It's been a long, horrible sl for Zak, this affair and marriage with Joanie, and Zak just keeps getting worse and worse. He can't make up his mind, who or what he wants, and when he makes up his mind, he's unable to speak up. He hurts everyone around him, strings them along, and ends up hurting them more. Pathetic, spineless, and needs a long time off screen.

I want Lisa to find a passionate hobby outside of him, and for her to grow over him, realising, that she's much happier when not tied to his cheating, disloyal wimp.

We all know Lisa will take Zak back its just a question of when , within 6 months it will all be forgotten until they marry again , as you were

Zak doesn't love Lisa or Joanine, he just wants an easy life and part of that is being taken care of by whichever generic woman.

He is pathetic, useless and disgusting and I wish he would just leave.

He didn't even have the guts to end things with Joanie. If she hadn't decided their marriage was over, he'd probably still be with her, stringing her along, while cosying up to Lisa. Spineless, coward of a man.

I agree, I hope Lisa never takes him back.

I feel really sorry for Steve Halliwell having to play out this crap though, they've made a proper dog's breakfast of his character. I wouldn't even have minded Zak having a "moment" with Joanie, because him and Lisa were taking each other for granted, but I don't believe for one second he would ever have left Lisa. And if he had, I don't believe he'd have done it as cruelly and insensitively, rubbing her nose in it and expecting her to deal with it. They've made him look selfish, stupid and mean. Which is a shame, because I used to love Zak - the mental health storyline was so good, and everything with Cain.

I read an episode interview with Steve Halliwell the other day and he sounded sad and disillusioned with the direction the writers had taken Zak in. Can't say I blame him. They've really butchered his character.

I'm not liking Zak or Joanie in this. Maybe I should be feeling sorry for Joanie, but I'm not at all.

Everything she said last night about how she couldn't bare for everyone to be talking about her, feeling sorry for her, etc is what she (and Zak) did to Lisa last year. And then she runs off in secret with Kyle, not even telling anyone where she's going so they can visit, after she's seen how close Kyle has got with Cain, Kerry and Zak. It'll also hurt Kyle with him being old enough to know that he's been taken away from his father, but he won't understand why or know if he'll ever see him again. Yes, Joanie is Kyle's guardian and adoptive grandparent, but she did actively encourage Cain to bond with his son, only to take him away again. Cain and Kyle's relationship shouldn't have to suffer because Zak and Joanie split up.

On another note, I like how Lisa was the better person in all of this. She resisted Zak over and over, telling him to go back to his wife when she could have easily just put that out of her mind and given in to her feelings for him. Instead she watched him build a new life with Joanie as his wife and put a strong front on, even going as far as fixing her wedding dress. It's inevitable that Zak and Lisa will reunite at some point, but I hate that they've tainted their relationship now. They're divorced and he remarried, someone else lived as Mrs Dingle. If they do ever remarry then there'll be the obvious break in the time they've been married for. Plus, at Christmas they'll always remember his affair with Joanie being revealed.

I agree. I like his relationship with Cain and the breakdown stuff was really good. I love that he still carries the scars from that time but his behaviour with Joanie and Lisa has been despicable, especially expecting Lisa tontake him back. He's s kind-hearted but very weak willed and lazy.

Don't blame him - I used to love Zak! But no longer. Maybe the storyliners think they can just blithely wave a few cliched scenes his way and it'll all be "fixed", but I don't think so.


That's the silver lining for me, that it has given Lisa some good material. At the moment, she is standing strong. If they put them back together though, I will be so annoyed. Why would she ever take back someone who has treated her like nothing? It would be such a colossal cliche if they reunite.


Yes, even last night, he was behaving like an utter nob! It feels like he's learnt nothing, but to be honest, at this point, I'm not interested in Zak "learning" and getting Lisa back as a "reward". I don't mind him "learning" and realising he's never getting her back, though. That'd be more moving.

This has been such a mighty weird and annoying storyline. I honestly thought Joanie would die in the helicopter crash, leaving Kyle for Cain to have to learn to look after. It would have worked better for me if she had.

Cain has got his comeuppance , he was horrible to Kyle mother and was horrible to his little boy i have no sympathy for him , he is a nasty man
Lisa has played the role so well , with absolute dignity , she has shone as an actress
Joanie left with her grandson as a last selfish gesture , poor Kerry is going to miss him

Can someone explain to me what is happening? I have only watched since Christmas 2015. Why has Joanie taken Cain's kid and why is that not illegal?

Yes, another one here who agrees with all this. I don't think for a second he would ever have left Lisa. that was just one of Kate Oates's more serious mistakes. I could believe he and Joanie having a brief fling because that is unfortunately the bread and butter of all soaps and, let's be honest, it's not uncommon with men of his age irl. They could have had Bellend opening her big gob for the drama of a temporary split/inevitable reconciliation etc, but it was beyond the pale to expect us to believe Zak would give up everything for Joanie to the extent of actually marrying her fgs.

I can only assume that the current sl is the new EP's way of trying to make things right again and return them to 'normal', but unfortunately it's all too late for me. Lisa wouldn't, and shouldn't, take the spineless cheating scumbag back now but I have a horrible feeling that's exactly what will happen once we've had a couple of weeks of her token resistance.

I completely agree. I wanted for someone to point out to Joanie, that why did she expect Zak to be a some kind of stand up guy, when through all of his relationship with Joanie he treated Lisa like trash. Why would he treat Joanie any better as his wife, when he coupled with Joanie, walked all over Lisa, and rubbed it in Lisa's face right after? She got with Zak when he was a weak willed, pitiful cheater. Why wouldn't he continue to be a pitiful, wimpy cheater?

