Emmerdale: Discussion Thread

[Ben]

Carl: You're right about Rodney. I don't think he's needed any more. I think there's enough characters in his age range (which is a rare thing to say), and Bernice has Diane and Nicola to bounce off of... but, I do like his scenes with Nicola, and that's probably the only relationship where he still has some purpose. I feel they should ditch him, and bring him back for guest stints (or when needed).

I think the Jimmy/Tracy kiss was done for some cheap, predictable 3 episodes of drama when Nicola returns. I don't think Tracy will die in the summer stunt. But, surprisingly for a soap, this stunt has quite a few plausible death victims: Alicia, Val, Jai, Rachel, Megan, Leyla, Lisa, Joanie, Tracy, Robert... so it's quite hard to call. I do think they've brought Joanie back for more than a sub-plot involving Cain/Kerry and the kid, and that may involve her death, or it may involve her getting it on with Zak. Placing her in the Dingle home feels like a deliberate move. Just like how turning Jai evil has been a deliberate move (as stated by Chris Bissom).

Ross' vulnerability only seems to show when he's with kids. And, that's not enough. Soaps don't do romance any more, just lust presented as love, so I know what they expect us to feel when he's with Debbie, but none of that flies with me. It all feels forced. I think he suits Carly way better than Debbie. Incidentally, I don't hate Pete as much as I did.

Can someone remind me of how Lady Tara left? I loved Tara, as much as I loved Kim and Zoe. I wish they would bring Zoe back with her her kids, and build up the Tate name, again.

I think slim-lining the episode order from 6 to 5 a week, would be good for the show. I hate how the Thursday double has become the dumping ground for contrived drama and shock cliffhangers. I could maybe understand it more if Thursday was the highest rating of the week, but it isn't.

[I Am A Swede]

Tara left together with Sean Reynolds. I don't think they did anything special, they just moved away to start a new life somewhere else.

Even though it would be great to see Zoe again I don't think it's gonna happen. She's been gone so long now, and there's really no reason why she would move back to the village. She didn't grow up there so she doesn't have that sentimental connection to it, and she has no family left there either.

Edited July 17, 2015 by I Am A Swede

[Ben]

Thanks Swede. So, it's always possible they Lady Tara could return. But, I very much doubt it would ever happen.

While you're correct about Zoe, I think they could easily find a reason for Zoe to return. Her motivation doesn't have to be to live there again, but maybe something to do with one of her kids, or she finds herself in trouble and so returns to the only place she knows she can find help. Anything is possible.

[I Am A Swede]

I guess she could return because of Noah, Charity's son. He is her nephew through Chris after all.

[Adamski]

Leah Bracknell is now a yoga teacher and seems to have embraced that lifestyle and quit acting. But never say never...

Am really surprised to see Emma Atkins still popping up as Charity - surely these latest scenes can't have all been filmed before she went on maternity leave? She definitely looks slimmer in the face than when Charity was first imprisoned, so she must have come back for a few days of filming.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Pete vs Ross...so sexy and hot. I can't wait for this to all go to hell. Poor Finn stuck in the middle. You can tell its killing him having to lie to solid reliably Pete all to cover sneaky douche Ross.

Emma girl get it together. I wish these writers would stop sh*tting all over her.

The Carly/Bob/Brenda scenes were intense. Not sure how I feel about Brenda calling the police like that on Carly and Bob. I understand she's hurt but sometimes she seems so dramatic. And if she weren't such a worry wort and had tried to support Carly by taking a chance on her none of this would have happened. The lying, the use of that old witch Val.

Edited July 18, 2015 by ThePrinceOfSunspear

[DRW50]

Between her own daughter, Noah, Chris and Rachel's son (who is being raised by Zoe), or even Kim's son James (who was Zoe's half-brother), there's plenty of ways she could return, but sadly I doubt it will happen.

Tara returned for Len's funeral in 2007, so you never know. I doubt it though. Anything would be an improvement over the dull Whites. I still think Home Farm should go.

Someone said she came back for a day.

I've certainly rarely seen a character this present when the actress is on maternity leave. Even when she's not there, she's there. I guess it tells you how much the show relies on Charity.

Edited July 18, 2015 by DRW50

[DRW50]

I like Carly but this is all on her (and Val and Bob - especially Val). She clearly didn't want to run a store. She didn't insure it. She barely bothered to open it. She was drunk at the unveiling. Brenda was right about her.

It's hard for me to watch Finn scenes now because

The Debbie/Ross story is just such a drain to me. I miss the fun Ross. I don't hate Debbie the way many fans do, but I find stories about her love life to be exceptionally heavy and maudlin.

Edited July 18, 2015 by DRW50

[Adamski]

Thanks for the info. As much as I love the character of Charity, I did think the audience needed a rest from her. But I also love that she's still popping up and causing mayhem!

Am so nervous about who's going to be killed off in the disaster.

[Ben]

I'd totally forgotten about Kim having a son. So many legacy kids could be brought back at some point to reintroduce the Tate name. I feel this part of the show's history has been forgotten for too long, but, that may have something to do with the kids being too young to drive story. If this was a US soap, they'd SORAS the lot of them. LOL. How old would James be now?

I can't really remember Tara's return at all. That's terrible for me. I remember Len dying, as Catherine Jenkins was guest starring at the time. I guess it was a period of the show where I was a bit of a casual viewer. It's good that Tara was in their consciousness at the time, but like you, I doubt they'd ever bring her back again.

I love Home Farm, which is as much apart of ED as anything else (minus the sweet factory). Just b/c they can't create decent characters to fill the place, doesn't mean the set is at fault. The Whites are an improvement on the Maceys, but that's not saying much really. They should have worked, but they've not put any effort in to creating characters, just plot devices. I guess Lachlan has the most potential and the most personality.

[I Am A Swede]

James would be almost 19 now. He was born in September 1996.

[DRW50]

The decreasing budget has hurt Home Farm a great deal (as it has Butler's Farm). Without the gorgeous outside shots and just having the somewhat cheap indoor sets, you need great writing to make a viewer care. And Home Farm hasn't had great writing in a long time. I also don't like those cheap offices where it becomes more noticeable that they have no employees.

Tara returned with Marc Reynolds. I wonder if the guy who played Sean didn't want to come back. I wonder what type of relationship Tara even had with Len.

Speaking of that era, I didn't know until recently that the reason Peter Amory and Claire King broke up was because he had an affair with Samantha Giles.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/coronation-street-actress-reveals-shes-4721805

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

You have a point about Carly much as I love her spitfire ways. She needs to get it together.

Dare I say that I saw some growth on Emma's part? I really hope they're not setting me up for another disappointment.

[DRW50]

I'm never sure what they're doing with Emma. I do feel like every time she starts to try to control her actions, James starts enabling and giving mixed signals again.

I'd love to know what their original plans for the character were, as she just seems like an aimless plot device lately, and she has no relationship with her sons (especially Pete). It's odd. I do think Gillian Kearney is a great actress and I hope they find a way to keep her around.

She also looked very pretty in that ugly dress.

[Bright Eyes]

Carl, with Emmerdale giving you a headache I can't help but want to take the opportunity to shamelessly tell you to finally start watching Shortland Street. Easy to fund on YouTube, very easy to get into. Rarely disappoints and never causes migraines. Today's episode was a biggie with the resident villainess becoming and murderer and killing off her ex-husband.

That goes to anyone else that's in desperate need of a good soap fix as well.