The time has finally arrived almost a month after actor Max Bowden (Ben Mitchell) has finished filming and left EastEnders for good. This spoiler came from the same paper that first announced that Bowden’s contract wasn’t being renewed by the show. We’ve had at least three months to speculate as to why the show would terminate the actor and get rid of a legacy character with such short notice. Obviously, there’s information we don’t know as fans. What we do know is that “Trauma Porn” Ben will be officially gone by Easter. 🐣
I have seen three versions of Ben since I started watching EastEnders:
- Charlie Jones: The one who was abused by Stella;
- Joshua Pascoe: The one who killed Heather;
- Harry Reid: The one who stole Phil’s money from Sharon who stole it from Phil.
My favorite was Reid’s Ben. He went through finally coming out and falling in love with Paul only to lose him due to a homophobic attack. When he finally started to date again, he was physically abused by his boyfriend. Ben has had a life filled with trauma. Yet, Reid’s portrayal of tortured Ben wasn’t as full-on in your face like Bowden’s portrayal but still just as effective. Then again, Reid’s Ben storylines were mixed in with the show’s other character storylines.
When Bowden arrived, we were presented with 2.5 years of Ben in every major storyline, trauma after trauma. He wasn’t finished with one traumatic event before another one was thrown at him. Some fans were asking for his support-boyfriend-turned-support-husband Callum Highway (Tony Clay) to have his own storyline to break up the traumatic moments. Yet his storylines always circled back to Ben’s drama and needs. I think this is what changed Ben’s likability for EastEnders fans beyond the Ballum fandom.
Ben as an adult was a tough character to like and feel sympathy for when he was doing his mini-gangster act. So when the show started his rape storyline in the middle of him physically assaulting innocent people, I think that was the turning point.
There was fan sympathy about Ben being sexually assaulted at the same time there was fan displeasure that he was getting away with assaulting people including his nephew Peter. When you add in Ben’s treatment of Lola while she was battling terminal brain cancer, then it’s no surprise his time on the show could be limited. (I mean, who yells at a woman suffering from terminal cancer who’s trying to rest in her bed?)
As we now know, it wasn’t the writing for Ben that caused the show to not renew his contract. Whatever happened behind the scenes and in Bowden’s personal life may have had an impact. However, I also think we were coming toward the end of this version of Ben.
The only other option was to add another trauma in Ben’s life to cause issues between him and Callum. Whether the show pays attention to Ballum fandom interests or not, they would have to consider breaking up Ben and Callum for a new storyline. Well, now that is happening, and it looks like Callum is staying in Walford for now.
Bowden just like the other actors who have portrayed Ben has had a huge impact on the character’s history. He’s a very good actor, and we will definitely see him acting again. (🤔 Maybe he’ll end up near Chester.) I’m sure the next Ben Mitchell will get fan love and interest whenever he comes back to Albert Square.
BovaryCee 
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