There doesn't seem to be much of their relationship period on Youtube.

Zoe was a great character. I guess we'll probably never see her again.

I've screeched a few times before about Debbie being brought to Emmerdale. Having watched the first few months to a year of Brookside, Damon's death was a true tragedy. He was one of the sweetest characters in my time of watching and to know he died in such a thankless way is heartbreaking.

I consider Brookside one of 'my' soaps. I wonder if Channel ever did bring it back, if they would continue with it being in the same universe of Hollyoaks? In fact, that could be a good way to re-start the show. Someone leaving Hollyoaks and ending up at the close. Not Diane, of course. That would be hard to explain. LoL

Charity/Zoe was complicated, as it was part real and part Zoe struggling with schizophrenia and behaving irrationally (there was a horribly depressing scene where Chris was watching his sister in the institution and weeping hysterically), along with Charity manipulating her emotions to keep a foothold in the family. The show would go back to it here and there - when Charity was on trial for killing Chris (he'd actually committed suicide and framed her), she manipulated Zoe into testifying on her behalf. Zoe overheard her talking about her plans with her lawyer, and blasted her on the witness stand, further sinking her case. A few months before Charity's 2005 exit, she and Zoe buried the hatchet and clearly still cared about each other. (Charity's red-faced runt of a fiance, Tom King, stewed in the background)

Debbie/Jasmine was only ever a plot device for Debbie/Cain drama (Cain seduced Jasmine to make sure her relationship with Debbie ended, as his daughter being with a woman repulsed him; Jasmine got pregnant and Debbie, to pay him back for his betrayal, convinced Jasmine to have an abortion), then for Jenna Louise Coleman's exit, but they did have a following. The timing was off because most of their relationship took place a year or so before gay couples started getting big online fan followings ("McDean" were the first big one).

I would love to see that Charity/Zoe drama as anything with the Tates is fabulous IMO.

Anything with Debbie....

I thought this last episode was one of the best I've seen on any soap in a while. I noticed it was written by Karin Young, who has written many of the episodes that feel "real" (one of my favorites was the cot death story for Laurel and Ashley about 7 years ago).

I appreciated that every scene in the episode revolved around Katie's death, other than some brief bits with Priya, Rakesh, and Jai (even in soapland I have no idea how that man keeps a business going).

Some of the performances were better than others, but seeing the various reactions, from friends (Leyla, Vanessa, Chas) to loved ones, to people who barely knew her, or just didn't care much (Val's one-liner about how much she'd enjoyed the wedding was a classic), really made it stand out. We got to see an actual community, which is so rare on soaps these days.

Kelvin Fletcher was terrific in the final scenes, and I was impressed with the woman who plays Leyla too, but the Chas and Aaron scenes blew me away. It's been ages and ages since I've felt like they know how to write Chas or give Chas any purpose beyond being a mother or a girlfriend or a barmaid, so getting to see those awful self-destructive, nasty tendencies in her again were a welcome return. She felt like the "real" Chas again. I loved the scene where she cried to James that she was pushing Aaron away again, and Aaron was listening through the door. So "soapy" in the way soaps should be, so raw, so perfectly acted.

Great review of the episode, Carl.

I think what hit me the most, other than my poor Andy being in distress, is how seamlessly the real Chas "returned" in this episode. I can't remember the last time I felt glued to my screen watching her.

I was happily surprised when Vanessa popped into the Woolpack. That one small inclusion made Katie's death seem all the more real and painful.

My only complaint, which has to do with this whole story really, is that they focused way too much on Aaron. That last scene with him comforting Chas, it felt like the camera was frozen on his crocodile teared face. It made me sick.

I know its minor but does anyone know what Aaron was holding in his hand while his mom Chas was running outside the reception to find out about Katie. This episode is def going to be rough.

The Barton boys are being so mean to their momma. I swear I wanna beat Ross silly.

A piece of pint glass, I think.

Chas is quickly becoming another favorite of mine. Love how she dug in on Aaron's dumb ass about volunteering to visit that lady and then not being of any use. Her lashing out didn't offend me one bit. And the slap she gave him the next day was perfect. The whole scene was perfect from Aaron's revelation to him pleading with her not to reveal it.

