Emmerdale

[Red Ranger 1]

I am glad Charity got sent down.I suspect she'll be out in less than a year, depending on when Emma Atkins wants to come back, but at least something happened to her.I hope Cain's too smart to go back there, he's onto a good thing with Moira.I really wasn't expecting Rachel to come back and really really wasn't expecting Jai's Archie to be a fake.I think Megan kind of latched onto him as a replacement for Robbie.It's hard to tell whether Jai's truly focusing on his marriage or playing a long game with getting Archie back.Rachel continues to annoy me: This whole mess is because she gave in to Charity rather than let Jai have Archie, and she's still playing the victim.I enjoyed Tracy giving her a serve but I've got this horrible feeling Sam's going to back to her, especially with the increasingly awful Kerry in her corner.

I'm somewhat disappointed with how things are going with Emma, I really don't want her to be a bad person but she seems to have a knack of justifying doing the wrong thing.I'm really not liking Peter: He's not twelve years old anymore, he shouldn't be hating Emma for something that may have happened when she wasn't in her right mind.It's saying something when Ross is coming across as nicer than him.Well, actually it's not, since I've always like Ross more than Pete, but it's even more obvious at the moment.Mind you, there seem to have been quite a few characters who've come in as bad as Emma and stayed, so I guess there's hope.

To be honest, I think Katie should let this thing with Robert drop and concentrate on her own marriage rather than trying to prove he's a cheat.If Chrissie wants to marry him, that's her lookout, she'll find out what he's like sooner or later.

[Slade]

Emma is really shaping up to be quite a devious and unpleasant individual. The only reason James is still alive is because Pete turned up at the right (or from Emma's point of view the wrong) time. Else after deliberately causing the accident she was happy to leave him there to die. I was surprised at her reaction to Ross fessing up to the break in at her place as although it was different, the thought process basically mirrors what she did to him i.e. taking advantage of someone at a low point and manipulating them. I wasn't expecting Pete to reveal that she tried to kill Ross though. I actually think a lot of the hostility he has towards his mother is due to the fact that he's had to keep this secret for many years so ironically I think Pete's stance towards her will soften now. It will be interesting to see what Ross does. I don't like either of them (Ross or Emma that is) so I guess it's kind of a win win for me if he confronts her.

Keri really is a loathsome creature. Everything about her annoys me. This weak I hated the way she was trying to put Georgia of buying the house (didn't like what Alicia was doing but she's nowhere near as annoying) so I was glad when Georgia said she was going to buy it anyway. Regarding Sam, I'm team Val and Tracy on this one. I don't like Tracy and think that once her financial situation improves and someone better comes along she will basically do a Rachel but I don't like the way Rachel has treated Jai (especially now she wants to take a job down south and take Archie from him again) so I'm firmly in Tracy's corner. I'm not keen on Val either although she is really funny sometimes and serves as a good counter balance to Keri.

I've actually enjoyed seeing the rivalry between Katie and Robert and I've switched whose side I'm on several times. I don't like Robert at all so at first I wanted Katie to teach him a lesson, especially after he staged the robbery at Home Farm and try to ruin Katie and Andy's wedding but when she got Chas involved, I was on Robert's side and was glad he outsmarted her but when he deliberately burnt down Katie and Andy's caravan, I was back on Katie's side. And I was definitely on Katie's side after tonight's episode. In spite of what she did, she didn't deserve to die. And not like that. I'm also annoyed that Robert's dragged Aaron into this (even though I accept this is partly Aaron's fault) and tried to talk him into helping cover up his role in her death. Robert is very smart and I have a feeling he will somehow pin the blame on Aaron. I can understand why Aaron was so upset, especially given that he gets on with Andy and Katie was his mother's best mate. If it's one thing Aaron has it's a conscience and even if Robert manages to talk him into keeping quiet. I don't think he will keep stum for very long. I can see him confiding in Paddy and revealing all.

