2 years ago, they were the biggest family on the show.

Now, most of them have gone/are leaving.

With Buster, Babe, Linda and Lee also set to go, leaving just Johnny, Shirley, Mick and Tina, can you see the rest staying on the show for long? I'll be honest I think Johnny, Tina and Sylvie will all be next.

I'd like to see Mick, Linda and Shirley move out of The Vic and find a different base. I have always liked these three and think it would be wasted potential if they left. Shirley is a part of the furniture now and Danny and Kellie are hugely popular.

They've become so unlikeable. I'm fed up with their moralising and preaching when all they do is behave like scumbags. Johnny's "but what about the poor people" monologue tonight was eye-roll worthy. The writers are trying so hard to ram down our throats how "good" they are.

The Carters are scum. Each and every one of them. Nasty, hypocritical, self-obsessed bullies. DTC or DMV or DLT or whatever he calls himself put them on some false pedestal, but the viewing public have seen right through it.

I don't think the writers were trying to do that at all. Johnny's view was incredibly naive (and incredibly realistic for an idealistic university student) but a lot of people would agree with his opinion.

None of the Carters are being presented as perfect characters recently and I thought that's what people on here wanted?

Bib: Same.

I have noticed this with Mick mainly. He is criticised for being a saint/perfect and he's also criticised when he's shown to have flaws.

The writers can't win.

The problem is that they were presented to us as "the perfect family" with impeccable moral values for two whole years. The writers are exploring the cracks in the facade, but the characters themselves are still doing the holier than thou routine. Mick in particular is very judgemental but refuses to see the scum in his own family. They just stand out as massive hypocrites.

Yes, they are hypocritical (as are most, if not all, characters on EE), but I think tonight showed that we're getting to a point where they'll be called out for it when necessary. I do think they need to have a storyline where Mick's nice guy routine is really challenged. It's the only way he'll be able to move forward.

Get rid!!! Johnny seems to be getting worse, all a bunch of hypocrites.

It's a shame Sonia never told the whole family what she told Shirley. We all know Shirley can be vile she wears it like a second coat but Mick was just as hypocritical as Shirl so he should have had Sonia trash him as well.

They aren't very likeable, that's the problem.

They will have been here for three years by Christmas, so maybe there is a plan to phase them out. The only one I would really miss is Linda.

If the writers wanted to shatter Mick's nice guy image they would have had Sonia aim her rant at him rather than Shirley. Shirley has always been a marmite figure but she owns it. Mick is still St Mick and can do no wrong.

liked LInda from day one - and still do - she was like a breath of fresh air when she first arrived. As for Mick, wouldn't miss him. I want to see this happen: Janine back in her house and running the Vic

I agree, it seems easier to have Sonia rant at Shirley because she that type of character but Mick and Linda to a certain extent is protected from any criticism that will shatter that rose tint image of wholesome good guys not one who has overly obvious flaws and are never brought to attention for their selfish actions.

Linda leaving is temporary, for the actresses maternity leave. lee doesn't leave till next year.

Could be that Linda returns around the time Lee goes dependant on how long her maternity leave is.

But the carters aren't the only family to shrink in size.

The Beales are a shadow of their former selves and Jane is a destroyed character to boot. The masoods were being built up with the addition of Kush and Carmel but will actually be extinct by the time Mas goes with Carmel heading up her own family from here on in.

The branning / Jacksons after this week will again be very fractured and a much smaller unit with some of them now fitting into another family unit. How this will be built on with Max's return is anyone's guess. Can max be part of the Beale/Mitchell super family for Lauren's sake?

They are being pruned but it's no different to the Slaters. I don't see them going until Danny calls it a day.

I've not watched but Shirley and Tina are Sylvia's children. Mick is Slyvies grandchild who he had never even met or knew till she pitched up at the vic. I don't get why people think Mick should be responsible for a complete stranger and more so than Shirley and Tina

Mick has his faults but he is the last person you'd expect to see running after a woman in the street shouting things like 'being a lezzer for you was a lifestyle choice'.

It was Shirley that instigated the row. In general she's more highly strung than Mick.

As for whether we're seeing the end of the Carters, it's possible although (if enforced) I would see it as a foolish move on SOC's part given their popularity. Like elly said on another thread, it's just as possible that SOC wants a streamlined version of the family.

In fairness shirley deserves all she got as she's the one who started having a go at Sonia.

They'll be down to their original five. Shirley and Tina, and Mick, Linda and Johnny. I imagine that Whitney will stay part of the family.

Every family has been trimmed right back.

Oh I understand that and agree she deserved it 100% but I agree with Bass that its easier to emphasis Shirley's hypocrisy and selfishness then highlighting Mick's or anyone else's in that family.

Yep SOC has also axed two Mitchells.

Sonia did say 'you Carters'. Even if Mick and Linda weren't there to witness it personally she was still calling them out, and it showed that they're not beyond reproach as is often claimed here.

The Mitchells, the Hubbards, the Cokers and the Masoods. Sonia has gone from the Fowlers and the Beales were already decimated.

It would have been more satisfying if she had done it to their faces, in the Vic, in front of everyone. But I take your point.