EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I know some think Sam Womack will quit once he's gone.

[NothinButAttitude]

Good. She can go. I never cared for Ronnie. I always found her too whiny for my taste. Plus, with Jack back, I refuse to watch another go-round of their disgusting and toxic 'romance.'

[BetterForgotten]

Still the best moment EE has had this decade.

 

I am just glad DTC and his minions won't there to oversee anything in regards to Janine ever again if Charlie decides to return. DTC and Santer never got the character at all. For all of his faults, Kirkwood got Janine and naturally progressed and developed her (and he didn't need to turn her into a saint in order to do that). 

 

 

[DRW50]

So she lost that but won the lottery when she left the show?

 

When the news broke my first thought was, "Thank God Janine never came back while he was there." That "Abi is the new Janine" nonsense from Lorna Fitzgerald just cemented it.

[TimWil]

I think SOC's arrival will be good for two people-Jessie Wallace and Ann Mitchell. He produced The Deep Blue Sea which Ann was in and he's known for valuing the more "mature" characters on his shows. And he wrote a lot for Jessie Wallace in his previous stint as a writer. I really hope he'll bring Kat back in the autumn/winter as a wealthy widow who ends up buying the Vic and running it with her grown son Luke/whatever. And if a wealthy Janine returned to fight her for it all the better.

[Bright Eyes]

Unpopular opinion, but on episodes like today, when he isn't bulging his eyes out, I actually really enjoy Vincent. He could be a good character if they toned the hardman stuff down and got rid of insufferable Claudette.

[NothinButAttitude]

I like Vincent when he is toned down and playing comedy opposite Kim or doting dad with Pearl.

 

I don't mind Claudette that much either b/c she serves as a foil to Kim and is the traditional, manipulative soap mother-in-law. I just don't care for her backstory, which retconned EE's history. 

 

What bothered me tonight was watching Abi screw Lee just to trap Ben. Now we have to watch 9 months of this lying, irrelevant whore keep up this lie b/c DTC has this major hard-on on making her the next Janine and Zoe hybrid character. 

 

Girls using babies to trap men stories don't bother me that much because it is normal, but this one truly does annoy me b/c it is once again another obstacle to keep Ben from being a fully gay character. I think Ben being out and dating Paul with Phil objecting would serve as enough of an obstacle for the pairing. Having Abi trying to trap Ben is disgusting and pisses me off. I'd rather other gay characters serve as obstacles over a straight woman, who is trying to force her love on a man who'll never love her. Doesn't help that Babe's bobblehead ass is involved too. 

[Bright Eyes]

Babe is the worst. I want nothing more than to slap those dentures out of her bitter hag mouth. There has even been articles on dailymail and other places about her being the worst character ever. 

 

Regarding this Ben/Abi story, no matter how much I hate it, I did find the potential for the future interesting. Lee and Abi strangely interested me, and maybe with the new producer, this could be just the thing to rid us of Whitney.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Bright Eyes

[DRW50]

At this point I'd rather Abi go. Lorna is a limited actress, and her comparing Abi to Janine left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's so boring, as all of DTC's "twists" are. I still think the only time they are going to have Ben come out is if he can date DTC's pet gay/avatar, Johnny. They've stalled so long that I don't give a sh!t anymore and I doubt a lot of others do either.

[Bright Eyes]

I wouldn't mind Abi going either. I'm actually dreading the returns of Lauren, unnecessarily breaking up her and Peter (presumably), Max, who was circling the drain even before DTC, and Cora, whose presence was a mere afterthought once her use with the Carters ended and it left her irrelevant.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Bright Eyes

[DRW50]

I tend to wonder whether the new producer will write Max and Cora out. Cora is already all but gone anyway, and Max is mostly just there now for the conclusion of the Bobby story. 

 

I think by and large EE has a solid cast, but there also few I would be sad to see go. I have a feeling Jay will be gone by the end of the year though, which I would be sad about. 

 

I don't really mind the Cokers these days - I'd probably keep them over a lot of the oldtimers.

[Bright Eyes]

It'll certainly be interesting to see how Sean O'Conner handles all of the characters that came after he left. Like I said, the only characters that I desperately need to (realistically) see the back door of are Claudette and Babe. Everyone else I can take a wait and see approach once he comes aboard. 

 

Like most, I am right there with you regarding Jay. It would have been so sweet to see him break off from the Mitchells after the horrible Lola exit. And the one thing I want Sean O'Conner to change is to let characters actually succeed in life. What he did to Lauren, Abi, and Whitney, throwing away their promising careers/futures for no reason grated on me big time.

[BetterForgotten]

The only characters SOC has any prior experience with that are in the current cast are Phil, Sharon, Ian, Martin, Sonia, Dot, Billy, and Patrick. I guess he was there for Stacey's first few months as well. 

 

I forgot Jane, but I'd like to forget her completely at this point. 

Edited February 26, 2016 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

It's anti-intellectualism and part of the contempt for Eastenders that DTC types have. He sees it as a sneering campfest. Unfortunately his idea of EE ignores characters like Michelle, who spent her entire time on the show working to get her education and being very proud of that fact. Today she'd just be working on the stalls, or in the pub, carrying Barry's baby and passing it off as Lofty's.

[NothinButAttitude]

That bothers me too in recent years. I hate how DTC has looked down on characters that aspired to achieve more than working on a stall in the Square. I hate how Tamwar and Abi, both academic characters who had big dreams, have been reduced just another person content with staying Albert Square working for the minimum for the rest of their lives. That wasn't them and their ambitions is what endeared me to them. 

 

The perfect story for Abi would've been for to be conflicted with her friends on the Square and her collegiate friends. That would've been interesting for me to see Ben and Jay (as her friends) feel left behind b/c they don't mesh well with Abi's new friends. That is a story that everyone can identify with. There are thousands of other college tales that Abi could've involved with. Not strapped with some baby and using it to keep the closeted gay in her clutches. I swear someone on EE watches American soaps. They have to. This is Will/Gabi/Sonny, Fish/Kyle/Stacy, or Noah/Luke/Ameera all over again. 

 

I am with @DRW50 that Abi can go. Honestly, I'd prefer if all the Brannings minus Dot would leave. That family has been maxed out and there is nothing left for them to do on this show.

 

Love Jake Wood but I don't want Max back (sorry Carl). They write the same 2-3 stories for him--him floundering around and screwing various women on the Square OR pining for Tanya or Stacey, both who he has toxic history with.

 

Jack's only story is him in a vortex of suck with Ronnie. He had potential with Sharon but it was shot to hell b/c Sharon was written stupidly. Besides that, his best (and sexiest) pairing was with Chelsea. 

 

Lauren's story consists of a bottle and it results in something stupid. Love Jacqueline Jossa but she needs to try her hand at something else. Try a nice period piece, drama, or comedy on British TV or try your hand at Hollywood. She's young and talented and many of her peers (Ben Hardy, Sam Strike, David Witts) have successfully made the leap. It's now or never.

 

Abi can just go. Like Carl said, I don't think Lorna is that great of an actress either but I think she needs to try her hand at Hollywood now too. Anything to get her off the show. 

 

I think we all can agree that the next one to leave and become a hit here in the US is Jamie Borthwick, and like you've all said, it'll be on EE b/c they won't give Jay anything to do. Sadly, Jay is the one youthful character that could serve as the centerpiece for the next generation of EE but he won't be allowed. They'll continue to treat him as a stray until Jamie leaves, which will then serve them right.