It’s a Thursday double bill to round off the week! Featuring Ben continuing his provocative behaviour and Callum dealing with his Stuart-shaped bouncer. Read on…
This week we’ve been seeing Zack try to buy back the car that he sold earlier in the year from Rocky – and in part one of Thursday, he gets a bit desperate when he hears someone else made a better offer. Rocky hears the promises he’s making about getting all the money to him tonight and makes the assumption that he got some money from Gavin’s estate as well (in case you’ve forgotten, Zack is Gavin’s biological son that he left as a child to be with Kathy and Ben in South Africa.) At Zack’s reaction though, who clearly didn’t know about Kathy getting money from the estate, Rocky realises he’s messed up.
When Zack questions Kathy about it later, she explains why she needs the money, for Ben and the Arches – but lies that there was nothing in the estate to take anyway. I mean, strictly speaking she could have just told him the truth, but in speaking to Rocky afterwards it sounds like there was money for Kathy to take, but not for Zack, and she can’t risk him knowing about her money as that all needs to go to Ben – or Kheerat, even. So she’s pretending there was no money for anyone, to spare him.
We come to the Highway flat now, and for a second I forgot that Callum doesn’t live there anymore – and I think he has as well, having just let himself in when he didn’t get a response from Stuart after knocking. No, in all seriousness, he’s concerned about Stuart and so decided to make up a bacon sarnie for him to eat when he eventually emerges from sleep. He’s even brought the post in too, and I love how proud of himself he sounds. He starts tucking in to his own sandwich as Stuart decides to inspect the contents and is aghast to discover that there’s red and brown sauce inside.
He asks Callum who’s dead, and he sounds absolutely serious. It completely bewilders Callum; the look on his face is a picture. Apparently, brown and red equals dead and their nan only let them mix the sauces when she had terrible news. Little bit weird considering that Stuart was proudly mixing the sauces to welcome Callum home after he left during Christmas 2019. Though of course they’re highlighting Stuart’s irrationality here due to how he’s feeling – especially since Callum is so taken aback by Stuart’s conclusion that something must be wrong for Callum to be mixing the sauces.
He tries to calm Stuart, assuring him that no one’s dead and explaining that it’s just a sarnie with all the trimmings. He wonders if Stuart just needs to get out of the house and makes the suggestion, acknowledging the fact Stuart had chemo the previous day. He’s so earnest, keen to make Stuart feel better, but Stuart declines, announcing he’s going back to bed. Callum speaks to his retreating back, telling him he wants to help Stuart out of the hole he’s in. Stuart doesn’t respond, but picks up one of the leaflets that sit amongst the post on the table, that we know has been sent by Karen regarding post-natal depression. I don’t know if Callum’s cottoned on, but he does look down at the leaflet, and looks after Stuart sadly as he retreats back to his room.
I can’t help but wonder if this is meant to highlight how Callum sometimes deals with these sorts of issues, about wanting to be the help and then ultimately losing patience or hope because he’s not a professional and he’s too emotionally involved. He sees a problem and wants to solve it, but it’s all about the framing of that solution, I think.
Ben continues to block out everything, including Kathy. In the Vic he downs another whiskey and ignores her text wanting to talk. And in Peggy’s he ignores another one from her after another stand off with Zack and Chelsea. He gets Chelsea’s back up with a joke about having two dogs so why bother helping out himself – before he backs down in order to make another joke about his Sex on the Beach being the best in the world – which is another leering innuendo as he mockingly winks at Zack. Just like the last episode, it’s a joke about sex that is jarring and forced (even if amusing in itself.)
