EastEnders: Discussion Thread

[MichaelGL]

Definitely don't believe Cindy has forgiven Bobby. You'll see soon she still treats him like dirt, so the resentment is still there bubbling under the surface. 

[Manny]

Oh good! Not that I want such anger be pointed to poor Bobby all the time, but I just find this to be a good drama source. 

[Manny]

I am all caught up! Yay!

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The Stacey/Freddie/Theo drama was so good! I really loved how they made the tension with Stacey watching TV and the silent still camera shot of her eating pizza and drinking wine, combined with creepy shots of Theo walking in the dark streets and walking around her house. And then suddenly he's inside. OMG! 

Freddie coming, the fight.. all great! But the following episode with the fallout from the fight was really intense!! Everyone did an awesome job! 

I am glad Theo didn't die because:

a) well I don't want another person (Freddie) to be a killer

b) it would have been too easy for Theo to get off for what he has been doing. 

Whereas for the rest of the storylines, I am into the Beales storyline. Sonia/Reice storyline could be interesting. I wonder where it will go. Whitney foster storyline is meh, mostly because I don't care about her. Jay and his prostitute storyline is meh.. But I love Jay so I am curious where it will go (and based on the cliffhanger of yesterday, not good for Jay  ). The missing Nugget storyline is okay. I wonder if and how Denise and Suki will find the evidence against Ravi. I really don't care about Taylors (this thing with Keanu trying to get his kids from different women.. yawn). 

I skipped your post earlier, cause I was not all caught up yet But I went back to read it now  

I have enjoyed the Stacey storyline quite a lot! Some good intense drama!
But OMG, I wanted to ask if it is normal in UK that kids are having kids Because Stacey is a grandma and she's not even 40! And Ravi looks super young to have such a grown up son. Ben having a 11-12 year old daughter etc. 

Oh it's a shame you don't like Bobby. I find him quite cute and I like his journey and find him interesting as a character. But I agree about Ian. I never liked Ian.

I am opposite from you again, I don't like Kat and Phil at all! So I cannot wait for the truth to come out about him cheating (and about Alfie's cancer!) I forgot to mention that I was shocked at the twist that Alfie really does have cancer! I was so sure it was just used as a plot point to get Kat closer to him, so Phil can have an excuse to cheat. 

[All My Shadows]

I've been watching steadily since I got back into it a few months ago. I was really hoping that Theo would turn out to be legit and not a creep, just because Martin is really smug and annoys me, but if he's gonna be a creep, then I'm glad he got dealt with (somewhat). I really do enjoy Freddie, but I'm glad he's gone for a while. It just seemed like hardship after hardship after hardship piled up on him, and he went from being a fun, cheeky lad to just constantly moping around the Square.

Jay is breaking my heart! I saw the preview of today's episode on FB not too long ago, and it's already got me feeling sad.

The one thing that's really frustrating for me with the show right now is how it seems like they are rotating stories in and out by the week. Last week, it was heavy on the Theo drama, this week it's nowhere to be found. The Keanu/Sharon story is back after being gone for a few weeks. The Cindy stuff is missing at the moment, so I bet she'll be back at the center of everything next week. I just week there was a more natural integration of storylines across episodes.

[Manny]

I just finished this week's episodes. I am so sad for Jay. 

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  When he punched Callum, I was really surprised. With him agreeing to seek help, I wonder if he will relapse. Because I am pretty sure Ben finds out first and goes crazy...

Sharon vs Karen in the Vic was funny lol Sharon was vicious! Also, Keanu kissing Sharon during the boxing fight to seduce her... I mean, she cannot be that stupid, right? She should see through to him that as soon as she says she's leaving the country that he is into her suddenly.

I was bored by the Rocky gambling story. 

The pacing is really interesting. I cannot say I am annoyed by it, but it is really jarring when they just stop showing certain stories and switch to something else. But so far it is okay for me. But the problem is that some other stories were much stronger than what was on this current week. At least for me. What's frustrating for me is the pacing is too fast at times. Keanu and Taylor come up with a plan for him to seduce Sharon and take the child away on Thursday, but by the end of the episode, Keanu has already kissed her and seems to be gaining her trust. All in one episode. 

Or Rocky has been seen gambling beginning of the week and by the end of the week, he's like a full fledged gambling addict (maybe they showed him do this already before August, when I started watching, so maybe that's on me). 

So some of this is happening too fast, where it is not as believable. 

[Dion]

Teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are amongst the highest in the developed world but the rate has actually fallen by more than half in the 2010s so these days its increasingly becoming more of a soap exaggeration thing just like the number of murders, divorces or people returning from the dead lol. That said, Walford is supposed to be a socially deprived area so teenage pregnancy rates would be higher than the UK norms.

