The part one of Thursday night’s (August 24) EastEnders episode, which has yet to air on TV but can be seen on BBC iPlayer, includes spoilers in the following article.
Inevitably, Peter Beale’s (Thomas Law) return to Albert Square would bring him face to face with sworn adversary Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), and their reunion went about as well as we could have predicted.
The audience will be aware that Peter fled the Square after he realised Ben was the one who had attacked him and left him for dead.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Ben’s grandma Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) sided with him and advised Peter not to call the police.
After a major family argument, Peter broke his promise and had Ben jailed, which caused Kathy to disown him.
He subsequently said that the Beales were no longer his family and departed Walford, taking Kathy’s funds with him.
Peter has now returned after discovering that he has two sisters who reside in Albert Square, and it appears that making peace with Ben isn’t his top concern.
Ben was surprised to find Peter behind the bar after entering the Queen Vic with his spouse Callum Highway (Tony Clay). Peter was as brash as brass.
It didn’t take long for the two to start arguing, with Ben questioning whether Peter was just there because he knew Kathy was away.
Ben was ready to respond angrily when Peter responded by questioning whether they had ever apprehended the “lowlife” who had been beating people up.
Fortunately, George Knight (Colin Salmon) intervened to stop the fight and order that it go outdoors.
Later, when Ben spoke to Callum before his first support group meeting, it was evident that their altercation was still fresh in his mind.
After telling Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) how much he was hurting after being raped by Lewis Butler, Ben had decided to join a survivors support group.
However, he was having second thoughts about travelling after his encounter with Peter.
When he was experiencing these kinds of thoughts, he confessed to Callum, he had fantasised about striking Peter over the head with a tool from the garage and seeing him bleed to death. He also felt as though he couldn’t go to the support group and “tell them he’s come through the other side.”
In addition to pointing out that he hadn’t taken action on his thoughts, Callum noted that he could explain it in the same way he had just done.
Will Ben and Peter ever be able to put the past behind them, despite their obvious desire to move on?
