Saturday, April 19, 2014

EastEnders - Who/What Killed Lucy Beale?

Last night's episode of EastEnders, interestingly aired on Good Friday saw the death of long term character, Lucy Beale and after weeks of knowing that the character wasn't long for the world, the episode ended with her body left in the Walford Common in mysterious circumstances.

The character played by several actresses over the 20 years she's been on the show and recently by Hetti Bywater has had something of a few interesting weeks in the time leading to her death. We've seen her this year going into some kind of business with best mate Lauren Branning while sleeping with both Max Branning and Lee Carter in the last month, coming to blows with her father, Ian Beale after young sister Cindy tipped him off about some of her past antics in Devon and her recent use of cocaine. But who or what actually done in Lucy Beale in last night's episode? Some suspects.


Cindy Williams (Mimi Keene): The younger sister jealous of Lucy and one of three people who left a voice message for her at the end of last night's episode. It's probably a long shot and as unlikely as Peter/Ian too but like Peter, Cindy was seen recently to be put out by the way Ian seems to prefer Lucy over the rest of the Beale kids. However with the teenage pregnancy plot, would they really make Cindy into a killer?


Danny Pennant (Gary Lucy): They were lovers and business partners but Lucy was also part of Danny's downfall and saw him exit the Square back in February. Perhaps he came back to get revenge on the aspiring businesswoman? Whoever bumped Lucy will be facing jail time and I can't see a major character being sent down, so Danny is a likelihood. As is Jake Stone (Jamie Lomas) and his creepy staring at Lucy in Thursday's episode when she was with Lee at the restaurant.


Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa): Okay, while I don't actually believe that it will be Lauren, I do believe that she's going to be one of many obvious suspects questioned/possibly framed or falsely arrested over the next few months and it's likely that she might have become privy to her best mate sleeping with her father and snapped. After all, someone knew about Lucy/Max and sent the latter a suggestive photo of them. Even Jossa herself wants to be the killer and it wouldn't be the first time Lauren has snapped in relation to her father's clandestine activities.


Lee Carter (Danny-Boy Hatchard): The recent love interest of Lucy and guaranteed to be one of the first people to be suspected of her death. Lee is only a character we've known for about a fortnight and there certainly seems to be more to him than meets the eye. Is he capable of murder? I rather hope not but you can never tell really, can you?


Max Branning (Jake Wood): Not only was his deeply annoyed when Lucy finally ended their rather implausible affair, but he certainly seemed to take great exception to the much needed dressing down she gave him as well (citing his desperation). Could Max have snapped and killed Lucy? There's blood in the car lot from her fall the other day and he's definitely going to be one of the main suspects but even I can't see Max capable of murder. I mean the guy has a skewered moral compass at times but murder would be extreme, even for him.

Then again, there is the possibility that Lucy wasn't killed by someone but instead something. The bump on her head, a reaction to some dodgy drugs or other unknown health problems perhaps? Either way, we will have to wait until February 2015 before it's properly revealed who or what caused Lucy's death and the next couple of months are going to have a ripple effect on the Beales and the Square as a whole. The trailer released by the BBC after last night's episode had a wonderful Twin Peaks vibe to it (with a great use of Lana Del Rey's Gods & Monsters) and it will be interesting to see if the various twists and turns and reveals about Lucy will be able to sustain the story organically until next year. So far though, this does look like a genuinely gripping storyline for the show which has improved over the last few months.

There's A Killer Among Them Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNwkxrCtd4

EastEnders continues to air Mondays/Fridays at 8pm and Tuesdays/Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC1.

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