EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I don't like Lucy (although it's nice that the girl who plays her decided to act), but I can see why she decided to have an abortion. I just think it's cruel that she suggested the idea to Jane about Jane adopting the baby.

I hate baby rabies stories. Seeing sensible Jane become this glossy-eyed lunatic has not been fun. I hope that she can move on from this story and it won't destroy her as it does many soap women who then become all about a baby.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yeah, I felt really sorry for Jane today.

Ian and Lucy lying to her about a miscarriage when it was really an abortion was cruel. This is going to blow up. Jane was so disappointed, and even though her whole arrangement was strange, her heart was in the right place.

I really detest Billy and that whole ghetto teen scene. Ugh!

Jack Branning is a hot piece of ass.

[DRW50]

Devon Anderson sucked on Hollyoaks and he sucks here. He looks bloated and he is a terrible actor. He has also destroyed anything of value in the Whitney character.

Jack as a character doesn't do a lot for me (although he has improved recently) but yes, Scott Maslen is very hot. He always looked good in those underwear shots he used to do before he started acting.

My favorite is Jake Wood/Max. I haven't seen today's show yet. I heard he has a shirtless scene, that should be OK. His best feature is his ass (which is one of the best I've seen on TV ever), but we're not going to see that, I guess, unless we get some sort of Late Night Eastenders...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yeah, he's always sucked, but it's not just him. It's that whole scene with his friends that suck, too.

Phil told them off today when they were in the Vic. Looks like they're plotting to humiliate him, just as Social Services is coming to the Vic to check Phil and his living environment out to see if it's fit enough for Louise.

They're f.ucking with the wrong guy.

It was very brief shirtless scenes, Max and Becca screwed today. And then Becca went off to visit Stacey, and Max followed her. Max seeing Stacey from afar was the cliffhanger.

A nice scene with Lucy and Peter today too, towards the end.

[DRW50]

The problem with the Phil character is they spend long periods of time telling us how pathetic and weak he is, a failure as a father, a drunk (although they seem to think his drinking is hilarious), a failure as a son, never the man Grant was. He has to use sad Shirley to get through the days. Yet I'm supposed to hope he gets to have his daughter. The chav gang is so worthless I hope Phil does tear them apart. Or make them sit in a room with Roxy. The strange part is even with this awful story I think Kylie and the other guy are better actors than the E20 group, who are supposed to be long-term.

I don't know what they will do with Stacey, beyond more crying and yelling. If it were me I would just have her get back together with Max. Jake and Lacey have strong chemistry and they have no one else -- Ryan was just a one night stand for Stacey, Bradley's gone, Tanya is a self-righteous cold fish who has to have a new man every few months. I would also love it if psycho Becca ended up unknowingly causing them to reunite.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

New Jake Wood interview:

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/interviews/a210371/jake-wood-max-branning-eastenders.html

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Not crazy about the story, but Jake and Lacey were amazing in Friday's episode.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

God, I loved the directing of that final scene in Friday's episode.

EastEnders is lucky to have many great actors that can sell some of this shoddy storytelling.

[DRW50]

The performances were very good.

That last scene was the final goodbye for the Santer era -- style over substance. An episode where nothing happened, but look, it's a fancy effect.

I still have no idea what made Max change his mind about wanting Stacy to pay for what she did. I'm not sure why they went out of their way to make sure we knew she was in the right frame of mind, because that means she was perfectly sane when she killed a man and let Bradley die for it. I don't know why this needed to be a two-hander. If they wanted to do this to help fill the gap between the live episode and the month of subpar stuff that followed, then at least have something happen. Why not have Stacey in a poor way and Max has to help save her?

I also wonder why Max looked like he wanted to make out with Stacey for half the episode.

I hope that the show can now start pacing stories properly instead of stretching things out and then having the big event episodes that often seem hollow.

Edited March 27, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It should be interesting to see where everyone goes from here. How the road to recovery for Stacey will be.

I'm wondering if she'll even get to have the baby, or will she miscarry?

Tanya isn't coming back until the late summer or so. So, I guess Zoe Lucker's new character will be introduced before then. I'm excited to see her on EastEnders, I hope she's playing some type of fierce bitch.

I love Santer's artsy production values. LOL! Yeah, more cohesive stories are better, but I'm a sucker for good aesthetics.

I don't know what Kirkwood has in store for this show, so little has been revealed and he's done no interviews as of yet.

I kind of just fell back into watching EastEnders randomly again. I find I can stomach it more than Corrie or Hollyoaks right now. I've never been a big Emmerdale fan.

I'm hoping EastEnders, Corrie, and Hollyoaks all improve with the changes in Producers this year.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Toups]

So Monday is Kirkwood's first episode?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think it won't be until June.

Santer started in October 2006, and his first episodes didn't air until January 2007. So, I guess there's a 3 months in advance gap in production. Kirkwood officially started on March 1st behind the scenes. Though, there might be a time where both of their names will appear in the credits, Kirkwood was helping in the storylining during Santer's final weeks. Though, I suspect, we won't really see Kirkwood's stamp on things until well into the summer, when Santer's plots will mostly run dry.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Toups]

Ah okay. Carl said, "That last scene was the final goodbye for the Santer era" so I thought Friday's episode was Santer's last episode.

I guess I'll wait for another couple more months to start watching EE.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It was probably the last major event/confrontation of the Santer era with Max confronting Stacey for the first time since Bradley's death, and it ended with a sleek choice in direction. Santer is like a John Conboy of British soap producers, he really made EastEnders look amazing at times aesthetically, even if a lot of his stories were poorly executed or followed though on.

I'm predicting Kirkwood's name will probably pop up in the credits late in May or definitely by the first week of June.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

I know that big production values are helpful and I think Santer has done a good job of budgeting at a time when the recession has slashed the money they get. Some of the special effects are better than others. Remember when Danielle stood in the road for what seemed like hours and was then killed by the world's slowest moving car? What I don't get is why they can't work out any type of momentum. Why have these big stories you publicize about Lucas and about Syed/Christian and then leave them to wither on the vine for thrilling stories like 30 year old looking gangs and stolen mail and Roxy shouting at random people.

I assume Stacey will have the baby, since that will cause problems with Ryan and Janine. If this new Zoe Lucker character becomes popular then I won't be shocked if Janine is written out. The material for her since her return has been strained and goes in circles and she often comes across as a joke.

Maybe he's just not my type of producer, as Dominic Treadwell-Collins and his Roxy love aren't my preference. I like the Eastenders of the 80s and some of the 90s, and some of the years when Sharon returned.

Eastenders was my first British soap so I will always have some fondness for it. I like most of the British soaps, at the moment I think Emmerdale is the best and then I'd tie Corrie and Eastenders and Hollyoaks in last. Obviously ratings don't agree though.