Sorry to start yet another thread about ED, but I'm seeing some wildly enthusiastic reviews of crash week around - here on DS and in the Metro. A Masterclass, etc etc. It's nice to see ED getting some credit, but now it's over, but I'm a bit surprised. There were cracking bits, and some not so good.

So what did you like/not like? Or do you agree the whole thing was genius?

Things I really liked:

* The drama with Chrissie/Robert/Lawrence, and Rob worming his way back in at Home Farm
* Ruby/Kerry/Dan scenes were really moving - they all played a blinder
* Val/Diane/Eric were absolutely heartbreaking, including Eric's last view of her - though I wish they hadn't killed her off.
* Finn put in a nice performance as well, he made me sit up and take notice of him for the first time in a long time. Glad he pointed out that Val is what mattered, not Debbie/Pete, zzzzzz
* some of the explosions were quite boomy, and the mirror maze scenes were clever.

Things I really didn't like:

* The tedious Debbie/Pete/Ross triangle. All I got out of it was Pete's an idiot, Ross has become a tosspot, and Debbie was just using one for security and one for sex. No chemistry, no reality. They basically wrecked Ross, one of their best characters for years. And worst of all, it STILL DOESN'T SEEM TO BE OVER.
* Ross's "exit" (or is it? etc etc). If that was his exit, it was crap. If it wasn't, not sure I care. Am I supposed to be intrigued? I'm not, I just feel really unsatisfied. Meh.
* I can't quite believe I'm still stuck with tedious characters like James, Jai, Marlon, Tracy, Aaron and Debbie.

So I don't know. Yes, I cried. Let's just say parts were excellent, but the whole didn't grab me like the Cameron seige did in the end. Am I being unfair? I'll just sneak away now.

I think this week was just what was needed for Pete - it's changed his character for the better as it's given him an edge now.

Was a brilliant week if action packed must see tv. Some superb acting along the way .

I am a relatively new viewer to Emmerdale - I have watched EE/HO on/off for years but never really watched Emmerdale, until recently. Since then I have started to watch some old Emmerdale episodes on the internet and have totally loved them as well. I am definitely a new fan!

What I liked:

- Cain saving his son. Lovely scenes and I'm so glad Cain survived this week and this story has a chance to develop
- the Ross is/isn't he dead plot. I think its intriguing and well done. I do believe he is alive and will return soon but the show has still kept that element of doubt there that he is dead
- The scenes where Ruby died. So sad
- Chrissie. I really like her and am pleased she has got a chance to shine. Her story now is one of the most intriguing on the show and her being responsible is a good way to "flip" the story on its head - its all been about her husband and Aaron and now it will be more about her
- Val/Eric. I thought those scenes were lovely. I was a bit "WTF" when I saw Val sitting there on Friday's episode but I thought it was so well done I can accept it

What I did not like:

- Debbie/Ross - whilst I like the intrigue of Ross's disappearance I am not a fan of the pairing so far. I've seen all the declarations of love and feelings between them but it doesn't wash with me. Not blaming the actors but it all seems so rushed and disjointed. I also don't see any chemistry.

- The Ross van thing. I really like Cain's character but I don't understand what he did there. I assume he expected Ross to never escape from the van and even if he did, never thought he would jump out. It would have made more sense for him to have backed the van against a wall or something. Plus Ross escaping the ropes, bashing the doors down, surviving the fall, getting out of the water (how, it seemed a hell of a drop, how did he climb out?) then running to the village and then to the hospital? All seemed a bit silly even for a soap.

- The lack of serious or any injuries. I am glad everybody that survived did but far too unrealistic that so many survived with barely a scratch. I know it is difficult for continuity but it took away from the episodes that apart from Debbie no one else was injured and taken to hospital.

I totally agree with all you've said, although Finn did quite annoy me. I did like what he said about Val being more important than Debbie's infidelity, though.
Ruby/Kerry/Dan was fantastic, I'm glad they gave such lovely writing to smaller characters. It was the highlight of the week for me, especially Kerryman.
Diane/Val was a bit silly at first but the actual death was stunning; sad, funny, showed significant development in her character right at the end, and just as ridiculous as Val herself.
Cain/Kyle, despite the contrived nature of trying to get Cain to accept/care about the boy, was great and very touching.
Chrissie/Robert/Lawrence was good, although not anything particularly special. Could have been normal Thursday episodes really.

