Emmerdale: Discussion Thread

[Ben]

Overall, I've enjoyed this weeks episodes so far. But, there are elements that are a bit contrived. Like, the Robert/Chrissie car fire stuff was quite forced; to get them to that point, they had to have the pointless Lachlan stunt that was done and dusted in a day. And no matter what they do to Chrissie, I still don't care about her. Meanwhile, Diane/Val rehash the same conversation again, but in a mirror maze.

 

The amount of money they spent on creating the fun fair set, and you would have thought they would have used the set more before the stunt, just to get their monies worth. The mirror maze could have been used as a classic plot device for more than just Val/Diane.

 

The Marlon/Rhona scenes were great, and I loved all of Finn's scenes. I really hope they don't kill him off, as I think he could easily fit their definition of loveable character. I'm surprised that I'm so invested in Pete finding out the truth and what he'll do afterwards. I guess they've built up the suspense good.

 

The stunt wasn't as good as I thought it would be; the crash was a bit rushed. I think the aftermath will be better.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Ben

[DRW50]

Here's a Dingle family tree from 2004, although the family has gotten even more confused since that time.

 

http://emmerdale.org/emmerdale/tree/10june05/Dingle/Dingle.png

 

Episodes from all over the years:

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKxXRm0Acop72Lik4FkogQw

https://www.youtube.com/user/Emmerdale2009

https://www.youtube.com/user/Farmeremmer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqaZSqtN8eTIWVjvFg7W5nw

https://www.youtube.com/user/EmmerdaleFarmer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUw5WJ8jG6WQTqmnd28Sy2g

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheInsomniaTV

https://vimeo.com/user13925252/videos

http://www.dailymotion.com/bhtvclassics

 

I'm going to send you a private link to watch more episodes from 2011-present. 

 

As you're an old school soap fan I'd say you may want to try the Farm-era episodes (1973-1989).

 

If you have any questions on stories or characters feel free to ask.

[vetsoapfan]

Oh, that's a great resource! Thank you so much! I am currently up to clips from early this year, dealing with the Aaron/Robert/Katie drama, and it's driving me crazy, waiting to see what will happen next. Poor Katie! Poor Andy! Poor Aaron! Poor...everyone, LOL! It's my goal to study and become familiar enough with the series' history and characters, that I know it as well as I do my former soap favorites like Another World and The Guiding Light.

[vetsoapfan]

Here's a great site which airs EMMERDALE episodes from the last few weeks.

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/emmerdale

Also, here's a great scene from 2009, of the surly Aaron meeting Jackson's outrageous mum, Hazel. Hilarious!

Edited August 5, 2015 by vetsoapfan

[DRW50]

Today's episode...

Other than the last 30 seconds, which I thought were cheesy and made me laugh a bit (mostly Dan running around), I enjoyed most of the episode.

 

I liked all the twists about how Pete would find out the truth - Finn throws the recording out, it must be the note, then it's not, then Chas finds the music and Aaron plays it. I don't think Cain would have let Pete get rough with Debbie, but otherwise the reveal worked well for me considering I'm not interested in this triangle. I also enjoyed the harsh words Finn had for Ross (which Ross needed to hear, although I hope they repair their relationship if Finn makes it), the fight between Cain and Ross, Ross in the van - the latter had some gorgeous shots. 

 

Duncan Foster really outdid himself many times - I also loved the opener with Ross and Cain in the village, the overhead shots of the pints, Ross underwater, Cain/Moira looking at Kyle and Joanie from a distance.

 

The best part for me was Val and Diane in the mirror maze. After being annoyed at the writing for Diane recently I was pleased that this episode seemed to "get" her again. I'm glad that Val's last episodes are so heavily focused on her love/hate sister relationship with Diane, which it how it should be. 

 

The fairground atmosphere added a nice sense of the ominous too.

 

And while I guess they were "filler," I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the bits with Marlon and Rhona as well, Marlon struggling with moving on. I was worried they were going to kiss but thankfully that didn't happen.

 

My only real complaints, other than the silliness of the last shot or two, was the unbearable, unbearable bleating of Chrissie, and the magical way that Lachlan suddenly gives a hoot about his grandfather or Chrissie after he's cared about no one for most of his run on the show. And then more bleating, this time in stereo, with Robert - I imagine their mutual whining brought the helicopter down more than the explosion did. 

