InLoveWithSoaps

The Cameron saga was just awful. I suppose they viewed Celine as expendable given there are so many McQueens. I liked her fine but not anywhere near as much as I like Cleo who has the sweetness thing down to a t but not too saccharine, she could be the future of the show. What bugs me is Reenie. There's so much they could have done but I guess it was a money or availability thing, maybe she'll return eventually. Goldie has been quite good, a bit too Mercedes-like which is too much as Mercy is on, but she has potential. I was surprised JP left and really they didn't do much with him outside of the rape. (Also I was glad to see the back of Diego, his last scenes where he was supposed to be emotional were painful.)

I hope Courtney isn't the one stalking Leela. That would ruin her and that's what Hollyoaks does all the time.
I wonder which will happen between "James gets revenge on Ste by seducing Harry" and "James and Scott fall for each other much to their dismay"?
Darcy is alive, what a surprise! At least Grace is innocent for that, but they still wrote her into a corner by having her kill Eva (as lame as she was) in cold blood, especially given she was pregnant. I keep hoping they have another twist on the Eva murder but I'm not holding my breath. Grace being in love with Esther could make for some good stuff but I keep going back to Kim's sudden obsession with her which was never resolved. I mean Kim assaulted a cop to get inside the same prison as Grace.

I was checking out older characters on Wiki and I didn't know Katherine Dow Blyton from Emmerdale had been on the show! Reading up what they did to her character's family, oh dear. That's basically what they've done to every new major family since I've started watching (the Lovedays remain intact but the parents are rarely seen). And then they discard the remaining living ones fast. I'm honestly surprised they're still adding to the Savages every now and then and Diane's family.

Oh so Jerry Sugden is your channel DRW50? Thanks so much! I've been watching several episodes recently. It's so much fun seeing people I had forgotten all about, like Paul, I wondered whether he'd been on another soap before realizing he was there when I started watching full time two years ago. I remember Carl King and Kelly from my brief viewing in 2011 around the time of Lisa's rape. It's such a shame the other soaps' older material is so hard to find.

Faith has been a lot more enjoyable than I thought she would be.

I felt quite old when they mentioned Ben's age. I thought he'd be 25 by now. No way was Paul only 20! Ben & Johnny wouldn't work but I expect this "no way are we dating!" thing to lead into them developing feelings for each other. I can't see Ben with Steven either, but I just don't enjoy seeing him in relationships to be fair. He is so smug generally. Jay has not had any relationship in a long time either. It's just that the whole early 20's set is not a priority it seems, I mean it's weird they haven't put Abi & Jay back together given they're both single, they just don't care. Lauren & Steven, talk about boring. I'll never understand having her leave the country with one brother and coming back with the other. Why couldn't it have been a new guy altogether, it's not as if Steven has had more than 30 minutes of airtime since coming back. Is the guy Lauren met Will Savage from Hollyoaks? He looks familiar.
They need to stop with those quiz nights and board games and what-not. It's just filler and so repetitive.
The Kat & Alfie spin-off is apparently airing in May. I miss Kat.

Bex is the one good thing this past week. The actress is capable and I could see her become an important EastEnders character in the future. I'm glad she finally told the school about those two bullies.
Linda & Mick can go now, I don't see how they fit in anymore, too much of a case of 'past producer's pets.' Two episodes in a row ending with Mick throwing a tantrum and crying out? I'd keep Tina and let Johnny have a fling with Steven before writing him off.

Lucy & Ali are the best part of the show at the moment, and Sass, what a fabulous addition. But I don't like her current pairing with the mayor candidate who's like 30 years older than her, I just don't see anything interesting happening there. Sass reminds me of Brooke, whom I hope returns eventually. I haven't seen enough of Frank yet and him marrying Kylie which if like me you missed a few weeks is just weird. I like the Warner family unit. Shame Harry is such a small part. I still wish Isaac would come back.
I'm glad Leanne returned. Esther, still hate her, she's so whiny which makes her out of place on a show with strong people.
Eve looks like Rachel, it's crazy. I'm inclined to think had Rachel not gone, she could have been her long-lost daughter or at least a relative. Not sure I like her story with Boyd though.

I had the same reaction as Laurel when Maggie appeared. And when Faith showed up, with Debbie no less, whom I think didn't appear last week. I just think bringing on Faith is overkill, she chews up the scenery so she's not exactly a subtle addition to the show. I may end up liking her who knows.
Wasn't Georgia supposed to return too? I'd be more interested in that, the poor Sharma's have to put up with that parrot lady to have some comedy.
The sextape business is ridiculous. Rhona to Vanessa: YOU WENT LOOKING! Seriously? So Vanessa would just stand there shocked with hands over her mouth if all she wanted was a sneak peek of Rhona's sextape, in front of her? The actresses obviously know that's dumb and they're playing it over the top.
Is Liv secretly in love with Gabi? Would they go there?