The rest fell totally flat for me. There was no atmosphere at the wedding since half the characters were missing, hardly anyone was there, there was so little reaction from anyone but Pete to the recording (obviously there wasn't much time before the crash, but still.) There was little sense of community, occasion or spectacle, which is far too common in soap supposedly big events these days. Yes it presumably costs more to get more of the cast together but so what, if you're calling it the biggest thing in the show's history you can spend some money to have the characters there. I wouldn't call it the biggest thing this year in terms of community/character involvement.
I also think there needed to be more formality and actual wedding-yness about it, it all seemed far too casual and skipped so much of what the preamble and ceremony would be like. Granted we don't need every detail of every reading, song, present and horseshoe, but it needs to feel real. It just didn't, it was more like a coffee morning than a wedding.
For all Debbie's faults I don't believe for a second that she'd calmly ask her dad to get rid of Ross by murder if necessary. She'd probably ask him to keep Ross away from the wedding and try to get him to leave the area, but no way would she ever want him dead. She would do and has done plenty of bad stuff, but not that. I'm certain she'd be horrified both at the prospect of her dad committing murder and of Ross being dead, especially after Cameron.
Speaking of Cameron, are they really going to recreate him with Pete only two years later? Terrible idea if so. Besides anything else Anthony Quinlan isn't nearly a good enough actor for such a story. Also what I think worked about the Cameron story was that he was alright and reasonably likeable at times before he killed Carl, Pete has never been likeable. I'm aware I'm in a minority on DS but I've never found him a "nice guy" at all, I think he's a ****. Probably not helped by Quinlan shouting all his lines and sounding aggressive all the time. The drug dealing thing was swept under the carpet in five seconds and instantly forgiven, but if it were someone like Aaron, Ross or Robert it certainly wouldn't be, they'd be vilified for it. Not to mention now bundling his brother into a car boot and leaving him in the woods... For all Ross's many crimes and misdemeanours, he'd never have done that to Pete imo. For Finn's sake if nothing else, if the boot was on the other foot Ross would have got Pete help.
I think there were a lot of pacing issues, they seemed to spend ages focussing on one little thing and then ten seconds on something much bigger. It didn't build tension and have good payoff for me, it was just frustrating. At times I actually found myself getting bored. Quite a few posters seem to be of the opinion that anyone finding it dull must be a twitter tween with no attention span but sorry, there was a lot of repetition and stuff that just wasn't very exciting. No one wants Hollyoaks type shit with two million explosions and no characters, but if they hype it up to be a huge disaster it should kind of be that. It really wasn't a proper soap disaster in my opinion, it was vastly, vastly overhyped. I was expecting a lot more surprises, excitement and drama. There was only Ross/Pete that was remotely surprising, everyone had guessed Ruby and Val would die. There are loads of terrible characters that could have been killed off for the drama this week and been no loss to future stories.
There wasn't much coherent sense of death, destruction and disaster; people who got out in one piece didn't even have minor injuries, no ripped clothes, weren't covered in anyone else's blood, nor dust and residue... Debbie was supposedly badly injured but didn't have a mark on her. It really didn't give an impression of the chaos that would be going on. And there were only a couple of people who seemed very worked up/hysterical; obviously not everyone reacts the same way, but I thought there needed to be more hysteria. It all felt very "meh" in that respect.

I enjoyed the week overall.

However the thing that really stands out for me is how the characters did not play second fiddle to the stunt, it was all about the characters. And, how the stunt brought all of the storylines together & progressed them.

Overall I have loved the whole week, and have constantly been praising it, as I have been doing for Emmerdale for a good year or so as for me it is the best soap right now, but as others have said, it did still have faults.

Good points:

Chrissie & Robert scenes.
These two are just brilliant together. Whether they are madly in love, or at each others throats, you can't deny how well the two actors work with each other. The scrap yard scenes were just fantastic, and their following scenes showing the horror in their faces as they realised how bad things were was just great. Can't wait to see where things go from here for them both.