Wow, fourteen years Katie's been on the show according to the presenter. That's a long time, especially given that she looks in her late twenties possibly. So she started around 13/14. Anyway whilst I wasn't a fan of her character, I think she was a good actress and I wish her all the best.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think Katie was 14/15 when she first appeared so yep, been on the show a long time, on and off.The stunt fall that saw her exit was pretty spectacular but her motivation for wanting to expose Robert was pretty weak and her plan needed a bit of work:She should have left with Aaron and showed the photo to everyone rather than sticking around to gloat, that never goes well.I wanted Aaron to ignore Robert's call but in a sense it's good that he knows because he's clearly the weak link in all this.Now that Chas and Paddy know they were seeing each other, it'd be ironic if it becomes public knowledge and he killed Katie for nothing.I can't see how Robert can stay on the show after this.I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he's still there at Christmas or if they're going "No, really, we've got this big climax planned for a year's time, it'll be worth the wait", but that was voluntary manslaughter at the very least, it's surely got to come out and when it does he's surely got to go.

I was kind of hoping that the Belle storyline was over but nope, here's Round Whatever.At least it does seem to be drawing to a close now, with Belle showing more maturity than her family, especially Lisa, and checking herself in to get some help.

I'm really not liking Doug at the moment, which is unusual.I mean, I'm not a particular fan of Marlon these days, but Doug pouring wine down Laurel's throat to prove a point to him does not seem like particularly responsible parenting.

I'm still kind of hoping Emma's redeemable, or not as bad as she seems, or whatever.I don't think she meant to hurt James, it seemed like he failed to secure the bail so it fell when Emma hit it in anger, but the fact she seemed willing to leave him to die does not say much for her.Still, I'm glad they are now calling it PND.I just hope she isn't meant to be lying.

[Homeandawayfan.]

The mentions of characters toilet activities of Emmerdale characters is quite unnecessary I think for a 7pm show. And they can be quite detailed as well such as Carly Hope mentioning she did a pee in a field and Bernice saying she was having to pick through Gabby's No 2 (she actually said the 3 letter p word) when finding if she had swallowed an earring.

[Slade]

Felt really sorry for Alicia when Lachlan assaulted her. I ended up being actually quite annoyed with Chrissie. She's Lachlan's mother so I expect her to take his side but her refusal to even question his innocence made me think that she's ether blind or just plain stupid or in denial or totally delusional. I thought that even Lawrence could tell there was truth in what was being said. I mean all the warning signs were there. They had to leave the last place because of Lachlan's behaviour, he was stalking Belle, taking photographs of her and Chrissie was extremely concerned about that then she initially suspected that he was doing the same thing to Alicia. Then when the police come round and take Lachlan to the station about the allegations, he makes up some story about grooming and she believes it. And when the police drop the charges due to insufficient evidence she takes him away on holiday to reward him.

I don't like Tracy but have to admit, I've really, really enjoyed seeing her wind people up i.e. Keri, Debbie, Rachel, Chas etc. I'm not a fan of the first three mentioned so it's especially satisfying. I'm also enjoying how she keeps rubbing everyone's faces in with her fling with Andy. And whilst I actually quite like Chas, I loved how Tracy gave Chas a serve at the Woolpak and told her some home truths.

I'm not sure about Robert. He's another person I don't like but it does appear to be genuine the way he's helping Andy. And I agree that it's better for him to be seeing Tracy even if it's only been a month since Katie's death rather than kill himself. Well Aaron's runs are certainly helping out. I was certain that it was inevitable he was going to fess up to everything but with Andy seeing Tracy he seems to be coping a lot better now. And if Chas joins him on the runs that will also help.

Whilst I don't dislike Vanessa like I did when she first arrived, I've never really been able to connect with the character so I can't feel this cancer storyline (ring any bells). I've got no interest in it whatsoever. I did find the chat with Kiran and Ross interesting though. With Ross telling him to get as far away as possible obviously to prevent Kiran from being hurt in the future like he was.

I am kinda glad Val is going to be ok for now (provided she sticks with the meds) as although I disliked her intensely for the way she treated Eric a while back she's been alright as of late and I do find her quite amusing sometimes. I continue to be frustrated with Finn. IMO he's an absolutely dreadful character that provides no entertainment whatsoever and just wastes valuable screentime - As loathsome as Charity was/is, at least the character actually had purpose.

