In the past, I couldn’t shut up about the excellent standard of EastEnders. After several incredibly shaky eras, this show has experienced an incredible revival and is still a hit.
However, with 2024’s storylines in full swing, a harmful way of relating to two horrifying characters is causing concern. And I’m able to see that I’m not the only one.
Matt Di Angelo and Navin Chowdhry portray the roles of Dean Wicks and Nish Panesar very well, and there is the possibility of further tension moving forward. I’m afraid I have to disagree, which I’ll address later. However, I can acknowledge that this is an opinion.
The Square has always been a favorite of fantastic villains. And, even though there has been a lot of discussion regarding the decision earlier in the show’s history to change Dean from a character of mischief into a wicked rapper, the storyline that featured Linda Carter ( Kellie Bright) was among the most memorable episodes of the present.
Bringing out Dean’s darkest aspect was an unacceptable arc, as it confirms that there are no guidelines on how rappers behave or display themselves. And even how they committed the criminal act before.
The return of the actor last year appears at best unnecessary, at worst, an unneeded twisting of the blade into an event that has been resolved with a fundamental but painful unfairness.
The fact that he was brought back in the prelude to a guy receiving their comeuppance (and whogorrit) of the story was a genuine feel of plot device since he had no involvement in the conclusion.
So far, he has been around to cause Linda pain and take over a local establishment in the Square, where he’s considered a scourge.
The rot started to take hold in a horrifying sequence of events, which saw him bribe Linda to retract her accusation against him to aid George Knight (Colin Salmon) in getting out of prison.
This was highly unfair to how Linda was portrayed because she was determined to bring Dean to account for the attack, which Dean admitted to.
Returning to his role as a victimized and falsely accused, Dean is now engaged to Gina (Francesca Henry), who is blinded by her newfound love for Dean despite the mighty and well-substantiated side Linda can show.
Dean manipulates to the highest degree and can turn on the appeal and sympathy vote with a single tap, which isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
However, the plot seems sloppy because this was examined by Roxy Mitchell (Rita Simons) before, at the close of the film, he launched another attack before another fight with Carters, which revealed his true colors once more.
There was no viable route to return; honestly, it is absurd that he’d even want to return to a place where everyone knows who he is.
It’s difficult to understand the motive behind Dean’s story, which will likely be a different kind of revenge. Given that Linda has put in such a lot of work and endured so much pain to put her life back to normal, any loss for Dean will be a bittersweet one in that it’s taken the smashing of Linda by her rapist twice to make it easier.
This specific retreat wasn’t needed in a show where villains are done well in the script; it was optional.
If the return of a character did result in some drama, it shouldn’t need to be tied as a potential sequel to his deplorable behavior.
Just as we don’t have to find new excuses and reasons to keep Nish in the game, Nish isn’t required to find new excuses or validations.
A cleverly planned out story that spanned an entire year that focused on the empowerment of six women who were treated horribly by men, and finally coming out against it, it seems incorrect that the two principal villains suffer far less than women.
Since Dean has been in a relationship with Gina, I was shocked that EastEnders followed a similar style to that of Nish and Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace).
Kat, who had just a few episodes before comparing, possibly legitimately, Phil to both her childhood victim Harry as well as to his violent father Eric and then fell to the bay of Nish, an individual who has publicly shown his manipulative tendencies and love for extreme sexiness, frequently in public.
Another character, despite getting a slight turn at Christmas, proceeds to dance the Square in a swaggering manner, extending his long-running abuse of his former wife, Suki (Balvinder Sopal).
The scene in which six women stood together against Nish at Christmas, and Nish launched his assault on Suki to smack her, is now sullied since he’s still in the grip of Suki in his grip.
He is a different character than most people in the Square are aware of the colors, with one example being Kat herself.
Nish was recently close to killing her best friend Eve and, considering the closeness to Stacey Kat, as well as Kat’s history of campaigning against Little Mo to understand the true nature of Trevor; It’s hard for her to believe the idea of Kat having faith in Nish ahead of her sister.
The actors in the storylines are amazing. However, more is needed to look for ways to extend the terrible treatment of the villains to the females of Walford for a longer period.
There’s a general risk of harm to the storyline and the soap if these relationships don’t end soon.
It’s time for these plotlines and characters to rest like they were in the past.
EastEnders is playing a complete blinder and is still in the top position of the pile. However, it could be time to stop the bleeding and alter the storyline about the two most toxic characters and their grip on the women they molest.
