I really am on the verge of not continuing my viewing of the show. I just have no interest in whats going on, Christmas Day episode was a total non event, but, i overlooked this as i thought New Year episodes would be classic EastEnders where i would be glued to my tv screen.

 

The exit for Ronnie and Roxy was awful, the exits do not justify the decision made to axe them. The characters previous history and storylines were in no way tied up for the their exits. Axing them was controversial, but at the time it was explained their exits would have a huge impact,apart from Jack a grieving husband it has no impact whatsoever as Jack will get over it reasonably quick.

 

Ronnie;s past and Roxy's wrong doings should have tied in with their exit which would be far more fitting. The exit they were given could have applied to any character on the show, iconic or not.

 

This aside, i dont like the direction the some of the characters are going, i hold out some hope that Max can rejuvenate Stacey in some way (not in an affair way) as she has become such a wet fish, Dot you just dont know what direction they are taking her in and the Phil and Sharon saga is beyond boring now.

 

Without doubt, from the work presented to us so far, Sean O'Connor is the worst executive producer they have ever had with each episode getting more boring by the week. This disappoints me, i have been an avid fan of the show and it was always my most see tv show it is gone from that to almost dreading having to watch it. I truly miss the EastEnders i loved for so many years. I even shocked myself this week by voting Emmerdale as best soap in the National Tv Awards short list, its my first time not giving the vote to EastEnders.

 

Am i the only person here feeling so negative about the show right now?

 

 

Only immediate family were meant to know about R&R's deaths. The Beales only found out because Ben went to Kathy and the Fowlers only knew because Kathy had to explain why they wouldn't be able to go over for lunch/dinner. Donna had suspicions something was up because she saw the police coming out of Jack and Ronnie's place and then realised the Beales/Fowlers knew something but were hiding it. They were hesitant to tell her because they knew Jack and the family wanted things to remain private, largely so the kids wouldn't find out through gossip, and also knew that they weren't really meant to know either.

 

I agree that it would be good to see more intense showing of the grief (if that's the right way to put it) but we did get good scenes between Honey and Billy, Sharon breaking the news to Phil, Jack and Glenda officially identifying R&R and not forgetting Max waking up Jack to tell him the news. I liked the fact that we didn't see the news being broken to the Beales and the Fowlers - the camera zooming out did the trick perfectly - because these weren't necessary in comparison to the Mitchell's reactions. I'm only disappointed that we didn't get to see Jack actually telling the kids because that would be really heartbreaking but, like I said before, there's only so much you can really ask from kid actors (even if Amy and Ricky would be capable).

 

As for the Carters, I am still enjoying Lee and I can appreciate that, as annoying as he is being, Mick's reaction is true to character. At least having these interwoven drama-filled Carter scenes between the Mitchells/Brannings grief makes a change from interwoven 'comedy'-filled Carter scenes, as ever the case when DTC was in charge. Unfortunately, spoilers suggest there will be a return of this when Tina learns how to ride a bike and falls in the park pond. Hardy har har.

My issue with Mick and the other Carters is that they have simply ignored Lee's depression. But that's alright cos Lee hurt his family innit so he's worse than them so who cares about his mental illness?

 

Whitney saying she never asked for anything is laughable especially how she spends money and doesn't seem to have a job herself, just 'filling in' at the pub when she's not busy living in the 1950s. Mick has always been in Lee's case, telling him he should want the baby, telling him to be a man.

 

Mick's relationships with his kids are quite sick. He treated Nancy like shit, he told his depression suffering son who'd just tried to kill himself that he should have done it after realising he isn't a mini me, Ollie can't talk yet so can't quite disappoint his father and Johnny is pretty much ignored and I think the only reason Mick was ok with him coming out was because DTC wanted to shock us with Danny Dyer playing against type.

 

His 3 kids are all still young and at an age where they feel vulnerable but vpeveru time they have an issue where they could do with parental support, Mick flies into the iamspamspamamiand yells 'awright you wallies, keep it dahn, yea muvva's got one of her migraines!' or sets up an awful karaoke night.

 

It's been 3 years, he need pushing of the high horse.

he'd still get it though

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders...itchell-shrine/

 

jesus. f***ing. christ.

^ I saw that earlier, good grief :mellow: *starts a Johnny Carter shrine*

 

My issue with Mick and the other Carters is that they have simply ignored Lee's depression. But that's alright cos Lee hurt his family innit so he's worse than them so who cares about his mental illness?

 

Whitney saying she never asked for anything is laughable especially how she spends money and doesn't seem to have a job herself, just 'filling in' at the pub when she's not busy living in the 1950s. Mick has always been in Lee's case, telling him he should want the baby, telling him to be a man.

 

Mick's relationships with his kids are quite sick. He treated Nancy like shit, he told his depression suffering son who'd just tried to kill himself that he should have done it after realising he isn't a mini me, Ollie can't talk yet so can't quite disappoint his father and Johnny is pretty much ignored and I think the only reason Mick was ok with him coming out was because DTC wanted to shock us with Danny Dyer playing against type.