The real reason he’s there becomes clear as he asks if anyone dropped something off for him. There’s no mistaking what it is as Chelsea drops it down in front of him, and Ben makes absolutely no attempt to be discreet – he just doesn’t care. Got to love the disapproval from Chelsea the former drug mule, though. Ben offers her a tip from the envelope, but at the scoffs from her and Zack, he pulls it back again. Then he pulls out a packet of drugs from the envelope (a perk of the job, it looks like – free gear) and dangles it in front of him, as brazen as you like as he comments mockingly about someone taking it to the nearest police station. He laughs as Zack grabs him in anger and demands to know what’s going on with Ben and the dealer he saw nodding to Ben the night before. Ben ignores the question and tells Zack to get his hand off him, still trying to keep the nonchalant attitude up, but when Zack persists, asking if the plan is to push Sam out to get the dealers in, Ben winds up forcefully withdrawing his hand and he looks a bit shaken for a moment, avoiding eye contact. But he pulls it back and continues the arrogance, threatening to sack Zack at best.
Zack defends Sam and implores Ben not to mess this up for her, not aware that she’s orchestrated the arrangement. And Ben’s quick to make a dig at Zack’s lack of brain cells, amused that he’s got such a wrong impression of his auntie Sam.
Zack holds it together and walks away as Ben gets the urgent text from Kathy, ignoring it as well as he demands a vodka from Chelsea. The drinking is near constant now, glass in his hand in every scene.
Callum’s angsting away in the cafe when he’s approached by Karen. He’s honest when she asks how he is, answering that he’s been better. It’s quite nice and different that she doesn’t plan on chatting to Callum in the cafe where she found him, instead inviting him to come outside for some fresh air. She tells Callum that she thinks Stuart’s got post-natal depression, which does seem to throw him. I think he’ll take that fresh air.
Back at Peggy’s, Kathy has finally tracked Ben down and is in the middle of telling him about the money from Gavin’s estate. He probably doesn’t even know about Kheerat’s threat, as Kathy’s been dealing with it and she hasn’t managed to get a hold of Ben since then.
He makes a joke about prising the money from his cold dead hands and Kathy tells him to stop the silly jokes. Ben’s just not in the business of caring about anything at all, and he just smirks in response to Kathy’s irritation, nursing a pint which is probably not his first.
She explains that there’s cash to keep the Arches ticking over, and the rest has already gone to Kheerat. Ben seems surprised that she’s paid it already – maybe he was hoping he’d miss the deadline and get into more trouble, because clearly at this point he’s actively looking for it. Or maybe it’s the fact it’s Gavin’s money, as Kathy suspects. She tells him how hard it was to ask for the money, but she did it for him – she’ll do anything to ease his load, and I’d say getting Kheerat off his back was probably a big help that Ben doesn’t even fully comprehend. Kathy keeps trying with Ben as she did earlier in the week, telling him that she loves him and hates seeing him like this. She can see the pain he’s in and how hard he’s trying to mask it with other things. It gets the same reaction as it did last time, a blank stare from Ben. I get the feeling he thinks Kathy’s opinion doesn’t count because she’s his mum, and everyone else sees him for what he believes he is; a nuisance and a bad person.
Zack walks into the club at this point, and he tunes into Kathy and Ben’s conversation just as Ben is informing Kathy that she can’t help him, because she can’t make him forget – but the drink he gestures to can, even if it’s just for one night. The drugs feed into that too, and all the other behaviour he’s taking part in. That’s why he’s doing too much and pushing too hard, because it keeps the feeling of forgetting going for longer.
Zack has spotted the envelope of money on the table that Kathy had passed to Ben, and has worked out that it’s money Kathy got from Gavin. He lets out his anger at her, accusing her of knowing Gavin had a son he’d abandoned but didn’t care as she was sipping cocktails pretending she was dead. His words result in Ben standing up abruptly to square up to him, despite Kathy’s pleas to leave it.
Zack points out she could have split the money, but instead gave all of it to Ben, a boy with two rich daddies. I suppose if you know Phil owns the club you work in, you would assume he had some dough. This is about Zack’s resentment of his dad though, and finding out that money has gone to Ben instead of him has obviously hurt him, and he’s lashing out.
