EastEnders has had it’s fair share of villains over the years. Serial killers, gangsters, femme fatales, yet teenager Joel Marshall (Max Murray) is on a fast track to finding himself among the top baddies of Albert Square, as his exposure to twisted misogynistic content continues to warp him.
Joel’s presence in Walford, alongside his dad, Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) and step mum, EastEnders legend Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) is due to the family needing cash after they were forced to fork out $50,000 to the family of a girl Joel had ‘upskirted’ to keep him out of trouble with the police.
Though Vicki initially thought their desperate need for money had come from Ross’ divorce settlement, she was horrified when she learned the truth.
Joel’s sick behaviour continued when he filmed himself having sex with Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) without her consent before shaming her for it online, introducing Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) to extreme pornography and misogynistic content and later sexually assaulting a commuter on the tube.
Ross later had to destroy Joel’s laptop when he discovered it was full of pictures and videos containing sexual assault, and the deeply disturbed teen later turned his ire toward Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), leaking her photos from her time as an adult content creator and revelling in her humiliation.
Despite the fact that Joel continues to get worse, and with the wider community now fully aware of how hideous Joel is, Vicki and Ross are determined to help him, with Vicki even calling on an unexpected source in Julie Bates (Karen Henthorn).
Julie took an entirely different approach, simply listening to Joel as he poured forth with his sickening rhetoric, and gave him calm and measured advice. It seemed as though Joel had reached a fork in the road, with Julie being the closest anybody had come to steering him back to safety.
It wasn’t to be, though. After Julie left, Joel reverted to form and threatened Vicki against interfering with him again.
Next week shows zero change in Joel, as he spews more misogynistic filth, leaving Ross and Vicki at their breaking point, completely lost as to what more they can do.
After an incident at school, orchestrated by Joel and Tommy, has wide reaching ramifications for the community as a whole, with a focus on how and why it came to happen, Vicki and Ross and Kat and Alfie each attempt to talk to their sons.
Things escalate at No.43, as while Ross and Vicki try, yet again, to get Joel to see sense, he finally turns violent and physically strikes Vicki.
With ‘Enders boss, Ben Wadey recently discussing the plot, which takes elements from the critically-lauded Netflix drama, Adolescence and news that a BBC Three documentary exploring the worrying growth of misogynist attitudes in young men and the spread of these viewpoints online, Joel’s plot is ramping up as it speeds toward a climax.
But just how dark will Joel’s behaviour get before it does?