 

His 3 kids are all still young and at an age where they feel vulnerable but vpeveru time they have an issue where they could do with parental support, Mick flies into the iamspamspamamiand yells 'awright you wallies, keep it dahn, yea muvva's got one of her migraines!' or sets up an awful karaoke night.

 

It's been 3 years, he need pushing of the high horse.

 

I think a lot of this has hit the mark. Mick has always prided himself on being a family man, and Johnny's coming out scene when they first arrived was a great way of showing that but unfortunately that side of Mick hasn't really been seen since :') the lack of sympathy towards Lee and his depression is quite shocking, I can understand the anger over the robbery but at no point has he shown any interest in helping his son out. Johnny is just a spare part, it does make you wonder why they bothered bringing him back because aside from a chat or two with Ben after Paul's death, he's done nothing? It's a shame because there's a lot of potential storylines for a young gay man that could be tackled...

 

The Whitney thing is kinda strange, she certainly does like to splash the cash, but I guess that's because Lee made her believe that he was doing really well in his "high-end job"? Even then though, it has me wondering why she's not been keeping an eye on the accounts too :lol:

Yes Whitney is really annoying too now :lol: It's just a really stupid characterisation of someone who could easily be up with the likes of Stacey, it diminishes her to some vapid 1950s housewife who spends all day cooking dinner for her husband and has a pie cooling on the windowsill for him when he gets home. I much preferred her when she was stronger and independent, to think before Lee she was always so set on getting her career working with children and now she has none of that and is quite happy to settle for sometimes pulling pints at the Vic instead of having any sort of career of her own.

 

I also agree about Mick's reaction to Lee's depression. In a storyline that is otherwise being tackled well (well, at its centre it is, given that Danny-Boy Hatchard is portraying it very well despite the whole thing being very dragged out and needing a conclusion asap really), it is quite discouraging to those who are suffering in silence and watching the show. I suppose it is realistic though, the storyline needs to portray the struggles of depression as well as it being important to help people, because sadly there is still that stigma around depression (especially for men) that you should "suck it up". But it is to do with Mick's charactersation as the ultimate family man, but as soon as his children do anything wrong such as the accident with Nancy and this with Lee he turns into stereotypical hard man Danny Dyer. I mean yes, Lee was bloody stupid in what he did and endangered them all including a baby, but none of them seem to particularly care about Lee's depression which is what backed him into such a corner.

I really am on the verge of not continuing my viewing of the show. I just have no interest in whats going on, Christmas Day episode was a total non event, but, i overlooked this as i thought New Year episodes would be classic EastEnders where i would be glued to my tv screen.

 

The exit for Ronnie and Roxy was awful, the exits do not justify the decision made to axe them. The characters previous history and storylines were in no way tied up for the their exits. Axing them was controversial, but at the time it was explained their exits would have a huge impact,apart from Jack a grieving husband it has no impact whatsoever as Jack will get over it reasonably quick.

 

Ronnie;s past and Roxy's wrong doings should have tied in with their exit which would be far more fitting. The exit they were given could have applied to any character on the show, iconic or not.

 

This aside, i dont like the direction the some of the characters are going, i hold out some hope that Max can rejuvenate Stacey in some way (not in an affair way) as she has become such a wet fish, Dot you just dont know what direction they are taking her in and the Phil and Sharon saga is beyond boring now.

 

Without doubt, from the work presented to us so far, Sean O'Connor is the worst executive producer they have ever had with each episode getting more boring by the week. This disappoints me, i have been an avid fan of the show and it was always my most see tv show it is gone from that to almost dreading having to watch it. I truly miss the EastEnders i loved for so many years. I even shocked myself this week by voting Emmerdale as best soap in the National Tv Awards short list, its my first time not giving the vote to EastEnders.

 

Am i the only person here feeling so negative about the show right now?

 

Everything you say is how I feel. I'm really disappointed at the killing off of Ronnie & Roxy and I've been incredibly disappointed with the flat aftermath episodes so far. The highlight so far as been about 1 minute of Glenda -_- Whilst I appreciate DTC jumped the shark A LOT in his post-live week tenure as exec producer, I feel SOC is going in the complete opposite direction and making the show too low-key.

 

I'm not giving up yet, the Denise storyline is keeping me watching. I want it to be explosive though and I fear it will disappoint me! I've still got a glimmer of hope things might pick up. We'll see I guess!

It's out of habit more than anything for me, but I think I keep to comparing it to other soaps and it's nowhere near as bad as Corrie right now so I'm giving it a chance :lol: But I do agree, people who are defending SOC are saying he's bringing it back to the realism of the 80s, but there's realistic gritty storylines like teenage pregnancy, abortion and affairs and there's complete tedium like this. I am all for more realistic storylines like the former compared to sensationalist storylines like the ones in say Hollyoaks, but like we've all said it's all just so boring. We don't need huge explosions, death every week and glamorous murders, but we also definitely don't need storylines about bins and the decent storylines we do have being dragged out purely because nothing else is happening and they have to fill the episodes.

What annoys me most is Ronnie 1. Never found about her killing fatboy 2. She never had some sort of punishment for killing Carl or Fatboy granted you could say death is a punishment but a freak accident trying to save her sister isn't gritty exit for her.

