EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Rita's/Roxy's hair has been looking nice lately too...

[Dion]

Partly because I didn't like the fact that the show was doing two unrelated murder storylines at around the same time (Lucas as a serial killer and Archie's whodunnit) I always thought it would have been nice if (some months ago that is) Stacey, feeling guilty about Archie's murder wound up confiding in Lucas.

Talking to Lucas and re-examining her behaviour in the months beforehand (specifically the Trina incident) would somehow make Stacey realise that her delusions about Ryan killing Trina weren't so far-fetched, she just had the wrong person. Lucas would explain it was an accident and Stacey would keep mum about it (especially since she wouldn't know that Lucas also killed Owen and there would be the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction).

Of course, with the current events, Stacey would figure out that Lucas is responsible for everything, but not be able to say anything because Lucas would know about Archie.

[DRW50]

That would make a fantastic story, I wish the show had done that. Stacey is really just sitting around until her exit storyline.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Diane Parish interview:

Part 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a249245/diane-parish-denise-johnson-eastenders.html

Part 2: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a249264/more-enders-reaction-chat-from-di-parish.html

and another part to Tameka Empson's interview: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/scoop/a239213/enders-tameka-empson-on-that-denise-twist.html

Don't read either if you don't want to be spoiled, especially if you haven't seen today's episode yet...

Edited July 23, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Today's episode:

I'm really surprised they kept Denise's whereabouts a secret until today. I was beginning to think she was really dead. Her "funeral" was mostly a set up for stuff to follow I assume. But the episode did have some nice moments with Chelsea and Libby by the swings, and Patrick's little eulogy where he talked about how even though they weren't related, Denise was still a daughter to him.

I didn't mind her, but Denise's sister Daphne's missing front teeth bugged me.

Liz had some nerve showing up to the wake...

I had to laugh at Jodie's scream after seeing Darren's penis, and Darren/Charlie G. Hawkins has the bod of a 9 year old...

Max was hilarious when he walked in on Darren though.

I guess this is the beginning of Peggy's exit story. Her family has abandoned her and don't want to be around her. Phil, Roxy, and Ronnie are avoiding her like the plague, and she's all alone. She also has the Vic to run by herself again, which she's always wanted since losing it, but she's lost her family at the same time.

I wonder how Denise is going to escape that cellar Lucas is hiding her in...

Edited July 23, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

Thanks for posting those interviews. The show went to a lot of effort to try to keep this a secret and I'm glad the public seems to have responded. I think it helps that the clues are there if you look for them. It's better to not be totally surprised than to be surprised and annoyed, don't you think?

Poor Denise looked so old and gaunt when she was locked up in

And credit to Don Gilet for his rambling and scary as hell "eulogy" for Denise.

I really enjoy Diane Parish, even that interview has so much life to it. I love the part where she said she hid her face and hair and walked like Fatboy to get to a taping. And Tameka Empson, that was a hilarious quote -- chalk and cheese and the macaroni casserole hasn't been made yet.

I hope they still have plans for Denise, and Diane just couldn't talk about it. After all this great stuff in the past few months that has shown what an asset she is to the show, I'd like to see more of her. I assume that's why they brought Kim back and also brought in Daphne. A gap between the front teeth is OK with me (look at how far Lauren Hutton has gone), but this one was a bit distracting. I don't know what to make of Daphne, in some scenes she seemed slightly dizzy and in others she was tough. I can't wait to see Denise, Kim, and Daphne in a scene together.

I can't help feeling a little sorry for Liz. Apparently Libby feels the same way. I was never a big fan of Liz but when Patrick was so dismissive towards her I did feel bad, as at one point she was in love with him.

I guess it's a bit obvious but I liked the contrast of the Foxes together as the Mitchells were apart. I'm not sure if Roxy would have moved out so quickly (although they at least had her react appropriately to living with Glenda), but perhaps she's afraid if she stays with Peggy she will begin to doubt Ronnie again. This has been one of the first times I have ever really bought the relationship between Ronnie and Roxy. I know there will probably be more conflict to come but it's been nice to see Roxy support her sister. And Albert still exists!

