EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

 

I'd be over the moon but the show is ... yikes at the moment.

 

Nailed it. I see no purpose in this either. For what? I didn't care either way for Kush but this is definitely a mistake.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

They already killed Shaki. Why kill another of Carmel's sons in yet another pointless murder? So they can mold Gray into some massive serial killer no one will care or talk about in a year? He won't be EE's version of Richard Hillman if that's what they were going for. 

 

EE seriously needs to leave serial killer stories alone b/c they always end up flopping. And with a Square filled with killers already, one more ain't gonna peak the audience's attention. I think folks are numb to it at this stage. 

 

So I am guessing that Gray won't be found out until Xmas or New Years? So cliche. 

[KMan101]

 

These shows hold onto psychos for waaaaay too long. 

 

I agree folks are numb to it. It feels tired. 

 

The actor playing Gray is gorgeous so I assume that's why they hang onto him but it's time to move on. 

 

They seem desperate to have something 'click' and be a hit and work. Man, it reminds me so much of what we've had to sit through with the US soaps for so long now at this point.

[victoria foxton]

 

  

[DRW50]

 

EE's producers are still obsessed with the idea that everything must be dragged out to Christmas for the sake of a big episode and a ratings boost. That has not happened in many years, but at this point it is probably easier to just stall, stall, stall. 

 

EE has been guilty of this for a decade or more, with misery stories like Danielle's death, but it's become ridiculous in the last 4-5 years. I'm not surprised that "Queen Kate," as some of her devotees called her, is ramping this up to the point of no return. 

[Vee]

LOL I thought the same thing about Christmas. Whitney is a ridiculous character at this point; Jeffrey Dahmer could come on the show and she'd marry him.

[wingwalker]

Yeah, from a writing standpoint, EastEnders no longer any better than the US soaps. Only thing it's has over them is they haven't done a bunch of return from the dead stories. The show is making the exact same mistakes the US ones did. It's very sad to watch. 

 

They really missed the mark on this serial killer story. First, it's offensive that this what a domestic violence story has been turned into. Second, the actor is terrible and the character isn't that interesting. Only positive aspect is the actor is very attractive, which isn't reason enough to keep him around. 

 

It does feel like killing off Kush was a breaking point for many people. Hopefully it is also the breaking point for the BBC brass. Jon Sen and Kate Oates tenure is the equivalent of  Chuck Pratt at All My Children. Both are destroyed and dismantled the core of the show. I just hope it's not too late for EastEnders to turn it around. 

[KMan101]

 

It's just so much misery.

 

And ahh, I can see that. Stalling and dragging things out until Christmas for inane reasons that no longer matter. I never understood misery on Christmas. Big moments happening? Sure.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I never understood misery on Christmas or New Years either. You'd think that at this point, the characters on Albert Square would get petrified around the start of December, as something bad always happens. 

 

Who knew that Angie/Den's Xmas divorce, which propelled EE into the stratosphere, would come back haunt all the UK soaps at this stage. It is just so predictable at this stage that Xmas for the UK soaps = murder and mayhem instead of family and community. 

[DRW50]

 

I blame most of this on the Stax Christmas from 2007. Before then Christmas episodes were more balanced - yes, some were OTT misery-fests, like the wretched 2006 episodes, but most were not. 

[Forever8]

Imagine a cheerful ending of a balanced Christmas episode like this one from 1992 these days with community and family at the center of it. 

 

 

[DRW50]

The last scene in that 1992 episode is exquisite. 

 

@Forever8 Hell, even the 2005 episode is happy and light compared to what we get now. The show, or the BBC, just can't break the addiction. I'll be honest, I didn't even watch 2019. I did watch 2020, and I regret doing so - Ian smashing up the pub was one of the most embarrassing, pathetically self-aware moments in EE history. "Queen Kate" and Jon Sen are hacks through and through.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by DRW50

[Forever8]

 

It seems the BBC or whoever prefer EastEnders at Christmas Time to be a depressing time with a lot of things happen to grab a headline TBH. I wouldn't mind if he we get balance of something happening huge but with a dose of community spirit and family in the mix. Instead we get half-baked paternity reveals, the show's longest-running heroine getting treated like crap by a mob-adjacent family and senseless murders of the next generation all in the name of sensationalism. 

 

If it was up to you @DRW50@NothinButAttitude how would you fix EastEnders? I'm curious to read your thoughts if you have any. Thanks!!! 

[DRW50]

 

I'm not even sure where I'd begin, but:

 

Denise and Jack marry in an intimate ceremony with Libby returning. Jordan also returns...befuddled when he learns Lucas had told everyone he was dead. Jack struggles to feel especially close to his own children, but becomes a father figure to Jordan. Jordan raises insecurities in Isaac, leading Sheree to scheme against him, leading to conflict between Patrick and Sheree. 

 

As part of a creative writing class, Denise details her dramatic life story. After getting rave reviews, she decides to become a writer. Her first book is a critical darling, which causes a man claiming to be her father to come out of the woodwork. 

