Emmerdale: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

The hair and makeup remind me of this:

 

http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/natalia-kills.jpg

[DRW50]

So...Joanie getting her happy wedding with the inevitable Zak/Lisa reunion signposting (couples we're supposed to see as endgame don't have the ex-wife walking away in tears as the closing scene) pretty much signals Joanie dying, right? It's too bad in a way, as Denise Black gave a wonderful performance in this episode (her first since this awful story began), but it's too little too late with the character.

 

Thomas Atkinson is also doing superb work lately, but I tend to think it's too late for Lachlan as well. It's too bad it took this long for a producer to make an effort with him beyond ambiguous rapist.

[TimWil]

 

Louise Marwood's hair and make-up make her look like a vamp in a Noel Coward comedy like Hay Fever. And this is not a compliment considering she's on a contemporary soap.

 

Yes, it seemed all too likely going from tonight's episode that Joanie's dying and will be gone by Christmas.

 

 

[Bright Eyes]

I can't help it; I'm totally excited for this surprise sister revelation. Amy Walsh was great yet again tonight. She's very good at bringing across how pained her life has been. Even those light scenes where she had no clue what a wedding portfolio was, had a glimpse of sorrow to it, knowing she never had someone in her life to let her in on something that most little girls take for granted.

 

It was a bit of a hell yeah moment that Andy plead not guilty, but then I was met with instant dread knowing what that could mean for Rakesh. I look forward to when Chrissie starts to show more of her true colours. I hope Priya gets a chance to claw her eyes out.

[DRW50]

I was more caught up in the whole Andy trial drama than I thought I would be. I hate most soap trials, but thanks to Kelvin's performance (one of his best in a while) I could feel the dread and sickness in Andy. The bit where Rakesh told him to plead guilty and he staggered back was especially good. And I was all ready to write a post saying Emmerdale just knocked off Eastenders for escape plans featuring short-tempered morons with loose zippers and perfect backsides, but as ludicrous as Andy running through a court and a parking lot and Emmerdale village in broad daylight was...it all worked somehow. It felt genuinely suspenseful. There were some little character moments I loved too, like Diane telling Bernice alcohol wasn't the answer, then swigging her drink. And when I saw Andy in that cell I couldn't help thinking back to when Jack was in a similar cell, on trial for Sarah's death. A part of me wishes they'd brought that up, but it would have been the same forced history-mining I criticize Eastenders for.

 

There was also a nice bit of light and shade with the Lisa name change alongside the drama, and the wedding plans, although I'm disappointed that we're going back to another round of Leyla disapproving of Tracy and seeing her as a gold-digger. If you're going to dig for gold, you can go a lot further than a seriously ill man who has two young kids and whose main income is a shop that has no customers (and when they did have a customer yesterday, David threw him out!). It's demeaning to Leyla and to relationships between women to frame it this way, rather than Leyla opposing the wedding because David isn't thinking clearly. 

 

The scenes with David and Frank were good (Michael Praed felt surprisingly natural), and I'm willing to see where the sister twist with Vanessa and Tracy will go. It was good to see Tracy get a moment of dramatic acting as well.

 

The strained attempt at conversation between Moira and Cain, with Charity lurking and looming, was one of the first moments of their breakup that didn't feel rushed. I felt so sorry for Holly, more than anything else, as she was trying her best.

 

The way the stories were intertwined, with characters commenting on the plots around them, but in a natural way, was a nice touch.

Edited August 12, 2016 by DRW50

[DRW50]

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[NothinButAttitude]

@DRW50, hold me! 

 

I can't believe that Andy is gone! Those scenes with Bernice and Robert....

 

That stupid bitch, Chrissie....

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[Bright Eyes]

Hopefully this works for you guys. https://uk.proxfree.com/permalink.php?url=s54aaHA%2FaGsaD5vHs0QZLcUclS%2FcUxrnNZwEMCiA0I9aeXwYKakXOV%2BaKYcXfY20GTrk1eWfdc05HAd%2FWXT29w%3D%3D&bit=1

[NothinButAttitude]

That was cute!

