EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[Sylph]

No, no. Making Pauline the villaine was not terrible story. I disagree with that. The descent into hell was very well written.

And the death scene wasn't terrible.

[DRW50]

Falling over in the snow, not even giving her Julia's Theme?

[Sylph]

Yes. It was all just miserable, There is no hope, barren, the smell of death everywhere in the air... And not some bombastic, megainflated, faux-tragedy blown out of proportion. This just underlined how vile and nasty she has become.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Walford Web has some exclusive pics of the EastEnders winners at the British Soap Awards: http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/item.php?id=2387

[Y&RWorldTurner]

More on why Devon Anderson was allegedly barred from attending the British Soap Awards: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/playlist/view/134970/Eastenders-Devon-Anderson-thinks-it-s-the-end-of-the-line/

[DRW50]

Once again pacing is all over the place. They burnt through what could have been weeks of storyline in one episode. And Masood, he has so quickly thrown away his children under some guise of "It will be better for them if I'm on another continent, wooing my secret girlfriend." All this about his great relationship for Jane rushed through after months of it barely being mentioned? It makes him look fickle, and he also seems to have amnesia, either that or he's putting all the blame for his own judgments onto Zainab.

I've enjoyed the Masood/Zainab relationship because it has not been the saga of the dragon lady and her burdened, whimpering husband. I hope that's not gone forever. Tamwar also seems to have lost his entire personality. I know they are all having problems right now but it seems like once characters start getting more dramatic stories, they lose most of their quirkiness and brightness, at least that's how it was on Hollyoaks when the Deans and the McQueens began getting dramatic stories.

Then there was the suicide attempt, which went by so fast and, thanks to Marc Elliot's performance, had about as much impact as if Syed had an ingrown toenail.

Syed, you've been turned straight overnight. It's a miracle!

<Syed's eyes well up and he pouts>

Syed, you've won the lottery!

<Syed's eyes well up and he pouts>

Syed, Pat and Darren are having sex in your living room!

<Syed's eyes well up and he pouts>

If Syed constantly has the same look on his face, and the same reactions to everything, how can I tell when he is upset about something?

And Christian -- what was all that melodramatic blathering to Roxy about being her gay plaything and how she may want to get drunk and sleep around but he doesn't? That's all he's ever done. Does he think that casting himself in a bad 40s movie as some sort of Bette Davis knockoff means he's morally superior to Roxy now? This character gets on my nerves. I don't even like Roxy but she was doing Christian a favor.

Nina Wadia and Nitin Ganatra were fantastic but there's only so much you can do. What Nina did with the scene where she said Syed would be better off dead was a tour de force. It's a shame that Zainab has repeatedly been demonized in this story because other characters have not been sympathetic enough in their own right. Even now I somehow see Zainab as more of a victim than most of the people in her life.

I've always felt like the show was not the same without Pauline. I guess this is my new Pauline, for better or worse. I hope Nina gets through all this better than Wendy did when she was in the role. I remember Marc Elliot saying how upset Nina was with some of these scenes. She's such a fantastic actress but the material they have been giving her, they are writing her into such a corner.

Edited May 14, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Farewell to "Laura" Branning.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/2972483/Madeleine-Duggan-who-plays-Laura-Branning-axed-from-BBC1-soap-EastEnders.html

I guess now we know how Lauren leaves. She reveals her secret desire to be a Laura Branigan tribute artist. As she leaves, "Solitaire" plays over Max's slow, painful walk back to his home.

[All My Shadows]

Pam St. Clement: Sounds good to me! Can Peggy join us?

I hate what they've done to Masood in just two episodes. The whole "Let me come with you to Florida!" thing with Jane is so out-of-the-blue and really has no place. So, what, he's gonna go to Florida, she's gonna introduce him to her mother as her new Muslim boyfriend, and Mom's gonna have a heart attack. Or is he just gonna stay up in a hotel and only come out when Jane says it's okay for him too. Or is he gonna meet yet another woman while he's there. Glad that nonsense was put to rest. To top it all off, Masood can go on and on about family honor, yet he's perfectly willing to cheat on his wife with a married woman. Riiiight. And Masood can go on and on about how important their friendship/partnership with the Beales are, but he's more than willing to try to strike up a romantic overture with Ian's wife, and THEN chat it up with Ian at the hospital as if he had not been trying to get with his wife on the same damn day. smh.

They really are doing a number on poor Zainab. Maybe it's because I'm still new and I don't "know" the character enough to know when she's not being written like herself, but I've been feeling rather cold towards her for weeks now, but jeez, come on, telling Sy that he'd be better off dead? It's all extremely over-the-top. Tamwar's suffering too because now all he ever does is react to the over-the-topness, and now they've added whining about Mom and Dad's disintegrating marriage to his list of functions.

I wish Christian would have taken Roxy up on her offer, really. Because him being a weepy gay with the bruises to prove it all the time does no one any favor, least so the audience.

[DRW50]

I think Zainab was telling Syed that she thought it would be better for him if he were dead, not for her, although I guess that isn't great either, but I don't think she meant it maliciously.

