Hurry, Carmel! Stacey's telling her kids off again

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Hurry, Carmel! Stacey's telling her kids off again

October 04, 2017 - 14:49
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Stacey's telling her kids off again

By Anna May @AnnaMayMight

I’ll be honest, I was a little worried Stacey’s bi-polar diagnosis would begin to define her and become the basis of every storyline she’s central to. Here we go, I thought, Stacey’s going to have a meltdown because of baby Arthur’s health and it’s all because she’s bi-polar…blah, blah, blah. However, I’m pleasantly surprised she's being afforded the opportunity to voice some really relevant points about her condition and how even a perfectly understandable reaction to a worrying situation can be perceived by others as a sign of instability.

Martin’s obviously worried about how distressed Stacey’s getting and immediately puts it down to bi-polar. Instead of backing down, or trying to behave ‘normally’ in an effort to prove she’s okay, she stands up for herself and, through a face full of tears, she tells him, "This is what a woman looks like when she’s worried sick that her child might die." Then, in a conversation between her and Carmel, "I just feel like my entire life is under a magnifying glass. I make a mistake and people think I'm losing the plot again."

This is good stuff, it really is. However, it’s pretty much been spoilt by far too many silly reasons to suspect neglect and/or child abuse being shoved in Carmel’s face. Sorry, but there are so many parents out there, including me, who would keep their kids in check in similar ways to Stacey. As if chastising her own kids for being naughty isn’t bad enough, Carmel finds the front door open and Stacey asleep on the sofa. Then the smoke alarm goes off and she finds burnt sausages in the oven. The list goes on…as Carmel can’t wait to tell Stacey, after hearing her mentally abusing Arthur upstairs by telling him off for putting a building block in his mouth. What a shite mum!

Yes, it’s a worry that Arthur, somehow, got hold of Stacey’s bi-polar medication and managed to ‘pop’ one out of the plastic sheet they come in and take it. Just one, apparently. He’s not a greedy boy. Only the other day, we saw Martin sitting at the kitchen table, checking through said medication to see if Stacey had been keeping up to date with doses. An open cupboard door behind him confirms the little plastic tub they’re kept in is easily high enough to be out of Arthur’s reach. It’s probably Martin’s fault for leaving them on the kitchen table for Lily to find and secretly administer to her horrid baby brother, as punishment for taking all his mum's attention. OR...maybe she thought the pills would make Arthur better. Now there's a thought. In any case, we won’t find out it’s not Stacey’s fault until Social Services have taken all her kids off her and she's banged up in a padded cell, wearing a straitjacket.

So, after patching things up with Stacey and looking after Arthur for a bit, Carmel then finds what look to be bruises on his arms. Brilliant! Surely, for physically inflicted bruises to be that colour, they’d have been there for a while…and Arthur’s only just got out of hospital. Did the doctors not check him all over? They would have had to take his clothes off to take blood samples, not to mention sticking probes on him for an ECG.

Let’s face it, though, there’s not a kid on Albert Square who isn’t up for a spot of sibling torture. Bobby Beale easily tops the lot, having gone all the way and murdered his sister…and how can we forget Ben, who used to burn his sister, Louise, with hot spoons. Is it any wonder Lily might be making her way up the ranks.

Just to add, I can’t imagine anyone else being as perfect in the role of Stacey as Lacey Turner. There are some seriously great actors in Eastenders, but she breaks my heart when she’s on form like this.

So, what else is happening? Well…Michelle’s nut-job stalker, Tom, isn’t even trying to play it cool. Not only is he persisting in sending her gifts, these gifts appear to be items belonging to his late wife. So, either she’s actually dead, or he's just nicking things out of her drawers when she’s not looking. He’s even threatened a potential new boyfriend into staying away from Michelle, by angrily putting him up against a wall in the tube station and telling him she’s his wife. He’s not right, is he.

Oh, but Sonia. Yes, Sonia has been followed to Walford by the son of an old lady she used to care for. Well…she WAS caring for her, until the old lady died and left her all her money. Now the son wants the money. Sounds simple enough, but now Dot has found out and is worried Sonia’s going to try to take all her money as well. It’s a bit silly.

More silly, though, is Bex using Shakil in a stupid attempt to make Gethin jealous. It didn’t work…and now, after conveniently catching her mum snogging him on their sofa, will she get her own back by reporting him for sexual harassment? Hmmm…I wonder….naaaa…that’s far too obvious.

How’s Willmott-Brown’s takeover of Walford doing? Well…his son, Luke, couldn’t wait to shag Ben in the Arches…ahem. Is he using Ben to help his family gain ownership of the Mitchell’s garage business? Probably. Although, his dad did make jibes about him having a 'new boy’, so will Luke change sides at the last minute in protest of his dad’s belittlement of him? Fi has also grown closer to the Carters. It’s all SO exciting, isn’t it!

In other news, Sharon’s son wants to be adopted by Phil and become a Mitchell. Wtf! Who would want that! Well…actually, Denny has decided he's happy to be adopted, but still wants to be a Rickman. Fair enough.

Hang on a minute! Hasn’t Denny just started at Walford High? Yes, I think he has. Okay, then why hasn’t he been beaten up yet for still wearing his primary school uniform to secondary? Come on, Eastenders, what’s going on here! Get that boy a grey sweater and tie!

By the way, have you noticed how Carmel’s expression darkens and her voice deepens to a sinister tone each time she refers to Arthur as being her grandson? Of course you have...and, no doubt, she's about to cause even more heartache for Stacey…and...I’m sorry, but that’s rich coming from someone who used to thqueam and thqueam until she made herthelf thick! (Just William – ask your nan)