Well, the good news is that the heat regarding Simon’s assault is off Ben and Callum for now, due to police incompetence and a bit of racial microaggression – but the bad news is that Ben is right; the truth will come out eventually, and he’s fearing the worst because of it.
Screencaps for this episode can be found here.
We start the episode with Ben and Callum once more, Callum picking up a coffee in the cafe as Ben enters. Callum manages a smile for Marie the barista, but on the whole they both look pretty miserable and anxious. Callum asks if Ben’s seen Kheerat, but in the quietest voice, as if he doesn’t want to ask and doesn’t want the answer in case it’s bad news. Ben informs him he didn’t come back the night before – which of course gets me wondering about the logistics of that. Is Callum back from a night shift and is only seeing Ben now? Or did Ben hang out near the Panesars all night in the hopes he could catch Kheerat arriving back? In any case, Ben confirms that Kheerat didn’t come back to the Square. Callum starts to panic about what it means if they’ve kept him in overnight (even though just the other week he had to babysit Nancy and Frankie who also had to kip overnight in custody – it’s just the done thing for Walford suspects!) and even though Ben suggests that Kheerat went out on the pull, neither of them really believe that.
Callum implies that with Simon’s statement, they don’t need much more – and Ben tries to assure him that Kheerat won’t say anything to implicate them. As an aside, I quite like the way they both keep referring to Simon by his surname only – it makes it sound less personable, more detached and perfunctory, which is of course what he deserves.
Anyway, Callum is very much not convinced by the reassurance and points out what happened the day before and the way Ben spoke to Kheerat, withdrawing the deal on the Arches. Yes, Callum wanted Kheerat far away from them too, but he was trying to do it with the least amount of conflict possible so they could somehow stay on his good side – but Ben lost his patience with him instead. And it’s understandable of course, as he’s more invested in the Arches than Callum – but it’s led to this worry that they’ve lost any loyalty Kheerat might have to them. Callum in particular is very worried that if Kheerat was offered a deal (presumably because he has no motive), he’d take it.
He reminds Ben that he broke the law to get Atmore’s number and if Ben’s name is brought up at all, then it leads back to Callum. The focus for being implicated in the assault seems to be solely on him; Ben going to jail isn’t even mentioned as a possibility at any point. I can only think that he’s realised that Ben calling from a burner phone means there’s no hard evidence against him; but the record of Callum obtaining the information on Simon is there and unable to be pinned on anyone else. Maybe he’s not as concerned about Ben because he has every intention to take the rap for setting up the meeting and keep Ben out of it completely. Ben has the most solid motive but Callum is his husband, maybe that’s enough. Maybe the police would wonder why Ben didn’t get the details in a more discreet way if it had been him (as we know Callum insisted on doing it via his work.) In all honesty though, sometimes things in soap just don’t make total sense and you have to take it at face value.
There was a focus on Callum after the assault too when Ben tried to assure him this wouldn’t come back to bite him. And he tries to dismiss Callum’s fears here too, by pointing out his coffee’s getting cold rather than acknowledge what Callum’s saying. He’s either truly not worried about Kheerat landing him in it, or is worried but trying not to let Callum see that he is.
Callum scoffs at the dodging of the subject, and then tries to get Ben to see how serious the situation is by asking Ben if he knows what they do to coppers in prison (presumably even ones who mostly use their job to help out their criminal husband.) Thing is Ben knows I’m sure – he just doesn’t want to think about it, or acknowledge it as a possibility.
In our next scene, Ballum have moved to the Arches, and Ben is working on a car while Callum sits nearby and, I assume, continues to catastrophize about the situation that neither of them can do anything about for the moment. Sounds like he’s putting Ben on edge, which is why Ben suggests he goes to the gym instead (yes, good idea, return to the scene of the crime!) But just as Callum is wondering how they can keep Kheerat there much longer, the man himself appears, all casual as he comments on the fact they haven’t taken down his name from the front of the Arches yet.
Ballum are certainly surprised to see him, and even though Callum tries for a friendly ‘how did it go?’, he’s not fooling Kheerat, who knows they want to know whether he said anything to implicate them.
He points out the evidence stacked against him – CCTV (oh, the dreaded CCTV!), the statement, and mentions that they ran an identity parade. He makes it sound like it was a given he’d be done for the assault – until he points at his turban and jokes that apparently they all look the same. Yes – the police couldn’t identify him from the CCTV and Simon couldn’t pick him out of a line up of turban wearing Sikhs (and it makes me wonder if the cop’s pronunciation of Panesar in an earlier scene when Kheerat was in the cell was deliberately linked to this outcome). A rather depressingly accurate turn of events, actually. But they’re all relieved as it sounds like everyone is off the hook. Ben blows a raspberry in disbelief and Callum has to sit down due to the shock. But Kheerat makes it clear that he didn’t tell the police anything. And Ben replies that he never thought he would, even though I’m pretty sure it did cross his mind considering Callum’s worry about it, and the fact they didn’t leave things on good terms. And that’s something Kheerat goes on to point out himself. Callum’s already leaping into peacemaker mode, trying to make amends for the previous day on Ben’s behalf, but then Ben interrupts and admits himself that he was at fault – that sometimes he just opens his mouth. Indeed.
