EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I will be surprised if Steven is there for any reason beyond more cliche psycho stories to try to make us pity Ian and Jane. 

 

I'm not that surprised with Ben and Jay. Ben obviously has feelings for him, and a few of their scenes have been full of ambiguous chemistry. I don't think the show will ever go there. 

 

The main problem is the show consistently fails at Ben's relationships, so he really just has Jay and not much else. Jay is both his "brother," his unrequited love, his conscience, and his parental figure. 

 

The whole idea of Ben and Johnny is so prefab. I can't see that working either.

[Skylover]

^If it wasn't for the show's obsession with re-creating a new set of Mitchell brothers, I think they would go there with Ben and Jay. As you say there is great chemistry there but I think that's mainly because the actors are such good friends and that translates on screen. The writers won't risk threatening their new-generation Mitchell brothers for a gay romance. It would be cheap too, because Jay shows no signs of bisexuality.

[TimWil]

For the record Janine was in prison from May 2004 until December 2005 when she was released. I never understood why she didn't make it her mission to make Pat suffer greatly since it was Pat's lying which caused her to be imprisoned in the first place.

 

The idea of Jay and Ben being "together" as anything more than close friends/bruvs is as ludicrous to me as the one floated elsewhere that Grant is Denny's father, not Dennis. I don't see SOC running with either of these, thank God.

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by TimWil

[BetterForgotten]

Embarrassing (though I hope Jane dies):

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by BetterForgotten

[NothinButAttitude]

I hope Jane dies too. Serves her right for covering up Lucy's murder. 

[cassadine1991]

No, not really

[Skylover]

I said on DS that EE jumped the shark tonight and they're all saying that I don't understand the term? Well although I found it entertaining tonight, it was the first time I find the whole episode completely unrealistic and farcical to the point I was embarrassed for the writers.

[NothinButAttitude]

Tonight solidified how stupid this story was and how it has destroyed so many characters. 

 

Jane: I didn't care about Bobby killing her as it was pure karma. Sadly, I'm sure she'll survive and skate away with no punishment rather than the scars and bruises and brought upon herself. I hope Steven comes back and raises hell on her trollop ass. 

 

Ian: He has to be the most destroyed character out of this arc. It is to the point where I want Bobby to off his ass too. Ian had his low moments but this whole story has been the lowest. The fact that it is OK for him to now turn his back on Bobby b/c of Jane but not Lucy is pathetic. He sucks as a parent and if any sane writer had any sense, they'd stay taking this character through the wringer for years to come. He'd be one lonely old fart ... with his precious Jane. 

 

Kathy/Sharon: I wanna scream at how they've had these two character be part of protecting Bobby. Glad Sharon saw the light but it is still too late. I can't even look at the both of them the same. 

 

Finally, I will be so glad when DTC's final episodes air. I am so sick of him force-feeding to us that Linda and Mick are these pillars of the community when they aren't. If anyone was to deliver those lines that Mick spewed to Ian, I would've preferred Denise or Dot--two women that are close/have history with Ian and also dealt with their share of deranged nuts. They should've been the one to tell Ian to straighten up, confess the truth, and stick by that dud that is Jane. Not Mick! If Sean O'Connor does anything, I hope he decimates the Carter clan or get rid of them altogether. Ugh!

[DRW50]

Haven't watched all of this so no idea if it has any spoilers:

 

[TimWil]

When the paramedic arrived there was a shot of Ben looking noticeably uncomfortable. Could the paramedic have been Ben's one-night stand, the one who gave him chlamydia? He never looked in Ben's direction so we weren't clued in for sure.

Edited May 24, 2016 by TimWil

[DRW50]

I really enjoyed most of the reception scenes (at least the portions that were about the Fowlers), most of all the mentions of Mark and Michelle. I will also say that for whatever reason the letter from Michelle felt more like her than most of the mentions of her over the years.

 

The best part of the discovery scenes was when Sharon growled, "Get him outta here." If that doesn't become a meme, someone is asleep on the job. 

 

I literally laughed out loud when they actually went with the "blood on Bobby's hands" cliche to a point of making sure we saw him get blood on his hands. That one scene was the clearest example of why I simply do not care about this story - it's all "shock," all cheap pulp, zero heart. And Bobby himself remains an empty plot device.

 

I thought today was one of Adam Woodyatt's best performances in quite a while. If I cared about ANY of this material today it was because of him.

 

As I saw someone already mention - terrible continuity in regards to Peggy's death and the Mitchells. If anyone ever asked me (which they won't, obviously) why I don't believe in a "Mitchell family," I would show them this episode.

 

Everything with Ben was the definition of plot point writing - barely having a second to have a reaction because he had to immediately start pushing for Bobby to be protected. It's too bad, as Harry Reid was good.

 

Kim and Roxy both felt tired as hell. I think the former in particular has reached her shelf life barring a major shift in writing - there are other characters who can fill the annoying comic relief role. 