 

Ryan Hawley lying down the photo of Karl Davies was hilarious! 

[DRW50]

Thank you. That was so much fun, especially Jane Cox saying he was a cross between Ross Kemp and someone from Brookside. Some think that Samantha Giles' "Andy Sugden IS Emmerdale" is a knock on DTC's "Barbara Windsor IS London." I don't know, but it makes me laugh. 

 

This version has the real goodbyes too:

 

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[DRW50]

With the exception of one story, I enjoyed the episode more than I thought I might have going in. 

I wouldn't have been against a little bit with Victoria and Diane, but Andy's strongest dramatic relationships in recent times were with Robert and Bernice, so it was fitting that all of his scenes were with them. I imagine a lot of the view of this episode would depend on how one feels about Andy and Bernice - for me they have great chemistry and they're both people who are restless and needy, so I could believe that they do love each other as much as they're able to love anyone and that she would contemplate running away with him. I never believed he was in love with Chrissie, so I wasn't bothered that he went from her to Bernice. I know some fans feel the stuff with Bernice, and his quasi-reconciliation with Robert, are a betrayal of Katie, but I never liked Andy/Katie and I wish I could forget Katie's death story ever happened, so I just can't be upset about it. A part of me wishes his final scene had been with Robert - Ryan and Kelvin work brilliantly together and it's the strongest element of Ryan's work in the role - but Kelvin and Sam Giles were wonderful in those last, honest scenes of parting. In some ways, it wasn't a huge exit for 20 years, but given that the door is open and that Andy isn't that type of story-dominating, emotionally resonant character, I thought it fit as a goodbye to him and as a way to move on the stories of those he's leaving behind. 

 

On paper I don't think I'd be thrilled with Tracy/Vanessa sisters but it's been OK so far (aside from their pointless insta-feud). It helps that Michael Praed brings something to the role of Frank, and Amy Walsh and Michelle Hardwick are also doing good work. I don't mind David and Tracy when they're the way they were in this episode, without all the wedding obsession and pushiness. 

 

I don't mind Carly and Marlon together, or the awkwardness and misunderstandings, but the scenes of April being so unpleasant are unbearable. I hate when soaps have kids act like brats, or act like mini-adults. They should be better than this with April. It doesn't work for her. I have no need to see her locking Pearl away and belittling Pearl as an "old fogey" and then seeing this coddled and seen as rational and understandable. Turning on the tears doesn't mean it's any better.

Edited August 17, 2016 by DRW50

[Adamski]

So, currently on the run from the law, we have: Amy (Kyle's mother); Declan; Kirin and now Andy. Anybody I've missed? I find these exits really unsatisfying.

And is anybody else feeling like Charity's return has been a damp squib? Why couldn't we have seen her at rock bottom, having to rebuild her life after prison? There is no lasting sense that she was even in prison for a year - much like Pete, she has just returned and carried on. There is so much story that both characters could have had from their time inside. (Not least the fact that Moira raised another woman's child for a year, which was barely given any screen time). Pete could definitely be damaged from prison, yet he is nowhere to be seen. 

Charity in The Woolpack is such a limp lettuce compared to the Charity who was Lady Macbeth to Declan. And where is Megan in all this? Her son died because Declan was gunning for Charity, yet we've had one confrontation scene that I can recall this year. Likewise with Jai. 

Lastly, Jenna Coleman was interviewed in the Guardian this week. She was asked about Emmerdale, but not if she'd ever return. (Probably because the answer's obvious).

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/20/jenna-coleman-victoria-doctor-who-put-in-box

[DRW50]

I prefer on the run stories to death or prison, if it's done right. I think all the on the run stories have been OK so far, but I get your point.

 

I'm not that bothered by the lack of Megan in Charity's story, because what can be said at this point, it would just be bitching on both sides, but I do wish she had more interaction with Jai.

