EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I would just watch the wedding.

[Ben]

Yep, go with the wedding. It's awesome. Really.

Generally, the story isn't that good, b/c as Carl has stated, there was no build up, and the actors lack decent chemistry; plus, they've missed a valuable opportunity to let Christian's character develop, and organically allow the story to take on a more ambiguous nature.

I don't feel I can root for Christian/Syed, any more than Syed/Amira, as both couples are disastrous. What would have worked so much better (IMO) is if Christian had done the one selfless thing and let Syed go (at the last minute of course), thus allowing him to grow as a character, and pass the responsibility onto Syed (where it should be anyway, as after all, this should be his story, and not a Christian *&* Syed story).

What's worse is the treatment of Amira, who really seems to be a second thought in the writers minds, as no-one has given a rats ass about her throughout any of this. One by one, more people have found out (Lucy, Jane, Zainab, the Imam...) and not one of them have considered Amira's feelings at all. It's all about Christian and his love story with Syed. And once again, the woman is the loser.

Having said all that, the wedding episodes go some way into making up for the bad writing, b/c, they really are awesome. The acting is spot on fantastic, to the point where I can almost forgive them for playing Christian as a bitter, vengeful ex, and Zainab's reaction is very real.

[dannigold]

I think we will start to see a lot more Amira. This is an excerpt from a digital spy article with Marc Elliot

How do you think he'll cope?

"It's a very rocky road. From what I've already filmed, there are quite a few rough patches for them. It'll be interesting to see how it develops psychologically between Syed and Amira. Syed's starting to show signs of being quite a cruel character but it's only through his own bitterness and resentment that he starts acting the way he does - it's the way he deals with it. Poor Amira's none the wiser, so Syed's not acting right and she has no idea why. It's a really important story for the bride this one, too, because there are a lot of women - Muslim or otherwise - that are married to gay men and don't know about it."

[DRW50]

Eastenders doesn't do character development now. People go around and around in circles. I am hoping this will change with the new producer. I think there could have been a great opportunity to let us know more about what makes Christian tick, not to mention Syed, but instead they were just written as pawns. The same has been true for Amira, but I think Amira automatically gets a large portion of audience sympathy anyway, because she's the mistreated fiance/wife. This type of story, with the cheating, callous men and the betrayed wife, has been done so many times. Most of this story feels extremely by the numbers. The only difference is it involves Muslims. You can tell when a show cares about people and when they don't; there is a lot of care put into Zainab and Masood. Christian, Syed, and Amira, they're just interchanegable with a million other gay stories.

But all the shock value stories and big moments have paid off in the ratings. Eastenders got around 12 million for yesterday's episode.

Eastenders was the first soap that made an effort at ethnic diversity, they had all creeds and colors in the early days of Walford, and they were all given insights and drives. There were no tokens. Over the years that started to seriously decline, but in the past few years they've started to go back to that. For an Indian wedding to be their main story and to get 12 million viewers is wonderful. Tony Holland and Julia Smith would be so proud.

Edited January 2, 2010 by CarlD2

[anita30]

Ok I may be in the few that actually enjoyed the show yesturday. I mean seriously the acting out did themselves. I would change the way the British write soaps versus the way we do. It had heart, passion, lust, angst and great acting. I loved the whole episode. It was great to watch and John Partrige out did himself because he actually brought me to tears and I dont know her name the woman who played Zahab played her disgust perfectly and blackmaling her son into a marriage he does not want priceless. I seriously think this will come back to bite her in the butt when it does come out that he is gay.

I guess now the storyline will be how will Syed cope with being a gay man and being married. How will he react if Christian does find someone else to be with. It will be interesting. The key point will be how will Ameria act when she finds out that Syed is gay.

Overall for me an American who is use to crappy writing for soaps this was one of the best shows I have seen in a while along with the Archie storyline and me guessing who really killed Archie.

[BadBoy93]

i think i should be the one to say that EE is the best UK soap on right now.

[Chris B]

I didn't know when the wedding started so I started with the 28th and this show is really good! So different from what I remember. Now I'm really looking forward to the Kirkwood stuff.

[Chris B]

Oh how I love Zainab! She was a ball of fierceness. LOVED the confrontation with Christian, who is far too wooden/ken doll for me. I also loved her scenes with her husband and his brother and Syed. Pretty much every scene she was in was golden. Love that actress. Syed is the sexiest man on earth and has the most beautiful eyes. I didn't really learn anything about Ameera except she's beautiful. Does she speak? I wonder how she'll feel about all this considering she seems like such an afterthought.

The one thing i hated about this episode was the Tina McQueen-esque character. Her hair was looking a mess. Also, what type of character does the big bad woman from Bad Girls play? Is she evil? And is the little boy in the wheelchair ever going to walk again? As a US soap fan I need to know whats up with that.

[DRW50]

I preferred Tina to her, as this girl (Libby) is just dreary, but they do look somewhat similar.

The boy in the wheelchair is never going to walk, as he was cast with an actor who is in a wheelchair. The show did this for diversity. The character is very dull and stuck up, so I'm hoping he will leave when his mother does.

The woman from Bad Girls -- I guess that's Shirley, friend to Heather, AKA annoying comic relief/let's pity the fat woman but still make endless fat jokes about her.

Shirley's not evil, she does have a soft spot, but she can be very rough and brutal. Shirley was married to Kevin Wicks (he was killed off a few years ago -- he was married to Denise, mother to Libby, now married to a serial killer). She had two kids with him but neglected and basically abandoned them. She moved to Walford about 4 years ago to try to get to know them again, but they were never close.

She was basically brought in to be a younger Pat Evans, but that never really worked out. Over the past few years her role has been sidekick and friend to Heather, and pining after Phil Mitchell. She helps him get what he needs. He usually only goes near her when he's drunk, or desperate, or both.

[BadBoy93]

I like Shirley`s niece Zsa Zsa who is in the online spin off.I like that too. Anyone else watch it.

[dannigold]

I found a video interview with Diederick Santer from today's This Morning program

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbuwoy_eastenders-special_people

[DRW50]

Zsa Zsa looks so much older than the part, and she's also very wooden.

[jfung79]

I am so jealous! I wish I could see this! Also, I thought the Masoods were Pakistani.

[Ben]

They are, but Amira is Indian. And technically, it was a Muslim wedding, with an Indian feel (seeing as Amira was the bride).

[DRW50]

Bradley exit spoiler.