EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Janine and Ryan, Jean, and Mo were hilarious in today's episode.

Stacey and her knitting.

I did like the scenes towards the end of the episode where Jean was teaching Stacey how to knit. Jean is such crazy character, you don't know if she's insane, or if she's just too sincere.

Phil: "You pray he [Jordan] don't wake up!"

I wonder how Ben will be written out. At this point, I think he'll be sent to a nuthouse.

I like Whitney when she's sharing scenes with everyone but Billie.

And why the hell does Louise want to style her hair like Zsa Zsa's?

Edited May 25, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

I liked that when Stacey told Max she was knitting cars, and he just kept saying "Yeah..." and then she finally walked out. I'm really loving this Stax friendship, I wish it could last.

I'm surprised the show remembered Whitney and Ryan are siblings. That scene where Whitney "cried" to Ryan about Billie made me She looked like she was laughing. Shona seems to only connect with certain scene partners. Billie is utterly worthless. His acting in some of the scenes, especially when Carol and Bianca were talking about him in the Vic, was shocking.

The Janine/Ryan stuff was fun but I was a bit surprised at how blase Janine was about a child being seriously injured. Janine isn't a sociopath.

I'm glad the show continues to paint Phil as the horrible father that he is, between what he said about Jordan and also his not letting Louise know there's a chance she might not get to stay. Steve McFadden is probably going to miss Cliff Parisi -- Minty is like Phil's less attractive twin brother.

I liked Libby putting Lucas in his place. Since she has no reason to cowtow to him she gave him the blast he deserved. She's annoying but sometimes she has a purpose.

Girls who are aged well beyond their years need to stick together...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if Stacey's goodbye scenes will be with Max, Lacey and Jake work very well together. But I still think anything more than friendship would be creepy as hell at this point.

I think Whitney was intentionally fake-crying to be annoying in order get Ryan to help sell those shirts. Notice she wasn't in tears when she left Ryan and Janine's flat.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

I think a Stax reunion, Max raising what would have been Bradley's son, could work with the proper writing, but it probably would never happen, even if Lacey was staying. Tanya will be back to suck the life out of Max soon enough. You're probably right though. I just hope they can keep their friendship until Stacey leaves, I would hate to see them part on bad terms.

Thanks. I've seen Whitney do that cry before so I thought it was genuine. I guess she and Ryan are so distant he probably wouldn't be able to tell when she's putting him on.

Do you think they are building up to a Phil/Shirley breakup, or am I deluding myself.

Edited May 25, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if they're going to be resting Tanya and Max for a while with Vanessa coming on. I don't think they'd be bringing on a new love interest for Max if they were planning another immediate Tanya/Max reunion. Vanessa is the first new character of Kirkwood's regime, surely, he has lots of plans for her.

I think we were told that Stacey would have a "happy ending." I think she and Max will part on good terms, who else does she have? I was watching clips from the first two years or so Stacey was on, and she was very close to Mo, Charlie, Kat, Zoe, and Little Mo. In recent years, she's hardly interacted in any meaningful way with her family, the strongest connection she has now is probably with Max of all people.

I don't know, didn't Kirkwood say we'd be getting a lot more of Shirley soon? Hopefully, she gets a life outside of Phil, Heather, and Zsa Zsa.

As I said before, I hope Shirley and Kat get to be friends. I liked the bonding scenes that Shirley and Ronnie had a few weeks ago, but I think she'd be better pals with someone like Kat.

I think Shirley is a great character and it would be fantastic if they developed her more. I do like her relationship with Phil's children, though...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if they'll be keeping Becca with Stacey and Jean soon gone.

They should get rid of her too, she's useless without Stacey.

[DRW50]

I don't think Max and Tanya will reunite for a while, if ever, but Jake Wood I think made a comment recently implying Max still loved Tanya, so I wonder if the story will be Max still pining for "Tan," as she does her usual nose in the air routine.

Yeah, Stacey didn't have a lot to do with most of her family, outside of Jean, once Santer took over. Santer didn't seem to "do" family -- unless you count the Borg AKA the Mitchells. Seeing that cadre broken up over the past few months has been a nice surprise.

I guess part of it is Mo and Charlie aren't exactly thrilling characters, but I still never knew why they didn't do more with Stacey and Sean, not that I was a big fan of Sean's, but a lot of people wanted to know more about them. I wonder if they would have even written for Stacey over the past year if Lacey hadn't told them she was leaving. Stacey had non-stories for most of 2008 and part of 2009. So did Bradley, until Charlie Clements said he was leaving. Such brilliant moments as Callum Monks.

She doesn't seem close to Louise. She was close to Ben but she's distancing herself. I think she can't handle realizing how damaged he is, because of what happened to her own kids. I wish the show would explore that more. I think it would be interesting if Shirley decided to stop trying to be a mother, and after an initial slide downhill, finds some sort of peace.

I'd love to see a Shirley/Kat friendship.

I wouldn't mind seeing her get to know Carol either. Surely they must have some plan for Carol. Kill off Billie.

I can see them having her hang around as a psycho, to go after Max.

I wouldn't miss her if she left but they must see some plan for her. Perhaps like what Kirkwood had in mind for Lydia on Hollyoaks?

[All My Shadows]

I need to catch up on Thursday, Friday, and today. Skimming yall's posts...yay, more Janine hilarity! I love her and her big ol' 4head, she's great.

Re: Shirley. If they wrote her out any time soon, I wouldn't be able to forgive them. She's one of the most realistic, true-to-life characters on the show, IMO. I do wish she'd get away from Phil because he's just a mess and a half.

And yes, they need to do something with Carol. I've gotten a little MILF crush on Ms. Coulson after watching her during her original run.

[DRW50]

Carol was really stunning, in a harried mother type of way, back then, especially when she had her fling with David Wicks around 1996. She also used to wear a lot of earrings back then. The more earrings a character wears the more I tend to like them...

It's a shame that now people will just remember her as Billie's shouting mother. I'm not even sure why they brought her back.

[All My Shadows]

Is that really what most people associate her with? That's so unfortunate. Billie's only even around because the guy played the character when he was a kid, right? I saw an ep where Billie had a big juicy 'fro, and he looked just like the guy who plays him now.

[DRW50]

When I read comments about Carol now that's all I see. She's always miserable, doesn't she have anything to do besides worry about Billie.

It's the same actor...I use that term loosely. The worst is when those chins start quivering in close-up.

This character is pointless. He doesn't have interesting relationships with any of his family and has actually just served to dismantle most of the Branning family relationships and seems to have taken away anything Whitney ever brought as a character.

Edited May 25, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Oh, and shirtless Ryan today.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

A pic of Max and Vanessa.

I think Jake Wood and Zoe Lucker look quite nice together...

[DRW50]

Yes, they do. Her pose is very interesting. And that skirt used to be on one of my grandmother's end tables.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

:lol:

I wonder what Tanya will think of Vanessa when she returns...

Kirkwood has axed many useless characters, but so far, the only new characters he's created are Vanessa and her daughter, in addition to Kat and Alfie returning.

I wonder if we'll be getting anymore new characters or returns. It seems strange to axe so many people and not bringing in more people in their place. But maybe they're going after a smaller canvas? Santer seemed to keep everyone, no matter how useless they were.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner