EastEnders viewers were left devastated on Tuesday night after a grieving Stacey Slater continued to push her family away amid her mental health battle.
Tuesday’s episode of EastEnders saw emotions running high as Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner), continues to worry her family with her deteriorating mental health.
Following the death of Martin Fowler (James Bye) viewers have watched Stacey’s mental state decline, as she increasingly isolates herself upstairs.
The situation has escalated recently, with her teenage daughter, Lily (Lillia Turner), skipping school to look after the house.
Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) decided to call a family meeting on Tuesday night to discuss their concerns about Stacey’s worsening condition.
However, Stacey interrupted the meeting, showing indifference towards everything and not revealing whether she was still taking her medication, reports Belfast Live.
When Kat confronted her, she said: “Martin wasn’t the only love of your life, you know! You’ve got your kids too. Lily’s been acting out for weeks.”
Stacey remained silent as she walked away when Kat told her she was hurting her children.
Viewers were less than impressed with Stacey’s behaviour, noting the similarities between her and her mother Gene Slater (Gillian Wright) from years ago.
With Lacey Turner set to leave the BBC soap, many believe this is the start of her exit storyline.
Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their frustrations. One viewer commented: “So you’re telling me that Stacey’s maternity leave storyline is her locking herself up in her bedroom?”
Another reeled: “Can Stacey leave now? I don’t want her to actually leave but this storyline is really sad, I don’t like what’s she’s doing to the kids.”
Viewers are also indicating their dismay with remarks such as: “The way they are writing Stacey’s character just doesn’t make sense to me. She’s always been fiercely protective of her kids, she wouldn’t leave them to fend for themselves like this, especially considering how she grew up #Eastenders”.
Meanwhile, parallels are being drawn as one fan observed: “That is mirroring exactly how Jean started when we first met her and Stacey, with Jean simply turning her back on Stacey and Stacey walking out.”
Another heartfelt opinion added: “A heartbreaking scene between Stacey and The Slaters The Slaters attempting to get through to Stacey as she grapples with extreme depression in the wake of Martin’s death. Her fragile MH and grief is making her act selfishly. The real Stacey wouldn’t act like this.”
Pleading for Stacey’s recovery, someone else wrote: “Hope Stacey gets the help she needs.”
Echoing this sentiment, someone else tweeted about the historical echoes with: “This reminds me of when a young Stacey looked out for Jean during the early stages of her bipolar [sic].Poor Lily shouldn’t have to go through this alone. She needs help!
The tension soared at the end of the episode as Stacey overheard Lily telling Kat about her fears. Crying, she commented: “If she stays like this, I could lose Charli! Mum’s her legal guardian!”
