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EE: Too many secrets?!


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Old 14-10-2014, 10:02
Camzarella
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I am loving EastEnders at the moment and am enjoying the pace of it, however, I have been wondering if there are too many secrets at one time. Maybe be it would work better if they were spread over a year or so rather than having several impending reveals?!

I've counted 9 secrets:
Lindas rape
Mick is Shirley's son
Nick is alive
Alfie burnt the house down
Aunt Babe knows where Shirley is
Aunt Babe knows where Sylvie is
Aleks Wife is on the Square
Shirley shot Phil (Only a handful of people know)
Who killed Lucy and the secrets linked (Her purse, Billys creepy shrine book etc)

What are your thoughts?
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Old 14-10-2014, 10:18
Firegazer
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I feel like Billy was hiding that for Lola.

Then again, I still think Lola's the killer.
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Old 14-10-2014, 10:23
lou_123
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Way too many!
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Old 14-10-2014, 15:52
ElleFCee
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I love secrets!!
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:03
KatrinaK
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I agree. It's a bit too excessive. There is also Shabnams secret to come out.

I understand what DTC is doing. Way better than too many affairs but I don't think he has struck a healthy balance just yet.

Secrets are great to shock, entertain and develpe characters and arcs.It gives the writers opportunities to write some brilliant stuff. However sometimes its nice for viewers to go through all the emotions, ups and downs, journey etc with the characters.

There is a bit of a over reliance with secrets at the minute.
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:10
joe gillott
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Stacey's key as well
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:11
coffee_monster
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Is the fact that Mick and Linda aren't actually married still a secret?
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:41
The_abbott
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I agree. It's a bit too excessive. There is also Shabnams secret to come out.

I understand what DTC is doing. Way better than too many affairs but I don't think he has struck a healthy balance just yet.

Secrets are great to shock, entertain and develpe characters and arcs.It gives the writers opportunities to write some brilliant stuff. However sometimes its nice for viewers to go through all the emotions, ups and downs, journey etc with the characters.

There is a bit of a over reliance with secrets at the minute.
I agree and you can have good storytelling without secrets if you care about the characters of course! - which is why some characters work out more popular than others.
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:46
Scrabbler
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I like it to be honest, we don't know what's going to happen with these secrets and mysteries and it makes the show less predictable and formulaic.
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Old 14-10-2014, 16:49
MrJames
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No I LOVE it. It's the viewer's fault if they can't keep track of them all.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:01
Camzarella
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We'll soon have Linda's pregnancy to contend with too.

I LOVE EE at the mo as I said but I just wonder if after a while we will eventually become desensitised from the shock value of a big reveal in the future, seeing as there are so many upcoming ones?

Imagine if, at the time of the big Kat/Zoe reveal, there were several other massive secrets, would it have been so iconic? Wouldn't we have forgotten it within a few weeks as we would have moved on to the next 'big thing'. I'm sort of playing devil's advocate.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:02
Joe_Zel
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To be honest, soaps run on secrets. Think on most of the story lines in all the soaps, 90% of them hinge on a character keeping information from another character.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:02
KatrinaK
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I agree and you can have good storytelling without secrets if you care about the characters of course! - which is why some characters work out more popular than others.
Yep, sometimes it's nice to just share things with the characters. I'm just remembering gems like Ian's backrupsy, Little Mo's abuse and Stacey's bi-polar. They were experiences we got to share with the characters, making that emotional connection. I miss that.

Sometimes secrets can be just as good. "You aint my muvva" is the mother of all secrets and what a fantastic one that was. Danielle being Ronnie's daughter was another successful one, as was not knowing who Shot Phil, Who Killed Archie and one of my personal favourites, the fall out from Syed being gay.

Therefore secrets are just as good to execute solid drama.

I just think at the minute, there isn't a healthy balance. There is just too much of a reliance on keeping things hidden. I mean it can be great in developing characters, given them a backstory and getting the viewers to understand why and how they tick. This is especially true for new characters but it doesn't need to be this excessive. Personally speaking, I have no interest in the Lucy plot. As a viewer, I feel totally alienated and disconnected from it all. However, I do care about Linda's plot because I sympathise with her and I understands her reasons for keeping quite. That story at least feels character-driven.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:26
Deschanel
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There is just too much of a reliance on keeping things hidden. I mean it can be great in developing characters, given them a backstory and getting the viewers to understand why and how they tick. This is especially true for new characters but it doesn't need to be this excessive. Personally speaking, I have no interest in the Lucy plot. As a viewer, I feel totally alienated and disconnected from it all. However, I do care about Linda's plot because I sympathise with her and I understands her reasons for keeping quite. That story at least feels character-driven.
I think there are too many secrets running at the same time. Some feel quite natural and organic, while others feel as if they are a secret for the sake of being a secret. Sometimes it's good character development for characters to talk to/confide in each other (instead of keeping everything hidden, which means there ends up being a lot of repetitive behaviour on screen). Some of them lack an emotional connection, like Lucy's murder mystery, which I feel quite alienated from, too; it's plot driven, and as such characters are acting suss b/c the plot dictates it, and not b/c it's character-driven.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:45
Hendra
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Ronnie murdering Carl is technically still a secret since only the Mitchell clan know about it.
Shabnam also a has a secret that we're not aware of.
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Old 14-10-2014, 17:50
benbenalen
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Keep them coming, most welcome, and the surprises too, love them,

I hope Mick gets a story of his own again.
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Old 14-10-2014, 19:29
Kim_x
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Ian/Jane also isn't common knowledge. I think it's only Masood and Shabnam that know.

There's also Ronnie killed Carl, Jay was on the bus, Jay and Ben buried Lucy's stuff, and the rot in hell note, written by Whitney.

Mick and Linda not being married is still a secret. Only Dean and Sharon know.
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Old 14-10-2014, 19:34
ArtyAttack
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Agree with the OP. The show seems to be existing on 'secrets' storylines and have characters acting far too gullible because of it.
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