Sorry, I know this has been asked a million times before but from the article in the below link, do you think it's safe to say that Dean has indeed got away with raping poor Linda???

If so, then I am confused and again seriously disappointed by that idiotic EP, DTC.

First of all there were loads of articles and interviews where several "inside sources" etc said that "JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED BUT NOT IN A WAY YOU THINK" and "DEAN WILL GET HIS COMEUPPANCE" etc and secondly I didn't think the producers would allow such a huge miscarriage of justice for such a popular character/family.

As usual, the storyline is being dragged out to the point where no one gives a sh*t anymore. Just like with the Lcy Beale and Stacey's Key storylines. I have been watching and waiting for nearly a year, hoping that the smug and nasty b*stard Dean would slip up and get found out, thus teaching that tough old cow Shirley a good lesson for totally disbelieving Mick and Linda without reason - but no such luck...

Anyway...here's the link... http://www.soapsquawk.co.uk/news/eas...da.php#results

Truth be told, after some of the stuff Eastenders has done this year, it's the first time EVER that it is seriously making me want to stop watching it for good.

There does not appear to be anything in the article to indicate that DTC has changed plans for this storyline. People just need to be patient and allow this come to it's natural conclusion. I think one of the aims of this storyline was to emphasise the need to report such thing early rather otherwise a conviction would become impossible.

BIB: With respect, I think waiting over a year for this storyline to pan out is being pretty patient...

yes

No he hasn't. The actor himself has said dean needs to pay. I reckon in years time matt will leave and that'll be the time dean pays.

why are people so upset, it happens in RL every day.

I think DTC makes the show for himself anyway...

Exactly justice isn't always served, I think it's a case of people not understanding that it's a soap and it's purpose is to tell stories.

I'm still waiting for Billy to get punished for stealing the mail!

I think the "problem" here is that normally in a situation like this, only the victim , family and friends know about it . The general population doesn't have first hand knowledge , people are aware that rapists get away with it but it's not really on people's radars until it happens to a close friend or family member.
Here every viewer knows what has happened and it's a bit like the fans at a football game trying to tell the referee he missed a foul and withheld the penalty kick .

The problem is that the writers thought they could just sweep the rape under the carpet and not let it affect Dean's characterisation. Not long after raping someone, we were back to Dean bantering with his customers and then searching for his long lost daughter like nothing had ever happened. And yes, people will inevitably say "but Dean doesn't believe he raped her" and "rapists always seem like nice, normal guys" but we haven't seen how this rape has affected Dean at all. There's been no development or any attention paid to his mental state; he's just gone back to how he was. So I have to ask, what was the point of it?

Dean was clearly supposed to have been written out in January/February but the writers changed their minds at the last minute - hence the whole "did Mick kill him?" nonsense which dragged on for weeks without any solid answers. The Carters have been held in limbo by this bizarre decision to keep Dean in the show as long as possible; Mick and Linda cannot move on while he's still there. This story needs to be wrapped up, it's dragged on for way too long and Dean's continued presence in the show is actually quite offensive. Dean is not a particularly interesting character, nor is he played by a good actor, so I really don't get what the big deal is.

There is nothing to justify keeping him on TV this long. I don't know why DTC extended his contract. There was potential for Dean during summer 2014, but the rape storyline ruined everything for him. At least with the likes of Trevor Morgan, he was always meant to be a villain, whereas with Dean the way he gets to live his life without anyone batting an eyelid. Plus Alex Ferns was 10 times the actor Matt Di Angelo is.

He's not even needed for the Jade stuff. Shirley, Buster, Shabnam can carry it, and hopefully they bring back Zainab for it too.

Dean is the worst current EE character.

Why do posters keep repeating the same tired old excuses about real life rapists getting away with it. If I want real life I watch the bloody news or Crimewatch. Eastenders is not a hard hitting drama it is a soap shown at 7.30 in the evening. If a soap decides to do something as sensitive as rape they have a duty to do it properly, instead Eastenders are hoping that their viewers are either idiots with an attention span of a gnat or just so in love with the show that they will accept any old tripe that gets put out and let Dean stay on the show acting as if nothing has happened until the actor decides he wants to go. Same goes for Ronnie the murdering baby snatcher.