Diane & Val (and Eric)
Diane and Val have always been amazing, both as standalone characters, and when they are together, but when they are together you could actually believe they were really sisters. You could see the love they had for each other, even when fighting.
The hall of mirrors scene was amazingly done, both in a filming/directing aspect, and an acting/emotional aspect. Of course the biggest part was when they were both trapped, and how you could see genuinely how much they loved each other, when they reached out to hold hands, and when Val noticed the giant shard of glass above her, but let her sister leave first was just so lovely.
And of course the last scenes with Val talking to the glass were just perfect IMO. Her "I'm HIVAL" and basically taunting the glass were just Val all over and it was brilliant to add a bit of comedy to her death.
I know the next Val scenes seemed to cause a lot of mixed reactions amongst viewers, but for me, again they were just perfect.
When Eric sat down on an empty sofa, they we suddenly see Val sitting there looking immaculate, I nearly screamed with joy. Despite having eyes full of tears, I loved watching the two of them having one final chat and goodbye, Val even getting to have another ciggie. Like with Diane and Val, you could see the love these two had for each other, and that's what made it even more emotional, as you saw the pain in Eric's eyes when he finally realised she was truly gone.

Ruby, Dan and Kerry.
Loved these scenes. Yes Ruby may never have been a major character, but that didn't stop the scenes being any less powerful or emotional. Kerry for me was the star of the scenes though, how she stepped up to the plate and wouldn't leave Ruby was so lovely. At the same time you could see the pain is Dan's eyes when he realised there was nothing he could do, and he was going to lose her. I'm actually glad Emmy dedicated so much time to these 3 as it was just lovely.

Debbie, Pete and Ross
I've never been a big fan of affairs in soaps so was never really a big fan of this story, but there was something about it that still drew me in. I guess it was the actors involved, whom I all love, made it more powerful. The look or horror and upset in Pete when he heard the recording, and the look or horror and shame in Debbie.
Ross of course played a blinder in all his scenes, as the actor always does. When he arrived at the hospital you could see he truly did love Debbie when he thought she had died.
I must be one of the few who actually liked the scenes with Pete and Ross. It summed up their relationship perfectly. Never agreeing or really getting on, but this time their disagreement went a step too far, but my god that bit when Ross cracked his head looked SO real! I actually winced in pain when it happened.
Despite losing Ross, I am really looking forward to seeing the future with Pete. Where will he go from here, Will Ross's body be found, and if it does, will Cain get the blame. Will anyone suspect Pete. Is Ross truly dead? I love how they left these stuff leaving us all guessing.
I will be mentioning these three again in the bits I didn't like as well.

Finn
WOW! I have never really thought much about Finn before. I've always liked him but he's never stood out, until now. When he found out about Val dying was just heartbreaking. Here he proved was a good actor he actually is. You felt his pain and sadness. And it was just perfect when he stood up to his mum and dad telling them Pete and Debbie are not important as Val and others had just died. Brilliant!

Cain
Well we all know how brilliant he is anyway, but when he refused to leave when trying to save Kyle was brilliant. This was the first moment we could see how much he did care for his son, and his speech was so lovely. So glad he managed to save little Kyle and get out alive.
Also want to give full credit to Moira! Her screams of pain when the village hall blew up were so haunting.

Filming, direction and overall feel of the episodes.
This is something i've always thought Emmerdale does best out of all the soaps. How they film the episodes. Even with normal episodes they are great, but when they have big events they seem to go the extra 10 miles to make them extra special. Even things like the slow panning shots at the beginning of episodes, the brilliant transitions between scenes such as Ross in the lake changing to Adam's pint, and of course the shard of glass falling then Pete closing the car boot. They are nothing short of movie transitions.
The wide shots and flying overhead shots again were perfect, showing the terror and destruction taking place.
Also need to give them full credit for the scenes in the hall of mirrors. I know they constructed this set from scratch, but how they managed to get so many shots, including moving shots, without any equipment or crew ever being seen was amazing. Well done!!