I must say I wasn't impressed at all really by the guy who plays Andy. His attempts at portraying grief just weren't that moving. Heck even Chrissy had me more emotional than him and I can barely tolerate her.

I do hope Chas finds out the truth or Aaron comes clean and Robert does the time. Or at least is held responsible. Because what he did was very wrong and the more I think about it the more I just wish it had never happened because how can anyone ever trust him again after covering something like that up?

And Adam is half brother to Finn, Ross, and Pete right? has there been any relationship formed between Adam and them?

"You DON'T do shame."

Edited February 13, 201510 yr by ThePrinceOfSunspear

Before Adam found out he was James' son, he and Ross had a bit of a rivalry over Katie. I don't think he's close to any of them, as they seem very insular. I'm surprised he's even friendly with James.

The girl who plays Belle did a good job in her scenes yesterday, and I can't imagine how difficult this material is to play. I hope this is the end, as it seems to have gone on and on (some stories on this show go on and some are over in the blink of an eye). I still can't get used to seeing Cain as a hero, but Jeff Hordley manages to make it work. I really like Harriet.

The Paddy/Chas/Robert stuff seemed a little rushed.

I kept seeing some Aaron fans talk about how mean Adam was to him, but it can't have been much of a surprise, as he has no idea why Aaron is behaving this way. Adam's done much worse to Aaron in the past, surely...

I do wish Aaron had one person he could talk to.

Maybe he can talk to Gemma...

I'm sorry they've gone the psycho route with Emma, but she does entertain me.

Edited February 13, 201510 yr by DRW50

I can't remember if I posted this before, but it cracked me up. It's like an Emmerdale writer watched a lot of Lynch. And Dan's Cain impression is more than credible.

Another laugh - some of the purity brigade reactions to the most popular characters in this fan poll.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2052306

So I guess they're going to take Robert down the psycho Cameron road after all.

x infinity

Beyond the fact that this isn't even the first death Robert has caused, and he presumably hasn't gone around murdering people for a decade, this is such silly, stupid writing for a longtime, core character. I hate the term "legacy character," but that's what he is. Is that going to be sacrificed for some tease about whether he's going to bump off Chas or Paddy (when they obviously won't be leaving)? What a huge huge waste if they just make him another generic nutjob like Cameron, all for short-term "soap serial killer" drama.

I can't tell you how far my eyes went back in my head when I saw this.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a629070/emmerdale-robert-sugden-to-endanger-aaron-livesys-loved-ones.html

The other thing that annoys me is selling this as some type of “once you’ve done one” story just dismisses Katie’s death and the grief people (including Robert) feel. He didn’t intend to kill her, it wasn’t just a breeze for him. The story was supposedly going to be about his guilt and how he struggled. Instead it’s just about, “Who will he kill next?” and that doesn’t work, because obviously he isn’t going to kill anyone Aaron cares about, as I doubt any of those actors are leaving the show. So it will just be more hospital stays, and everyone is in the hospital constantly anyway.

The main beats of this story were about the affair, and Robert’s lies, and what his lies would cost him with his family. There’s no story if it all just ends in him killing or trying to kill people and being carted off. It’s not like Cameron, where no one in the village cared about him anyway. There’s so much story potential, years of story potential, in reactions to Robert and how Robert copes with people being angry at him and turning against him.

This also takes away most of the character development Aaron could have, because instead of it being about the lies he and Robert told and the consequences of those, it’s about Aaron being a victim and is Robert going to kill his family. It takes away his voice. It takes away what made him interesting as a character.

Soaps today think everything can be thrown out the window for a one or two day hostage crisis or serial killer saga that may boost ratings very briefly (which Katie’s death didn’t even do). There’s far more long-term potential in not doing these lame, lame “who will he kill next?” storylines that people have seen so many times they can’t even begin to care at this point.

Robert isn’t a generic psycho soap serial killer. He’s never going to be that, even if they try to put him in that role. Interest in the story will tank in no time at all, because that isn’t what any fan tuned in to this story wanting to see. People didn’t start watching Aaron and Robert because they were terrified for Aaron and wondered if Robert was going to garrote Chas. Hell, some of the fans I know would cheer him on if he did that. They just don’t have a read on fan reaction at all. It’s a big shame.

Edited February 16, 201510 yr by DRW50

So Aaron's become Gail Platt? LOL