For reasons unknown, Kat decides to come and intervene, asking Ben what’s going on, which makes Zack think that Kat’s in Ben’s corner as well. Not sure I’d go that far, but you never know – maybe Phil’s shared his concerns about Ben to her. She and Ben do have quite a bit in common when it comes to dealing with trauma.
Zack thinks Ben could do anything and still have people backing him up, obviously not realising that Ben’s doing his utmost to push those people away because he doesn’t want that. He accuses Ben of dealing drugs, making sure everyone hears. It’s not technically true but it’s an easy assumption to make since he’s facilitating the drug dealing inside the club and then taking a cut. The anger for Zack seems to come from the perception that his dad would pick Ben over him – not unlike the situation with Peter, and Kathy prioritising Ben over him. And he’s taking that out on Ben, using the drug situation as ammo.
As Kathy’s asking Ben if it’s true, Ben orders Zack out, calling him a liar. To his apparent disappointment, Zack actually does start to leave. But Ben’s spoiling for a fight (and the last word), so he calls after Zack to mock him with a tiny imaginary violin, played over Gavin’s wad of money for maximum effect, and asks him if he thinks he’s the only one with daddy issues. We love the self awareness. It’s because of that that he knows exactly what to say that could rile Zack up, and that’s tell him it’s not his dead dad’s fault that he’s a loser, it’s all him. It earns him a punch right in the face and he drops like a sack of potatoes, out cold.
That’s where we leave Thursday part one – when we get to part two, Ben’s still on the ground, and it’s the second time in a week that an attack from someone else has left him unconscious and slow to wake up. As Kathy frantically tries to rouse him, Kat gives off at Zack for what he’s done and winds up following him when he’s advised by Chelsea to leave. Still seems a bit odd for Kat to suddenly become invested in Zack’s behaviour, but anyway.
Just like when he woke up after Kheerat choked him out, Ben makes a sarcastic remark the second he comes round, about how all that gym time finally paid off for Zack. Self preservation is very far from Ben’s mind, even after getting knocked out.
He addresses Kathy next, pointing out that the punch would have hurt if he was sober. He snorts with laughter at his own joke, but it’s just desperately sad. For Ben, nothing hurts when he’s off his face – or even if it does, it’s still less painful than what he feels when he’s not.
Callum’s chat with Karen is certainly illuminating, and even Callum doesn’t know the extent of it. Karen’s discussing post-natal depression and how common it actually is and her own experiences, but highlighting the fact that people don’t like to admit it.
Callum’s still trying to process it, admitting he thought it was the cancer and the chemo alongside it, not expecting something like this – though he did know Rainie and Roland were involved somewhere. The instinct is there but it’s just that his imagination would never lead him to something like post-natal depression.
Karen admits that she should have told him sooner, but didn’t know how. Sounds like seeing Mitch lose his brother and also seeing the level of denial Stuart was still in earlier on made her feel like telling Callum was the right choice, not wanting him to lose Stuart – not to cancer, but to the grips of depression.
Callum then tells Karen about a dream he had the other night, which featured a door with someone calling to him on the other side, but two bouncers on Callum’s side wouldn’t let him through no matter how hard he tried. Callum seems to think he knows what the dream means, but I don’t think he does, not while he’s still in the dark about what’s happened to Ben. It’s like with Stuart where Callum knows something is wrong but didn’t grasp exactly what it was until Karen told him. I think he and Karen have both come to the conclusion that one of the bouncers relates to Ben, but Callum doesn’t seem to realise that the person on the other side of the door is Ben. I see the bouncers as the two distractions that are preventing Callum from being with Ben, or at least being in the mindset of listening and supporting Ben – one bouncer is Stuart’s issues, the cancer and, as Callum now knows, the postnatal depression, which seemed to contribute to Callum’s lack of patience with Ben prior to the breakup as he struggled to juggle his support and did wind up spreading himself too thin to do it effectively. And the other bouncer I interpret as being Callum’s reasons for walking away from Ben, his incorrect belief that Ben cheated on him, the feeling that he never knew Ben at all and the anger he’s holding on to despite clearly sensing that something is wrong which is also contributing to his lack of patience. And between these two bouncers, Callum’s going about things the wrong way in the dream to get through to the other side – pushing and trying to skim past without actually addressing the bouncers isn’t working.