Brenda is the best bit part on any soap. I live for her 3 lines every few days where she manages to be nosy within three words. The actress can do so much with one little look. She loves the gossip but deep down she cares, that's what I like about her.
They're doing a good job with Aaron's prison storyline. I must say I don't even remember what he's inside for but it's very raw.

There was also Peter who could have easily been brought on given he was the center of attention for so many characters. I agree with you, especially Marah who was MIA from 2004-2009 outside of a quick Thanksgiving visit by my favorite actress to portray her.
I accepted a lot of stupid Reva stories but I'm glad I never had to see the psychic one. Maybe it could have worked with Nola. The cancer was probably one of the best Reva stories of the last years, but boy did I hate that Jeffrey nonsense afterwards, especially the pregnancy 3 years post-menopause. Also the clone, whom apparently was created out of a lab with no pregnancy involved, was what it was but nothing will ever be more ridiculous than Reva in the pilot-free airplane. Some of the worst scenes I saw on this show.

Killing off Nathan was unnecessary but damn if they didn't create some dark moments out of it. Mac telling Marnie her son died because of her lying about her brain tumor and then have him and Lisa speak about their affair in the empty church only for Marnie to come out of the confessional were both some twists! It's a bit of a stretch though that Nathan wouldn't have dropped Mac's bracelet while falling. Marnie can be too camp at times but she's up there with Grace and Sienna as the best new divas of recent years, it feels like they didn't deserve to have that fall on their laps. I also like what they're doing with Neeta. She's been window dressing for so long but the actress is decent enough and obviously gorgeous, I wonder where they're taking her. She might surprise us. The Leela actress gets on my nerves, so her having a baby with Louis was just a way to have her end up with his other son? I'll take Tegan any day. Hoping for more Cindy as it's been a while since she's been on. There's so much she can do.

The Barlow clan return (outside of Adam) is the best thing the show has going for it. I love Daniel, intellectual type of actor with a different technique who could make it big if he leaves (hoping his coming out won't hurt his career), but I'm not sure how I feel about him being saddled with Sinead, such an uninteresting character although I guess she's nice. And Peter is a worthy lead along with Steve. Nick is okay I guess but like Carla last year I'm ready for him to leave.

The most underrated foreign soap IMO. It's the most character-driven I find, of course I've only been watching since last year so I can't compare it to the past. I am months behind, making my way through the second half of September currently, and it's really good, I'm glad I picked it back up. I love how the two Aussie soaps are night and day, Neighbours is very campy, over-the-top, manic while H&A is more about quiet conversations. I love the mix of old folks with the teenagers. I think H&A is the best one at that counting UK soaps. All the characters are likable, my favorites have to be Marilyn, Irene and Ruth. I wish Jordan (was it?) and Skye had stayed longer.
I still think killing off a character weeks after she has a double mastectomy in an explosion is the cruelest thing I've seen! And watching Neighbours I was spoiled about what's going to happen to Billie seeing videos on the sidebar. I don't like her as I do an Olivia but her story is good. Also saw the Hunter actor is leaving this year? I like him, and his gay vibes LOL. I didn't recognize Ash right away from his Shortland Street days, which I've stopped bothering with as it's too hard to find.

I do intend on keeping on watching! So far so good after a month back, I also really love H&A but I am months behind. I saw a lot of hate around Paige last year (not here), do you guys like her? I liked the David scene where he goes to see Aaron and is oblivious to him having a random hook-up. I am interested in seeing where it goes. Does anyone know why H&A does not have any gay character, did they ever have any?
Reading some boards, I see my theory about Dee matches some others. Except the DID part, I think foreign soap fans wouldn't take kindly to something so convoluted. Amnesia, being taken by Willow's father who's lost his wife and brainwashes Dee is the best theory I've read.

Never saw her on Corrie but I must say they did a good job with the casting of her daughter Eva as she looks just like her.

The Dot stuff was the best part of last week. Loved the satellite stuff. Lee's exit was a bit forced, I don't understand why they had to have him hit Whitney. I'm a bit bored with all this "new producer arrives, gets rid of people brought in by the previous one". Whitney & Mick is obviously going to happen and I don't know if I want to see that. Why is Linda off the show? I low-key expect her never to come back. Michelle is growing on me, but pairing her with Tina would be hilarious for the wrong reasons. I suppose Ronnie's death had an impact but poor Roxy had none. It would have had a lot more potential had she survived and had to live with herself after causing Ronnie's death, obviously building towards her falling for Jack.

