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EastEnders - a bit of a rant...


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Old 04-12-2015, 09:59
danp13
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I'm going to breathe such a sigh of relief when this awful rape storyline ends and Dean FINALLY leaves. It could have been a great storyline, but for the last 14 months it feels like we've had the same scene on repeat over and over again, with only about 5 different points of plot development the entire time.
Aside from Linda telling Mick she was raped, then Lee/Nancy finding out, Shirley siding with Dean, Dean dating Roxy, Ronnie becoming involved, Mick/Shirley making up and Mick falling out with Shirley AGAIN, the storyline has remained stagnant with the same scenes over and over on repeat.

This is the exact same for every single 'reveal' DTC gives us. I miss the Santer reveals - everything would be revealed in one go and we would see the characters deal with the fallout together before it moved on to the aftermath. Nowadays, something is revealed, nothing happens for a few episodes, it's picked up again, nothing much more happens, then it's touched upon briefly again, over and over again.

For example, we had Linda finally tell Mick the truth about her rape on Xmas Day, then Shirley blurted out that Dean was Mick's brother to stop Mick from attacking him.
However, no one else in the family is told that Dean raped her. They all remain in the dark. Que the storyline being dragged out a few more weeks with Lee and Nancy saying 'I wonder what's wrong with Mum, what did Dean do wrong?' Then they FINALLY find out that Dean raped her, then a few weeks later the other residents finally find out, and the same scenes of Mick vs. Dean/Shirley are played on repeat for a year. It's so utterly dragged out, it's ridiculous.

Also like the Les/Pam reveal. Pam thought he was having an affair for ages and FINALLY caught him in his underwear at Claudette's house. This is when the reveal should have happened.
Instead, she ran off to stay with her sister for a few weeks and we had endless scenes of Paul berating Les for having an affair, and Les repeating 'it's not what you think' over and over. FINALLY Pam returns, it's dragged out for a few episodes more before she finally sits down to listen to Les. Pam has ONE scene with Les talking about 'Christine' and since then, it's been dropped entirely.

And with the Bobby reveal - even during anniversary week, we had Lauren (after finding out the killer), saying to Max 'I don't know what's happening, I don't know, I'm confused'. It all felt like filler dialogue being made up on the spot, just being used to drag the storyline out to its absolute limit.
Then Jane was finally revealed as the 'killer', then suddenly in the next episode Bobby is revealed as the killer, then in the next episode after that they all discuss it further and Ian finally discovers the truth about Bobby. Then NOTHING for weeks because they run off on holiday.

DTC likes to drag storylines out to their absolute limit, as though he's really reluctant to show the actual reveal itself. Then when he FINALLY reveals the 'secret' or whatever else it is, he then proceeds to drop the storyline again after a completely lacklustre reveal.
It's so tedious, boring and frustrating. It really does feel as though every storyline is dragged out to the max. Either that, or it gives a sense that DTC is trying to be too clever by connecting all of the storylines together. As a result, each storyline is constantly waiting for another one to catch up before it can progress any further.

We'll have one storyline finally move forward, while the other storylines remain stagnant with the same tedious scenes being rehashed. The first storyline will then be dropped whilst other subsequent storylines play catch-up, then they'll be dropped and it'll start all over again.
We've never had anything close to the Stax reveal, the Ronnie/Danielle reveal or the Tony/Whitney reveal, to name a few. It's probably due to the show losing Simon Ashdown, as any time Eastenders had a completely amazing episode or reveal, it was written by him. Nowadays I just find myself being completely disappointed or frustrated by how long each storyline is dragged out, with such little fallout.

Some more things to add -

The most frustrating thing about the rape storyline is how little Linda has actually played in it! She's had a handful of scenes where Dean has come into the pub shooting his mouth off, and she's stood at the sidelines saying nothing. I know this is probably realistic - who would want anything to do with the person who raped them? But this is a soap, and it's Linda's storyline.
Even when Shirley is being completely vile to Mick, Linda never speaks up. (Except for once the other day when she told Shirley not to ignore Mick).

Which leads into my final point...
Why has DTC completely ruined Shirley? She used to be such a good character. Yes, she had a razor tongue at times, but it was usually funny or warranted. She also had friends like Heather, and had an obvious caring side. These days she's become so spiteful, rude and argumentative. Everything she says to other people is nasty and vulgar, and completely unnecessary.
She's supposed to be DTC's favourite character, but it's as though he's trying his best to show her as completely volatile. Shirley NEVER used to be like this. All she does is walk around trying to slag off everyone's happiness, belittling everyone.

Punching Carol, being vile to Linda, interfering with Stacey/Jean, talking to Stacey like utter cr*p when it's none of her business and barging into Stacey's flat shooting her mouth off. She didn't even show any empathy when Shabnam told her that she'd lost her baby. Yes, Shirley may have been selfish before, but never to this degree. The old Shirley would have actually had a heart and cared. She took Heather to George Michael's house for gods sake.