Of course others may interpret the dream differently, but that was my take on it. I’m not sure who Callum thinks is on the other side of the door but I guess his impatience in the dream comes from wanting to find out.
Karen, Ballum shipper supreme, reckons that Ben and Callum are meant to be and they’ll find a way. And Callum doesn’t argue with that, nor does he seem surprised at the mention of Ben either – hence me thinking they’re both assuming Ben is the other bouncer. But without knowing the problem with Ben, Karen tells Callum that Stuart needs him now and he can only fight one bouncer at a time.
Callum doesn’t know what to say to Stuart, but Karen reckons he’s the only one who can know. Her advice is to take his time, learn his lines and then stick his cape on to go save the day. Wise words. It may just be me but I feel like the scene is almost an acknowledgement of Callum’s tendency to bury his head, and I reckon he doesn’t just do it to hide, but to anchor himself out of stubbornness. Throwing the pride party, doing the campaign, taking Stuart to hospital when he didn’t want to – all understandable actions to take but they didn’t address anything underlying, and I’m starting to wonder if this thing with Stuart is meant to be a turning point in how Callum deals with things.
In our last glimpse of Ben for the week, he’s back at the Vic with another beer (or rather two… or more) as he brushes off Kathy’s concerns about his punch in the face. Kathy’s insisting he needs to go to the hospital to get checked out, and he’s firing back that he’s practically an Olympian when it comes to taking a kicking and keeping on ticking. Sad thing is it’s not even a lie, he’s taken so much trauma physically as well as mentally. The mention of a hospital makes me wonder though if getting hit like that factors into next week at all, or maybe it’s just meant to be some foreshadowing (more on that in the week ahead, of course!)
Ben ignores her to ask Frankie for the same again, just downing the pints as Kathy tries to stop him. He accuses her of nagging him and tells her to stop trying to help because he’s fine. Yeah, he sure looks it.
At that point, James comes in and when Ben sees him, he’s off his bar stool and stumbling over to him. James even acknowledges that Ben is past his limits with a comment about being rough and ready, but isn’t concerned enough to turn Ben down when he asks whether he wants it or not. It’s a very uncomfortable exchange, but especially when James comments on how he knew Ben couldn’t say no to him. For me it’s an awful callback to the rape and how Ben literally wasn’t allowed to say no – and to Ben that line just feeds into what he’s now trying to do which is make himself look easy because he thinks it’s what everyone expects, and also at least then he feels an element of control; even if it’s forced and even if he can’t do it without the drugs.
And speaking of, James asks if he has any gear, which Ben confirms with a pat on his chest. Satisfied with that, James then follows Ben out the door, with Kathy having watched on. Sounds like James is aware that Ben can’t do it without the drugs either, but it doesn’t matter because at least he gets to do it with a guy he fancied when they were fifteen.
Also having seen the exchange, Frankie asks Kathy if she’s alright. She asks Frankie about whether she thinks Ben would deal drugs, but the idea is laughable to Frankie, who assures Kathy that Ben might be a lot of things, but he’s not a drug dealer. Even though she doesn’t know the truth, she knows something’s off, but says drug dealing isn’t him. And it’s not, technically, but as I said earlier on I do wonder whether it’s essentially the same thing if he’s taking a cut from the real drug dealer. Still, love Frankie being in Ben’s corner. And they’re both right – drug dealing isn’t him, but he’s very deliberately trying to make it him right now.
Their conversation has caught the attention of Phil, who’s just walked in, and he asks Kathy what’s going on – which later leads him to confront Sam about the drug raid which took place earlier on the back of Zack’s claim, and demands to know if there’s something he should know about Ben and drugs. The episode ends with Sam promising that she can be trusted to keep an eye on Ben while he helps out at the club, despite knowing that Ben’s not only involved with the drug dealing, she’s the one who offered the deal to him.