I sampled this show last year for a couple of months then dropped it because of time and other issues but I've decided to delve back into it since last month and I enjoy it tremendously. My issue with it overall was that it was too much like a US soap albeit better written, it gives me B&B vibes.
That guy in your avatar Edward Skylover, is he gone? He'd just appeared when I watched last year. I liked Aaron's boyfriend, was it Nate?
The Dee storyline is interesting, my bet is either she had amnesia and created a past and adopted Willow, or she is an alternate personality, which would be like Beth/Lorelei on GL. (Which I loved, I don't care, it was the first time in my life I watched a DID story and I was fascinated, plus the twist of the doppelganger being the real thing was one of the best twists in GL's last decade.)
One thing though and I realize this might be unpopular but I CANNOT stand Terese. A lot of the female characters on this show appear manic to me but with a Steph it works, Terese is a phony to me. I miss Amy's mother on the other hand.

NATHAN? What? This show makes it so hard to stay faithful to it. It makes it extremely depressing to watch a show full of what will be dead corpses in a year. I was already DISGUSTED at the Lisa/Mac affair which seems so unnecessary (Lisa was the new HBIC now she's ruined and I just want her gone) and my speculation is that the original plan was for it to be Mac/Tabitha but they couldn't get Linda Gray longer but it's just speculation on my part, and I am furious at them having Grace kill Eva, who had to be one of the most useless characters along with Joanne. The Nightingales started with a tour of the town and laughed about how many deaths there had been, and Rachel, now Nathan, gone. Who'll be next? Probably one of Grace's brothers, Jesse most likely. The one thing the show has going for it right now is the Joel character, yes it's because the actor is sexy, and they've already done the Hollyoaks routine on him, he's responsible for a death, other than that Courtney is a welcome addition too, and Sally wanting to raise Myra's baby with her is a good development, wishing they don't ruin it. Outside of Lisa & Mac, one of the worst storylines recently was the whole thing with the Osbournes and Eva. I don't believe for one second anyone enjoyed that hot mess which went nowhere. And I for one could care less about who killed Darcy. She's probably alive. Diego/Frankie is just a bore. Nathan wasn't amazing but he was a good guy.

I like pretty much every character on this show, not Cain really but this Debbie return didn't sit well with me. First I don't like her, but that has more to do with the writing although I guess I can't stand the sight of her plain and simple but they handled the return so poorly. I hate everything dodgy going on with those people and of course that's what happened, Debbie has stolen a car and has 50k, her kids are abducted, Charity steals money, Cain threatens to attack the bad guys. I just can't ever get invested in such storylines on this show, not that they're more compelling on HO, EE or Corrie but on Emmerdale it rarely works. Also I found Charity letting the dog out disgusting, and the scenes after she shoots herself with horse tranquilizer annoying, that was on the nose comic relief for me. Bob/Charity, now that was funny.
On another note, I find it sad how Carly is basically background character #38 at this point. It felt when she came back with a new actress two years ago and kept calling poor Brenda 'Wendy' they had a new vixen-ish type around and now she's shown 2 minutes every 3 weeks as Marlon's girlfriend. Now I can accept that turning her into a vixen is not the route they chose to go and that she's matured, but surely she could have more interesting things to do.

DRW50, I love your post, so insightful.
I personally found the stunt hilarious. The red-herring with Jay was too much. I'm glad they didn't off anyone because they started the year with two sisters dying so that's enough for now. Babe is not leaving anymore? You know what, I've accepted her as the nasty piece of work on the Square and I even find myself enjoying her scenes now so I'm good with that, just don't ever give her a man. She deserves to be miserable!

A week later, and I'm thinking they made a big mistake, as good as it was. Outside of Denise & Kim they don't really have any iconic sister duo left. I mean who else, Abi & Lauren? Shirley & Tina (LOL)? This really should have been the end of Phil instead.

I already cannot stand Michelle.

I understood NOTHING of Sienna's plan with Joel. I thought she didn't know who he was at first, then she was planning on killing him to get back at Warren? Convoluted as heck. Then it was all an accident. This explosion was so gratuitous. I love Sienna but yeah I agree with KMan101 she has run her course. Outside of Anna Passey's acting, what made Sienna work was when Patrick and Nico were around, it made for some gothic family unit and their condo complimented that. Now I don't see what they can do with her. Thankfully other than that the show is picking up with the Donovan/Celine drama although I hate they killed her off.
Is Linda Gray ever coming back?

