I’ve been an EastEnders fan ever since I can remember. When I think of the soap, Sonia Fowler is one of the first names that pops into my head, so understandably, I was gutted when I found out Natalie Cassidy would be leaving the soap – but I wasn’t surprised.
Due to the timing of the announcement, along with many other fans, I was convinced her exit would coincide with the 40th anniversary live episode. It looked touch and go for Sonia when she went into labour with Julia in the rubble but of course, EastEnders couldn’t let one of their most iconic characters go like that.
Despite Sonia surviving the disaster, her ex partners Reiss Colwell and Martin Fowler weren’t so lucky. Poor Sonia went through more drama in one night than some of us do in our entire lives – so I’m over the moon that she finally got her happy ending.
In tonight’s episode, we saw Sonia leave for Bali. Although we knew she’d be leaving with Bex, it was a nice surprise to see Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer) leave with them – and get the cheery send off they deserved from the rest of the residents.
It was nice to see comedy in the pair’s exit after an extremely tough year for them both. One thing I’ve always loved about the soap is their ability to bring humour into the most traumatic scenarios.
Sonia had everyone giggling as she left with the iconic trumpet she joined the Square with, and Bianca never failed to make fans laugh with her one liners. Her ability to laugh about being locked up by Reiss after locking Terry in a shed was the perfect comedic ending for characters who have given us years of entertainment.
However, I do have one ‘tiny’ complaint. I feel like the exit storyline felt a bit rushed. Sonia’s dad Terry Cant only arrived earlier this week with the idea of her upping sticks to Bali, and by the end of the week, she was off.
The idea of Bali felt completely random – and in my opinion, if Terry returned earlier, we could have witnessed a lot more drama and delved deeper into Sonia’s past as she looks forward to her future. A character like Sonia deserves one of the show’s most memorable exits and although it was great, I don’t think it’ll be remembered in years to come. I also would’ve loved to have seen a solo episode for her last.
Now back to the positives, because there were so many including a surprise return. You can’t have a huge exit without a return and another thing I love about EastEnders is their ability to keep huge secrets under wraps. The return of Garry Hobbs and Minty Peterson for the 40th was one that had me grinning from ear to ear, and one I would have never expected.
Although, I, like many was predicting the return of Carol Jackson for Sonia’s big exit, it was nice to see Brian Conley back on our screens as Rocky, who previously pretended to be Sonia’s dad Terry under the instruction of Dotty Cotton, even though he’s still behind bars. The conversation between Rocky and Sonia was heart warming, and it was nice to see Sonia get the closure she deserves – especially after her bad experience with Terry.
Dot Cotton’s commentary at the start was another great touch. Of course, EastEnders couldn’t let Sonia go without a nod from her beloved step-grandmother.
Overall it was a heartwarming episode and it felt great to see the Square in good spirits after the tragedies the residents have been through.
X, formerly known as Twitter, was flooded with commentary and although opinions were mixed – they all had one thing in common.
One wrote: “Crying at tonight’s episode of Eastenders. It was a perfect send off for Sonia, Bianca and Bex. hope to see them back soon. Their scripted goodbyes to everyone was definitely the actual people saying goodbye to Nat and Patsy, rather than Sonia and Bianca.”
Another penned: “The silliest exit storyline but Bianca, Sonia and Bex getting stealing free tickets to Bali from Son’s “dad” is hilarious. A bit of joy #Eastenders,” as another agreed: “I’m happy they gave Sonia a happy send off and not a sad one. She’s been through enough sha #EastEnders.”
Sonia and Bianca’s presence on the Square will definitely be missed – but it’s been a pleasure watching them all these years. And who knows, they may get tired of paradise one day…
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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