I wonder if this will end with the family forgiving Peggy, as I can't see such a downbeat exit happening for an iconic character, one who has no bad blood with the show, as Wendy Richard did. I'm glad they had Peggy remember her relationship with the vile Harry Slater, although at first I did a double take as I thought she called him "Charlie" (actually she said "charming").

Having Jodie react that way to Darren

is a bit silly and makes her look foolish, which they have managed to successfully avoid most of the time, but I did love Max's reaction. Jake Wood is so good at comedy.

It's been a strong week for Eastenders, and hopefully that will just keep going.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I wonder if Kat and Ronnie will bond over the childhood molestations...

Though, I can't imagine that Kat would tolerate either of those Mitchell sisters, especially Roxy.

I think Daphne was only here for this one episode and will be gone by Monday's episode, not sure though. I think Kim is here for a few more though.

DS has updated their weekly spoilers with more information about Denise's return!

Edited July 24, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Y&RWorldTurner]

A short preview scene between Lucas and Denise from one of next week's episodes:

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name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Edited July 24, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Ben]

Tiana Benjamin really brought it during her grieving scenes. Something has happened to her recently to make her go from a mediocre actress, to someone who can really emote, and move the viewer. That scene where she got up to speak about her mum, but couldn't, was really sad. Now, I kinda wish she wasn't leaving. If only she could've improved sooner.

Actually, I think they've all come into their own with this story - Chelsea, Libby, Patrick (who has been underused and forgotten for so long that it's easy to forget just what a fine actor he is), Kim, Denise, Lucas (maybe these two have not so much come into their own, but shown us what they can do with the right material).

Even Ronnie and Roxy have been awesome, especially Roxy. ITA with whoever said that this has been Rita's best work in a long time. This story has made me realize that this show has more child abuse plots than any other soap. I didn't realize that Peggy was referring to Harry Slater, as she never mentioned him by name, which was weird. But come Sept. they'll have 3 characters (Ronnie/Whitney/Kat) living on the Square who have all be abused as a child. But, they're not going to know that about each other, so it's unlikely they'll have any scenes relating to this.

EE really do have one of the strongest casts in soap.

I'm not sure what to think about Daphne. Her character seemed a little all over the place - feisty attitude one minute, ditz the next. I'm glad she's not staying, b/c I think there's only room for exploring one sisterly relationship at a time, and I'm more interested to see them develop Denise & Kim, even though there appears to be a lot of story potential in them as a family.

And I have to give props to the actor who plays Darren, for agreeing to do that scene.

[DRW50]

I think the show took her for granted. Apparently they were surprised she quit. I wonder if the last straw was the extremely degrading story about having sex in the toilets with Jack, then behaving like his grieving widow-to-be after barely dating him, before being dumped offcamera.

If they'd ever given her a good story then she could have been an asset to the show. I think that Santer tended to just lump all the black characters together in one storyline without actually giving most of them a point of view.

I do wonder what Daphne is, she kind of went through various stages, so that might be interesting. I'd like to see more of Kim too, as we never really actually saw her grieving, perhaps because she was there to get a reaction out of the Foxes, not to actually show her emotions.

[Dion]

I'd love it if all three went to the same support group seperately and were all surprised to find the others there.

[DRW50]

Here's a short bit of Rita Symons and Sam Womack auditioning.

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[Y&RWorldTurner]

Funny you post that, I've heard that Saturday was the third anniversary of the debut of the Mitchell sisters on the show.

Funny thing is, I think only these past few weeks they've scratched the surface of who Ronnie and Roxy are and their relationship to one another...

[DRW50]

I think the potential was there in those first months; it was a big mistake to have Roxy sleep with Jack, any drama to be found in that was not worth the sacrifice. I don't think the characters work very well in conflict, this just ends up with shouting. They are better as a unit.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Has anyone seen this from the Last Tango In Walford DVD that was released in February and chronicled Ricky and Bianca's relationship?

Some nice lipsyncing going on...

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name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>