EastEnders fans have turned against Ravi Gulati this week after he unknowingly attacked his own son while high on drugs. But despite his downward spiral leading to him to self-harm, viewers still don’t feel sorry for him and think he has no one to blame but himself.
Last night’s episode (Wednesday, January 14) ended on a bleak note as Ravi revealed his self-inflicted wounds. Overwhelmed by the weight of everything he has done and with the walls now closing in around him, Ravi has hit rock bottom.
Fans will know that Nicola and Harry Mitchell finally took revenge on Ravi after months of torment by secretly spiking his drink. Their plan was simple. They wanted him to feel even a fraction of the pain he had caused Harry and Kojo towards the end of last year. But what followed went far beyond anything they intended.
As the drugs took effect, Ravi began hallucinating and talking to his dead father Nish, who then tormented him from beyond the grave. And the nightmare didn’t stop there. In a tragic twist, Ravi later attacked Nugget in the street, mistaking his own son for Nish and leaving him unconscious on the road.
Nugget survived only because Vinny happened to find him. Doctors rushed the teenager straight into surgery after discovering a bleed on the brain, and he is lucky to be alive.
Now consumed by guilt and fear as the pressure mounts, Ravi is spiralling fast.
Ravi under pressure following Nugget attack in EastEnders
There is no doubt Ravi has a lot to contend with right now.
Alongside the horror of what he did to Nugget, Ravi is also under intense pressure from Jack Branning. His role as a police informant means every move he makes is being watched, and staying out of prison depends on him delivering results.
At the same time, he is desperately trying to keep his family together.
Priya is currently the only other person who knows the truth about what really happened the night Nugget was attacked. But with the police starting to circle and Avani asking questions, the cracks are already showing. Ravi needs to keep control if he wants to protect the people he loves, but that is proving easier said than done.
EastEnders fans reject Ravi redemption
Viewers were quick to make their feelings clear about Ravi’s latest storyline… “I don’t feel one bit bad for Ravi. He should be in prison. I couldn’t care less about his resulting mental issues,” one fan wrote on X.
Another added: “Typical EastEnders move, trying to force sympathy for Ravi like we’re supposed to forget everything he’s done. He never once spared a second thought for how he treated Harry or Kojo. Now we’re meant to suddenly feel sorry for him?”
A third agreed: “I’m all for a male mental health storyline, but not with Ravi. It feels like a cop out and a way to gloss over the stuff he’s done.”
And it looks like viewers will not be forgiving any time soon either. If next week’s spoilers are anything to go by, Ravi’s road to redemption is nowhere in sight.
Priya struggles to hold her family together in next week’s spoilers
Next week sees Nugget struggling to process the aftermath of the attack, still completely unaware that his own father was responsible.
The teenager cannot wait to get home from hospital next week, but while Nugget looks forward to being back in familiar surroundings, Ravi’s guilt only grows stronger.
Priya is keen for the pair to spend more time together, knowing exactly what happened that night. But Ravi’s strange behaviour soon sets alarm bells ringing for Nugget, who starts to question what is really going on.
In a bid to make things right, Ravi encourages Nugget to go for a walk around the Square to clear his head. However, the unanswered questions around his attack continue to haunt the teenager, leading to a panic attack in the street.
With Nugget now terrified to leave the house and Ravi sinking deeper into his own torment, the family’s fragile future hangs in the balance.
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