EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Before the actress who played Shabnam left, it looked like they were setting up Inzamam being her father. Some thought the possible reasoning behind the animosity behind Zainab and Inzamam's relationship could have been him raping her and producing Shabnam (although he wouldn't yet know he was her father).

Sounds a bit Kat/Zoe/Harry, but still has potential.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Today's episode:

That was a really interesting scene where Max kicks Rainie out of the house, while Phil also also being thrown out of the Vic at the same time. The use of that song in the background is something EastEnders never usually does, I think I can recall something similar once before during a scene where Pat and Mo first spot each other, during the John Yorke era. It may be a Hollyoaks influence, but I thought it worked very well here.

That was an interesting and good way to get Rainie and Phil to interact and kick start Phil's upcoming crack addiction.

The actress that plays Rainie is really good, Steve McFadden was also quite good in this episode as well, as we watched Phil hit rock bottom and blame Peggy for losing his children, but knowing it's all down to him.

I'm glad Denise got to attend the funeral of the prostitute that Lucas murdered and passed off as her body. Diane Parish was great in those scenes.

Aunty Kim is back! This time for good!

Poor Max being fed up with Carol and then kicking her ass out. I can understand how Carol's personality could grate on him after a while. Ricky and Bianca are going to be in for hell living with her.

The song used for the scene where both Rainie and Phil get kicked out is Pendulum's Other Side:

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[Bright Eyes]

Again, I can't stand Steve McFadden's 'acting.' It's just not pleasant to watch at all. Very irritating. But yes, the woman that plays Rainie is very good.

Does Carol have any friends?

[Ann_SS]

Phillip is unappealing drunk as he is sober. However, it makes sense that he is the kind of drunk full of rage unlike Ian who is full of self pity when he is drunk.

I don't blame Max for chucking Carol out. Sister or not, her dour personality can wear anyone down. I loved the scene of Max, Abi, and Darren sitting on the couch enjoying their drink. Once Abi gets over her crush, they will be nice family.

Denise and Patrick are so sweet together. I loved it when he told her that she is living for Gemma. Hopefully, it helps Denise get on with her life.

Kim and her boobs showing up was a nice way to end the episode. I can see Kim and Kat as best friends or worse enemies.

[DRW50]

Steve McFadden is a very good actor but I don't care for the comedy alcoholism storylines. With Phil descending into crack addiction, I hope this might be changing now, as it makes viewers struggle to invest in anything he goes through because it will just go back to the same old Phil.

Barbara Windsor has always been more about presence than performance, and it works for her -- it generally has this week. Unfortunately the scene where she was asked to cry when Phil made a spectacle of himself behind the bar was not one of those moments.

I wish the story had gone on a little longer, as I liked the idea of Abi unwittingly helping her aunt buy drugs, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Rainie will do now. I laughed when she yelled that they are FAMILY!!! No wonder Phil was drawn to her. Isn't that like the Mitchell clarion call?

The mini-montage didn't work for me, I think just showing them lock eyes would have been more effective, but I do think that putting them together is a great writing choice and already Steve and Tanya Franks seem to have a connection. There's something very dramatic about people dragging each other down.

She reminds me of Laurie Metcalf and so much of one of the show's most damaged, and fascinating, characters, Donna Ludlow. I really wish Kathy were still around to comment on this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Ludlow

Were there some scenes cut when Shirley asked Billy to go calm Phil down? That never aired and Billy wasn't seen in the following episode. I think Perry Fenwick looks good in red. Most people don't look great wearing their skin tone but he's an exception.

I think they could have gotten good material out of Carol staying with Max but they never bothered. I didn't really believe Max would kick Carol out so quickly, putting that with Rainie's eviction in the same episode was all very fast, but hopefully she will have more stories now. But I could do with another break from Bianca's kids -- Tiffany is so very very stage school.

My favorite moments in the episode were with Denise and Patrick and the funeral for Gem (Jem?). I'm glad they remembered her and the sadness of her funeral was like a representation of Denise's life. Then when poor Denise learned that they were burying the woman in the coffin Denise had been buried in. Then the very moving speech Patrick gave Denise, which basically served as closure for the Lucas storyline. I'm happy they tried to tie it up this way. And of course the arrival of Kim, and her increasingly exposed breasts. I swear she's just going to go around with her hands over her chest soon.

[Ann_SS]

The montage didn't work for me either. I get what Kirkwood was going for there, but imo, unlike Hollyoaks, EE is such a gritty reality based show that it is strange to have music suddenly come blasting out of nowhere.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Ann_SS

[Y&RWorldTurner]

They've done it a few times before, like when Pat and Mo first saw each other again in 2000. But that's not something that should be a permanent staple on the show, and I don't think it will be.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Ann_SS]

I haven't watched regularly enough to see the previous montages. I don't mind the music really. I just always think that on EE it has to come somewhere real like when Dennis turns on the radio and Barber's Adagio for Strings started playing and then the camera pans outside to Den's casket. I found that to be a really moving scene.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

There's also that X-Mas montage from Kat and Alfie's 2003 X-Mas wedding. "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" starts off as incidental music that Spencer/Alfie plays, but morphs into background and montage music.

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Kat and Alfie probably had the two happiest Christmases in this show's history, with the 2003 and 2005 Christmas episodes...

Edited August 9, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Ann_SS]

I had forgotten about that Christmas episode. Great seeing Sharon, Dennis, Den and even Pauline and Martin again.

Though to be fair to Kirkwood, I did love it when "Fight for this Love" was played when Christian and Syed were looking at each other through the window of his flat a couple months ago. I did think that we were to assume that the music was coming from someone's radio though.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Has anyone seen this before? Nothing like this will probably ever happen again between the soaps, but here's castmembers from Brookside, Home and Away, Emmerdale, Neighbours, and Coronation Street wishing EastEnders a happy 10th birthday in February 1995.

Though, I think the EastEnders cast did something similar for Corrie when it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2000.

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[Bright Eyes]

That woman from Neighbours is scary.

[DRW50]

Yeah I love watching that, mostly because it's a document of the classic soaps of that era, like Brookside, which are now gone.

Those days are gone, but some of the Corrie cast did film a scene behind the Rovers for EE's 25th, cheering EE for their anniversary.

I wish that clip were still online where a lot of the EE cast is singing in different languages in the pub, and Ross Kemp steps out of character to talk about how popular EE is in so many places.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'd also like to see the spot the EastEnders cast apparently filmed for Corrie's 40th Anniversary before the live episode in 2000.

I wonder if anything similar will be done for Corrie's 50th Anniversary this December...

[dannigold]

John Yorke had a bouquet of flowers delivered to the Corrie cast for their 40th anniversary.