Callum finds Stuart in the Vic and offers to buy him another pint, which Stuart declines by saying he’s on his way out. Callum decides to just go for it and sits down next to him, admitting that Karen’s told him about the post natal depression and that he thinks she might be right. He then tells Stuart that they’re not leaving the pub until Stuart agrees to get some help.
Stuart, of course, is resistant at first, dismissing Karen’s concerns as an armchair diagnosis after watching too much Loose Women. He addresses the typical misconceptions of post-natal depression, that it’s only for those who give birth; for women. He calls this intervention stupid, but Callum responds that what’s stupid is dismissing it. You’re correct, Callum, that would be stupid.
Callum tries to appeal to Stuart by referencing the past and how he’s struggled, and how he’s prone to flying off the handle. I’m not actually too sure what his point was there but it makes Stuart snap that he’s lost his wife – and a kid. Callum can relate to that, after all. He also points out that he’s got cancer, and how all of these things are reasonable explanations for how he’s feeling and he doesn’t need people telling him he’s got something else, ‘more girl’s trouble’, with a sarcastic comment about the menopause being next. There’s an extra layer of denial in his mental health struggle that’s similar to Ben’s, in that he doesn’t feel like it should be happening to him, doesn’t feel entitled to support.
As Karen advised him earlier, Callum takes the time to gather his thoughts and then reminds Stuart of an incident from when he was 8 or 9 (making Stuart 24 or 25) where a family called the McCarthys called for Stuart on New Years Eve and Stuart faced them down despite Vi and Callum begging him not to (as an aside I find it amusing how Callum and Stuart’s childhood anecdotes now feature Vi when they never did before – we had two references this week!) Stuart’s words to Callum then, as Callum reminds him, were that it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose as long as you put up a fight. The camera then zooms in on Stuart as Callum brings his point home, about how Stuart took a beating that day but he gave as good as he got and the McCarthy’s never called for him again. Callum giving him a shake and emphasising that Stuart is the hardest bloke he knows, then and now, is very cute, and what’s more it has an effect on Stuart, who can’t help but smile at the praise Callum’s giving him even if he doesn’t believe it himself. Callum’s voicing his belief that Stuart can and will fight this postnatal depression, and the cancer, and everything else that might come their way. And he says ‘their’ because he promises to be there, right next to Stuart making sure that he wins. The positive reinforcement is effective, and he’s got Stuart nodding in agreement and symbolically accepting another pint after he had declined in the previous scene. He’s also smiling when Callum’s not looking which seems like a good sign.
The implication is that Callum’s tackled this bouncer and we’ll see Stuart getting help; and he can now give more focus to the Ben-shaped one; which leads into next week quite nicely.
As Kathy tries to get hold of Ben to make sure he’s okay, she sees Zack in the cafe and sits across from him, apologising for lying to him about the money and stressing that she really needed it to help Ben, but admits she doesn’t know if she can help him anymore. Things are spiralling for Ben and all she can do is watch. But the least she can do is try to ease his load, which is why she continues to try and talk Zack round, acknowledging his pain over Ben getting to spend more time with Gavin than he did (not that that’s a particularly good thing considering he was evil) but explaining that Ben still suffered growing up and still is suffering. She needn’t bother though as Zack seems to have come to an epiphany and once Kathy leaves him to it, he finally texts Rocky to tell him he’s letting go of his car, which was a symbol of his need to prove something to his dad.
So, Thursday in a summary: Callum addressed Stuart’s issues in a patient and positive way which seemed to be effective; Phil is trusting Sam to watch out for Ben in specific relation to the drugs, not realising that Sam is the one who offered Ben the deal in the first place; and Ben’s trying everything he can to block out the pain from what happened to him, whether it’s numbing himself with drink and drugs or replacing it with other pain through antagonising everyone around him. Oh Ben.
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