 

I didn't really buy Adam suddenly getting into a fight with Vic and getting drunk and popping up there, but it wasn't a big deal.

 

Overall I'd give it 8/10. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Edited August 5, 2015 by DRW50

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

YEEEESSASS THE HO IS EXPOSED!!!

damn what was Pete yelling when da HO said she chose him? He was incomprehensible then....

OOOHH

"it should NEVA HAVE BEEN A CHOICE!" 

 

Poor Pete

Edited August 5, 2015 by ThePrinceOfSunspear

[vetsoapfan]

Thank you so much! Although I have loved the episodes I've watched starting in 2008, I am sure I will enjoy the vintage years as well. Fortunately, many classic clips and eps are available on youtube.

[Adamski]

I thought Tuesday's episode did a brilliant job of building the tension throughout - and the reveal of Debbie's affair was fabulous, even if we've seen it done before. (It was so intense, I really thought Pete might hit her). The Ross 'cliffhanger' moment was a real showstopper too. I also really enjoyed the Marlon/Rhona scenes and was relieved they didn't kiss. 

Diane and Val trapped in the hall of mirrors is sheer genius - I'm really worried about Diane's head injury, though.

Why oh why couldn't Lisa Dingle have returned for the wedding, in order for to be incinerated?

Also, while I thought the acting in the Ruby/Dan/Kerry scenes was top-notch, I personally don't think Ruby's death merited so much screen time tonight. She's been a deadwood character throughout her stint. I do think there's much bigger deaths to come before the week is out.

[NothinButAttitude]

Wow. That helicopter crash was stellar. Yeah, it was cliche about Debbie's recording being exposed during the wedding but at least it was good soapiness. Anthony Quinlan/Pete really blew me away with his reaction to finding out the truth, and you can see the venom and hatred in his eyes. I hope he takes Debbie's ho ass through the ringer for the remainder of their marriage. 

 

Any my poor Ross. They stay abusing my man. But thank God he survived that fall. I hope Cain's ass pays for what he's done to my bae. 

 

Chrissie is a hot ass mess, but I am glad that she f-cked up and caused this accident. Now Robert has something to dangle over her head in the foreseeable future. I just cannot believe that she didn't notice those gas tanks before setting the car on fire. 

 

Poor Ruby. Sad to see her go but she (like the rest of her family) was a waste of space. IMO, all the Spencers could've been offed in this sweeps and I would've been content. None of them do much for me. I kinda wish that Val would've been killed off by the plane crash too. Not that I hate her but I think it would've been dramatic and a cruel twist of fate for her to die via the crash rather than the expected, her HIV status. 

 

Overall, this was a stellar stunt episode. Better than anything on the US soaps produce. I do however, wish that UK soaps would tone it down when it comes to stunts because it's getting to the point where people expect the climax but don't give a f-ck about the resolution. Especially, when the resolution is not well thought out on many of these shows. *cough* Lucy's death on EE *cough* 

 

But I can't knock ED because despite the stunt, which again I LOVED, they still give me good ole' character driven stories. 

[DRW50]

Poor Lisa.  Seriously though, she was a little better before she left. More like her old self.

 

I think they made the right decision in showing so much of Ruby, because as much as we may worry about the "bigger" characters, we know most of them will be safe. We went through the process of dying with Ruby, and unlike some actors on the show who are good at certain things but not at that type of drama, Alycia Eyo really managed to play all the beats, as did Laura Norton as Kerry, who was absolutely superb. I actually cried during these scenes - they moved me that much. It also made the whole thing feel more "real" to me than, say, when Dawn Woods died, and there was mostly a lot of weeping and wailing from various characters.

 

Without those scenes, I would have still had a high opinion of the episode, thanks to the performances and the wonderful direction and decent scripting (Owen whatever the rest of his name is has really impressed me with this script and the two when Robert was holding Aaron at the lodge), but it would have felt more boilerplate to me. And I would have been more annoyed by the heavy, intrusive focus on Ross/Debbie/Pete, complete with a final scene that belonged to Ruby IMO.

