EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[detroitpiston]

The New Years episodes were pretty good. The cinematography on the location shots were top notch and while I’m not big on Suki and Eve as a couple the wedding was actually fun and they got good drama out of Nish’s last stand. I was really hoping it’d be a two for one death special though

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@Liberty City Of the Panesars I actually like Ravi, Priya and Avani so when they are the main ones centered for story as they were post fallout I’m a happy camper.

I really enjoyed Nish’s actor but they killed the character for me when they blew up him and Kat’s all too brief romance and kept rinse and repeating him trying to kill a family member and get disowned only to easily manipulate his way back into their good graces.

I will never find Suki likable for the same reasons @DRW50 listed and Eve only works for me with the Slater’s. Nugget and Vinny are complete punks as highlighted by how they let Nish run amok once again for his exit but I wish the show would let them lean more into being shady business scoundrels instead of whiny little weasels. If they all left the square abruptly I wouldn’t be sad at all.

Edited January 3 by detroitpiston

[Skylover]

Davinder is the only one of the Panesars I like, and to a lesser extent, Priya.

[MichaelGL]

The New Years episodes were seemingly better than Christmas. I agree the cinematography/directing was top notch especially the aftermath episode. It’s unfortunate we don’t get this level of production with American soaps. 

[Liberty City]

Ravi Gulati & Suki Panesar are the only two I enjoy, if I am being honest. The others I could see leave, and not feel anything about it. Vinny Panesar is perhaps one I could see feeling something about if his character was shifted the tiniest of bits. But, other than that, I feel nothing towards the rest of 'em.

[LondonScribe]

It’s fascinating seeing the differences when it comes to who forum members like out of the Panesar/Gulati family. 

[Liberty City]

[DRW50]

The writing for both is terrible. I'd gladly choose "neither." More gimmicks to hide how hollow EE is now. It's nice to see Diane Parish showcased but none of this benefits Denise.

Edited January 7 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

It won't matter regardless because whoever the fandom chooses, the writers can easily undo it by Xmas by having her have an epiphany. I find both pairings to be toxic. For once, I'd like Denise to have a healthy relationship. I know I was in the minority back then, but I wish EE had not messed up Denise and Ian being a possible pairing. 

[DRW50]

Compared to what has come after, it wouldn't have been a bad pairing - DTC seemed to go out of his way to trash them (and then gave Denise incredibly bad material with no followup, like having her become a drunk and abuse Patrick). 

Ian has been very poorly served since his return. He may as well not have come back. It says it all about how useful he is to the current team that his reaction for the Christmas episode was to rip off a scene a long-dead character had 40 years ago.

[NothinButAttitude]

I always thought Cindy and Ian being back together was stupid. It logically made no sense given how Cindy hired someone to kill Ian at one point. And Ian later took the kids from her and played a hand in her going to prison. If anything, they should be mortal enemies. From the clips I've seen, watching Ian be blind to Cindy was pathetic. I agree that I am stunned that Adam Woodyatt even returned. 

The only good thing that emerged out of Cindy's return was her hatred for Bobby. It held true to Cindy. 

And I said previously that this regime knocked off Pauline's death with Cindy's assault minus Cindy dying. Hell, didn't she fall in the same spot as Pauline? But this is why I say the UK soaps need to go back to kitchen sink drama. They have become too modern day Americanized by focusing heavily on murder, doom, and gloom. 

[DRW50]

I think he must have just returned for the paycheck as he seemed happier when he was away from the show.

I've seen people defend the Ian smashup ripoff and Cindy falling in the snow ripoff because they represent the anniversary and history. That is something you can do in a fun video for fans, not on your big Christmas episode. It also has no real impact because the show is obsessed with ripping itself off anyway - what's different now?

[NothinButAttitude]

Agreed. 

I do think that AW enjoyed doing theatre and pantomine while not on EE. Sadly, that might not be enough to pay the bills. 

(re: Cindy's assault/Ian breakdown) Yes, it is hard to recreate the wheel; however, the attempt they tried to take fell flat. And there will be no longterm payoff for whoever assaulted Cindy. It'll be swept under the rug, and Cindy will spend all of this year plotting to get revenge. It'll be an endless cycle until someone (Cindy or the culprit) opts of leave the show, which is when someone will meet a grizzly demise, go to prison, or flee the Square. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. 

[detroitpiston]

I didn’t mind the recreated scenes tbh. Nice history references and they didn’t feel like the show was beating viewers over the head with them as some crowning achievement of the episodes either.

I also bought Ian and Cindy reuniting when they did. It had been decades, he’s always been a mug and she was in a bad place after having to leave George and the girls and finding out Lucy and Steven were dead. Getting back with Ian was a way to reclaim a life she never got to have. Of course she ended up remembering just how boring and unsatisfactory it was when she actually got it back and sabotaged it all.

I’m pulling for Jack and Denise for the viewers choice, they did good work repairing them for me with The Six fallout. This rekindling with Denise and Ravi however has rang false for me at every step. IDEK what they were trying to do with that scene of him confessing to her he killed Nish on purpose Monday but it didn’t work at all lol, Aaron Thiara has acting limits and that scene was a highlight for em. 

I did love the Nigel and Kathy reunion scenes and the Beales and Knight families having a go at each other at The Vic trying to pin down which one of them hit Cindy.

[DRW50]

I just never bought the reunion because most of the time after the reunion took place offcamera and barely involved the kids. He blamed Denise for Amy's self-harm and told her she couldn't leave or Amy's fate would be on her. That's grotesque and was never dealt with because we're just supposed to accept Jack treating women like garbage. 

I can agree with you about Cindy and Ian, but that just makes the whole thing boring and pointless to me (especially since almost none was oncamera). The other issue here is that I think Michelle Collins actually has more chemistry with Adam Woodyatt than she does with Colin Salmon or Micah Balfour, and the show is so hesitant to pull the trigger on George/Cindy anyway. The whole thing was confusing and tell-don't-show and badly acted to boot.

Edited January 7 by DRW50

[Vee]

That's my thing. It just felt like pure gimmickry, which used to be beneath EE. And yet I agree she and Adam Woodyatt still have considerable chemistry.

Edited January 7 by Vee