Personally I'm find Dean fascinating, we need a episode for him where we find out what he is thinkinhg. Does he actually believe he didn't cause Linda any harm

They definitely changed things to allow Matt to stay longer which ruins the natural progression of a storyline. A good storyline has a beginning, middle and end but this doesn't seem to have had a middle or end and nothing in the near future. I think Mick kicking the crap out of him was meant to have been the 'justice'

We are supposed to feel sorry for Dean that he got attacked in prison or has a daughter he didn't know about?!?! - epic FAIL DTC. That are excuses to kee him around. And Shirley I cannot have ANY sympathy for either.

I think something will happen between Dean and Roxy (shame Ronnie's camera isn't still there to pick it up eh?!). I hope they don't go down the Ronnie kills Dean route. They need to be more clever than that hopefully. But my faith has been sorely tested lately

I don't think Dean has got away with it, Matt DA signed a year contract when his was up for renewal so I think Dean will be exposed at the end of this year/beg of next year. Ideally it will be before then though. Personally I hope he doesn't attack Roxy and get killed by Ronnie. I would rather he was exposed by Linda/Shirley. I think the story would have been better if Shirley had known from the start and we had explored a parents reaction to their child commiting this crime, it is understandable that Shirley would believe Dean but I thought his past and the fact that he attacked her before, would have come up. As well as exploring Linda's reaction. We have seen more of Mick/Lee/Nancy's in the Vic. Hopefully the story will head in this direction soon. Although I don't want to see Dean attack Roxy and get killed by Ronnie I can't see any other reason for his interaction with them. As I said I would prefer it ended with Linda/Shirley. (And of course Buster/Denise need to find out too, and Ian).

I agree.

I don't for one second think that Dean got away with it. He will be made pay in a big way, it's just a matter of when, not if.

Apart From block storytelling this is my biggest gripe with the show right now, the story needs to be concluded and Dean needs to pay. Does DTC think the character is redeemable, I for one won't be intrested in any other storyline centred around Dean with this unresolved.

Having the truth come out will also provide a way for Shirley to reconcile with her family.

I can understand the stance that in real life rapists sometimes get away with it and so I get why DTC didn't want Dean arrested charged and found guilty straight away. But we, the viewers, do know that he is guilty and want to see justice done and I think it's time to wrap it up and have him found out.

The "it happens in real life" excuses are completely null and void in a show where people come back from the dead.

We know it happens in real life; the point is EastEnders ISN'T real life. If you want to tell a story about a rape where the rapist effectively gets away with it, then soap is not the right genre in which to do it. This is precisely because soaps are continuing dramas - we now have to see Dean living his life a free man, acting like nothing ever happened, literally across the road from his victim. The writers cannot expect us to be interested in a character who has committed such an awful crime and has never paid for it. This kind of story would work in a short drama, or a film, but doesn't work in a soap where stories generally need to have a satisfying conclusion.

The story wouldn't be half as bad if they actually bothered to write it properly, or if they actually explored Dean's mental state. But they haven't at all. It's all been swept under the carpet and we are supposed to just accept that. Can somebody also please explain what's so "fascinating" about Dean because I really don't see it.

BIB: But that story is based on real life - DTC based it on canoe man.

As far as the law is concerned yes but I'm sure he will get his comeuppance eventually.

I agree, but Dean has been written as a character that viewers are meant to like and feel sorry for since the rape. Parading around the square as a jack the lad type getting his leg over whenever he can, while sneering in his victim's face, as well as feeling sorry for himself because he had mummy issues and has a daughter who is rather unwell. As a television show depicting a rape storyline, that is a sick and wrong thing to do. He is being humanised too much and as far as i am concerned, rapists are not human. They are vile scum.

What's scary is that most characters apart from the Vic Carters, Sharon, Ronnie, (probably) Jane and the Masoods no one else seems to have even the tiniest bit of discomfort with him around the Square. Babe is aware but appears to be on the fence about it.

I remember some months ago that Jane spoke out against Dean but Ian thought he's innocent just because no charges were brought forward.

The Cokers had no problem with Paul working for him. Kim and Patrick had their suspicions but I was astonished how they let him stay in the B&B for so long especially with a baby around (Dean's not a peado but I know I'd never want my children around him).

So he's not a human? Some people shouldn't watch soaps if it upsets them so much.

If you want to watch a TV show where the "bad guys" get it in the end maybe you should watch something based around superheroes.