Yeh you'd think so. That's why I don't see why DTC would only bring him back for one storyline and just a year. Why invest a lot of money into a salon when the owner won't stay for long? Of course, it could change hands but even then it usually has a makeover when that happens. I hope this is right!

I don't agree with the people who think he's only back for one specific storyline. He might only be back for a year (which could be Matt's decision) but I don't think he was asked back just to attack Linda or whatever. Like you say if he was back for one specific thing he doesn't need a salon to do it, or a year. The salon could actually be for Stacey but I'd imagine she would redecorate.

I agree, I think Mick is going to declare war on Dean if he finds out. After how welcoming he has been to Dean, it's going to come across as a massive betrayal to him to find out what his intentions are with Linda. Interesting about the flowers - I wonder if they are from Dean? I'm very interested to see how this story will progress, it's been on the backburner for a little while now as other stories have taken centre-stage, but it's off again now. I saw how uncomfortable Linda was with Dean last night, though after what he did I guess you couldn't blame her.


It's hard to know. He may be livid and want to kill Dean at first, but then maybe in time he might eventually realise that Dean needs help and that his pursuit of Linda is a symptom of this. It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out.
Ooh, and I finally got round to catching up on Tuesday night's episode, yes, very nice scenes indeed of Dean in the pool, looking very yummy indeed (as always).

You also saw her reaction when he put his hand on his shoulder in tonight's episode. He then went straight to Lauren!

Glad you liked the pool scenes

Yep, he was messing with her head I think by doing that! Poor Lauren seems to have fallen in love with Dean and is pursuing him (with a bored-looking Abi in tow), but little does she know where his affections really lie! So funny that Stan was inadvertently encouraging Dean's feelings for Linda telling him to go for it, not knowing just who Dean was talking about!
And yes, those pool scenes were very nice indeed More please, producers!

I think we get some more scenes like that next week, although not in a swimming pool!

I agree, Lauren looks smitten! Who can blame her though?!!

He still doesn't look that interested though. Isn't he supposed to be a player? We still haven't seen that - could it all be a bit of an act and he's still not that good with women? Or at least not to the degree Stan thinks he is?

Ooh good, looking forward to more scenes like that *celebrates* I'm going to make sure to record EE this week, and (continuously) watch those scenes! I don't blame Lauren one bit, I've fallen in love with Dean/Matt myself, lol!

You're right, Dean doesn't seem interested in Lauren and seems a bit annoyed with her and is rather irritated by her attention. I suppose he has set his sights so firmly on Linda that he doesn't really want anybody else, and just wants her. You could well be right that Dean may not be that good with women and all his bravado is all an act, and that Stan doesn't realise that? Either way, it's going to be really interesting to watch what transpires in this storyline, can't wait!

Mmm nice pic of him in bed with Lauren on DS.

I don't think he is very good with women when it comes to trying to attract someone he likes eg Linda and I doubt he has much experience of having a girlfriend. It's likely though that he's had girls like Lauren throwing themselves at him and he basically uses them for sex. The first thing he did when he got out of prison was to get a prostitute so I wonder if his attitude to women has been affected. I guess we haven't seen him shagging around on screen though but most of the time he's been more interested in Linda.

I find him such an interesting character as there are so many ways he could go and different ways of interpreting his behaviour. I'm looking forward to seeing how he is with Lauren.

I agree, I think his scenes with Lauren are going to be very interesting - I also think that prison changed his attitude towards women and probably relationships altogether. It's going to be an interesting week!

Yes I agree. I think the scene with Linda when he was crying was very telling when he said that he couldn't trust anyone anymore - I think that was to do with more than just Shirley letting him down once again. We need to see more of that vulnerability so that viewers remember that we are supposed to sympathise with him not hate him.

I really hope TPTB don't screw up the opportunity they have with Dean. There hasn't been a strong young male character for ages - they are usually ladies men with no personality. In general EE usually seem to do better with female characters than males who tend to spend their time pretending to be gangsters, having affairs or being door mats to their women. The last young male with potential IMO was Ryan but they never fully developed him as he ended up being a supporting character to Whitney, Janine and Stacey's storylines.

They have to be very careful not to portray Dean as a baddie without fully explaining why he is the way he is. Can't say I have much confidence but I'll be very pleased to be surprised!

I agree. I hope they write him in a similar way they did with Michael - we were told on numerous occasions about his childhood and how that affected him and so people generally liked him and the way he was (murder-plotting aside!) I also agree that Dean crying in the salon was the real Dean - we saw his vulnerability a lot when he was Deano and so I think and very much hope the writers will remember all this and he will not just be written as a outright baddie.

Ah yes Michael was a great character and definitely an exception to my comments on male characters.

I hope we'll see more of this in the scenes with Shirley Matt was talking about. I see no way of them reconciling without talking about Dean's feelings as he has to get over the fact he blames her for his going to prison.

I agree. I don't see how anything can be resolved until Dean lets his guard down.

So is that wine glass going to go into Dean's Linda shrine?!

I thought that was very creepy!!!! Matt is doing a great job.

He is doing a great job and anyone who disagrees is just wrong!

Just seen that he refuses to give Lola a job again which is what annoys Lauren - glad it's nothing more serious. Although Lauren is heading to be hurt once again I feel.

Yeh I'm also glad that it's nothing more serious. I think he ends up giving her the job which is good.

This Tweet from Matt sounds promising "My job is truly so much more enjoyable, with good direction. #20pages"

Fantastic! 20 pages of dialogue to learn (I assume) Can't wait to see the results.

Matt should get the duff duff tonight!!

Generally one page of script = one minute of screen time (one of the useless facts I learnt when I did Film Studies a-level ) So I wonder if Dean is going to be involved in a two-hander? Or at a very least a huge chunk of one episode?

That's interesting thanks. Though it sounds from Matt's tweet that there is a lot of direction in there so maybe a bit less than 20 mins. A two-hander would be amazing though!

Ooo yes! I wonder what Linda's reaction will be. A slap I imagine.

Strictly speaking, any direction prompts should be included in the one script page to one minute rule. But the rule may not apply to EE scripts. Just looking at some example pdf scripts from EE, most of them seem to be about 75-80 pages (with the exception of the Dot one-hander which was 22 pages) so I suppose it may not necessarily be a two-hander. It's likely to be a fairly substantial, weighty episode though, otherwise I doubt Matt would have tweeted about it.

Yep it sounds substantial so it's all good.