EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[BetterForgotten]

One episode in and this already feels like the cartoon character Janine from 2008-2010. HATE that they stripped her of her money too. I have no faith in them getting this character at all. 

Even though it was only 19 mins, this show is such a chore to get through. 

[wingwalker]

Yeah, this show is such garbage. Today's episode was awful. Doesn't give much hope for Janine's return. 

 

 

 

 

[MichaelGL]

For all their faults, and there are plenty; BK and LN both got Janine. I have no hope that Kate Oates and Jon Sen have an understanding of the character. 

[KMan101]

 

Yeah the show overall has it's moments here and there but it's lacking big time.

 

Janine adds familiarity and Charlie Brooks is very much checked in and it was nice to see Jessie Wallace come alive around her. Kat vs. Janine over Scarlett isn't the worst but I do see them going for cartoon villain Janine. We shall see.

 

I don't necessarily have high hopes but I'm still happy to see her.

 

And to add, a lot of the characters just feel ... tired

 

I notice some more humor which has been nice but it's still misery

[KMan101]

 

So is Kate Oates still overseeing the BBC shows as Head of Continuing Drama at BBC Studios? Her influence is so clear even if she isn't the direct producer of course. Makes a lot of sense when I realized she was overseeing the show for BBC.

[wingwalker]

A Pride Event with no characters in the episode at all. Same week DAYS gives us a gay shower scene and drag competition.  Hell has frozen over. 

 

Also, well done Oates and Sen for pissing away much of the promotion and hype you spent money on in less than a week. 

[KMan101]

The show feels so directionless. I don't want it as dark and depressing as it once became but man gimme something. It's time to start amping things up and wrapping up some things.

 

As someone who dislikes Phil (though Kat helps lessen that truthfully, which is bizarre to say), it was fun to see him be bashed over the head with a baseball bat by Shirley and then Janine traipsing over his unconscious body, giving no care to him. LOL.

 

I don't think the writing is too bad for Janine yet. We will see. 

 

It's strange because I do find some things enjoyable, the majority of cast/characters aren't bad, but the show as a whole feels ... lost? To be fair, the show has had far worse periods.

 

They were going in a really bad direction (the Ian stuff, even if I could kinda buy it; but they really made everything about him ugly and toxic) but things seemed to be in a holding pattern for a while and they couldn't rely on their stunts during the pandemic and filming protocols. I'd argue the show benefited from that even if it's not very interesting. I'll take Jean with a garage full of marijuana and Janine starting a fire in the Mitchell house over Denny drowning to death and Ian being poisoned by Sharon

Edited September 11, 2021 by KMan101

[wingwalker]

Based on the overnights, the show so far didn't get any ratings bounce from the Janine's return or all the promotion they spent money on. I think the show reputation and brand is so damaged at this point, it's going to take a miracle to turn around this show. 

 

The show is slightly better lately, but that's not nearly enough, nor do I think it's going to last. None of the spoilers or stories coming up sound all that good or interesting. 

[KMan101]

 

The show just isn't very interesting unfortunately

[Forever8]

Hypothetically, how would you turn EastEnders around into a success again if you were the ones that were in charge to do so? I'm curious. 

[wingwalker]

I don't have any specific story ideas. I do have some general suggestions to help improve the show. 

 

First off, the crown jewels of any soap opera is it characters. That's why people tune in every day, week after week. We've seen these characters be born and grow up on our screens. The show has forgotten that. There are so many characters that have been damaged by the writing, trying to fix the ones you can, should be first priority.  There also a lot of deadweight that needs to go. There's also too many new characters and they keep adding more. If you haven't watched EE in 5-10 years, you wouldn't recognize half the cast. 

 

I wouldn't necessarily bring back a ton of characters, because trying to relive or recreate the past won't work either and returns don't spike ratings anymore, but bringing back a few, could help in the long run, make the show familiar again. 

 

Way less stunts. One every once in a while is fine, but it has to be something you've been building up for a long while and will have long term aftermath. Viewers aren't idiots and no longer fooled by cheap tricks. Viewers want substance. The show needs to be character driven again. The stories should fit the characters, not the other way around. 

 

I know that Christmas season has always been big for EastEnders and is tradition, but the show needs to recognize, the TV landscape and viewer habits have changed. Having 1 or 2 big stories for Christmas is fine, but dragging nearly every story out to Christmas and New Years needs to stop. Stories should be climaxing all year round. You need to give viewers a reason to watch all year, not just 2 weeks in December. 

 

More balance. Either everyone is miserable and nobody happy, or there's nothing going on at all. Need to try to stay in between. Not stretching out stories, like I mentioned above, would help with this. 

 

The one story suggestion I would make is, drop or drastically reduce the gangster/mobster element of the show. Yes, there was always a crime element to EastEnders, but it was never supposed to be a Soprano's rip off (which ended over 10 years ago, so it not even a new show to copy). Watching Phil Mitchell who is in his 60s and has a heart condition, almost every month, take down some new villain  (who are sometimes half his age) knowing that he'll always win, escape jail, or whatever life threatening situation he's in, is boring and lazy. Gone are the days where a football match is going to stop so that people can watch to see who shot Phil.  And turning his son Ben into a younger, less competent version of Phil is one of the worst decisions the show has done. 

 

The misogyny on this show needs to be addressed. I don't mind one or two misogynistic characters, especially if they get called out, because there are people like that is real life, but of the soaps I watch, this has one of the most anti-woman tone. 

 

Issue stories. I do think soaps have an advantage. In theory, you have way more time to play out all the story beats compared to a show that only puts out 10-15 episodes a year, but EastEnders has gone way overboard. At one point, I feel like there was 3 or 4 going on at once. They are rarely written well and they never show long term commitment. 

Edited September 15, 2021 by wingwalker

[I Am A Swede]

^^

Most of these suggestions would be very helpful in improving Emmerdale as well.

[victoria foxton]

 

  

Edited September 15, 2021 by victoria foxton

[wingwalker]

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[KMan101]

 

All of this

 

The majority of the cast is fine though (definitely some dead weight and I'd swap a few folks out for familiar faces). It has potential. But there's no real direction currently. No one seems to have much of a purpose. Some dangling story threads. It's all very empty. Some energy would be nice. I felt that with the fire but the camera work was annoying ....

 

And I think some of that has to do with many of the characters being ... worn out. Kinda like Corrie. You have so many characters just ... around and it's likely because they were damaged in the writing and played out. 

Edited September 15, 2021 by KMan101