I was shocked beyond belief. It was obvious something would happen as soon as the party scenes started but BOTH? Never would have expected that. It was definitely the most shocking moment EE has done in ages, actually I think it was almost in the same league as some GOT moments, and I wish shows like Hollyoaks would do better with their monthly deaths, although I guess Joe's was a bit out of the blue. One thing though is honestly I am not looking forward to weeks of mourning on the show.

Lisa sleeping with Mac is such a misstep. I thoroughly enjoyed Linda Gray, I hope it wasn't just a quick visit and she'll return. Same with Jude.
Jury's still out on Goldie. She feels too much like a Mercedes knock-off. As far as new MacQueens go, I wish Reenie had been a bigger character and were still on the show.
The actor playing Nick impressed me when he realized that Ellie didn't remember the one-night stand the same way he did. You know what, I like Liam a lot but Eva is still too one-dimensional for me, I find it weird she does not appear in the opening credits too, so I'm thinking she might be out sooner than later.
I really liked the twist of Sienna going to church and unknowingly meeting Warren's son the priest. Although I hope it doesn't lead to them having an affair.

I always thought Nicole Forester would have had a much better reception had she come on as Lucy rather than Cassie. She was no sister of Reva's, but she worked well with Harley so it might have been a missed opportunity. I'd have written off Marina and "replace" her with Lucy. She coincidentally started on the same day as the last A-M recast.

Rick Hearst supposedly wanted to come back for the ending but somehow Bradley Bell wanted him back on B&B immediately. We see how that turned out. Same with VI, there was talks of bringing him back too once AMC ditched him but LML wanted him so bad for Y&R. I know lots of folks disliked Nick but he was exactly what the show needed at the right time. I'm sure Nick would have been like a new character anyway. Regarding Beth Ehlers, funnily enough her last episode on AMC was just a day after GL's finale. Honestly I never understood Frons's obsession with casting GL actors on his soaps. Way to be supportive of a struggling soap.
About Gilly, I find it weird they never brought her back when they were trying to do something with the David recast before she went to Passions where she (AM) honestly looked like she enjoyed herself. I don't think they would have done much with her either way, the only thing I can see is a half-hearted pairing with Frank or Rick.

I half-expected Lee to have taken some pills after his wedding to Whitney. All the "our boy has grown up so much" from Linda/Mick, Whitney looking for him then leaving for the bathroom. I just don't see the appeal of the Whit/Lee pairing. The only interesting thing is Lee's internal struggles.
I hope Claudette won't return!
Shakil is cute and different but I just don't buy him being into girls. Can they stop having Ben throw tantrums everyday too? The guy's a decent actor in everything but that. No to him throwing himself at Johnny. He needs to stay single for a while.
I actually miss Kat and I thought she'd have returned by now. I'll watch the spin-off especially with Fionnula Flanagan involved but I'm not sure it's going to work to have Kat and Alfie outside of EastEnders.

The show is no longer uploaded onto YouTube for us to watch now that Channel 4 has realized what was going on. I believe the videos were blocked in the UK so that couldn't hurt the show and that's one more way of fading away from international viewers. I know where to find it but it was so much easier.

Subsequently Jade's and the first Halloween death were spoiled for me looking for episodes on YT. I mean I didn't know about the latter just saw a video description saying there'd be two deaths. Both would have surprised me but whatever. This show kills off people all the time.

The Ellie/nuSavage story was dropped right away. Should we expect something more from it? I guess so many people have been MIA because of summer vacations for actors but still. I miss Grace, I've been thinking she could work with Mac, anyone else can see that? Joanne continues to be on this show for no reason, maybe she's the second fatality? Glad to see the Lovedays a bit more but I don't expect them to last much longer unfortunately. If it's an alcoholism storyline they've planned for Simone, meh. They could have kept Sonia on. It's really the first time since I've been watching permanently in the last two years that I'm hoping for a new exec.

Emma keeping James captive in that old house has some gothic undertones I really like. I couldn't avoid the spoiler about James but I don't know exactly what's going to happen.
I don't think they should have killed Holly off as I feel they're just gonna move on fast from it. Will they keep Moira on the frontburner long enough? She was a background character for a long while before that story.
Rebecca is a good addition so far. I don't like that she slept with Robert though.
All this Rakesh drama, including him wanting to kill himself, and Priya forgives him straight away? A bit anticlimatic, and I must have missed the explanation re: Chrissie's pictures.