Ben the day before. Callum nods in understanding, and Phil leaves again, wrapped up in that leather jacket that I’m not sure I’ve seen before. A deliberate choice I think, which I’ll talk about later.
Here’s a scene that I didn’t expect tonight – Callum letting Jack know that he told Ben the truth, and Jack flying into a rage about it; even though Callum’s the one that begged Jack not to go to his boss with the news about Thompson being corrupt in case Ben and Phil found out the truth. And the lie they told Ben and Phil back in January gave Jack even more involvement than he actually had in the whole thing – they think he was involved from the start rather than a few days before it got sorted. So, yeah, the whole confession thing continues to be difficult to reconcile, but ah well.
Callum’s quick to reassure him that Phil doesn’t know the truth, but Jack’s firmly of the opinion that it won’t be long before Ben tells him. He’s so sanctimonious, isn’t he? Has to mention the family he’s helping who are in bits over their missing child, and because of that he really doesn’t need more stress. Poor Jack, eh?
Callum apologises to him for it though, which I know is in his nature but I’m not sure Jack needs an apology. I guess the line of thinking is that he knew the real truth in January but covered for Callum – but also, since when did Jack show any loyalty to the Mitchells? It’s the opposite, in fact. So, bit weird. But anyway, Callum simply explains that he couldn’t marry Ben with the lie hanging over him; but Jack tells him he’s not going to be marrying him at all now. He relishes the opportunity to talk about the big bad Mitchells and how well he knows them and how they don’t forgive. Yes, he knows the Mitchells extremely well – as long as they are blonde and female. Come on now. Phil may have covered him in petrol in the Arches when he suspected Jack was having an affair with Sharon, but he escaped! He blackmailed Phil with a USB stick of misdeeds, and has lived to tell the tale! He pretends to be looking out for Callum but he just hates the Mitchells and will take any opportunity he can to tell Callum to walk away. He must be aware by now that all his work is in vain – Callum’s still there. But here he is, trying the tactic of ‘Phil will go after you and Ben will choose him because he’s scared of his dad.’
Callum defends Ben to Jack though – that he’s not like Phil, that he loves Callum, Callum knows that he does. He’s got the fact that Phil still doesn’t know the truth to hold onto.
Jack’s not interested, and tells Callum to give it up – walk away, actually run away, because when Phil finds out, he’ll find out which side Ben’s really on. He hasn’t got a clue, has he? We’ve already seen an indication of which side Ben’s on, and Callum’s seen it too. It’s a glimmer of hope he can hold onto.
I enjoy very much the implication that Callum didn’t listen to a single word Jack had to say, as next thing we know, he’s let himself in through the back door of the Mitchell house, ready to confront Ben. Ben, who’s now in a leather jacket. Again, very deliberate choice I feel. Quite a few interesting wardrobe choices in this ep. I think here, it’s his armour as the walls have clearly gone right up after the previous day, when he was a broken man telling Callum he deserves better.
Those walls aren’t that strong though – he sees Callum and tells him to get out, but when he doesn’t, Ben falters and breaks eye contact. Callum tells him that he knows Ben still loves him, and Ben responds by asking him how he could ever love a grass and telling him to get out again. Similar to ‘how could you do that?’ on Tuesday, I think it’s a genuine question he’s asking of himself rather than Callum. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Callum – too late to outright deny that now – but rather he’s questioning how they can be together knowing what the Mitchell code of honour is regarding grasses.
That code of honour is something that I think Callum’s thinking about as well, as he asks if that’s true then how come he hasn’t told his dad the truth? Ben tries to bluff, but Callum calls him on it – Phil turned up in the cafe wanting them to sort things out. Ben brushes that off, saying that’s just because he doesn’t know who Callum really is. These are all just words to try and push Callum away, because he knows that the self blame stuff is something Callum always resists; so he’s trying the ‘you betrayed us’ tactic to keep Callum at arm’s length.
It’s too late of course, because he already revealed his true fears at the end of Tuesday’s episode, but he’s probably trying to pretend that never happened. It angers Callum though, seeing right through what he’s trying to do and tells Ben that what he did was for Ben, to keep him out of prison and keep them together. And even though he hated doing it, he did it because the thought of losing Ben was so much more painful. That’s how much he loves Ben. And naturally, Ben doesn’t look at Callum the whole time he’s saying this, because it’s too much. He’s still trying to keep those flimsy walls up.
Callum pleads with him not to do what he’s doing; he knows they love each other, and he believes that can get them through anything. Ben hears Callum telling him he loves him and it’s too much for him, turning away and telling him to stop, squeezing his eyes shut to try and block Callum out; bit of a callback to their Jan 2020 reunion ep, where Ben admitted he just wanted Callum to go and get out of his head – although after Callum had left he was still in there, his words pleading with him to stay. And hey, Ben’s even wearing the same shirt he wore back then!
Callum goes on to point out to Ben again that he didn’t tell his dad the truth, and he bets that Ben hasn’t told Lola or Lexi or Jay either – and he doesn’t need to. He takes Ben’s lack of response as confirmation, and he pushes on, telling Ben that he hasn’t told them because there’s part of Ben that thinks they can still work this out, that he can forgive Callum. I mean, I still think he has and this is all just a front to push Callum away, but Callum’s using Ben’s own logic against him – if he’s a grass who Ben can’t forgive, why hasn’t he told anyone? Ner ner. Ben can’t argue against him, so he shouts out a few ‘no’s in desperation. He can tell he’s fighting a losing battle I reckon. Yet another callback to a previous scene when Callum composes himself, then addresses Ben by his full name to declare that he wants to marry him. It’s that determination we saw when he wanted Ben to go out with him way back in October 2019, ignoring all the protesting. And indeed, when Ben yells at him that it’s over, it’s like Callum didn’t hear him. He ignores him totally, and I kind of love it. He informs Ben he’s going to be at the registry office on Monday, suited and booted like they’d planned.
Ben can do nothing but lean down on the table and shake his head – but he’s shut up now, and Callum declares that he ain’t cancelling nothing – not their wedding, and not their future. Yes Callum! He tells Ben they can be so happy… and all he has to do is show up. And we end on a Ben duff duff, as he glances to Callum and then looks away. He should have known Callum wasn’t going to give up, especially once he found out Ben hadn’t given him over to Phil. Callum sees hope in that, and he’s going to cling onto it until his fingers fall off.
Now, about those clothing choices. Ben and Phil both in leather jackets, visually peas in a pod. I don’t think that was an accident, especially in an ep where Jack was insisting Ben would be falling into line with Phil. And Ben was putting on an act, but underneath he had that soft grey shirt that we’ve seen him in more vulnerable scenes.
And, something I’ve seen being pointed out on Twitter – Callum wearing one of Ben’s shirts! I love the implication of it, that because they’re apart Callum kept hold of something of Ben’s, and the symbolism of it too, of Callum not giving up, holding onto Ben, and that he and Ben are equals, both able to wear the same shirt. Bit obsessed with it, I must say.
So Callum’s laid down the gauntlet, and that last scene may be our last scene of them together before the wedding. Exciting stuff!
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