Putting Jean and Priya together as scene partners was a great move! This is the most likeable Jean has been for me in ages.

I loved Priya and Ravi together once upon a time but struggling to feel invested at this point, especially with the confirmed exit for Aaron Thiara

Kitty Castledine is fantastic so I was here for a Penny-centric episode. Suki was pretty likeable in their shared scenes today too.

I was thinking just the other day that I was missing Oscar, so yay for a glimpse of him finally, ready to see more of his energy again

Another random thought just occurred to me that the new Hawkins kid is called Ryder Roper… this has similar energy to Miss Bumble 😭

Kacey Ainsworth has confirmed she is not returning despite the rumours online recently.

Just now, lewistgreen said:

Kacey Ainsworth has confirmed she is not returning despite the rumours online recently.

Not only did she confirm she wasn’t returning, she confirmed she hadn’t been asked. They are putting very little effort into this.

A writer has apparently confirmed we WILL see Zoe again before she goes but I guess it’s still going to be really slap dash.

What a week, not a consistent quality throughout any of these episodes. Monday was dreadful, Tuesday marginally better and Wednesday and Thirs have both felt on decent form.

So pretty much confirms zoe steps out of a taxi to get run over straight away then 🤷‍♂️

Thursday's episode was the best of the week, I found. Character-based drama, no strings. Totally agree with the love for Priya and Jean sharing scenes, they're a surprisingly great duo, and Penny getting more airtime is always good in my eyes, she's been severely underused (as is Vinny though I'm still not finding him much use sadly). Joel and Lily's blossoming friendship could be great to see more of, too.

I'm just rewatching the flash forward episode and there's still so much to be revealed! 8 months on from it airing and it still gives absolutely nothing away lol. Right down to even who Oscar is dating, why Ian is Max's best man etc. They really need to ramp this all up!

I have a theory that thy wrote and put out that episode without planning anything and have been playing it by ear all year.

On 20/08/2026 at 10:54, T Boy said:

Yeah but remember how we all moaned about how predictable it was that Zoe was going to be revealed as Joel’s mum? And that actually would have been a better story than what we got.

This would have worked far far better and given her a much stronger storyline with an impact.

The flash forward was always a stunt to get as many viewers as possible watching it was quite obvious they just threw it out there leaving it way too ambigious

So it looks like Lee and Nancy are back for Linda and Johnny’s exits. I’m not bowled over with excitement.

On 21/08/2026 at 14:42, T Boy said:

I have a theory that thy wrote and put out that episode without planning anything and have been playing it by ear all year.

I agree, it was vague enough they could do basically whatever. When Hollyoaks moved forward a year, albeit it was permanent, they did quite well at having gaps to fill in with hints but without it just being vague. It didn’t commit to anything. Obviously you need some mystery but they could have easily revealed things and then the mystery is how you get there. Especially something left field like imagine the Hawkins do get the Vic and we see them but didn’t know who they are? Or Zoe’s grave or something. Not they didn’t cobble together Michelle’s exit in 5 minutes but still.

Zoe’s death has been revealed I’m f***ing screaming

She hits her head and dies in bed LMFAOOOOO Joyce Murray teas

On 20/08/2026 at 20:25, Doug said:

Another random thought just occurred to me that the new Hawkins kid is called Ryder Roper… this has similar energy to Miss Bumble 😭

An very distant relative of George and Mildred Roper from the 1970s sitcom?

6 hours ago, Liаm said:

Zoe’s death has been revealed I’m f***ing screaming

She hits her head and dies in bed LMFAOOOOO Joyce Murray teas

At least make it dramatic à la Audrey Trueman!

On 20/08/2026 at 21:46, lewistgreen said:

Kacey Ainsworth has confirmed she is not returning despite the rumours online recently.

Well after the disastrous return for michelle ryan I'd say any questions Kacey ever had about returning are put to bed and she will be like I will keep little mo very fondly remembered.

With the Slaters they would easily get away with recasting Lynne and Belinda if they want to keep the family firmly in the thick of the action

Somehow I think it’s almost worse than an off screen exit like why even bother 💀 They could have just had her stay at Lynne’s or decide to do some kind of job away from the Square, but with how disastrous this return has been I wouldn’t be surprised if Michelle wanted the door closed permanently and you can’t blame her really. I suppose on the plus side it finally gives Kat something big to do.

Idk it’s realistic and could be refreshing to have a shock sudden death with little fanfare like this, but it’s a shambles to do that for a legacy character imo.

13 hours ago, Liаm said:

Zoe’s death has been revealed I’m f***ing screaming

She hits her head and dies in bed LMFAOOOOO Joyce Murray teas

Not the Missy Booth from Ackley Bridge treatment 😭

5 minutes ago, Doug said:

Not the Missy Booth from Ackley Bridge treatment 😭

That was an iconic death was so unexpected then the twist 😫

And before they made Ackley bridge an afternoon Drama and ruined it all

Honestly I feel I could write a book on this.

An understated death following a knock to the head or something like that actually can be a really powerful storyline. It’s something that does happen to people in real life and similar stories have worked in Eastenders before.

Audrey Trueman died a day after falling debris hit her on the head. She was in the middle of arguing with her son Paul and heard revelations about Anthony that shocked her. She couldn’t even tell Paul she loved him as she died.

Billie Jackson was found dead from alcohol poisoning by Bianca after she thought he was just hungover on the sofa. Carol had rowed with him about his drinking for months and grief took her to brand new lows.

Even Joyce Murray. She had been growing tired of her husband’s eccentricities and slipped away in her sleep. Ted didn’t even notice at first.

But the difference is that all of these stories were built up and had been planned at least to some extent. We know Zoe’s won’t be the same. She’s appeared in some 20 episodes since Christmas and hasn’t even had a big part in any of them. I’m assuming her departure is more abrupt given how quickly this is all happening and I definitely feel Michelle asked for Zoe to be killed off.

They could make it work. Maybe Jasmine and Josh will feel the guilt of not really bothering to get to know their birth mother. I’m sure Jessie Wallace can pull something out the bag but we’ve already seen her do this when she thought Tommy was dead.

It’s a year since Zoe and Anthony arrived back on the Square and all that has been achieved is two characters from a classic era have both been killed off for no real reason and would both have been better off not being written back in at all.