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Post by Zathras on Sept 7, 2016 19:16:02 GMT -5
Good point. Leaving Jay behind feels awfully contrived. For a brief moment I did think Ben had a flashback of sorts. After he got tackled trying to run and was on the ground, he looked like he was pretty upset by it. If that's the case, it would have been nice to actually see a flashback.
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carld2
Full Member
Posts: 2,104
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Post by carld2 on Sept 8, 2016 7:29:35 GMT -5
I'm continuing to find all of this storyline pretty disappointing. It feels like none of it is really about Ben or Paul, and like Paul's murder and Ben's grief and quest for revenge are being used as backdrops for other storylines, like Grant and Mark and Phil's continued health decline. So many things have happened offscreen, and there was never any tension or emotion or depth in today's episode. This could have been so good and emotional, with Ben being confronted with the same situation he was in when he lost Paul, watching Jay being threatened and then coming very close to being murdered himself, but it all just felt so bland. And yeah, I really didn't get leaving Jay behind. One, because Ben and Jay were the ones kidnapped, so I'm not sure why it would threaten the case against Paul's murderers for Ben/Jay to be found there, and two, if the van door could be opened from the outside (as we saw when the cops freed him), it would've take about 5 seconds to get Jay out of there so he could get away with Grant, Mark, and Ben. As far as I could guess, the only reason Jay was left behind was so they could have a cliffhanger after wrapping the entire "storyline" up in two episodes. The story is absolute trash. I find it very sad that this type of trash gets praise for some type of educational value because they go to a charity and because they use buzzwords in a few episodes, when really, the message of the bulk of the "story" has been that Paul's death is meaningless because he isn't a Mitchell. His grandparents are meaningless. Even Ben's grief was meaningless, given that he was offcamera for a supermajority of it. I don't believe Ben is grieving a man he loved. I don't believe that Ben's family give a damn whether he lives or dies. They were more concerned with overlong puffed up speeches about how family sticks together than about him. Phil barely seemed to care when he found out Ben was safe. I don't believe in any menace from Paul's killers. The show decided to cast the main heavy from an underwear catalog and his heavies look like extras from a Hollyoaks comedy caper. I've seen people praise the show for this and say it's supposed to add to the tragedy of Paul's death, but if that was what the show was going for, they wouldn't have had them carry off a home invasion (in broad daylight, with the neighbors not noticing or caring - clearly they hate the Mitchells as much as I do!). Once you get something on that level, then you don't get away with casting an actor because his pecs fill out his top in the right way. It's simply hilarious that we get all this hype over Ben and Jay and revenge plans and it amounts to Ben squinting and smirking on the ground as his kidnappers stand around gormless until Grant and his tedious secret son show up waving bats and Grant bellows in closeup. This isn't about the danger LGBT people face. This is a middle-aged man's fantasy. This is Charles Bronson fetish material. And it sends the chilling message that gay people dying doesn't matter if they aren't the "right" kind of people and that gay people aren't in any actual danger if they are the "right" kind of people. Ben did and said so many stupid things over this "story" that I have lost count, but he's fine and dandy. Paul was just the poor sucker who died because he wasn't good enough - the show even helpfully reinforcing this for us by having Ian and Phil crack a joke immediately after seeing his corpse. Dominic Treadwell Collins has spent all his years at EE telling anti-gay storylines but this is the one I will never be able to forgive the show for.
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 8, 2016 17:09:20 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by Zathras on Sept 8, 2016 19:58:28 GMT -5
Damn, that was really sad. And the funeral hasn't even really started yet. I certainly understand some of the focus on Les & Pam today, having lost a grandson. But I must say I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more focus on Ben and what he's going through. His scenes were largely about Phil and Kathy. Grant prodding Phil to support his gay son. Kathy being afraid Ben might have died. But not about Ben, what he's feeling about Paul and about everything that has happened. My only hope is that we see Ben speaking at Paul's funeral, with the focus on him. And not on Phil. Anyway ... I've long felt that EE only really cares about people like Phil Mitchell. Even though Ben is a Mitchell, they've never really flushed out his stories very well. We get little snippets, but never full exploration. I've been frustrated at all the lost opportunities. It was just as bad (if not worse) for Christian Clarke and Syed Masood a few years back; they weren't even Mitchells.
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 9, 2016 17:37:10 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by Zathras on Sept 9, 2016 18:53:00 GMT -5
God. This show really sucks sometimes. Not only did they not show Ben's speech and feelings, they didn't even show any of the funeral. So much for that hope. Then they turned it back onto Phil being totally selfish by wanting to talk about him dying. Why the hell did he think it was appropriate to talk about him dying when they just got back from Paul's funeral?! Of course I knew he's a selfish, tactless waste of space, but it still gets me every time. I wish Jay didn't leave right away. Ben was really happy to see him, and really depressed when Jay said he was leaving. Was the man Johnny was talking to anyone of significance? Or just a random person?
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 9, 2016 19:28:26 GMT -5
Winter Hymn also posted Colin's scenes:
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 14, 2016 4:20:26 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 16, 2016 6:07:43 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 20, 2016 5:25:59 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn (with some Les and Pam scenes):
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 28, 2016 14:14:34 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Sept 30, 2016 15:52:41 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 5, 2016 11:48:02 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 7, 2016 16:48:19 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 8, 2016 10:43:55 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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dmagiclight
Full Member
OPEN YOUR MIND AND ANY THING IS CAN HAPPEN
Posts: 1,657
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Post by dmagiclight on Oct 8, 2016 11:33:06 GMT -5
I wish the show would give Johnny A story line already
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 11, 2016 5:25:53 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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buja
New Member
Posts: 156
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Post by buja on Oct 11, 2016 14:00:22 GMT -5
EE is so good right now. I can't believe how much better the writing has gotten.
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 11, 2016 21:50:51 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by justinate on Oct 12, 2016 9:29:38 GMT -5
It has been a very good arc of episodes. I still wish they hadn't killed off Paul, or writing out Pam and Les, but at least we got some good story (and acting) out of it.
But is Ben really moving on so quickly?!
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 14, 2016 14:36:25 GMT -5
Next clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 15, 2016 7:12:08 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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dmagiclight
Full Member
OPEN YOUR MIND AND ANY THING IS CAN HAPPEN
Posts: 1,657
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Post by dmagiclight on Oct 15, 2016 17:47:45 GMT -5
so sad to see Pam And Les leave
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 18, 2016 9:40:26 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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Post by kevvoi on Oct 22, 2016 6:30:43 GMT -5
Next part courtesy of Winter Hymn:
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