Written by Jayne Hollinson, directed by Pip Short.Sorry for the tardiness of this review, I had some sporadic power outages over the weekend!
Onto the review... Pam is trying to wrangle herself into Bill's business, causing him to raise a brow. Pam's latest is suggesting that Bill market himself like Bob the Builder, only Bill the Builder. Bill's sceptical, but he let's Pam prepare some flyers anyway.
Jesse walks down the street to Eileen's completely covered in custard. Eileen sees the state of him and calls him "General Custard." Eileen is sick of Jesse's mama's boy routine, and invites him to move in. Surprisingly, Jesse declines saying it's "too soon." Back to mama's! Poor Eileen!
Trouble in paradise, as Molly and Tyrone drudge through the doldrums of married life too early on! Tyrone attacks Molly's confidence when he says he didn't think she'd ever do that half-marathon. Molly tells him she will do the half-marathon, and will train ALONE. Later, Molly bumps into Kev on the street and confronts him about wanting to move because of her. He tells her not to be so sour, essentially. What does he expect? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Amber walks into the kebab shop all bladdered, and silly dressed. She is celebrating her graduation and her subsequent entry to King's College in London! Congrats Amber! It's nice to see someone on the street going up in the world. Which makes me wonder how long she'll remain on the street. Darryl suggest that he could move to London with Amber, but Amber turns it down saying that he can't leave his family, mates and job. Poor Darryl.
Graeme tells Darryl and Amber that he's now in business. Graeme is now formally: "Graeme Proctor: Garden Doctor." He tells them both that he's also found an affordable set of "wheels." They go outside to check out Graeme's new ride and set their eyes on a broke-down rickshaw! O.M.G. is what Amber mutters, but gets in as Graeme offers her the first ride. Darryl watches while Amber slowly rides away from him down the street...
Liz and Becky continue to spit insults at each other over their morning fags. Like mother and daughter the two of them. I wonder if Steve has some kind of oedipal complex. Liz accuses Becky of pulling a red-herring, and only pretending to think it was Slug who framed her to deflect attention from her own mis-doings. Everyone's a PI now! Speaking of, Eddie calls to say that he's seen Slug at the Flying Horse pub, and Becky and Steve head down there, only to miss Slug. But, at least it's a lead.
Liz confessed to Betty (and all of us) what's really bothering her lately: she's going through "the change." Yes, Liz is approaching menopause. She's really in love with Lloyd, but she doesn't want to be with him since she's menopausal - what if he leaves her for a floozie, or wants to have kids? The first, might happen, but the latter - doubt it! Poor Liz!
Another one of our ladies who's down on her age and sell-ability this episode is Deirdre, but not on the man front - on the job front. Deirdre has gotten the news, that she's gotten the ax. What will Deirdre do for work now? She has no clue and neither do we. Maybe she can ask Graeme if he's hiring?
Gail lets Joe know that she can't trust him, and she isn't sure about their relationship anymore. Joe takes that cue, and packs his suitcase and says he'll stay in a Bed & Breakfast (more like Back Alley & Beer), to give them some space. Gail doesn't stop him, and Joe is mad that Gail believes David's word over his.
Meanwhile, David is still obsessed with Tina, despite his earlier claims that her and her father should leave the street. David manages to get a nosy in Tina and Jason's new flat. Tina's bracelet falls under a crack in the wall, and she immediately blames David starting a row between everyone, especially Jason and David. David later sneaks into No.12 to verbally abuse Tina, and it has her shook up. Jason's not happy about it, and leaves looking for David but returns telling Tina he couldn't find him after all. David walks home later that night and is approached by someone from behind and brutally beaten. Gail finds him in a bloody pulp on her front porch. With so many suspects, it's a classic whodunnit.
HIGHLIGHTS:- Gail putting her foot down about Joe. Usually, she's so wishy-washy. I like confident new Gail. Even if she is a misery still!
- David calling N0.12 a dump and reckoning if this is their first step on the property ladder, that the rung must be rotten. Then, Joe muttering that he'd know all about rotten. Zing!
- Joe finally back to his old self, and being a good father to Tina by helping out at her place.
- Someone beating the pulp out of David!
- Jack and Connie's conversation over making her house into a commune for old folks. I just like their little conversations.
- Eileen telling Jesse to call his mother and tell her that he's being seduced by that brassy blond she hates! This is why we love Eileen.
- Liz confessing to Betty that she's "going through the change." I like this topic for this soap! Liz's really worrying for nothing. I'm personally looking forward to menopause, and I'll well-far off from it!
- Graeme and his rickshaw!
LOWLIGHTS:- Pam trying to take over Bill's business. Not sure if she's genuinely helpful, or just controlling.
- Jesse's whole mamas-boy complex. That's just never going to change. Poor Eileen!
- Kevin telling Molly that Sally's his wife, and has to come first. Erm, how 'bout ONLY? This is marriage, not the Olympics, there shouldn't be a second and third place for others! Poor Sal, and I don't say that very often!
For those who enjoy the scenic route, check out the full review, scene-by-scene here.
Congratulations to both Nikki Reardon and Andrew Smith whose names were pulled from the hat after they correctly guessed that the right answer to the question here was Gamma Garments.
Josh collapses, Emily and Norris are distraught when Ramsay dies, Kevin and Molly get jiggy, Theresa and Umed have a curry challenge, Becky does a runner, Connie asks Jack to move in with her, and Sally hosts the dinner party from hell.
All hail to the mighty 
