Damon, your ideas don't take Ronnie`s kids into account - Ronnie would never have left them.

No you can't.

That is the official aternative ending that they filmed

That one also ended in death

This thread is for fan suggestions

I understand what you're saying but unless it was unseen perhaps. The girls left Roxy's room and had a few drinks on the wall then cut back to Mick/Lee. Then shot of the shoe, clock at midnight an them both floating to the top. So then the audience don't know if it was suicide, murder or accident etc.

I don't normally watch but I will be watching the next episode on the strengh of last nights show. I'm interested to see Jack's and Mitchell's reaction to their deaths. Twists can be effective if they are done sporadically and they make sense, if not they can be detrimental to the plot. The twists which involve characters coming back from the dead or faking their own deaths are the worst in my opinion.

You have a platform of people tuning in intrigued as to how Ronnie and Roxy die and you have the chance to script their death in a way that might keep these viewers intrigued to keep tuning back to find out the aftermath of it - and you make it an accident so there is no fall out or aftermath other than relatives being a bit upset, which would have happened if they died off screen in a skiing accident. It's not brilliant creatively.

for me the ending for Ronnie and Roxy we watched last night was perfect

Ronnie - never able to quite hold on to happiness, nearly had it when she gave birth to James - nearly had it when she married Charlie - nearly had it when she and Jack got back together, getting away with all the bad stuff she has done has not helped her one iota in giving her the happiness she has been craving and right to the end her bizarre obsession with 'mothering' Roxy has come before her children her husband or indeed herself

Roxy - spoilt petulant refusing to behave like an adult and carried on right to the end - if only she had made up her mind once and for all about moving, if only she hadn't spent the last week in a drink/drugs binge, if only she hadn't spent her last moments like a naughty twelve year old spotting an opportunity to do something forbidden

So I think their demise was fitting and in character and not one which viewers will forget, unlike say Lou Beale who was definitely a legacy/iconic character who just popped off in her sleep!

I am still unclear as to what actually happened in the pool - but it will presumably be revealed in the next episode.....? It seems as if Roxy had a cardiac and drowned to death - or was tipsy and so went that way instead after taking in water - while it seems as if Ronnie got tangled up in her wedding dress in the water....although why you'd not remove that highly obstructive garment of clothing before doing something as vital as making a lifesaving move in a pool is simply beyond reality!!

but typical of Ronnie - what she should have done is gone screaming to the hotel reception and got help, then maybe Roxy could have been resuscitated after being pulled out of the water, as it is, presumably no one knows they are there or sees them in the water until it is far too late

There is intrigue in seeing characters you know and have watched for many reacting to traumatic events. Last nights episide showcased what great drama Eastenders is capable so people who don't usually watch will continue watching.

Okay but imagine if last night didn't happen and instead we just found out the two fell down a big hole in an accident off-screen and died immediately from their injuries. Went walking around the grounds and whoopsadaisey - they fall into a hole left unmarked by workmen

How would the episodes going forward be different (aside from the fact they'll be discovered in a pool and not down a hole)?

The fact the episode was directed and edited well is a positive, but the two scenarios are for all intents and purposes identical. One I came up with in the top of my head the other is apparently the work of months of story development production meetings. IMO it isn't good enough for the main festive season climax story line.

Well Max was the only one who seemed to wonder at Roxy's no return but probably just put it down to experience - while Jack's time was taken up by reading fairytales paralleling Ronnie's demise. I suppose the thinking was that Ronnie was acting on pure instinct although even if you were, you wouldn't go diving into a pool (to potentially save somebody's life) wearing your wedding dress! Even Roxy removed a couple of articles of clothing before taking the plunge which makes her actual drowning all the more mysterious/unrealistic!

But only Roxy died in the alternative endings - not Ronnie.

I don't know if anybody posting here remembers the silly/contrived lake scene of Christmas 2008 but I can't help but feel that yesterday's R&R drowning to death scene was borrowed from that. The said scene from Christmas past was when Sean Slater went ice skating on that lake effectively in order to do something sinister with Roxy in tow - a scene also featuring (surprise, surprise) Ronnie (and Jack) - and fell through the ice, taking Roxy with him. It was the aftermath of 'Jack's The Daddy' that Christmas. On that occasion Roxy survived and Sean presumably swam off....never to be seen again!

On reflection, I have warmed a bit more to the decision to kill off Ronnie & Roxy. I think I would've preferred an exit similar to the OP's suggestions, Ronnie and Roxy driving off into the sunset after fleeing the police with "The Girls" by Calvin Harris playing on the car radio or something. But that would've been a very "safe" exit for them both. I'm sure if that would've been the case it would've been totally slated on here as well, with Ronnie leaving her kids that she so desperately wanted and longed for.

I definitely think SOC has made a brave decision - and the episode itself was directed flawlessly, I felt like I was watching a film, especially with the party montage.

Although I agree with many posters stating that their deaths leave little consequences in term of storytelling. I hope the aftermath is treated with the attention it deserves, I will be absolutely furious if we get off-screen funerals or their deaths are forgotten about in a matter of weeks. I agree that in many respects both characters had a lack of mileage left, but they were two of the show's leading ladies for a decade and I think the character of Roxy especially was written for badly. Rita Simons is an incredible actress, I remember the scenes from New Year's Day 2015 after Ronnie's car crash/birth and she played an absolute blinder.

Interesting to see where this will lead, although I can't help feeling slightly sad that the Mitchell family seems so much smaller now.

The Mitchell sisters were far more believable, likeable and better characters than the Mitchell brothers in my opinion.
Last edited by Alex250P : 02-01-2017 at 14:10

Nope i much prefer the OP's ending for them!
Face it, thats what the majority of the audience would have wanted, drama, escapism and a chance for a return for the sisters.

Soaps do portray real life, though often exaggerated, they are not meant to be all fun or light entertainment, where did you get the idea they were?
Many meaty subjects have been tackled in a sensitive and informative way, eg, rape, depressionand any information should be accurate eg re cancer, alcoholism

So the "much better" ending would have had gangsters, a helicopter chase, a "fatal" car crash and no less than three faked deaths?

Why not go the full Hollyoaks and throw in the shocking resurrection of Danielle, after eight years in hiding?

As others have said, the tragedy of Ronnie being dragged down (literally) by the dead weight of her sister is the perfect ending for these characters.

I do not even think they needed axing at all, i do not understand how a character can 'run out of steam' and so on. its just a complete lack of imagination, the same reason Danielle was killed off, thw writers are just incapable of seeing the long term.
Danielle could have been a huge part of 'who killed Archie'!

are you sure about that? Cherryrose's poll on this very thread is currently 50% yes and 50% no

]
No im not sure, i am just going by social media reaction, my own and friends feelings on the subject and the digitalspy poll where 83% wanted the sisters to live.

There was no "alternate ending". The stuff on the pool table was just a decoy.

"Alternate endings" may be genuine when they're in the DVD extras for a Hollywood movie. However, the concept is utter nonsense for an ongoing soap opera when you consider they shoot two months in advance. If there's an "alternate ending" in which Ronnie lived, then there would also need to be alternate versions of all subsequent episodes in which Ronnie's death is mentioned.

At best, the "alternate" scenes are shot as a one-off to have some "foilers" (fake spoilers) in the event of leaks from temporary staff at the location shoot.

Have you ever noticed how the "alternate" versions are always much cheaper than the actual stunts? In this case, a very basic pool table death, rather than an elaborate underwater stunt.