Agree about the stunts. I saw a sneering article in The Guardian (sneerfest central at that paper, sad to say) about how soaps were stunted out and since they were garbage anyway, they should just have stunts all the time. And I have seen more focus on the stunt, and the CGI not being great, than anything else. The show and ITV brought that on themselves by hyping it up, but it still sucks that the episodes after, like last night's, won't get as much attention.

 

From what Kate Oates said in an interview, she felt the Spencers "ran their course." I take it that means Ali will be gone soon (we know Rachel will be). Dan mostly exists as a single character and a duo with Kerry, so I guess they'll stay. I do wonder why Ali wasn't there - not to be rude, but I wonder if they felt the actress wasn't up to the material.

 

As for Val,

[DRW50]

Goodbye Ruby, from ITV.

 

http://ryanhawleys.tumblr.com/post/125946162257

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

For such a minor character her death really made me feel sad. The actors playing Dan and Kerry really sold the ish and had just praying a miracle would happen. 

 

Cain is a grade A !@#$%^&*] for how he treats Kyle. 

[DRW50]

 

I’d like to believe that ITV pushing the stories forward a month, if what Kate Oates said in her interview today is correct, is what has caused the Chrissie and Aaron and Robert story to become so poor for quite a while now, with such confusing, terrible characterization, so little attention to detail, and such a general feeling of pointlessness. It’s too bad, as this, unlike the Debbie/Ross/Pete mess, could have been a great, popular story with more effort. Any effort. The ratings for the reveal prove it.

Unfortunately I also have a feeling this may not be changing anytime soon, so it’s hard for me to expect much. Just one crumb or another crumb, here and there.

The saddest part is all this was done for ITV to help Corrie, which is still a mess, year-round, year after year. Other than the Peter/Ken/Tracy goodbye episode to Deirdre, the only well-written scene I can remember on there recently was Kim Tate telling Jason Grimshaw what a hot ass he has. At least, for once, the writing was honest.

Edited August 6, 2015 by DRW50

[Ben]

I think that's where the British sense of humour gets lost in translation. It's not a sneerfest, just sarcasm/deadpan that is clearly not great in print. If we're talking about the same article, then it was just saying that original stunts are impossible to come about, as one soap or another has already done it. It wasn't saying anything soap fans don't already know.

 

I took that to mean all of the Spencers will be leaving. I feel that's less b/c they've run their course, and more b/c they've never been popular and never will be. I do think this whole story with Ali visiting Sean in the burns unit was done to form part of Ali's eventual exit, and Ruby's death will probably be the catalyst for it.

 

 Firstly, it's so rare to see a soap producer do the media circuit like Kate Oates is doing, which I like; more producers should be more TV interviews, as you get a different set of questions thrown at them than actors do. 

 

Secondly, I think she was very diplomatic with her answers, but still managed to hint at ITV's influence. I guess the stunt was never planned for the summer after all (if it was ever planned - it does feel like a network kinda idea). It's difficult to say which stories were fast-forwarded, but I guess the Aaron/Robert/Chrissie story is an obvious choice, as it did descend into plot-driven territory quite randomly. Shame they didn't think it was best to FF through the Jai/Rachel saga a month instead. It certainly feels like ITV are wanting to push Corrie in time for ITV's anniversary... maybe they didn't want ED to show it up?

 

Last night's episode was awesome. The pacing was really good. I loved the amount of time they spent lingering on Ruby, as they made me care about her character, and I hadn't cared for her in all of the 4 years she's been with the show. I loved the character development for Kerry, who really stepped up. Loved all the misdirection with who may die: Joanie looked dead, but then she was fine; Diane has that head injury, and Val keeps saying she doesn't look good; Debbie is unconscious - is she dead? I actually think Debbie could be a possible causality, just b/c she's could be seen as a "beloved character", and Charlie Webb is pregnant... Right now, it actually could be anyone (within reason), and that's quite a rare moment in soap for it to be that unpredictable. I wonder if we'll get a death of a character who previously walked away unscathed only to drop down dead later?

[NothinButAttitude]

Glad that The Guardian sees what I am talking about. And as for Val, I am glad that it went that route. But I AM not pleased with the fact that Ross was killed too! Damn them to hell!!!

Edited August 6, 2015 by Nothin'ButAttitude