EastEnders: Ben turns the gun on Phil as he rushes to save Callum but would he really pull the trigger?

This evening’s (20^th February) cliff-hanger left Keanu looking down the barrel of Phil Mitchell’s gun while Callum lay helpless in a deserted warehouse after falling as he tried to escape.

The Mitchells were in a race against time after Keanu texted Ben telling him he had one hour to bring him £100,000 or Callum would be a dead man.

The consequences of their dilemma meant that a number of other Mitchell and Taylor family members were dragged into the drama. Ben pulled a gun on Keanu’s “lovely little cougar” Sharon Mitchell. Phil used another firearm to threaten Karen Taylor who riled him by saying how her own family had been destroyed.

And there were unexpected contributions from others. Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) avoided the boat party because she was busy helping Phil find Callum. And Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) heroically risked everything whacking Phil over the head to save Karen as he went ballistic in her front room.

Ben’s desperation as the minutes ticked away and he tried to get an address out of Sharon was agonising. As was Denny Rickman (Bleu Landau) discovering that Sharon was lying to him about Phil having killed Keanu and her promising to just go away with him and the baby.

It was the final reckoning between Phil and Keanu though that fans had been waiting for.

Like Phil and Sharon’s Christmas Day confrontation it was both brutal and surprisingly tender as Phil demanded an explanation from Keanu for why he'd stabbed him in the back by sleeping with Sharon.

“I used to look at you and see myself,” said Phil, as he forced Keanu to look him in the eye. “I gave you the keys. I treated you like you were one of my own.”

Keanu’s response said much about the neglected, good-hearted lad whose own jail bird father Shane had never been there for him.

“I never meant to hurt you, Phil,” said Keanu, bloodied. “You were the closest I had to a dad and I let you down. I’m so sorry.”

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Apologies counted for nothing though when Phil got a call from Shirley saying Callum wasn’t at the address Keanu had given them.

As the boat crashed into another vessel Phil pointed his gun at his Judas surrogate son and Ben, still desperate to save his boyfriend, aimed another gun at his dad.

Your move, Mitchells.

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