EastEnders spoilers follow.
EastEnders‘ Nicola Mitchell found herself in a nightmare scenario tonight (1 September) as she was locked in a confined space with her estranged mother Rose Hawkins. Last month, Nicola’s sisters Gemma and Jodie arrived in Walford causing absolute chaos and destroying one of Elaine’s peacocks.
While Nicola seemed pleased enough to see her sisters her mood changed drastically when her mother Rose arrived.
BBC
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Nicola later told her partner George that she had grown up with an abusive father who took his anger out on her and Rose.
One day Nicola walked in on her dad assaulting her mum but when she tried to help, Rose defended him. Nicola then told her father to leave, and he did, but ended up drunkenly crashing his car and killing himself.
Rose has never forgiven Nicola for her husband’s death, while Nicola has never forgiven her mother for always defending him.
On Monday’s episode the Hawkins clan returned to the Square, with Gemma’s husband Ned and son Ryder in tow. The family needed somewhere to stay but Nicola would not allow them to stay in her house after Gemma lied about Rose coming.
Gemma and Ned were eventually put up by Ned’s old friend Alfie, while Harry took in Jodie and Ryder. Rose spent the night in Peacock Palace, managing to quickly alienate Elaine and Linda who told her there wasn’t room for her to stay a second night.
Tonight, Kat Moon had had her fill of Gemma and Ned, telling them they couldn’t stay at The Vic any longer. While Gemma was upset and worried that they’d end up on the streets or in a hostel, Ned told her she knew what she has to do.
Gemma then went to visit Nicola to try and make peace but Nicola refused to talk to her after seeing Rose. Gemma was then left having to think of another plan to smooth things over.
BBC
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When Gemma was outside the cafe with her mum and Ned, Rose seemed to have no interest in mending fences with Nicola. But when Ned made a joke about locking Nicola and Rose in a room together, Gemma suddenly had an idea.
Later Gemma knocked on Nicola’s door and told her Jodie was having an asthma attack in the van. When Nicola came to help, Gemma and the rest of the family locked her and Nicola in the van.
While locked up together, Rose wasted no time in angering Nicola by mentioning Harry’s addiction and Teddy being in prison. Rose then accused Nicola of making up details about her father and her childhood in order to “cope” with her father’s death.
When Nicola brought up their father’s abuse, Rose denied everything, screaming at Nicola to stop when she recounted the night he died. Rose said that she wanted her daughter to come back to the family but Nicola said she wouldn’t do it on her terms.
After they were let out by Gemma, Rose told her family they were leaving first thing in the morning.
BBC
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Later, at home, George told Nicola that it might be worth tolerating her mother to get her sisters back, leaving Nicola to decide if it was worth biting her tongue to help Gemma and Jodie.
Marian McLoughlin, who plays Rose, previously said of her character: “Rose has a sharp tongue and uses it as a weapon.
“With Nicola, it’s a way of diminishing her and retaining power. She wants to sort out the truth of what happened when Nicola’s dad died. Rose has her version, it’s up to the audience who they believe…”
EastEnders airs on Mondays-Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
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