EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Bright Eyes]

I didn't sense that at all, about Windsor. Her and Pam were adorable having lunch together, reminiscing.

[DRW50]

I loved that with Pam. I miss her so much on the show.

I can't stand Graham Norton so it took her to get me to watch him.

Edited February 14, 2015 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

But didn't Nick die in the same room of Reg Cox, thus making his death be full circle?

[DRW50]

Yes. That's likely also the reason they had the pointless, silly Arsonist Alfie story.

Honoring history!1!1! MAB style.

[NothinButAttitude]

[BetterForgotten]

Oh shoot, I had forgotten that Matthew Robinson directed the very first episode of EastEnders.

It's kind of ironic though, as Robinson is probably most responsible for the show's first big attempt as contemporizing and veering from its roots, though I really did enjoy his era as EP as a whole.

[BetterForgotten]

The Graham Norton Trailer:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=899590476728038

Edited February 15, 2015 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

Now that we're almost done with "Who Killed Lucy?", I mostly think about what the character never really was, and what most of the younger women on the show in recent years have never really been.

When Eastenders started, Mary, Naima, Sharon and Michelle made up the younger female character set. The show used them to explore different sides of being a young woman growing up in a turbulent world. Naima had an arranged marriage and tried to adapt herself to modern culture. Mary struggled with being a single mother. Sharon wanted to have fun, meet cute boys, laugh, but was caught between her warring parents. Michelle was mostly just support until Mark had to be written out of the show, which heavily increased her role. Within a year she'd gotten the story that was at that time the biggest on Eastenders, and one of the strongest of all time - her affair and pregnancy by Den Watts, her best mate's father.

Eastenders has had some great young female characters in the years since, and some not so great, but let's look at the current set.

Cindy - barely there, mostly popping up now as a suspect

Lola - barely there, mostly popping up now as a suspect, and as a plot device in the Carter misery, because of course a young mother who's trying to turn her life around would date a man accused of rape

Nancy - barely there, mostly props up the bar, or pops up to make faces and watch her parents suffer

Abi - half-hearted attempts at showing a mental breakdown, mostly there to react to other people, and humiliatingly enough, to beard for Ben Mitchell (I'll be surprised if we get anything from her at this reveal beyond more crying and running out of the room)

Whitney - I keep forgetting she's on the show. I almost forgot to put her in this. She's treated as Walford's welcome wagon for the latest fit lad and has no role or life of her own, vanishing for lengthy stretches of time.

Lauren - the most three-dimensional by far of this group, with a complicated history and many demons to face

There isn't much to shout about here, even worse since Lauren will be gone for most of the year due to Jacqueline Jossa's maternity leave.

Never would the show have needed an interesting young female character more than they do now with Lauren leaving. That could have been Lucy.

Many people just gave up on Lucy once Melissa was sacked, which is a shame, because the character didn't have to be defined by one actor. What did Lucy even do at that time? Mostly spit her lines at people and make sour faces. Even her pregnancy story was never about her. People cheered because she was "just like Cindy," but I assume they barely ever saw Cindy, who was a passive, passive-aggressive woman for almost all of her time on the show, a woman who hid behind men and mostly felt trapped.

With a new actress in the role, the door was open for new possibilities, but instead nothing was done with her and she was killed for a ratings stunt. Within a few weeks, it will have gone from "Who Killed Lucy?" to "Who Cares?" (as it's been treated much of the year anyway, frankly), and the show's problems won't have gotten any better.

If Eastenders wants to truly improve, having strong, diverse young female characters with inner lives and individual voices would be a great way to start.

Edited February 15, 2015 by DRW50

[TimWil]

Great post, Carl. I especially enjoyed your assessment of Cindy Sr. It always bothered me when she'd be referred to as a "minx," "maneater" and "bombshell." She was a totally passive-aggressive daddy's girl and not terribly bright, either.

It really is too bad that the final recast of Lucy simply didn't work. If they'd found a dynamic, distinctive powerful actress to play the role rather than someone more suited to Hollyoaks then things might have been different.

[DRW50]

I think people only remember the hitman thing and not the rest of Cindy, which was mostly a lot of moaning, and fleeing Walford, and being unhappy with Ian. She wasn't some OTT soap bitch, like the way wooden Melissa Suffield played her. For all DTC's talk of loving the Beales, he had a great chance to build them up and now, between Lucy's death and Ben Hardy quitting, they've never been more irrelevant. And watching Ian just makes me sad these days, like Tad on AMC.

[TimWil]

Do you mean that they both look like beached whales? I hate to be cruel but really...they both look absolutely awful. Adam Woodyatt is on his way to being obese.

Edited February 15, 2015 by TimWil

[DRW50]

I don't comment on it too much because I worry it's down to a medical issue (as he used to talk about running and things and kept slim for a long time), but that's part of it. The other part is the character, like Phil, has been stuck in the same stories too long. EE seems to think if they acknowledge what a loser he is, that means it's good writing, but smug meta is not a substitute for good material. This year of all years should have revitalized Ian. Instead it's the same old stories, with the same old dishrag at his side.

I keep trying to think of something I'm looking forward to seeing this week. I like Peggy, but I don't see a need for the character to return and she's not a legend or an icon no matter how much she gets that bill. I don't care who killed Lucy. I don't care about the Carters.

I guess I'm mostly going to try to watch because I like live episodes, and to see if any returns surprise me.

What are you looking forward to?

[TimWil]

I can't believe some people actually think that Ian killed Lucy. HUH? That would mean he'd have to be written out. Please. That ain't gonna happen.

Edited February 15, 2015 by TimWil

[DRW50]

Promo starting around 2:20. It's effective and low-key, not like the bloated promos of recent years.

You can also see a bit of Martine around 4:20 in a spot for BBC Choice, looking and acting nothing like Tiffany, with no mention of EE. I guess because she was just about done with the show.

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They'd come up with an excuse if he did, but I don't think it will be him. I'd guess it's Cindy, Peter, Jane - some combo. EIther that or someone totally out of left field, for shock value, like Patrick.

[Bright Eyes]

I think it could be Cindy because, like Steven (a pseudo child of Ian's), DTC probably finds her dispensable. But I also strongly think it could be Peter because 1) Ben Hardy is leaving and 2) in the promo picture with the main suspects, he's in the middle.

That was a good assessment of the young women on the show. What bothers me most is that the caliber of actresses are there. Danielle Harold is a powerhouse actress. Lola was one of the best things about Kirkwood's tenure and actually made Billy relevant again, too. Mimi Keene, with the small amount she's been given, has shown she could be a strong character if they actually wrote for her. And when she's interested and given good material, Shona McGarty can knock it out of the park. My bias says Abi/Lorna Fitzgerald is viable as well, but from what I've read, a lot of never cared for her. Still, it proves to me that, though you are correct in your assertions on the characters, it's purely because of the less than favourable writing that these women seem less than flavourful.

With that said, I do agree that it was a mistake to kill Lucy. I'll never understand why these first families on the soaps (Beale/Sugden/Cunningham) are so filled up with death.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Bright Eyes