Emmerdale: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I thought today's episodes were good, especially Val's last scenes. One of the best soap exits I can remember in a long time. Her last moment was just perfect - it was SO her. Perfect. And Joe Gill, always underrated, was great as Finn. I wish they knew what to do with him.

 

I think the lack of a longer goodbye video for Ross means he may still be alive...it reminds me of what happened with Dean on Eastenders early this year. 

 

Chrissie was more tolerable today, although it annoys me that Robert is still shackled to her and her sick family of enablers. I've pretty much given up hope that he will ever be able to be his own character and not a plot device.

 

Brilliant direction again tonight - the glass falling cutting to the car boot being slammed made me shudder.

[Adamski]

I was really hoping the same - that Pete was going to lean in and whisper in Debbie's ear that he's now going to make her life a living hell. But I loved the moment where she reached out her hand to him and he didn't take it. Something tells me that Debbie will soon be longing for the good old days with Cameron...

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Debbies the type of character that destroy's good male characters....at least in the world of soaps. A year from now Pete could be completely coocoo for coco puffs and terrorizing her. Beating her up and everything. Just because he's snapped and all this bs she's put him thru. I hope not because that will ruin Pete who is looking oh so fine these days but I won't be surprised at all if they go that route with either him or Ross.

 

She's just not worth it though.

 

DRW50 - I had the same reaction with the glass falling on Val and the car trunk slamming to reveal Pete's cold glare/expression. Just incredible work.

 

Have the ratings been good for this week? I don't know how it works in England but I have to admit that this week has been stellar.

[DRW50]

They've been decent - not really fantastic. But it's early August so I'm not sure what ITV expected, especially as they pushed the stunt forward a month. They got about a million extra viewers than last week. I doubt it will last but it would be nice.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

 

I thought the glass falling on Val and it quickly being superimposed by Ross shutting down the 'the boot' (as Brits say) was chilling. I was nervous for Val the entire time she lied there. I was thinking that ED was going to show the glass slicing her in half but I remembered that it came on before watershed, so I doubt it would've happened. 

 

And I agree that they need to find something more for Finn to do. But I am hopeful with the recent events that he'll be driving story in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if he is the one to discover what Cain & eventually Ross did. 

 

And I've actually enjoyed Chrissie as of late, but I (too) fear that Robert is going to be dragged down by her. I'm praying that Robert doesn't go the typical villain route and blackmail her in exchange for his silence, which can result in two ways: Chrissie offing Robert a la Kim Tate style OR Chrissie turning herself in and Robert getting charged as an accessory. I'd rather Chrissie commit suicide in guilt and her dad and Lachlan leave the village heartbroken. 

 

 

I've said it before that Debbie is a black widow. She drives men mad IMO. Look at her father, Cain. If Ross does go loco, I hope he's successful in finally killing Debbie. I can't stand her. 

 

 

That sucks. I expected the BARB ratings to be higher. But whatever. ED is getting a lot of press, which is good. All I know is that they better win 'Best Show' at the BSA's next year. They deserve it. Hell, they deserved it last year too. I am over Corrie & EE winning when they haven't been good in years. 

Edited August 7, 2015 by Nothin'ButAttitude

[vetsoapfan]

This is such fun!

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[DRW50]

I'm not sure the BARB ratings have come out yet, so they may be higher, but yeah...

 

It may be too late, but if you want to vote in the Inside Soap Awards:

 

http://www.insidesoap.co.uk/voting-now-open-inside-soap-awards-2015/

[NothinButAttitude]

Since the board was down on Friday for me, I wanna talk about Friday's episode. 

 

Chris Chittell (Eric) was phenomenal. That scene with him talking with Val's ghost was so heartbreaking. I also gotta give it up to Matt Wolfenden (David) and Liz Estensen (Diane) as they brought the house down too. It was so sad when Eric assumed that Val faked her death only to realize she didn't once he found the money and her spare pack of cigarettes. 

 

Seriously, ED better get all the recognition they deserve at this year's BSAs b/c ED is the only good soap from the UK market. Sadly, I have to prepare myself for Natalie Anderson (Alicia)'s exit, which is coming up soon. 

[vetsoapfan]

As a newbie viewer, I am slowly-but-surely immersing myself in all things EMMERDALE, and I am so glad to have a daily soap to watch again, after having dropped my last US-based serial a long time ago.

 

So many of the characters are interesting, and most of the cast is first-rate. I just wish the writers would back off from gruesome, violent, sudden deaths. Poor matriarch Annie Sugden outived two husbands, all three of her children, and several grandkids! What Emmerdale family has not lost a good chuck of its members???