Every other week she's like 'DEAN IS MY ONLY SON. I ONLY HAVE ONE SON.' Very, very petty woman these days. She used to be brilliant. I'm just hoping DTC is portraying her this way because he plans on a complete overhaul of her personality when the truth about Dean is revealed. Hopefully a redemption arc is nigh for Shirley in 2016, because at the moment she seems to get away with the despicable way she treats people, and not once does she apologise when proven wrong. DTC clearly thinks she should be untouchable. I bet if Shirley was treated half as bad as she treats people, she'd be throwing punches left, right and centre around the Sqaure, making out as though she deserves respect. She needs a serious dose of karma.

RANT OVER.
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:02
xTonix
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That's a bit of a rant!
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:03
danp13
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That's a bit of a rant!
What can I say, been holding it in for 14 months of rehashed scenes and character assassination
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:17
sorcha_healy27
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What can I say, been holding it in for 14 months of rehashed scenes and character assassination
I'm surprised you managed to survive the Lucy storyline then
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:18
danp13
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I'm surprised you managed to survive the Lucy storyline then
Completely ruined Jane. Don't get me started!
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Old 04-12-2015, 10:52
Pink_Smurf
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What riles me is it looked like the Mitchells would finally get their comeuppance then it turns out Vincent is a snake and he stupidly tells Ronnie. Then Fatboy finds the incriminating folder. Vincent has been totally ruined. Putting him with stupid Kim didn't do his character any good either. Dangerous pensioner Gavin's storyline has been a let down too. Phil will stop drinking and return to being King Philip Of Albert Square like nothing happened. The other thing that bothers me is some of the female casts' wardrobe. Just why are they dressed like Xmas trees half the time? Sharon's wardrobe person should be fired. The purple dress in the last episode was lovely but the rest of her outfits are horrendous and unflattering.
I agree that the rape storyline has been dreadful. Linda has hardly featured at all. It's all been about Shirley, Mick and Dean with a bit of Buster thrown in.
The other stories are all dragged out and dragged out some more I agree. We see brief scenes then nothing for weeks or even months. I really don't care about Stacey's key or Kyle. It's just stopped being interesting and I bet most viewers don't remember it from so long ago. Casual viewers will be like "Key, what key?"
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:02
danp13
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And what's with Den watts, Eric Mitchell, Henry Hubbard and Gavin all being friends in the 60s? And Claudette knowing Peggy and Sal?
DTC is trying to be too clever but falling flat on his face. I've seen other posts on here saying that Den didn't know who the Mitchell family were when he returned in 2003. And how did Peggy not know who Sharon was when she got with Phil? Surely she would have remembered Eric's 'friend' Den?! And Sharon would have known Phil as a child maybe?
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:04
joe gillott
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Dtc NEEDs to go. He is awful.
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:05
J-B
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All of that is quite bad, Danps, but the real problem is the whole MyLauren/Cindy situation. DTC needs to pay for what he's done.
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:11
danp13
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All of that is quite bad, Danps, but the real problem is the whole MyLauren/Cindy situation. DTC needs to pay for what he's done.
Hahaha, what's he done? Lauren is on maternity leave and the actress of Cindy quit. It's Lola he ruined in order to bring back Honey. I don't see why they couldn't have worked together, the actress of Lola was good he wasted her.
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Old 04-12-2015, 11:18
Pink_Smurf
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Hahaha, what's he done? Lauren is on maternity leave and the actress of Cindy quit. It's Lola he ruined in order to bring back Honey. I don't see why they couldn't have worked together, the actress of Lola was good he wasted her.
I preferred Lola to Honey. Honey is a bit too nicey nicey. Lola had loads of potential and she was really sparky. It's a shame she was axed.
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:32
gemgem1987
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What riles me is it looked like the Mitchells would finally get their comeuppance then it turns out Vincent is a snake and he stupidly tells Ronnie. Then Fatboy finds the incriminating folder. Vincent has been totally ruined. Putting him with stupid Kim didn't do his character any good either. Dangerous pensioner Gavin's storyline has been a let down too. Phil will stop drinking and return to being King Philip Of Albert Square like nothing happened. The other thing that bothers me is some of the female casts' wardrobe. Just why are they dressed like Xmas trees half the time? Sharon's wardrobe person should be fired. The purple dress in the last episode was lovely but the rest of her outfits are horrendous and unflattering.
I agree that the rape storyline has been dreadful. Linda has hardly featured at all. It's all been about Shirley, Mick and Dean with a bit of Buster thrown in.
The other stories are all dragged out and dragged out some more I agree. We see brief scenes then nothing for weeks or even months. I really don't care about Stacey's key or Kyle. It's just stopped being interesting and I bet most viewers don't remember it from so long ago. Casual viewers will be like "Key, what key?"
The absolute best bit of your post Smurf was "dangerous pensioner Gavin"! I read that and was howling laughing, it's so true! Every time I saw him I was just like why is everyone so afraid of him? What, exactly, is he going to do? And now Phil is back on the booze because of "what Gavin did". Most laughable and least frightening villian ever!
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:33
vald
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The absolute best bit of your post Smurf was "dangerous pensioner Gavin"! I read that and was howling laughing, it's so true! Every time I saw him I was just like why is everyone so afraid of him? What, exactly, is he going to do? And now Phil is back on the booze because of "what Gavin did". Most laughable and least frightening villian ever!
He's deadly with that Zippo
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:34
gemgem1987
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Hahaha, what's he done? Lauren is on maternity leave and the actress of Cindy quit. It's Lola he ruined in order to bring back Honey. I don't see why they couldn't have worked together, the actress of Lola was good he wasted her.
Lola isn't ruined, she's gone to a better life in Newcastle, the land of gold!
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:35
gemgem1987
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He's deadly with that Zippo
Oh yeah, the never-ending Zippo!
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:44
MissMonkeyMoo
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Good rant OP, I agree with it all! Hate what Shirley has become because she did have a softer side and would look out for people, but I'm hoping her character will get turned around when Dean leaves. The Lucy /bobby storyline is the worst of all. I'm still watching because apparently it reaches its climax at Christmas and I want to see what's going to happen but I don't rush to watch EE anymore and I'm not overly bothered if I miss an episode here and there! I've even started to watch it on iplayer and forward through the boring bits, so sometimes I get through an episode in ten mins!
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Old 04-12-2015, 16:50
Harlowe
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Shirley has always been like that, it just now magnified 10x the magnitude it never use to be so excessive but since 2012 it just got worse, she gets away with practically everything because apparently she 'complex' this practically the argument that is used when her actions are brought attention, she not complex just a character written with a nasty streak, self entitled attitude, every soap needs one but it just wear thin eventually.