Bad points:

Debbie, Pete and Ross
As mentioned earlier, I don't usually like affair storylines in soaps, and never really liked this one, even though I preferred it to most, mainly because of the actors involved being so good.
Why was Debbie so clean and looked unhurt when they got her out of the rubble? This annoyed me as Emmerdale are usually so good at make up and making injuries look believable, but not this time. Not a scratch on her head, no spots of blood anywhere, infact her dress looked like it had just had a clean! Why is it they got everyone else looking dirty and injured, but not Debbie??
Some of the Ross scenes also annoyed me. One minute he was tied up in the van, next time he has managed to get all the roaps off! How? Why not show any of it? Also when he was in the lake, did he drown deep down then when passed out did his body float to the edge, or did he manage to swim to the edge but then passed out from exhaustion? And to then suddenly wake up again with a throat full of water!
And how did he manage to get to the village and hospital on foot, quicker than the emergency services could??

Lack of villagers
This is one aspect that has really annoyed me, probably more than anything else.
It was such a huge week and big event, why were so many cast missing? I understand they couldn't have everyone involved in everything and all filming, but surely when the crash and explosions happened, some of them could have been seen coming out of their houses, even just for a few seconds, just to make it more believable. Why have the Sharmas, Kirin & Rakesh, Paddy, Edna etc etc show their faces, even just once?

More people should have been injured
In an event like this, yes not many may have died, but more would have been seriously injured. Where was the person with the broken leg? Where was the person with the huge cut up their arm? Where was the person who had to be put into a coma due to injuries?
All this could have been done. No one else would have had to be killed off, just have a few more in hospital. We didn't even have to have many scenes, just one or two to show them and done.

I'm sure there are more good and bad points i'm forgetting, but overall it was an amazing week of episodes, and showed just how good Emmerdale is at the minute!

So interesting that we like/dislike different things. A liked a lot, but just pick out a few things that struck me:




THIS! How much would it have cost them to have a few more broken bones, cuts, bruises? Most of them strolled out with barely a scratch, and a HELICOPTER JUST LANDED ON THEM. A bit silly really, and a shame to undermine all the good work.

The Ross/Cain van thing though - see, I didn't mind that, because that is what Cain does, it's an Emmerdale thing. He takes them to the quarry. I think all he was doing was getting Ross out of the way for the wedding, and trying to scare him. I don't think Cain thought for a second that Ross would get out and risk the drop.

But that was another bit of the story that didn't work. Why the hell was everyone so keen for Debbie to marry a man who she'd already been cheating on? Anyone with any sense - Cain, Moira, whoever - would have told her to break it off with both. Or just dump Pete, shag Ross and get it out of her system. But apparently there isn't anyone with any sense in Emmerdale, and the less said about that triangle the better - one of ED's biggest fails as far as I'm concerned.

Chrissie, Ruby/Kerry, and Val were absolute stars though.

I really enjoyed the Weeks episodes but like all these things they are over-hyped ; there was a super chance to have a bit of a clear out and it wasn't taken. All the crap characters are still in it and weve lost two excellent ones( albeit because the people who played them wanted to leave- they would never have been culled otherwise ) and one minor one.
A good week but like all these things out leaves you short changed.

Joanie could have died thus having Cain taking on their kid.

Jai could have died leaving the toffee factory closing down and all the staff losing their jobs giving storylines of hardship etc

Marlon simply because I can't ******* stand him and his characters run out of storylines anyway

Ali because she's an annoying cow and Rubys gone too.

Brenda do that Bob has to juggle the coffee shop and his ( non existant on screen) kids

Tracy as she's a hopeless actress and a crap character

Rodney because he's a silly old sod that adds nothing to the programme

Doug because he's boring as hell and could have thrown Laurel straight back onto the grog.

That( its just in my opinion), would have tightened the programme up and gave plenty of storylines for the future.

Yeah I'm surprised they didn't kill off Joanie. Then it could have opened for Cain to want a relationship with his son after saving him, and possibly lead to a custody battle between him and Kerry, which imo would have been good.

Marlon I can't really see the point of now him and Laurel are over, and I can't help thinking that killing him off would have been the best decision; could have spiralled Laurel out of control again and give April some material.

