Jay and Gina’s drug nightmare
EASTENDERS
Plots involving drugs bore me; I’ve never made any secret of that when writing about their regular appearances in soapland. But fair play to EastEnders, ketamine is very topical, with use of the drug now outstripping Ecstasy.
Not content with having given Jay a dying wife, the show has now inflicted a heavy drug problem on the poor man. It began simply enough, when he asked the hooker with a heart for a bit of the horse tranquiliser to help him relax. When the proverb says you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, it hadn’t taken into account that it’ll drink a gallon of the stuff if it’s
laced with ketamine.
Having started on that, Jay takes more drugs after getting a dealer’s number from Ravi, but here comes his saviour Gina, offering him a bed for the night at the Vic. Blimey. A fellow druggie. That’s just what you need in a crisis. And what’s all this about a bed? Where do all these people who keep turning up at the Vic sleep? It’s the Tardis of pubs.
When George finds Jay’s drugs,
Linda bars him, and Billy orders him out of their lives (all heart, is our Billy). Everything goes from bad to worse and Jay ends up in a car accident. Gina blames George and the Mitchells for their treatment of him and, alas, heads to the wrong hospital to look for him. OK, that’s enough guys, I’m done with the whole drugs thing now. I’ve given you an olive branch, but you’re not going to get the whole damned tree.
Hopefully, there’s a bit of light relief when items from the sale of the Marbella bar get delivered to the Vic. It’s an emotional moment for Cindy, who shows her true colours yet again by tearing into Elaine outside. Forget sombrero mementos — expat street bunfights are the most authentic reminder of Spanish days in the sun. I’m still waiting for any of them to utter one word of Spanish other than tapas, though...