EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

I don't think there's anything bad about her. I think she's missing the spark that Michelle always had, but I'm willing to give her a chance. 

[NothinButAttitude]

OK. I'm over it. I am NOT liking Max begging Jack or Abi for forgiveness when they both turned their backs on him. If anything, Max should be giving Abi hell. Ugh!

[Skylover]

She doesn't seem natural yet but I want to give her a chance. Sometimes it takes a little while for people to bed in.

[KMan101]

 

I can get that. She seems, well, sad. I guess is a way to put it. I'll have to go back and see if I can find some clips of the original actress to get a little better of an idea. I ask because I trust your opinion as you've watched a lot more than I have.

[DRW50]

 

Sadly so much of that era is difficult to find. It's just scattered clips. You'd have to watch day-to-day episodes to see the different sides of the character. My favorite of her stories was when she aborted her husband Lofty's baby because she couldn't take care of another child (and she didn't love him). Again most of it isn't around.

 

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[NothinButAttitude]

@DRW50, did you see Max self harm himself tonight? That hurt my heart that he is resulting to this. I did want him to smother Phil's fat ass though. 

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 I HATE that Max is taking the high road (for now) with all these people. I hate (too) that all these people are holding grudges against him and making him the pariah when they did him dirty. 

 

Martin is back to getting on my nerves again. Never have I wanted Stacey to cheat so badly after tonight. I hope she screws Max like a porn star after tonight. Martin knew about Stacey and her past when he decided to remain with her after the Kush incident. He should've known that she was not gonna ever cut Max out her life due to their history and ties to Bradley. 

 

 

Lee's scenes broke my heart and this show is stupid for getting rid of DannyBoy Hatchard. He IS the strongest younger male actor on this show following Jamie Borthwick. It's criminal how one is being written off and the other remains on the backburner again. 

 

I just do not care for Roxy's shenanigans. Never have. I seriously hope they kill her and Ronnie's asses off on the New Years episode. It is truly the end of the road for the Mitchell sisters. 

[DRW50]

 

I have to admit I feel some sympathy for Martin, because of the Kush situation - she used him and lied to him because it was easier for her. That is never going to go away, even if that isn't being brought up as of yet in this story. I think it's easier for him to deal with her past when her past isn't actually there - he hated Ryan in their brief interaction, and now he hates Max. It's not as prominent with James Bye as it was with James Alexandrou, but Martin has always been a meathead. 

 

I do side with Stacey more on this because she has a deep bond with Max that no one else will ever understand. I don't believe she is attracted to him - I don't believe she's been attracted to him in a very long time. I hope the show isn't going to go in that direction. I'm wary because someone who works on the show tweeted a crass comment about how Stacey can't keep "her mouth or her legs shut" around Max. (lovely isn't it?) 

 

The failure of the Roxy exit is they've had her in the same scene again and again and again and again, rather than letting us trust the story. Making her this terrible mother for Jack to perpetually scold and shame just sucked any momentum out of the story. 

 

Lee's story hasn't worked for me since the Vic raid, but yes, the scenes were good. 

 

Max self-harming was something I didn't expect. It's a unique way to deal with what he's going through - he has to self-harm, and plot revenge, because otherwise he will probably crumple into nothing. I'm glad he made Phil feel shame. If only it would last. 

Edited December 31, 2016 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I hate that Phil's shame will be short-lived too. He'll pity Max for a second, but the second he feels Max is doing him dirty, instead of rolling over and accepting his payback, they'll have Phil emerge on top.

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I know that Martin has always been a meathead, but I am over it. He knows he what he married. Stacey's past has always been one that has been scandalous and open. 

 

When it comes to Roxy, that is why I am glad her arc is ending on New Years. Roxy's whole stint on the show has been a circular mess with no character growth at all. I'm ready for her to be put out her misery (along with Ronnie), so Jack will no longer be able to dangle anything over head. 

[Skylover]

I agree that Lee's storyline hasn't worked since the Vic was robbed. I know it's a soap so it has to be extreme, but I'm not sure it's a responsible depiction of depression. It was handled very well before the Vic raid. They really dragged out those scenes in the car park too.

 

Didn't see Max self-harming, I must've not been paying attention at that point.

 

I feel sorry for Martin. He told Stacey something in confidence and Stacey betrayed his trust for a former lover. Stacey always wants things her way.

 

I'm intrigued to see how the Ronnie/Roxy thing plays out. It hasn't been that well-written, much with Lee's storyline they've really been laying it on thick with Roxy supposedly being such a bad mother.

[NothinButAttitude]

Yay! Ronnie & Roxy are dead! 

[KMan101]

LOL, for real? Too bad the show can't seem to get rid of the blight that is Phil.

[Skylover]

I know Ronnie and Roxy aren't popular on here but their exit did upset me. I don't agree with the decision to get rid of them and I think there are probably at least 15 other characters who deserved the axe more than them. However, I did think it was a beautiful episode in many ways and the only way the characters should exit if they had to. It will certainly go down in history.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Edward Skylover

[NothinButAttitude]

 

He really needs to die. Phil is an albatross on this show. Love Steve McFadden but Phil is past due his expiration date. 

 

 

I agree that there are a plethora of characters that need to get scrapped on this show too, but Ronnie and Roxy were at the top of the heap that needed to go. There was nowhere else the characters could go. Since their arrival, the characters have gone in circles under every regime. They never progressed as characters. It was their time to go. There are some other Mitchells (Louise, Phil) that need to meet their grizzly demise too. 

 

I'm at the point with EastEnders where more than half of the cast can go, and I'll be fine with it. This show (along with Coronation Street) has too much deadweight on it. 

[Vee]

Wow, that's dark. And very well-shot.

 

It is admirable. American soaps almost never quite go for the vicious, poetic punch that the British soaps so often do. I guess the problem is the UK soaps so often do now. I kind of threw up my hands after EE let Pauline die on Christmas.

[Skylover]

 

I guess it's just a difference of opinion. There were ways they could have progressed the characters if they'd wanted to. Firstly, they could have allowed Roxy to survive and live with the guilt that she was perhaps responsible for her sister's death, and subsequently step up to the plate and become a better mother. Alternatively they could have kept both of them although this would have perhaps made it more difficult to progress either character. Them going round in circles is the writers' fault, I just feel they have more to offer if the writers are willing. Same with Phil. Time to let Ben, Jay and Louise take over the main Mitchell storylines and to focus less on Phil's drama, but have him there bubbling away in the background.

 

A soap world where Jack Branning and Billy Mitchell are kept in favour of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell...I'm not sure I like that world. Billy should have gone about 15 years ago. I see that he has more point now that Honey has returned but I'd rather just see Honey on her own (or if they have to, pair her with Jack).

 

On the plus side, SOC is unpredictable and I'm hoping he has plans for a more permanent Sam Mitchell return (played by Kim). I do wonder if his plan is to focus on the more immediate Mitchells (i.e. including Sam in that, as Phil's sister) rather than having different strands to the Mitchell family tree what with the cousins etc. Added to that is the possibility we could be seeing more of Mark and Courtney, and the Mitchells would be quite a large screen presence...but there has to be some relevance to Michelle's return.

 

I am finding EastEnders compelling at the moment, unpredictable and I thought the Mitchell sisters' death was something fresh in soap-land. Something that will be hailed in a way that the shower scene in Psycho was hailed as iconic in the film-world.

 

I agree with you that EE and Corrie both have a lot of deadweight, that's what puts EE ahead of Corrie IMO though, it seems braver in making these decisions...so perhaps I am wrong about Ronnie and Roxy and it'll work out better in the end. Time will tell.