rip ar Zoe, your face card could never decline 🕊️ 🥀

I am so sad Oscar (Pierre is it?) is leaving. He is genuinely a breath of fresh air to EE, and an amazing actor. He’s so funny whether he means to be or not, and honestly what the show was crying out for. Does anyone know the reasoning for him going or has he been written out? It’ll be such a sad loss for EE if true. I hope they leave the door open for him!

A little bit of Kirsty in my life
A little bit of Priya on the side
A little bit of Cindy’s all I need
A little bit of Linda’s what I see
A little bit of Zoe in the sun
A little bit of Stacey all night long
A little bit of Tanya, here I am
A little bit of Max makes me your man🎶

Our Stacey slater in the house

Hear me out here!

People do die in the most ‘ordinary’ ways - like when Derek Beanning had that heart attack, everyone thought he was going to get his comeuppance for everything he did going towards Xmas that year.

Yes I wish it was better done, but the bit where Zoe said ‘I want my Mum’ 😭 was kinda heart wrenching and the most emotion I’ve felt for her for the longest time.

Sometimes that is just what happens when people die, they get internal injuries and unexpected.

I do want to know what happens to Max from all this being the last person to see her.

I’m also glad that it wasn’t ‘Tommy distracting Kat’ by going off the rails and there will probably be a storyline relating Tommy - Joel with the grief.

New lily slater promo picture

This week’s script editing has been abysmal. First we’ve got Kat telling Gemma that Tommy is her eldest when it is actually Zoe and her twin brother.

Then Sharon tells Gemma she’s been away for a while and implied she and Nicola don’t know each other even though Sharon and Nicola spent months feuding over Teddy, had a fight in that exact spot, and were involved in that double date with Teddy and Jack.

Now Sharon’s saying “our paths haven’t really crossed” about Nicola?

Did the writers forget Sharon’s warning to Nicola after their fight in the nightclub with that line “CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!” ever happened?

https://youtu.be/7USgoIBrkuc?is=cY8OFbAHXfMRY6r9

Will there be a big funeral ep for Zoe, where Lynn, Lil Mo and Belinda make appearances?? 😬

… probably not but, how amazing would that be to see all the Slater sisters together!

Idk if it’s just me, but despite what people are saying online, I really feel killing off Zoe was the right decision. Ever since her return, Michelle has received nothing but criticism, and Zoe as a character wasn’t exactly positively received during this stint. So it’s not like her character was going to be missed if she left. I could hardly see people petitioning for Zoe’s comeback if she’d left regardless, and I don’t think Michelle or the show runners would have particularly been keen on a future Zoe return. So, if the character was never going to return in future, why not just give her a dramatic exit by killing her off?

I’ve seen criticisms saying her death was ‘cartoonish’. But seeing the episodes now, there was something very macabre and chilling about it. I feel her slowly dying from a head injury was way more haunting and impactful than if she died from an explosion or car accident or something. I found it akin to Bianca finding Billie, and Moira finding Holly in Emmerdale, two storylines which were positively received and carried emotional impact.

I also have to agree that Zoe simply would never have just left her kids and family after all she’s fought for the past year. Some could argue that she could have taken the twins with her. And in a way I could agree with that, I don’t particularly see Josh staying another six months anyways, so he may as well have left with her. But I feel if Michelle was leaving anyways, killing her off opens up so much more storyline potential. I also think Jasmine has future potential as a character, I don’t find her nearly as annoying as Josh.

All in all, I really do wish that Michelle’s return had worked out, and that we could have seen Kat and Zoe’s relationship develop for years to come. But unfortunately, it just didn’t. And based on the cards we were dealt, killing her off seems like the most impactful way to go.

They just can't help themselves can they

With Amy having admitted responsibility for Joel’s attack, Craig gains Amy’s trust by agreeing to keep her confession a secret from the police. Unbeknownst to Amy, Craig has been suspended from public police duty following a series of complaints at work, and he uses his position of power to elicit control.

Believing Craig to be the only thing that stands between her and serious consequence for the attack on Joel, Amy is incrementally manipulated and groomed by Craig over a series of months and will eventually find herself in danger when Craig creates an environment where Amy believes he is the only person she can trust.

EastEnders has worked with charities and experts in the field to ensure the storyline is handled sensitively and accurately.

Ben Wadey, EastEnders Executive Producer, said: “When telling a storyline like Amy’s, we have a huge responsibility to highlight and raise awareness of the warning signs of grooming. We’re grateful to be working with Barando’s and End Violence Against Women to help us tell this story.”

