I think it was a homophobic attack. I think Ben will turn up pretty soon maybe even in tonight's episode. He'll be a bit battered & bruised but nothing major.

When the police ask him about the attack & what happened he'll say that he was dragged away by one or more of the attackers while the others beat up Paul. Ben managed to get away & went looking for Paul but couldn't find him.

However this isn't exactly the whole truth & eventually he won't be able to keep the truth to himself any longer so he will confess to Jay who was there at the same club as them the night Paul was killed but the real reason he was there was to deal drugs.

Ben tells Jay what really happened, rather than trying to help Paul & probably sacrificing himself to save him, he legged it from the violent attack. He's consumed with guilt & blames himself for Paul's death. He feels like a coward & wishes it was him that was dead not Paul.

Jay looks shifty & guilty throughout the whole conversation because he saw the attack taking place but legged it & didn't go to help because he remembers selling drugs to the attackers, which is why their attack was so violent because they were influenced by the drugs they had taken.

So ultimately Jay is partly responsible for Paul's death. I say partly because the attackers were homophobic to start with but because they were under the influence of drugs they were able to carry out such a horrifically violent attack.

It would be no surprise to me at all if Ben killed Paul maybe they had an argument and ending up fighting, as Paul had Bens mobile maybe there were texts or something on there to Ben from a secret lover and that was what the argument was about?

I think it was a homophobic attack and Ben will blame himself as he changed his mind about holding hands and hugging and kissing in public. There has to be a reason why they did those scenes.

I think they are going to go down the line of homophobic attack.

There will prob be flashbacks to the events that took place throughout the week, culminating with a full events on Friday.

I think this is going to push Ben further back and will stop him from fully accepting himself.

BIB: I think Phil will help him accept himself.

A flashback would be helpful

I doubt they'll show a flashback if it turns out to be a homophobic attack. It's more horrific for it to have occurred off-screen so the viewer can use their imagination, particularly if Ben describes it in a traumatised state. Whenever you get a violent gang in EE, like the one we saw recently with Jay, or the one last year with Shabnam, there's always something a bit amateur and stageschool about it as they can't go too far with showing violence.

Homophobic attack is most likely, though of course there is still the mystery of where Ben is. And when did the attack happen? If it was late at night/early am was Paul left lying there for several hours before he was found? Perhaps he was unconscious and as a result there were complications because he is diabetic? In any case, there's more to this story than meets the eye and Ben not being around is just odd. If he ran off, why has he not been back to the square or in touch with his family? If he was beaten too why wasn't he found with Paul? And please please please, don't let Jay be involved in this story! I know the writers are sending him down a dark path but I would hate it if he turned out to be indirectly involved in paul's death!

Maybe Ben is at another hospital, but hasn't come round yet. It's possible the attackers could've held Ben whilst they beat up Paul and dragged Ben off and beaten him up elsewhere.

I was thinking a flashback would be good but I don't think it'll happen for the reasons you've given & they already did that with Lucy so a different approach would be good this time. I definitely don't think they'll be an entire flashback episode, maybe parts of an episode as Ben & possibly Jay if he's involved recount what happened maybe they could do some flashbacks there but that isn't really EE's style but maybe they will try something different!

Good point, maybe Ben was unable to help Paul but he could still feel guilty in some way because he couldn't help. If he was being held whilst others were beating Paul he would've felt helpless & would feel like he wishes he could've helped somehow.

I really hope it doesn't turn out to be a fight between Paul & Ben. Even if they did fall out I don't think Ben would be capable of giving Paul the horrific injuries we saw on him last night. I know Ben has a violent side but could he really go that far? Especially with someone he loves.

Or could it be that they were receiving homophobic abuse & Paul told Ben to ignore it but he couldn't & this led to them arguing & maybe all that self hate that Ben had over him being gay resurfaces & he just flips & rather than taking it out on the abusers he take it out on Paul because in that moment he hates being gay & hates gay people.

This would make Phil indirectly responsible for Paul's death because he was the one who fuelled Ben's homophobia

I think Kathy will help because she's never had a problem with Ben's sexuality

I think your faith in Philth may very well be misplaced

It would be better if Ben reveals that they were beaten up by homophobes as this would be more shocking rather than them arguing and Ben flipping out. Like you say, even if Ben was angry (for whatever reason) there would be no way he'd beat up Paul like that. The injuries he has look really bad and it would make sense if there was more than one person beating up Paul as opposed to just Ben alone.

Are TPTB really that predictable that they would make it a homophobic attack?

I'm sure they said in last nights episode that's why Paul was in hospital. I think it's good they've done it so it is an attack though, they do happen a lot and some of them are really horrifying.

Yeah I agree I think it must've been a gang

I hope it isn't Ben killing him as that means Ben would be on his way out which would be a major loss to the show.

I think they they got homophobic abuse, Ben became paranoid and walked off. (I don't think he is Able to stand to to homophobes yet ) and Paul stands up to them and when trying to catch Ben up gets beaten to death. Ben maybe witnessed it and is in a state of shock still or doesn't know yet.

Agreed. Phil will never accept that Ben is gay fully and wouldn't want to see him kissing/holding hands with his boyfriend.

I thought he'd slightly come round to the idea?

Weirdly when Ben came back, Phil was completely ready for Ben to be openly gay, and was as surprised as everyone that he started dating Abi. I think Phil probably doesn't want Ben to be gay, but would rather Ben be gay and happy then dead. Hopefully, we will see Phil (especially now Kathy's around) making sure that Ben still accepts himself

Er, yes.

it was babe, she set it up so that means mr and mrs stay allowing her to continue her blackmail

Interesting theory....! She is completely deranged & psychotic!

Maybe Ben has amnesia.