 

It seems like Megan just appears to fulfill episode guarantees. I know Gaynor Faye enjoys the show and uses her light schedule to help her mother, but I really wonder if this is the last year for Megan.

 

I think Charity has changed a fair amount (she's a lot more desperate and self-loathing than she was before she went inside), but I'm not sure if it's intentional. I enjoy her in the Woolpack - far more than Chas these days, sadly. But from some spoilers I've heard I'm not sure how much longer she'll be there anyway.

 

I loved Jasmine. I always will. If not for Jasmine I don't think I could have put up with Clara in Matt Smith's last season. I can see why she feels she stayed too long, but I'm glad she stayed as long as she did. Her last months on the show were superb. 

 

Jenna wasn't on the show for 5 years, but that sloppiness signifies what The Guardian is becoming. 

 

1991 bts feature with interviews from Norman Bowler, Jean Rogers, Sally Knyvette, Frazer Hines.

 

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Edited August 22, 2016 by DRW50

[DRW50]

Another day and another installment of the Dingles needing to find reasons to be morally outraged at a nearby target. One of their favorites, of course, being Charity. 

 

I'm going to talk about Chas here as they seemed to put the most focus on her moral outrage, and she said very bizarre things. 

 

"Everything you do bounces back on that till. We run a pub together. Marlon works here. Me and you live together." 

 

Is she talking about criminal schemes? She sort of knew that...given that she wanted Charity to buy part of the pub immediately after Charity got out of prison for fraud!

 

Is she talking about dangerous behavior? Is that like when her son smashed a bottle over a man's head in a pub full of punters and gloated about it to police? Wouldn't that "bounce back on the till" more than Charity helping Belle with her pregnancy problems or Charity being involved in stupid criminal plots away from pub premises? 

 

"The fool. The massive walking disaster."

 

Who is she talking about again? The woman who had an affair with her niece's boyfriend while her niece's child was battling cancer? The woman who went on trial for murder because her ex was blackmailing her and her niece's boyfriend let her take the blame for his crime? A man who went on to cheat on her and murder her sister? Or is she talking about the woman who helped cover up the circumstances of her best mate's death, complete with convincing the family of her best mate's suicidal husband that he was deluded when he realized what had happened to her?

 

No point in even saying a thing about Aaron's reaction, given that Charity only needed to say one word to shut him down ("Robert"). 

 

I have no time for hypocrisy on such a scale. And frankly, Chas and Aaron didn't even seem THAT bothered by Belle's disappearance - it just seemed like an excuse for a tongue-lashing. 

 

It's a bunch of bullshit. 

Edited August 23, 2016 by DRW50

[Bright Eyes]

It didn't bother me when Chas was chastising Charity for trying to break up Cain and Moira, but this was absolute dreck for her. Just "pee on the stick, bitch" Chas is truly dead and gone, but at least she got rid of those ugly bangs. And it may seem strange to say, but Aaron shouldn't have been giving any attitude towards Charity. She is his elder, he needs to get in line and let the adults deal with it, at not judge her to her face. Though I am liking that they are letting Lisa be the one to rail Charity and Jermaine over the coals. She usually has to be the peacemaker when she's the one that deserves to be the most angry. Still, this is an exact reason why when I spew my wish to rid the show of the Dingles, I always spare Charity. She doesn't need them, and has always soared without them anyway. I'd love her to run the Pub on her own, hire some hunky playboy piece of ass as a new barman, another hot totty for a bar maid who she barbs with, but also finds herself caring for and mentoring, and someone older/wiser who she leans on to take care of business while she slacks, while Marlon can scoff at it all. Though he's another I couldn't stand for a long time after the awful Laurel/Marlon travesty, the Donna/alcoholic Laurel storylines, and now his pairing with Carly, have revived him back in to my good graces. Plus, I always feel it comes off so forced when he's made to be part of the Dingle circle jerk. I do, however, am dreading the return of Paddy.