Kyle was put up for adoption when he was born and adopted by Joanie's daughter and son-in-law, They later died in a car crash, leaving Joanie as his sole career and legal guardian. Legally speakiing, Cain has no claim on the boy., which is why he can't just ring the police and report Joanie for child abduction.

And has Cain even had anything to do with him beyond blink and you'll miss them scenes since the helicopter crash? I thought that was going to be a turning point but the show dropped the storyline like a hot potato after that. So I don't quite buy Cain wanting to see Kyle now.

And before the helicopter crash he was also treating the boy as persona non grata.

And you're absolutely right that Joanie is the only one with any sort of legal claim to him. It was ridiculous - like the situation with Rebecca in EE - that Kyle ever came back into Cain and Kerry's lives in the first place.

You're right, I could probably count on one hand the amount of scenes Cain has shared with Kyle all year. I guess we're meant to asusme that they've been bonding, off-screen? I don't know, but Cain certainly didn't seem to give much thought to leaving him behind when he was all set to pack up and move to France with Charity. I guess now now they're finally getting around to addressing what the hell Cain is meant to feel for his son.

Joanie marrying into the family of Kyle's biological dad was absolute stupidity on her part. It was always going to blow up in her face if her and Zak ever split up. I don't know why they bother having kids adopted out in soaps. We all know they're going to show up again in the lives of the biological parents one day down the line and it just makes a mockery of the law.

It was, a complete mistake. Zak and Lisa should have been one of those centres of gravity in the show - maybe we could have felt how terrible Zak felt, how sorry he was, but instead, the stupid git had an equally stupid big white wedding (for 2 people in the 60s, really?) and expected his mentally ill daughter and his abandoned wife to be fine with it. I get the same feeling, that the show is trying to put it "right", but I'm just not interested. If they reunite, what was the point of any of it? Zak has to pay for his mistake. Anyway, life just isn't like that. Marriages break down, everyone moves on, this one should too now. Lisa deserves someone better, and it could give her a new direction.


See this is another thing that just has never worked. I thought we were building up to some story where Cain struggled to cope with a kid, once Joanie was killed in the helicopter crash. And instead, she survived, and the story went nowhere - we got about 2 episodes of Cain with Kyle, then it was "fine". Kate Oates did a lot of that actually, stories that started and then just hit the buffers. Kyle's been a completely wasted opportunity, storyline wise. You can't buy in to them now, because we've never seen them together in any convincing way.

I think both Zak and Lisa were stuck in a rut before the affair happened, all we got were the same scenes of Lisa whining and nagging at Zak and Zak being a bit useless.

Then the affair happened and I know I am one of few who liked Zak and Joanie together, it seemed to reinvigorate Zak at first and give him something to do, he also interacted with other characters, Zak and Joanie living with Dan and Kerry made a good unit. After the initial crying and whining it also gave Lisa's character a bit of something and a new friendship with Ronnie.

However, it seems the writers had only half thought out the story as we have seen in the last couple of months the backtracking and them trying to put Lisa and Zak back together.

Personally, I would have kicked Lisa out of the Dingles home, had Zak and Joanie move in and head up the dingle clan just to give it a bit of freshness.

Instead we will inevitably get Lisa back with Zak and it will go back to the rinse and repeat

This. It doesn't help that he reminds me of my sister's ex husband - moves from woman to woman, doesn't seem to matter which one as long as they cook and clean and bring in an income so he doesn't have to take care of himself or support himself on his wages.

I don't blame Steve Halliwell for being upset.

I would've been actually fine with this, had they given Lisa something to do, too. Let her find herself. But she remained in the rut, and was strung along by Zak all along. They could've done well with this sl, but it was hslf done, and now it's just become a pointless mess.

Also, like others have said, Joanie is coming across badly aswell, with first introducing Kyle to the family, and then just picking up and leaving with him after she got the Zak treatment too.

The story hasn't ended is all I can say on the final point.

Agree re Lisa, they should have had her move on either dating or getting a hobby or sonething.

Zak: Ooh aye, Lisah, I get that yer 'urt, but will yer take me back? Please I'm beggin' yer! We belong together!

Lisa: You hurt me so much, Zak, I don't think I could gow through that again... see me again in two days and we'll talk, remember to bring yer jim-jams!

Zak: Thanks, Lisah. That's what I luv about yer .

Yes, well said. The entire affair storyline seemed to be invented just to give Zak and Lisa a storyline but what was the point? I liked Zak and Joanie together too and I wish they'd kept them together because if Zak gets back with Lisa where do they go from here? Why does Lisa have to be with anyone, really? It'd be nice to see her have a gentleman friend someone she can find companionship with but I'd like to see her getting out and about having some fun, sometimes she seems a bit isolated with just Belle for company and going to work at the factory.

Have we ever heard if Zak's first wife (I think her name is Nellie) is still alive? perhaps he can go back to her. He doesn't mind which wife he has as long as they work to put money in the pot, for him to take out for beer money.

But they had a scene where they clarified was going to stay in contact with Kyle. They mentioned Kyle going for trips to France. Not ideal but at least they would still have some sort of relationship - it' s no worse than what happens in a lot of families. This way, neither Cain, Zak or Kerry has any idea where Joanie is going. Zak probably won't care much though