 

I think the denizens of the village are multi-layered enough, and the audience intelligent enough, that we do not need  deaths and stunts (plane crashes, helicopter crashes, bus crashes, etc.) to keep us entertained. The show really should not kill off interesting, viable, fun characters so often. I'll miss Val, and I've only known her a month! And of all the Barton boys, Ross was the most interesting, sexiest, and best actor. Why couldn't they have eliminated Pete instead? Or that slug, Adam? 

 

Anyway, at least with all the mayhem, some great actors like Chris Chittell, Danny Miller, Liz Estensen, etc., get to strut their stuff.

[NothinButAttitude]

I was saying that not too long ago that UK soaps need to stop relying heavily on stunts. It's like the equivalent of US soaps doing over-the-top adventure stories throughout the 80s. Even though it was fun for a moment, the payoff was never big. But I do hope that the helicopter crash is a long time payoff like the plane crash on ED did in the early 90s. That one story alone affected the village for years to come. 

 

I do have to thank Carl for posting all those wonderful King episodes as of late on YT. The Kings era was what got me into Emmerdale and it's fun to see Carl, Matthew, Jimmy, Tom, and Sadie wreak havoc upon each other and the villagers. I was thrilled to see the episode of Tom jilting Charity at the altar even though Sadie (with Cain's help) orchestrated the whole thing. Looking back on those episodes too, I never realized how sleazy Matthew was until now. Jimmy too. Weird because Jimmy and Matthew would mellow out in later years while Carl, who started off semi-mellow, would become sleazy and immoral towards the end. 

[TimWil]

Carl, I'm curious what you thought of Val's ghost appearing to Eric. I thought it was perfectly fine. I'm glad the last time I'd ever see Val was in a scene with Eric, just like I was glad that the last time I ever saw Jack on CS was with Vera.

[DRW50]

Matthew would continue to be sleazy for a good while - he would seduce Louise (who was seeing Terry, who'd loved her for years) and then cheat on her, leading her to tear up his suits and in a chilling reminder of the Ray murder (a story that will likely never be resolved), tell him to be careful of her, because of what she does to men who hurt her. Only when he had the broken relationship with Sadie did he mellow. It's a shame he spent so much of his last year on the show mooning over that boring as hell Perdy. 

 

I'm about to upload another January 2005 one.

 

I thought the ghost thing was fine. I'm not really moved by that unless it's impeccably done or it is obviously not just for show (like when poor Bill Tarmey was obviously dying and Liz Dawn returned to help usher Jack into the next life), but it worked for me. My favorite part was when she told him she'd haunt him if he went near Brenda. Chris Chittell was amazing - so underrated. 

 

There's often a basic lack of emotion in the show these days (see - most of today's show), so the times we do see it, I appreciate it. 

 

Really NOT happy with the show killing 3 people just so we can go "Poor Chrissie" and praise Chrissie for her "bravery," as some fans have done. When she was "brave" enough to crash a memorial and tell everyone it was her, but it was just an accident, I wanted someone to "bravely" smack the crap out of her. 

Edited August 11, 2015 by DRW50

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, the US soaps long ago dropped any pretense of being adult, character-based, quality dramas, and their reliance on gratuitous stunts and pointless character deaths has dragged them down. The endless stunts have also become commonplace and tedious.

 

With a major disaster like the helicopter crash, however, it can be worth it if the writers follow through and use it to provide ripple effects and longterm story. We'll see how the show handles it. If this were GH or DAYS, we'd already be moving towards the next disaster or act of violence.

 

I'm annoyed that they have apparently killed off Ross. Of all the Barton boys, he is literally the last one I would have eliminated from the cast. The character was complex, and Michael Parr is a good actor and sexy as hell. I'd bump off Pete, Adam, James, or even Finn if need be, to save Ross from the chopping block.

 

Studying the history of the show, I ask myself, "Why does anyone choose to live in Emmerdale? The place is a death-trap, deadlier than any war zone!"

[DRW50]

I wouldn't count Ross out. I'll be surprised if he's actually gone. If he is it's likely the actor's choice - every interview he has, he's asked about films and told he could play James Bond, etc. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Caught up with last night's episode and all I can say is, "Wow." 

 

I do wish that Eric or Diane would've came across the room and slapped the taste out of Chrissie's mouth. I do hope that this doesn't paint Chrissie as the victim as they'll all blame Robert for driving her over the edge.