Sarah Platt's pregnancy on Coronation Street (back in 2000 when she was 13, she's 36 in the soap now!) seems to have kicked off the trend of really young teenagers and even pre-teens having babies on soaps though. And EastEnders ended up writing in a surprise baby (Bex Fowler) for Martin and Sonia (who were 15 at the time) as a response to Sarah's pregnancy.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Dion

[Manny]

Thanks for the clarification

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 I guess that explains it haha

I guess I wouldn't mind it so much, but I feel like so many characters have storylines which revolve around their kids. Stacey was dealing with Lily, while Lily is dealing with her baby, Jay/Ben/Calum are dealing with Lexie, Whitney is dealing with fostering kids, Sonia is dealing with in-vitro, Sharon and Keanu are fighting over a kid, Ravi's son disappeared.... it seems because so many characters have a child, a lot of them are dealing with children in some way at the same time. And while all of these storylines are different and they are also all dealing potentially with some other stuff, I am not saying it bores me, but I notice a very children heavy or children focused show sometimes  

And with young characters, it kind of then limits their story potential and just like in real life those people tend to grow up faster than they would have without kids. So that's why I would hope that they don't saddle young characters with kids early on, because we could have some variety in storylines with those characters and leave the kid-related stories to older folks.

[Manny]

I finally caught up and then I had my vacations and now I missed the passed two weeks, so now I have to catch up again lol

Watched 16 and 17 October and now watching 18 October now. I am kinda enjoying this Panesar drama with Nugget and his new mom. The new sister of Nugget is a bit too much. Her coming onto Martin and Zach was a bit icky. 

The other stories in these episodes are a bit boring. I don´t care about Rocky, or Sharon/Keanu. Jay storyline is okay, I guess...

I think this is an issue with these cast/story rotations. Not all stories are equally entertaining and when we get into a period of less interesting stories/characters, it is not as fun to watch. So I wish they would cut their cast and focus more on the more interesting people. 

EDIT: Seems like they are putting Priya into Peter´s orbit.. and Peter is now talking about his kid.. of course he has a child.. everyone has a child on this show.. I forgot he has a child with Lauren. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Manny

[Manny]

Ummm, so Billy finds a hangover Jay in his office with an empty bottle of vodna next to him and learns Jay has been dating Ketamine and then what he does is takes Jay out for a beer to the pub... right...

I did like Jay/Lexi/Billy/Honey/Ben scenes where Lexi says she wants to scatter Lola's ashes around the square.

[Manny]

Oh, the scene where Jay argues with Ben and Billy and mentions their [!@#$%^&*].. it was nice when he told Ben that he´s not a saint.

But then they argue over Lola´s ashes and drop the urn.. omg, heartbreaking

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 And now police comes over and Jay might have been in a car accident.  

Some good scenes here!!

[Manny]

OMG, this damn show is making me cry!! Great acting from Perry Fenwick, Max Bowden and the little girl playing Lexi. 

Ben telling Lexi about Jay´s accident, then them speaking to Jay over the phone and then Billy telling Jay he is his son and not to die... omg, been a long time since I cried while watching a soap...

[Manny]

So Jay is already awake from his coma. I am sure he will be up and about by next week. Just like Gina after her OD episode. This was always  bothering me in UK soaps, how fast they are going through things. 

Anyway, a lot of Keanu/Sharon/Dorian, which is boring to me. Ian/Cindy have also started boring me. I did enjoy her return, but these last few weeks, she´s been very boring. I did enjoy her bonding with Gina over Jay. They continue this Rocky gambling story which is zzzzz...

Dean Wicks came back. I have never watched the show while he was there, so that is not really shocking to me, but lets see how it goes this time. I will have to read his story. Oh so Cindy and Ian brought Dean as their partner? They have been searching for one for so long, that I am glad they found someone, so that we can move on. 

This is my last episode (31 October) for today, so I will finally stop my monologues here LOL

 

[MichaelGL]

The impending exits of two characters are dragging this show down. So not interested in the inconsistent characterization of some of the characters involved...

[Manny]

Oh wow, so two of my most boring storylines have reached some exciting points within the story! Wow!

Firstly, I would have never guessed that this boring Sharon/Keanu storyline would ever go into the "fake kidnapping" direction. It was very interesting to watch and I am curious what happens after Sharon finds out. Knowing the casting spoilers, I assume which way it will go, but still... should be interesting. However outside of the kidnapping, I am really bored with Keanu and Sharon as a couple and I don´t see any chemistry.

Secondly, the betting storyline for Rocky.. wow! How much did he owe to Nish? My God, they were always mentioning some small amounts and then this was enough for him to set Kathy´s restaurant on fire?? And then Bobby goes in and through a series of stupid events, Bobby makes the restaurant explode?? Wow! Did not see that coming! I saw this betting storyline as a C tier side thing, but wow did it have an impact. I still don´t care what happens to Rocky, but I am interested in Peter and Bobby. Although Bobby not calling the fire department and starting to clean the place up alone in the middle of the night was very stupid. 

I am interested what happens today! 

[Manny]

Oh my, awesome episode today!! I really enjoyed it all!

Beale storyline is great right now, all the drama... Cindy vs Kathy; Rocky hiding the truth; Cindy reporting Kathy to the cops; Peter being the one most hurt vs Bobby being less hurt... really good drama. I am really curious how this will continue now. I like that they used this moment to bring Cindy and George more closer too. 

Alfie is back! Yay! But oh no, his cancer is more aggressive than they thought. Shane Ritchie was so good in the scenes with the doctor and then especially in the scene with Kat. I was heartbroken for him. 

Really good soapy stuff right now! Cannot wait for tomorrow!