Edited January 4, 20178 yr by HarryEzra

I don't think the show is BAD right now by any means, but the low-key approach does need to be reconsidered going forward because they're going to lose some impact without the big events. I've enjoyed a lot of the character moments but I'm missing the high key drama. I actually really enjoyed the Ronnie & Roxy death episode though, despite not really being the most dramatic death I thought it was fitting that the two sisters bowed out together, particularly with Ronnie dying saving Roxy because she was always the more "clingy" of the two I guess. It's just the aftermath I've found disappointing really, telling the kids felt waaaay too low key, particularly comparing it to Corrie, when David told the kids about Kylie's death for example.

I hope that, whatever the conclusion to Lee's storyline is, his family and Whitney realise what roles they've played in his depression and how they failed to pick up on the signs. I don't mind the fact the likes of Mick and Whitney are flawed, often hypocritical, characters, but there needs to be some point of realisation for them followed by an attempt to re-evaluate their actions and character. I feel like SOC could push them in this direction.

Lets talk about DONNA for a second. How good is Donna? give her all the storylines pls

Donna is amazing. I want to see more of her reaction Roxy's death; it could be pretty poignant given how Roxy was her one proper friendship outside of people she views as family (works both ways actually).

Very valid point about The Carters,they do need to see the role they have played in Lee's depression, if they dont do this, the storyline is a complete waste of time. Ronnie's past should have came back to haunt her for her exit. What i would have liked to have seen happen is Roxy to have been murdered as a result of Ronnie;s crimes, like in a kidnap plot or on those lines, Ronnie to escape and then have her captures catch up with her and maybe drown her. This i would have thought would have helped tie everything up from their past storylines but instead we got the awful exit of them drowning in the pool which made no sense for Ronnie to be even there on her wedding night.

 

I am in full agreeance that it should not all be about sensationalism as that also gets boring but the problem is the day to day storytelling is boring. The characters are just going round in circles, drawn out storylines that are not engaging with people. Long running storylines need to be captivating,for example the Max and Stacey affair and the fall out went on for a long time but was interesting and the twists were always worth watching.

 

A lot of the characters appear to be a lose end on the show or trapped in storylines going nowhere which is the main problem and there does not seem to be any interesting storylines building up. If i was to hold out any hope of something interesting happening is Max's revenge, that said i wont hold my breath as i am expecting a flat outcome to that as well.

Very valid point about The Carters,they do need to see the role they have played in Lee's depression, if they dont do this, the storyline is a complete waste of time. Ronnie's past should have came back to haunt her for her exit. What i would have liked to have seen happen is Roxy to have been murdered as a result of Ronnie;s crimes, like in a kidnap plot or on those lines, Ronnie to escape and then have her captures catch up with her and maybe drown her. This i would have thought would have helped tie everything up from their past storylines but instead we got the awful exit of them drowning in the pool which made no sense for Ronnie to be even there on her wedding night.

 

I am in full agreeance that it should not all be about sensationalism as that also gets boring but the problem is the day to day storytelling is boring. The characters are just going round in circles, drawn out storylines that are not engaging with people. Long running storylines need to be captivating,for example the Max and Stacey affair and the fall out went on for a long time but was interesting and the twists were always worth watching.

 

A lot of the characters appear to be a lose end on the show or trapped in storylines going nowhere which is the main problem and there does not seem to be any interesting storylines building up. If i was to hold out any hope of something interesting happening is Max's revenge, that said i wont hold my breath as i am expecting a flat outcome to that as well.

I'd like to think, regarding the Carters, that they will realise the roles they've played in Lee's depression given SOC got rid of R&R - two characters that, as great as they were, had been going round in circles for years. That, as well as the focus on characterisation in recent months, seems to suggest to me SOC is interested in developing characters and making them realise and improve on past mistakes.

 

Regarding R&R's exit, I think we'll always have conflicting views on how successful their exits were, but I do think that Ronnie's past did come back to haunt her. Not with Carl or Fatboy, but with her treatment of Roxy. Ronnie had always been overprotective of Roxy and disapproved of her relationships and behaviour, which meant Roxy would always come to her to sort out her problems. This suited Ronnie just fine, because she could control Roxy. It's no surprise that the one time Roxy actually developed was when Ronnie was in prison. Ronnie may have complained about always having to sort out Roxy's problems, but the reason Roxy would never realise her mistakes and move on was because of Ronnie. This was what ultimately led to their deaths.

 

Roxy's never escaped the party girl persona and that was what ultimately caused her death. Ronnie went in to save her because she's so used to saving her from previous troubles, but the reason Roxy was in there in the first place was essentially because of the way Ronnie has treated her throughout the years. It's kind of like a poetic justice which I find much more interesting as a viewer than if the deaths of Carl or Fatboy came back to haunt her. That would be the case if DTC was seeing through R&R's deaths and I don't think he'd have done a good job of it.

BABE NOOOOO

Michelle's big return to the square and she has spent the entire time turning up the heat in the house and complaining about towels..

and mentioning pauline every five minutes

She's a wet blanket and talking about Arthur.

 

Tight gym tracksuits from Vincent there.