There is many problems with how DTC deals and handles his storylines and characters, pacing is slow and inconsistent, continuity is non existent, block storytelling is used too excessively, writing is of low quality 70% off the time, storylines are dropped and picked up when they feel like it, thus viewers lost interest, history is messed about with which some viewers find insulting, no real investment in stories and characters anymore, personalities of characters has just been shite, stories have been dragged out to the point that went they do a reveal barely anyone cares.
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Old 04-12-2015, 17:10
0...0
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Oh yeah, the never-ending Zippo!
I did joke about the Mitchells being held up by a sparkler when Jay left that box in the kitchen. I never expected it to happen!

I sympathize danp. I had my own personal rant moment last year with a couple of storylines. Nice to know it's not just me!
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Old 04-12-2015, 17:15
gemgem1987
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I did joke about the Mitchells being held up by a sparkler when Jay left that box in the kitchen. I never expected it to happen!

I sympathize danp. I had my own personal rant moment last year with a couple of storylines. Nice to know it's not just me!
I don't know what they were all so concerned about. Gavin was such a damp wet-wipe of a villian he would have put any fires out anyway
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Old 04-12-2015, 17:24
0...0
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I don't know what they were all so concerned about. Gavin was such a damp wet-wipe of a villian he would have put any fires out anyway
He's not very scary is he.
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Old 04-12-2015, 18:42
sorcha_healy27
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He's not very scary is he.
I find him quite sinister
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Old 05-12-2015, 14:45
Louise_Hart
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And what's with Den watts, Eric Mitchell, Henry Hubbard and Gavin all being friends in the 60s? And Claudette knowing Peggy and Sal?
DTC is trying to be too clever but falling flat on his face. I've seen other posts on here saying that Den didn't know who the Mitchell family were when he returned in 2003. And how did Peggy not know who Sharon was when she got with Phil? Surely she would have remembered Eric's 'friend' Den?! And Sharon would have known Phil as a child maybe?
Oh chripes, yes, what the hell was that all about??? along with Kat giving birth to an invisible son, and not even knowing it??
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Old 17-12-2015, 15:39
danp13
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I really don't think I'm a fan of how DTC tells his stories.
Even now, it's a week before Christmas and everything we're seeing feels like filler.
Elaine's shenanigans, Babe/Cora and the cringey council sit-in. The main Xmas storylines aren't even starting to play out until next week!
I feel like I'm constantly waiting for long dragged out storylines to just MOVE FORWARD.

Thank god this Xmas will get some plot development underway with the end of Linda's rape, Stacey's key mystery, Lucy's murder and Vincent's revenge. we've been waiting for these stories to just move forward all year, they've become so boring.
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Old 18-12-2015, 06:02
pembo2004
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i have 15 episodes of eastenders to watch

i cant be bothered to watch them

does anyone feel like this?
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Old 18-12-2015, 07:17
RetroMusicFan
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He's not very scary is he.
Not scary at all!

Well, he is Vince Pinner from Just Good Friends after all!
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