 

I still don't understand why Ronnie is so attached to Andy, other than, again, plot point writing. If DTC were staying I would say that he would turn out to be her son. Jack Derges goes from making me laugh a bit when he makes "angry" faces to genuinely impressing me in other moments. 

 

I tend to agree with those who feel Mick was shoehorned in.

Edited May 24, 2016 by DRW50

[TimWil]

Rewatched the scene and when Tom the paramedic arrives there were not one but two shots of Ben looking REALLY uncomfortable, rubbing his hand over his mouth. I dunno, rewatching it made it seem obvious to me what was what save for the fact we never saw Tom look in his direction, only toward Jane and then to the hockey stick. 
 

Edited May 24, 2016 by TimWil

[NothinButAttitude]

Not since GH in recent years have I watched a show where I loathe 90% of the characters. This show is utterly disgusting. Bobby killing Lucy has sucked this show into a vortex that I don't know it can recover from. 

 

Ben, Lucy, Martin, Sharon--why are all these people defending Bobby still?! 

 

If I were Max, Abi & Jack would be dead to me once I was released. Seriously. 

 

This is one attribute I like about Stacey--the b-tch is a crazy dog when she has a bone. I always felt that should've been Stacey's story the past year--using Martin to unravel the truth behind Lucy's death and saving Max. 

 

Roxy needs to die. I can't say this enough but she needs to go. This character has been on rewind from the start. 

Edited May 24, 2016 by Nothin'ButAttitude

[DRW50]

The scene with Ben and Stacey was a rare example of soap camp done right. They're both hyperdramatic people, clashing for reasons that made story sense (mostly). It was high-octane without going too far into shouting, fighting, "bitch" or "slag" or fake slaps. I loved it a lot.

 

You can see where Steven's return will fit in. The wheels are turning for Ian and they're rolling right over Bobby. He's a bad lad. He has, as Martin said, the "wrong wiring." In other words - he's the new Steven. It's an interesting idea - Ian having to face a history of damned children - but it's undercut by the generally one-dimensional portrayal of Bobby and by the show's decision to hype and market the idea that Bobby is a psycho killing machine, just as Santer and DTC marketed Steven years ago in lieu of actually telling a complex story. Unfortunately, this means rather than chastising Ian for yet again giving up on a child, I wonder if most viewers are saying, "Damn right." 

 

When Phil said Max deserved to go to prison for sleeping with a woman half his age, I deliriously hoped Ben would say, "Like Dawn?" I assume Ben, like all people blessed in life, managed to block out that storyline. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised that Pam is starting to figure out Babe's blackmail through reasons that make sense (Babe and her laptop, Babe being an aggressive, smug witch). I hope that will continue. 

 

My main problem with the Bobby scenes - well, this part of the story anyway - is I feel like someone in the writing team said, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if Bobby told the truth and NOBODY BELIEVED HIM?" Well, it might, if the story hadn't dragged on for two years and didn't have so many characters made to look monstrous by lying for him.

 

Today was also a classic example of just how meaningless and damaging Eastenders' idea of "matriarch" has become. 

 

Sharon is sold as Ma Mitchell, protecting and looking out for...well, just Phil really, but occasionally, they pretend it's the whole family. That means she's complicit in a lie that not only keeps an innocent man in prison, but allows a damaged boy who nearly killed her son to continue to be free, all because she has to make sure Phil faces zero consequence for jury tampering. 

 

Kathy's return was supposed to be about how she would help her family, but she's actually utterly useless in every respect. She instead offers nonsensical platitudes. 

 

If nothing else sums up the misogyny that plagues modern Eastenders, these two ladies in their current state give it a good try.

 

I'm not sure what concerns me more with Roxy's "story" - that someone was paid for this idea, or that it actually isn't even one of the worst stories she's had. 

 

Abi was very annoying in her handful of scenes today. No matter what happens with this character, petulance and delusion is still too much of a default. If we're heading into a phase of the story where we're supposed to feel sorry for her and see her as an injured party, Lorna's either going to have to get a lot better or the writing is going to have to drastically improve for me to care.

 

Is it me or did Mr. Kellie Bright look a bit like a young Paul Nicholas?

 

All the stress has turned Malachy's hair white.

[NothinButAttitude]

@DRW50, Ben and Stacey scenes were good but I can't understand why Ben would even back Bobby. Especially, after Ben almost took the wrap for Lucy's death. Normal reaction would be for Ben to sell everyone up the river without a second thought. 

 

In those scenes when Ben said that his nephew wasn't capable of murder, I was hoping that for once Shirley would've tossed Heather's death in Ben's face. To take a shot at the Beale genes or something. This was the ONE time she would've been rightful in taking a shot at Ben. 

 

IMO, the only matriarch left on this show is Denise. She's the only one left with moral standing. All the other so-called matriarchs have left the building.