The Masood stuff was so fast I still don't know what to think. Why does a show which has so many episodes rush through things? I didn't even process the gall of him chatting to Ian after he tried to run off with Ian's wife until you mentioned it.

What bothers me the most with this stuff, and which for all I know was the point of the show doing it, is that now, the many selfish, harmful actions Syed committed over the past year are much less noticed, because someone can just say, "Well, Masood and Zainab aren't any better!" I don't like even the score writing. If this was done to tarnish them in order to make Syed look better, then it wasn't worth it, because they are damaging characters who had potential to be much more than this. Zainab is a hilarious, wonderful, complex character. She isn't just this gorgon they now make her out to be. Even if or when she does have some big epiphany, a lot of fans will still always hate her after this. A lot of viewers will probably never like the Masoods, they don't have the same luxury that a family like the Mitchells might have with viewers. The show had a real chance to make this family a cornerstone of the show.

Christian is such a vapid character -- if anything he's more vapid when he does the martyr stuff than he is when he has fun. I don't know why they keep writing to Partridge's weaknesses.

I still wonder what this story might have been with someone else as Syed. Probably not extremely different, since the pacing was a major issue regardless of the actors, but I rarely sense anything from Marc Elliot. Even those drunk and suicidal scenes were very sluggish. It was like a parody of a drunk. The woman who played Amira, she had a good moment when she started drinking, as she recoiled with her first sip. For someone who doesn't drink alcohol, Syed handled it like a pro.

[Sylph]

Zeinab was always a witch.

[DRW50]

If she's a witch she's a witch but I'd rather she not be a plot device for her mopey son. At least have her be a plot device for someone who's worth it.

[Ben]

I don't think Zainab's a witch. I actually think she represents a lot of Muslims (not in the OTT sense, which has all been ramped up for the sake of drama and soapiness), in how her culture influences her actions, and props her religious beliefs. I think it's interesting to see the distinctions between Masood and Zainab, and how he follows his religion, but doesn't allow his culture to dictate how he runs his life - he's happy to take Syed back in, while Zainab freaks out at being ostracised from the Muslim community.

I don't think she'd ever want her so to die, just for the nightmare to be over. If Syed had died, then she wouldn't have to deal with loosing the respect of her friends, or having to face up to the fact that Syed is gay, and it totally goes against everything she's been brought up to believe in. She doesn't know how to deal with that conflict.

Yesterday's ep demonstrated how many selfish characters this show has (Ronnie, Max, Christian, Syed) and still managed to be ironic, by having Roxy pay for Jack's treatment at a private clinic. I still can't get over the ridiculous price of £30,000 per month - they'd have no patients at that price! Why didn't they just transfer Jack to the private sector of the hospital? Also, Ronnie wanting to list Billy as the electrician was stupid, especially knowing that he's not qualified - they'd never pay-out, and listing Billy would've simply landed him in trouble. Does she not have any brains?

Edited May 15, 2010 by Ben

[Sylph]

Her being a witch has nothing to do with her religious beliefs.

[Ben]

^ I know that. But some people don't, and associate the two. I've never thought of her as witch, but if she does have witchy qualities, then I don't think they're a negative. (Not that you said it is a negative.)

[DRW50]

Yesterday's episode was very strange. The show itself has become strange. I just loved the scene where Dot randomly walked into Ian's home. Hi, I let myself in to clean, because I always go around letting myself into someone's home, but...let's keep this going and advance the plot. I really enjoyed that scene, but

They seem to have just thrown away any attempt to show the struggles in the Syed story and instead are going as OTT as possible to fill time, while simultaneously trying not to deal with the consequences of what they bring up. Syed tried to commit suicide. Yet the hospital did not care. Masood and Tamwar were upset but not overly so. Christian did his usual pouting and used the first excuse he had to run back to Chryed Plot #3, which is bringing in some poor idiot who inexplicably finds Christian appealing and is then used to make Syed jealous. I couldn't believe the day after Syed tried to kill himself, we were already back to that storyline.

Zainab's reaction seems as much about trying to cause reaction and cause sympathy for Syed as it is about exploring her character. I'm hoping this will lead to somewhere for her but considering that Christian's beating led nowhere I'm not sure if this will be any different. Nina Wadia was fantastic and the scene where she let the match take effect was chilling, but as soon as they showed Syed doing the watery eyes he does in just about every scene, I was not exactly moved.

The whole idea of Billy's kids coming to stay with him was rushed but I didn't realize they were only going to stay for like a week. I'm not sure of what the point was. Why not have him go away for a while with the kids, to help Honey, and then they could rest this non-story about his money woes?

I didn't watch any of the Ben stuff. Did you enjoy it.

Apparently there was supposed to be some scene where Ronnie confronted Danny over some money she found or something. I didn't watch most of that, although at least Danny is closer to being busted. I still don't care about Roxy but after she tried to break up the Chryed stuff I think she deserves a reward.

The show is doing very little to cause viewers to be able to understand Zainab's behavior. I'm not sure if viewers will ever get over the way she's been acting. The Masoods were never going to be able to get away with what some other families on the show do. This story may end up marginalizing them in the long run.