EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Skylover]

I'm glad Peter beale has been re-cast.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Is this supposed to repair Ian and Bobby b/c if so, I don't see it happening. 

 

EE still has a sour taste in my mouth post having Bobby kill Lucy. 

 

I still get pissed thinking about all the story potential Lucy could've had with Hetti Bywater still playing her. 

[Skylover]

 

They should have kept Melissa Suffield and not killed her off. They shouldn't have killed off Steven either. But I'll happily have re-cast Bobby and Peter. I like Bobby. I also like the new Dotty. I'm glad Kate Oates is re-casting all the essential characters.

[KMan101]

 

I have to agree.

 

I still try to keep up with the goings on but that was the last period I had any interest in.

 

EastEnders greatly suffers from what the US soaps do (among other issues, of course): missed and wasted potential at every turn. I keep waiting to hear about something that would get me to come back and try and make the effort to watch but nothing really has.

Edited December 24, 2019 by KMan101

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I'm with that with all UK soaps. They are all going through this funk that I just don't care to watch anymore. I still do read up as to what is going on but none of them seem to spark my interest anymore. 

 

With ED, I started to tune out of the show after Ashley died. The show is just too Aaron/Dingle driven for me, and I like a few of the Dingles; however, I can't stand a show that focuses on one--the one that isn't the central family. 

 

With Corrie, I've had the worst reconnection with. My biggest gripe with them is that they always lose the interesting characters while keeping the deadweight. 

 

And I reconsidered watch EE again when Mel returned, but one episode in, I knew it was gonna be some mess and it ended up being just as expected. I also can't bear to watch Bobby's sins be washed over and for Phil to be made a victim (for the 1000th time) b/c a woman did something outside the relationship. 

[DRW50]

After breathless media hype for Kate Oates and how she was going to "save" Eastenders, and on the wonders of a Mitchell-led Christmas episode, the ratings were only marginally higher (with a much better lead-in) than last year's Kat-centric episode (Oates has tried her best to ignore Kat this whole year). 

Nelson's response to "Queen Kate," Jon Sen, and what's become of Eastenders. 

 

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[KMan101]

 

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Ugh. Phil. I'd love for him to take a really long extended holiday somewhere. And just forget to return. LOL.

 

I've always had the most interest in EastEnders followed by HollyOaks. I have a love-hate with HollyOaks. They often dump the wrong characters. They can hook me for a few weeks but then it completely derails. It's also hard to invest in that show because they're so quick to axe folks (or they used to be)

 

I've never gotten into Emmerdale as much as I had wanted to. 

 

Coronation Street ... I'd rather watch the older years.

 

I think most soaps, even the UK ones, are just ... existing. They also seem to suffer another issue we've long suffered from: recycling hacks.

Edited December 26, 2019 by KMan101

[Skylover]

 

It's still a thousand times better than this time last year under John. It was really in the gutter when he was running it so Kate and Jon really had a massive uphill battle. 2020 is likely to be better than 2019.

[victoria foxton]

Did you enjoy the Christmas episode? I enjoyed the Sharon/Phil and Keanu /Louise scenes. I truly hope Martin didn't kill Keanu. I'm hoping the Twitter rumors are true and Martin faked Keanu's death. Having Ben order a hit. And Martin carrying it out. Throws both of theses legacy characters under the bus. I like Baullum. But making Ben dark. Is really going to sabotage the Ballum ship.  Louise  betraying Keanu was a great twist i didn't see coming. At times EE shows promise while other times it's awful. For me it vacillates between the two. 

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Edited December 28, 2019 by victoria foxton

[wingwalker]

I've been getting into Eastenders and have been watching daily since end of August.  Last time I watched EE, was several years ago. Overall I've been really enjoying the show, but it's not perfect.  The Christmas episode I thought was meh.  Some moments I liked, but for most part it seemed it was all about shock value than actual plot.  Especially since they announced the New Years Day episode will be a flashback episode of Christmas Day and will show what really happened. 

 

I don't believe Keanu is dead. Martin was freaking out over a hit and run accident just the day before. Being turned into a murder in just one episode would be quite a leap.  Victoria Foxton, I'm with you on your concerns over Ballum and Ben.  Even if Keanu is alive, Ben still ordered the murder. Are we really supposed to want Callum back with a guy that ordered a murder? I wonder if Ben with Martin, helped fake Keanu's death? 

[BetterForgotten]

To me the show is completely hallow and very plot driven - specialties of Kate Oates. EastEnders has been bad for so long that this may seem like an artificial improvement, but something just isn’t clicking for me and ratings continue to be in the gutter.

 

The funny thing is, as awful and soul-less as Oates’s Corrie got, I don’t think it was ever this incoherent and messy.

[Skylover]

 

Some characterisation has been good. She's brought back Kirsty who's shaping up to be interesting. Linda's improved. Bobby's a good character and Kathy finally feels like she has more purpose.

 

 

Was CS in as bad a mess as EE was when she took over though? EE was falling apart at the seams this time last year.

[DRW50]

I don't see the big purpose for Kathy. The main difference in Kathy is that Gillian seems to have settled back into the role.

 

Kate Oates doesn't care about characterization. She cares about press releases and self-promotion, and also a weird fetish involving "sexy" gangsters. And her little fan club give her praise for anything she says or does. I can't imagine any other producer not being criticized for a story that presents human trafficking as fun and good.

[KMan101]

Isn't EastEnders basically just wasting Sharon and Kathy?

[Dion]

@KMan101 Pretty much, yes.

 

I wouldn't want either of them to go though.

Edited December 31, 2019 by Dion