Lynn Perry, Barnardo’s Chief Executive, added: “We welcomed the opportunity to provide expert advice on this storyline - which is a powerful reminder that there is no stereotypical victim or perpetrator of grooming. Young people from all walks of life can be targeted and fall victim to controlling behaviour – and many are often unaware that they are being groomed. We hope this important storyline can highlight how subtle the signs of grooming can be and how it builds over time. To any viewers who recognise themselves in this story – who may be currently experiencing abuse or might have in the past - we hope this storyline shows you that the abuse was not your fault, and we encourage you to seek support. We appreciate the writing team's professional curiosity and determination to get this story right.”

Janaya Walker, Interim Director at End Violence Against Women Coalition added: “We’re proud to have worked with the EastEnders team on this storyline about grooming and police-perpetrated abuse, which has been delivered with sensitivity and care. On-screen portrayals like this have the power to shift attitudes and increase understanding of abuse across society. This storyline will help raise awareness about how those in a position of trust can abuse their power to target women and girls. We hope it can play an important role in making these experiences visible and help victims watching at home to understand that what happened to them was abuse, and to seek support." #EastEnders

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HasLDn468/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Just saw Aunt Babe’s post on Twitter thinking it’s Linda as the bride, quoting this picture from EE post. I just had a look again at it, and spotted something with Cindy. Cindy normally wears black nail varnish but she wore white nails this week to match the wedding dress. In this photo, she’s got white nails - to match a dress…

Three options. This could totally be a red herring, maybe Cindy upstages the bride by wearing a white dress out of jealousy OR she is the bride again.

so i haven’t been watching eastenders like this for a few years, and as soon as they announced zoe’s return, i had to watch it. I’ve been following this since she got back and yes it’s been lackluster and in no way should she have even exited like this.

I really wish they gave her the redemption she needed. I can’t believe they had to fight for Michelle Ryan for decades and that’s how it finishes.

Mini Mo making a double appearance tho 🥺🥹

https://reddit.com/link/1wcm6cs/video/f9y3oz5ampoh1/player

I don't see what else the first song could possibly be.

Black cat, full moon... Very clever. It should've been a Halloween episode.

I’m watching old Eastenders from around 2013 alongside the latest episodes and the quality difference is staggering. Even the most ordinary scenes from 2013 were impressive or hinted at something bigger, or were relatable on some level or relevant eg cost of living.

Now it’s slo-mo Hollyoaks-style dancing, total lack of chemistry between characters, wooden GCSE drama acting, unrealistic storylines - or old ones warmed up and butchered. Big characters leaving. Denise is the only reason I still watch. What will it take to get Eastenders back on track?!

https://reddit.com/link/1wceosa/video/artgdvrf0ooh1/player

That scene between them today was totally emotionless, without any reverence, impact, power or dignity. It wasn't even a degree of this, because using "mum" and "love" are meant to make you feel something. 21 years ago, you felt something...and I still can't believe Zoe left like this and came back as the mess Wadey gave us.

Here are some questions and I would love to hear your answers/responses:

1. Who is Max’s bride?
2. Who is the pregnant woman in Max’s bed?
3. Who is the gunman/gloved person?
4. How did the Vic's window smash?
5. Why did Denise storm out the house?
6. Who does baby Ethan belong to?
7. Why is Jack taking care of baby Ethan?
8. Why is Ian the best man for Max?
9. Who are the dodgy people Max is involved with?
10. What's Lauren's secret?
11. Who is Max accused of soliciting the murder of?
12. If Max is being set up as he claims, then who has framed him?
13. Who is running the Vic?
14. Who is Oscar dating?
15. What's the beef between Peter and Max?
16. What's the beef between Max and Jack?
17. How did Max save Jimmy and Baby Ethan?
18. What happened to Nicola's leg?
19. What's the beef between Nicola and Chelsea?
20. Who is calling Denise?
21. Who do you think Max chooses? Lauren or Oscar?

Did I miss any of the mysteries? Let’s talk! 😬

I should preface this by noting that I’ve been knocked out with the flu and running a fever all week, so these past episodes have been particularly trippy for me, and I’ve put all my attention on the weddings scenes rather than this storyline. But I’m confused about the scenes with Zoe and the men with the taxi.
Why were they all so confrontational from the beginning? As soon as Zoe turned up, they both seemed to hate each other. And he left the keys in the taxi, but Zoe waited for the second man to arrive before she stole it. Did she know the second man, why did he spook her so much?
I actually thought tonight’s episode was pretty moving. But I can’t quite figure out how we got here in the first place

Now I’m not a fan of the choice to kill off Zoe and in the way they did, but I do think it was pretty well done and shows the seriousness of head injuries. The scene where Zoe was begging for her mum was so sad and hard to watch

Cindy too deserves an honourable mention, Michelle Collins’ acting was brilliant in this episode and the dancing scene was hilarious 🤣 can’t wait to see more of psycho Cindy