Eastenders, Neighbours and Home & Away
The landlord struggles to cope with what Linda did…
The fallout from what has happened with Stuart has a bigger impact than Linda thought
Mick Carter needs to think on. If it wasn’t for Linda, he’d still be eating prison gruel. Linda, of course, went to great lengths to get psycho Stuart to admit it wasn’t Mick who shot him – ultimately leading to Mick being freed from the clink. But all Mick can think about is what his missus did to get a confession out of Stuart.
Things ain’t right between the couple, and Linda’s not happy when her husband goes on an unplanned day out with Mitch this week, to help at the footie club.
The tension rises the following day when Mick agrees to help Mitch again. As Linda points out she needs her hubby in the pub, she’s shocked by Mick’s tetchy response.
Realising he can’t leave her in the lurch, Mick reluctantly stays put. But he snaps at Linda again, and she later finds him in a state.
‘Linda is smart,’ says Kellie Bright, who plays her. ‘She’s Barbie on the outside, but inside she’s hard, and she’s actually stronger than Mick in many ways. But the fallout from what happened with Stuart has a much bigger impact on her than she thought it was going to. It’s testing on her and Mick’s relationship.’
As Linda comes to Mick’s aid, she encourages him to talk about what’s eating him up. Eventually, Mick opens up about his prison ordeal – a stint made all the more difficult by Linda’s Bafta-worthy performance with Stuart, in which she pretended her marriage to Mick was over. ‘Mick’s thing is, “You left me in there and I didn’t know what the hell was going on!”’ adds Kellie.
In light of the pair’s deep and meaningful, Linda gives Mick her blessing to coach the football team, believing it will perk him up. But when he and Mitch prepare for an away match, disaster strikes – the minibus fails to turn up.
Mick thinks on his feet and enlists the help of the other residents to host a match in the Square instead. But just when it seems his spirits have been raised, one of the mums, Megan, criticises his approach. Will her careless words bring Mick back down?