 

All the dramas, along with a heavy caseload, lead Jack to pay less and less attention to Amy and Richard. Phil, wanting more access to Raymond, gets in touch with Sam, convincing her to fight for custody of Richard, and to dig up dirt on Jack's very dirty past.

 

Jay and Honey part ways after she terminates their unplanned pregnancy. Jay relapses into drugs, with Pam Coker, Phil, Rainie, and a guilt-ridden Billy helping him get clean. 

 

Shirley becomes obsessive with finding Tina. This climaxes on the night of Whitney and Gray's engagement party when a very much-alive Tina storms into the packed Vic with her sister, revealing that she pretended to be dead until Gray dumped her body. Gray takes Stuart hostage. Ben is near and has the chance to intervene, but is frozen in fear. Callum, who has a gun hidden, has to take a kill shot from a distance, knowing he could easily kill his own brother. Luckily, he gets Gray, but no matter how much he tells Ben he understands, he clearly does not. 

 

As various Walford residents attempt to celebrate at a back-to-normal garden party, a strange young man who bears an eerie resemblance to Jamie Mitchell collapses. Sonia nurses him back to health and is encouraged to find new love and life experiences. Phil, for the first time in many years, is overcome with shame, and nearly falls off the wagon until Kat stops him. Ben is crushed when he overhears Phil tell Kat that he thinks he was cursed with Ben for the way he treated Jamie. Martin, even more guilt-ridden and with zero support, descends into alcoholism. Ruby is disgusted by his weakness and confesses all her crimes to him when she knows he will be too drunk to properly understand. She decides to leave Walford, selling E20 to Kheerat, Dotty, Tiffany, Keegan and Vinny. A lonely Kim takes pity on Martin and they slowly fall in love.

 

Bernadette backs out of being a surrogate, but Karen, pregnant after a one-night stand with Mitch, and knowing she is too old and poor to raise another baby, lets them adopt hers.  

 

Phil and Kat marry. Ben pretends to be happy for them all the way up to the reception, where he lights into them in an unhinged speech that leads Phil to disown him - for good. 

 

A distanced Callum is further put off by Ben's tantrums about Phil and Kat, his lack of interest in helping Jay,  his crime sprees, and his lack of patience with Lexi. He and Vinny slowly begin an affair. When Ben catches them, he doesn't let on, playing the doting husband as he cuts Vinny's brakes. Unfortunately for him (if not for viewers...), Ash jumps into his car when she walks in on Peter and Suki post-coitus. She dies of her injuries. Peter returns to New Zealand with his tail between his legs. Suki pretends not to care, but is secretly devastated, and goes through a lengthy breakdown that Jean, in spite of Suki's awful treatment of her, helps her through. Suki becomes the crime lord of Walford, since apparently we must always have one, but a human one.

 

Callum files for divorce and shacks up with Vinny. Ben and Phil have a vicious argument when Phil catches him about to torch Vinny's new club. Phil has a massive stroke. Ben and Kat go to war over Phil's 'empire,' with a returning Louise torn between them. Kat also struggles to raise her kids, but is relieved when Zoe returns to help her. She does not realize Zoe has several secrets...

 

Lee returns to Walford to help Mick after Linda chooses to spend the remainder of her pregnancy with her mother, to avoid stress. Old tensions flare, and Whitney stirs the pot between Lee and Mick for reasons even she doesn't fully understand. 

 

Rainie and Stuart grow apart due to the stress of raising two small children. Stuart steps in to keep Whitney away from Mick, leading them to begin a sexual relationship neither are fully comfortable with but both need. Rainie, meanwhile, begins to fixate on Jay, and, as he gets close to her children and appreciates her humor and vulnerability, they also begin a relationship. To make matters even messier, both feeling like outsiders, Jay and Whitney begin to develop feelings for each other. 

 

Chelsea's various debts lead her to take more and more risks. Lee saves her from some thugs. She tries to keep a distance, not wanting to define herself by another man, especially after learning of his baggage, but the intense sexual and emotional attraction is too much to resist. Their various issues and painful pasts push them away from each other more than once, but they never stay apart for long. Chelsea gets her old job at the Vic back and slowly forms a friendship with granny-from-hell Shirley.

 

Long nights at the club and many opportunities for fun and adventures make Tiffany and Keegan realize they married too young. They end up having a threesome with Dotty, leading to many murky complications.

 

Kathy is contacted by a young man who claims to be Donna Ludlow's son, abandoned at birth. Kathy is doubtful, and when his story turns out to be true, struggles to balance her getting to know him with the memories of her rape and painful relationship with Donna haunting her yet again.  

 

An isolated Sharon leans more and more on new brother Zach. Shaken to the core when a blood test tells her that Albie is Phil's son, not Keanu's, Sharon begins calling Zach, "Dennis," here and there, always apologizing when she does. Zach tries to ignore this, but is horrified when Sharon tries to kiss him. A mortified Sharon has a breakdown and wanders off in the night, leaving Zach to take care of Albie. Various residents begin the hunt for her, which also leads her sister Vicky to return to Walford. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by DRW50

[I Am A Swede]

That's an awful lot for someone who didn't know how to begin.....  

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