Suki Panesar-Unwin (Balvinder Sopal) is a very different woman these days to the one who initially arrived in EastEnders.
Happily married to her wife, Eve (Heather Peace) and looking to adopt and expand their happy family, she’s about as far away from the cruel, scheming and vicious person she once was as she could be.
What is it they say? Don’t poke the bear? Clearly Bea Pollard (Ronni Ancona) and, by extension, Honey Mitchell (Emma Barton) haven’t heard that expression, as their constant prodding brings out the Panesar matriarch’s long-controlled venom and costs them both dearly.
Bea has, thus far, proven to be a little…creepy? Landing in Walford as part of former bully Linda Carter’s (Kellie Bright) efforts to ‘make things right’, she almost immediately ended up on a fake date with Max Branning (Jake Wood), and now, she’s got her sights set firmly on new bestie, Honey.
She’s strategically engineered her way into Honey’s orbit by saving her (twice) from shoplifters, deeply impressing Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota) and winning herself a job at the Minute Mart, though her efforts to defend Honey from any and everything have caused trouble.
After witnessing Vinny being rude to Honey and, later, Suki’s complete indifference to Honey’s back injury, Bea decided that action needed to be taken and began to press Honey to sue the Panesar family for her workplace injury.
As the girls giggle over a glass or three of wine, a tipsy Honey spills some major tea – revealing to Bea that Suki once tried to kiss her. As the wine continues to flow, Bea comes up with a revenge plan, that doesn’t exactly go to plan…
In the aftermath of what’s happened, Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) implores his wife to make things right with Suki, though Bea remains steadfast that Honey shouldn’t give up so easily, encouraging her to see things through.
In the end, though, it’s all for naught. Suki is certainly not a lady to be crossed and, after making it clear that she won’t be forgiving Honey, she turns her ire toward Bea.
A generous Queen through and through, Suki doesn’t reserve her wrath for Honey alone. In fact, there’s plenty to share, and Bea winds up in exactly the same position as Honey – at Suki’s none-existent mercy.
Will Bea finally realise that messing with Suki is a futile exercise? Or will the slightly-sinister newbie double down on her efforts to take the matriarch down? And where does Honey fit into all of this?
EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 2nd February at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer.
