Ryder Hawkins (Felix Uff) finally stood up to his father Ned (Jamie Bamber) in Monday’s episode of EastEnders, leaving Ned speechless for the first time since his debut. The confrontation came after Ryder gained confidence from a chat with Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington).
Ryder, who is regularly belittled by Ned, had been worried about coming out to him. Unbeknownst to Ryder, Ned witnessed him kissing another man in the Square last week, and his reaction was exactly what Ryder would have predicted.
Ryder’s night out and Matty’s proposition
In Monday’s visit to the Square, Ryder returned home from a night out with his man, in good spirits after enjoying being himself for the weekend. His mood was ruined when Ned demanded to know why he didn’t come home and who he was with. Ryder covered his tracks but was taken aback to find his old football coach Matty on the sofa, offering him a job opening.
Ryder was apprehensive, especially when Matty recalled how player Kit left the team after coming out, with both Matty and Ned making upsetting comments. Ned urged Ryder to take the role, but it later became clear he had set the whole thing up.
Confrontation and Ned’s revenge
Ryder shared his fears with Nicola, who encouraged him to open up to his mum about his sexuality. Ned, meanwhile, urged him to knuckle down and ‘release his potential’, intimidatingly suggesting he would be keeping a watchful eye on him while he’s ‘under his roof’. But armed with confidence from his chat with Nicola, Ryder put his dad firmly in his place, reminding him it’s Nicola’s roof they’re living under – not his.
Later, Ryder made plans to come out to mum Gemma (Patricia Potter). Determined to prevent this, Ned set a plan in motion involving blackmailing Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) into helping with a favour, using his affair with Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) as leverage after catching them in bed together.
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One or streams from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