Val I wish they hadn't killed off. As I really liked the character I would have preferred to have seen a final twist; perhaps having Diane and Val freeing themselves and there was a further explosion; Diane and Eric assume she is dead but Val has gone along with her plan and fleeing abroad, although admittedly this would be very OTT and unbelievable and would have to see Eric leaving. Also, I did like Val's final scenes.

Agreed, and what happened to the fairground people? Not a sign of them since they arrived!

And wasn't that the most unconvincing policeman ever? The one who greeted Eric and the others when they came back to the village.

I thought it was a really good week. I think Emmerdale were really good at leaving you hanging for what happened next. Frustrating as hell but brilliant. I was in shock, I laughed, I cried, I was annoyed. There were lots of different emotions and I don't think there was a pause. Just kept coming, edge of the seat stuff.

The wedding - Well As usual Ross gets the majority of the blame from everyone. Granted not everyone knew why he was acting the way he was but Cain, Moira and Finn did know and had very little understanding for his situation. Because it's Ross they were happy to throw it all at him. Ross just takes it. Why Debbie seemed to escape her part in what she did as far as others were concerned. She knew what she did was wrong but Moira etc were happy to cover for her because they didn't want her with Ross? Never mind about Pete making a huge mistake. She loved Ross and was about to leave with him and changed her mind in 5 mins. Your feelings just don't change like that. The wedding itself was a little weird. There didn't seem to be much atmosphere. Especially when they were in the hall it felt very flat. Also the truth was always going to come out and it was just a matter of time when. For a few seconds I actually really felt for Pete. A character that has been really boring up until now.

The helicopter crash - I think it was well done. I actually really liked Chrissie and Robert's scenes. I am not a huge fan of Robert at all but I think it was a good way for it all to kick off. The horror on their faces and realising what was about to happen. Like a few have already said it is very strange that most of the villagers walked away without a scratch. This could have been done better and also where was the rest of the village? It was like everyone not at the wedding went on holiday at the same time. Would have been a lot better to see the panic from others not just those inside. Sarah breaking her little heart when Marlon went in to see the kids. I love April but Sarah stole the scene for me. And some bits were silly like Ross running from the cliff, to the village, to the hospital all before the emergency services arrive in the village

The Barton's - It is going to be really interesting seeing how the family react to what has happened. They were all pretty horrible to Ross and now that we know what has happened I am looking forward to seeing this all unfold. Ross was a pain in the ass most of the time but I genuinely believe he loved his family. He looked really hurt when Finn said what he did, you don't really see a lot of emotion from him as it just turns to anger. I think Finn is going to feel really guilty the most Pete really does seem to be golden boy especially with James. The way he kept saying how he was on his side whatever happened and how the whole drugs thing in the past that happened got swept under the carpet. I'm not sure how he is going to be able to live with himself. Ross has done a lot of bad things and Pete rightly so gives him a lot of grief but now the shoe is on the other foot. Will he feel the guilt?

Val and Eric - I thought these scenes were brilliant and it was good how it showed how Eric seen Val, it was spot on. If she really had been sitting there that's how he imagined how she would be reacting. That's how I seen it anyway.

The Deaths - Not impressed with who has died. I can take Ruby but Killing off Ross and Val? No I just don't like it. 2 really big characters. And now we are left with a lot of characters still that could well have left and not be that missed. Val is just hilarious and it won't be the same without her with Eric. Ross well I think he had a lot still to give. Not really understanding why you would kill him of straight after the reveal of the affair and him being Moses' dad. I would like to have seen him try and be involved with that. Michael Parr is such a fantastic actor and I think Emmerdale will really miss him as will the viewers, whether you liked or hated him it's going to be a lot quieter without him, is he really dead? Well I hope not and that the door is left open but we will just have to wait and see.

Sensationalist tosh.

I'm not a fan of mass deaths for the sake of it, but I'm amazed Joanie didn't die! Not that I've got anything against the actress. She wasn't even at risk - I could have seen her at least begging Cain to look after Kyle if she didn't get out, so he had some kind of dilemma.

Also agree with your assessment of Tracy.

Thanks for that insightful and well thoughtout review