Rash Masum (Neet Mohan) will find himself in a dangerous new world when manipulative Hafsa returns in tonight’s episode of Casualty.
In a recent episode (October 9), Rash encountered Hafsa for the first time in years and viewers established the mysterious face is the sister of Rash’s old friend.
The initial shock of seeing Hafsa after so long was quickly destroyed when Rash discovered patient Farah had a knife strapped to her leg.
Despite realising Hafsa and Farah were involved in something risky, Rash failed to report them both to the police.
Tonight, Hafsa charms her way into Rash’s life, manipulating him into getting involved in her life.
This new territory is a definite contrast for Rash, who’s known as being a kind and gentle doctor.
Sadly, as Neet Mohan recently told Metro.co.uk, this drug gang ordeal will change Rash forever:
‘Throughout this story, you’ll see different sides to Rash and without giving away too much, going forward, this becomes a pivotal point for him, he’s never quite the same after this encounter with Hafsa and after this storyline plays out. After Rash has been through this, he is a slightly different person.
‘We meet Rash at a point where he’s unknowingly got himself in quite a pickle! In the previous episode, he thinks he’s doing the right thing and it’s a real “fight of flight” moment, he’s unsure on what to do with that blade in the last episode, he goes on pure instinct to try and get rid of it, to help Farah and give this person a chance and all of that opens up in this new episode.’
Tonight, Casualty viewers will see more of what Hafsa is capable of. The new face appears friendly on the outside, but as Neet explains, it’s the façade she has that helps Hafsa get exactly what she wants from Rash:
‘She’s very charming and very manipulative, she knows what buttons to push and plays on all of those things with Rash. He wants to try and help these kind of kids and Hafsa knows that, so she’s just playing on that and manipulating things as much as she wants. Also, Hafsa is the sibling of Rash’s old friend, they probably would’ve hung out in the summer, there is a closeness, but all is not as it seems.
‘She knows what Rash is like and knows she can manipulate him. Rash’s life has gone in a very different direction to Hafsa’s, and these other kids that he can somewhat relate to. Hafsa plays on his kindness!
‘I think he is quite lonely at the moment’, Neet continued.
‘His work life is very busy but personally, he is lonely. We meet him at a time where that loneliness is met with this old person from his past, who tells him about this friend Rash had. It’s about where he’s at, how he sees himself and how he sees himself with his community. We’re playing with where Rash has come from as well. His life has gone in a very different direction in comparison to where some of his friends’ lives have gone.’
In a recent episode of the medical drama, Rash was racially profiled by a police officer.
The sadness and frustration in Rash’s eyes that this was ‘the same as last time’ made the scene powerful, and when Ethan (George Rainsford) asked the officer if he wasn’t searching him because he’s a white man, Rash was worried the police officer would take action if Ethan continued to question the so-called ‘routine check’.
As we continued our chat with Neet, he explained how this encounter with the racist officer impacts what Rash goes through in the coming weeks:
‘It effects how he sees these kids and how he sees vulnerable people. There’s a whole argument when it comes to stop and search, there is profiling there and that does make communities be seen in a particular way.
‘The encounter of being racially profiled helps Rash understand that these kids are in a vulnerable position, and they don’t necessarily feel safe talking to the police. Farah was in a different position – she was wearing a tag and was compromised – if she went to the police, it could well lead her back into prison, Rash felt he was doing the right thing by giving her a “chance”.’
Neet added: ‘At the heart of this storyline is that any community can experience something like this. It can be anyone that is involved in gangs or any compromised situation and seeing where these people come from, and why they’re involved in what they’re involved in is a universal story. Just the fact it happens to be Rash, it could well happen to anyone, it’s just that in our world, it’s particular to Rash because of his character and the people he grew up with. We’re trying to tell a universal story.’
Sadly, for Rash, someone who doesn’t know Hafsa’s world at all, tonight’s episode marks the beginning of a terrifying time for him.
But as Neet explained in this interview, his character is lonely, so it makes reaching out for help very difficult for him, which only creates further problems.
‘The isolation he’s in plays into the upcoming episodes, he’s getting further involved in these people where actually, the trust with his colleagues, Rash could’ve found an opportunity to speak out and work around things, but he doesn’t and finds himself in a lonely situation. Soon, he’ll find he’s in so deep he has to play along to it. Even though he’s done what he’s done out of good and sincere attentions, the implication of what he’s done, he hasn’t thought through.’
‘Very early on, we were talking about trust within the hospital, too. Yes, there is protocols and actually, if he had spoken to Jacob or Dylan, maybe even Faith about Farah’s situation, there may well have been a senior medical colleague who could’ve possibly helped work out a situation where it wasn’t as clear cut as “this person will go to jail”. Rash is also doing these things alone and hiding things from his colleagues.’
‘Poor Rash is getting in far too deep, and things take a turn, I don’t think Rash will be the same ever again.’
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