Okie’s final scenes were particularly poignant (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
This article contains spoilers for tonight’s episode of EastEnders, which airs on BBC One at 7.30pm or can be streamed now on iPlayer.
Tobias ‘Okie’ Okyere (Aayan Ibikunle Shoderu) has hardly been EastEnders’ most sympathetic character since he emerged as Ravi Gulati’s (Aaron Thiara) right hand man. Together, the two launched a drug dealing ring and pulled Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway) and Kojo Asare (Dayo Koleosho) into their dark new enterprise.
Okie, in particular, seemed to take particular delight in cuckoo’ing Kojo, posing as his friend and confidante in a bid to infiltrate his life, take over his flat and establish it as a base to conduct his drug dealing from.
Kojo, as an autistic man, would be particularly susceptible to the process, in which criminals take over a person’s dwelling (often the home of a vulnerable person) to use it for illegal activities.
Okie takes over
Okie set out to torture Harry… (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
Okie only got worse when Ravi handed control of the entire operation over to him when he needed to hide abroad from rival gang leaders who were out for blood when he’d encroached on their turf. Ignoring Ravi’s command to free Harry who they’d taken as a hostage when he attempted to bring their crime ring down, instead, Okie instead started to starve him and offer him drugs to alleviate his misery.
Delighting in torturing Harry, Okie made it clear to his hostage that his next step would be to take his on-off girlfriend, Gina Knight (Francesca Henry), on a date. Though initially steely and seemingly with the sole intention of further twisting Harry, Gina managed to poke through Okie’s tough front.
Okie revealed that he’d had a very turbulent childhood. His dad only appeared in his life at age 9, and instantly began spoiling him with gifts. When he died when Okie was just 14, his mum spiralled into despair, with Okie being forced to take on the responsibility of looking after his younger brother and sister.
…and part of that included targeting his girlfriend, Gina (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
Though Gina, far too distracted by Harry’s absence, never ventured out with Okie again, it was a rare glimpse behind his ruthless exterior and fleshed the character out.
With Kojo established as a drug mule, Harry defied Okie when he ordered him to call his best friend and force him to return to his ‘handler’. Harry instead told Kojo to run, though Okie regained the upper hand when Kojo returned home, leading the new boss to imprison him alongside Harry.
With Harry’s dad, Teddy Mitchell (Roland Manookian) and Kojo’s brother, George Knight (Colin Salmon) starting to question Okie’s story that they’d gone to Cardiff for a holiday, it seemed that freedom for the duo would be imminent, though Kojo himself was plotting his escape, determined to get help for Harry who was rapidly deteriorating amid increasing drug use.
Harry collapsed as Kojo tried to help him escape (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
With Harry unable to escape, he forced Kojo to leave him behind, while he got help. Kojo rushed home just after Teddy had finished informing George of the nightmarish situation their relatives had become trapped in.
As Kojo, George and Teddy joined forces to rescue a weakened Harry, they found Okie and his henchmen preparing to load him into a van. While Okie and his boys looked set to turn their ire onto George and Teddy, police sirens forced them to drop Harry and run.
Yesterdays episode saw Okie turn to Ravi for help. A broken and despondent Ravi, who’d confessed his role in the drugs ring and agreed to become an informant, merely warned Okie that he needed to run, far and fast, before either their bosses or the police caught up to him.
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Okie’s last stand
Okie’s last stand (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
While Kojo managed to slip by George and return to the flat, it’d transpired that Okie hadn’t listened to Ravi, and he confronted Kojo with a knife.
Summoning Harry, the gloves were off as he and Okie collided for a final time, fists and feet flying as Kojo escaped the situation, suffering a melt down on the street. As both combatants, reached for the knife, Harry grasped it first, and when Okie dove atop Harry, he landed on the blade.
Okie rolled away, bleeding terribly, while a sickened Harry tried his hardest to help, attempting to put pressure on the wound. Okie spat: ‘you say you wanted out of this life? Well now you’re in for life!’
As Harry tried to call for help, Okie, seemingly concerned with the consequences for Harry, urged him not to call the police. ‘Put that away, man! You wanna get yourself locked up? Are you seriously that dumb?’ he gasped.
Okie’s final moments were particularly eye opening (Picture: BBC/Jack Barns/Kieron McCarron)
As Okie further succumbed to the wound, he panted: ‘You think I wanted this? I didn’t want this, but this was my life!’ When he realised he was nearing the end, he pleaded: ‘not like this, man!’
With Harry darting to comfort Okie, the veneer well and truly dropped. ‘You shouldn’t be here, bro! You don’t know how lucky you are!’ he said, highlighting the differences in their upbringing and, while unforgiveable, perhaps showing an insight into what led Okie to the choices he made.
His final words? Heart breaking: ‘I just want my mum, man…’
With a final gasp, Okie died, just before Teddy discovered the scene and decided to take action…
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