And as if Kheerat knows there’s another meaning behind his words, he brings up Jags again, making Ben and Callum quite uncomfortable as he talks about how prison is no place to die, but that Ben did what he could to protect Jags and Kheerat won’t forget that – basically saying he’d never dob them in it because of the effort Ben went to to keep Jags alive. And this is the thing – Kheerat accepts that the protection wasn’t foolproof, that Jags died (or could have died) with it in place; but it’ll be the betrayal of trust more than anything, that Ben let him believe he’d done what he could, and also used that false understanding to garner unearned returning of favours and leniency – such as Kheerat conceding over the Arches and agreeing to build the business (and by extension their trust in each other) together, slowly.
It makes Ben uneasy, but he thanks Kheerat, with Callum smiling with gratitude as well. Kheerat then leaves them to it – though what he thinks ‘it’ is, I do not know. Maybe Callum was there to watch Ben and look into becoming a mechanic as he convinced himself his copper days were over. There’s a thought.
We move back into Ben’s ongoing involvement in the Lola and Isaac story – although it still links back to the Kheerat stuff. He’s in Mitchell Manor, observing Lola absentmindedly colouring in the card Lexi made for Isaac and joking about how Lola must be after a Blue Peter badge (which I hadn’t realised was still a thing but apparently it is!). When he hears the card is for Isaac, he comments on how Isaac is lucky to have the two of them. It’s a marked change from his attitude before – but the change is now that he presumably knows Isaac has allowed Lola to see him now, and Lola isn’t running herself into the ground trying to prove herself to someone who said they didn’t want to know. And so when Lola admits that they’ve split up, Ben’s sympathy is genuine. It really has been about Lola the whole time – when she says Isaac needs time to get well, Ben asks after her. She brushes the concern off with a joke about how they can’t all be happily married – referring to Ben and Callum obviously, but I think Ben found a little bit of irony in that considering the stress they’ve been under the last few months. It’s the first sign that something’s still not right when Lola is surprised by his reaction and tells him she thought he’d be pleased, considering it gives her more time for Lexi like he said he was concerned about before. It seems that Ben doesn’t want to get into it at first, saying he hasn’t got time for it (or maybe doesn’t want to think about it), but then he goes on to try and alleviate his own worry as subtly as he can – saying that Lexi likes Isaac so she’ll be upset they’re not together anymore. Lola isn’t too worried about that though – Lexi still has Ben, and Callum (and Billy and Jay.)
When Ben responds that the main thing is that Lexi has Lola, it raises Lola’s suspicions – especially considering the fact he’s looking away and avoiding eye contact – and she gets to the matter pretty much straight away, asking what Ben’s done now. Ben tries to convince her that nothing’s going on, he’s just saying that Lola is Lexi’s mum regardless of what happens. Lola sees through it though and reminds Ben that Lexi needs all of them, so whatever he’s planning on doing – don’t. She’s figured out right away that Ben is anticipating possibly not being around for Lexi, she’s just not sure why. But as we hear in the next scene – it’s a worry that this thing with Kheerat isn’t over, and the repercussions will be massive if the truth comes out, to the point where he’s worrying there’ll be a gap in Lexi’s support system because he and Callum will be in prison… or worse.
Later, Ben is brooding on the bench outside the Arches as Callum approaches from behind, keeping his distance behind the rails because, yes, social distancing, but also I think he can see Ben’s in a mood and wants to know what’s up without poking the bear, keeping it light as he clears his throat in a silent invitation for Ben to tell him what he’s thinking.
Ben admits his fears to Callum – that the situation they’re in won’t ever go away. Callum reminds him that the investigation into the assault is dead, but Ben’s not convinced; and it’s also not just that. He’ll always feel the guilt about Jags and there’ll always be the fear that Kheerat will find out the truth. And if he does – or rather when he does, Ben’s clearly aware of the rules of soap – there will be major consequences. He fears the worst for both of them, with a rather cute and dramatic line about how he wants to share a life with Callum, not a plot in the cemetery. To which I say, why not both? But of course he means prematurely. He’s fearing for both their lives – his own is certainly in danger because he knows Kheerat has the means and reason to properly punish him, but perhaps he’s remembering Callum’s words about what they do to coppers in prison, and that Kheerat might put him there via an anonymous call or something to hurt Ben and as revenge for Callum knowing the truth but saying nothing. The stakes are high for both of them – and I kind of love that. Husbands who fear for their lives together stay together!
It’s a bit of a flip from earlier where Callum was the one fearing the worst – now Ben’s catastrophizing. I guess they must take it in turns. But at least they’re being panicky boys together. They don’t even know the other piece of concerning information, which is that Father Panesar didn’t know Jags was dead until the day before – Suki had lied to the rest of them about telling him, and he had to hear it through prison gossip. But the thing is, if he heard about Jags through prison, there’s a risk he may also find out about the details regarding Jags’ protection before his death – or actively do some prison investigating. Because only three parties know about Ben withdrawing the protection – Ben, Callum, and the guys doing the protection. Guess we’d better watch this space.
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