Speaking of Charity, I wasn't happy seeing Cain visit her in prison, particularly as she actually seemed to have mellowed out significantly but I'm assuming they shot that before the actress went on maternity leave.

I've really enjoyed seeing some of the scenes with April, firstly when she drunk Laurel's alcohol, had to go to hospital, Laurel tried to get her to help cover it up and she told Doug. Also when she and Bob's daughter sold the teddy bears to Rakesh.

[Red Ranger 1]

Lachlan assaulting Alicia made for very uncomfortable viewing.I'm disappointed in a way since, up until a few episodes beforehand when he went all weird with Jacob, I actually rather liked Lachlan, but there needs to be some sort of comeuppance for this.It was frustrating that, despite Alicia doing everything right and going straight to the police and getting examined, they wouldn't do anything until Chrissie basically forced Lachlan to confess.Lawrence's attempted whitewash, even if influenced by being on the receiving end of rough justice in less enlightened times, isn't showing his character in a very good light.It has thrown some interesting light on David and Alicia's marriage though and it's good to see how strong they are, along with the support she's receiving from extended family Jacob, Leyla and even Eric.

As I suspected, Robert enlisting Aaron as a partner in crime to cover up the circumstances surrounding Katie's death has proved more trouble than it's worth as Aaron staggers around close to breaking point.I suspect Robert was hoping to get Aaron arrested by presenting him with a stolen car, but since he didn't bite he's settled for giving him a slightly more true account of events (omitting the detail that he basically threw Katie to her death) and then seducing him.

I'm actually rather liking Carly, which may be because she's played by Gemma Atkinson who I've fancied for the best part of 15 years (and is reunited with her former screen mum!), but she seems like a good counterpoint to Ross, both somewhat dodgy but with a good side deep down.The campaign for them to adopt April starts here, as Laurel gets more and more sloshed and I find myself hoping for a nasty accident.

Nicola's turn to go on maternity leave and, after it seemed like she and Jimmy were about to be destroyed for good, it was great to see them reaffirm the strength of their relationship with mutual acts of self-sacrifice: Jimmy supports Nicola despite wanting her to stay and Nicola leaves Angelica with Jimmy knowing it's where she belongs.

Adam's proposal to Victoria was a sweet idea but the end result left me wincing.Still, it'd be nice to see them married so hopefully they make a go of it.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think it is time for the current producer Kate Oates to stand down from her role. She has introduced even racier storylines, more disasters, psychos, more vulgarity, and personality changes. She was rubbish on Crossroads Mark 2 in 2003. Women producers tend to prefer the aforementioned storyline formats over male producers (Susan Bower and Lucy Addario lol).

Edited April 19, 2015 by Homeandawayfan.

[Slade]

Disliking Rachel more and more by the minute. I wanted the throttle her when she pulled that stunt with Belle, moving her medication claiming Belle had left her tablets lying around, claimed she had to take Archie to the hospital all as a convenient way to try and control Sam and use as an excuse not to live with the Dingles. I also didn't like the way she rocked up and expected Jai to give her a job even though he's already subsidising her.

Another person I don't like is Carly. She's a selfish user. She used her own dad trying and con him out of the twins inheritance, she obviously doesn't really care about him. I hated the way she took advantage of Jimmy's good nature and deceived him into helping her commit a burglary and she had the gall the blame Jimmy for getting annoyed about it afterwards. I also hated her attitude towards Brenda when she clearly had reservations about Carly's honesty. I did think the scenes with her and Alicia were alright and she does appear to have been written slightly better this week.

Emma is another deeply unpleasant person. And it's even worse for her because she is like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Extremely sly and manipulative. However I have to say she has been pure entertainment value. She played it brilliantly how she planted the seed at first with Rhona re Paddy and Chas. Then with James distrustful and at his weakest, slept with him and publicly announced it to Chas in the Woolpack. I was smiling through that whole scene and absolutely loved it. I also loved the way she laid into Debbie although that backfired on her. I'm torn because on one hand her behaviour obviously can't continue but on the other if she rubs Debbie up the wrong way then great.

I had started to like Aaron especially after Katie's death but after he bottled James I was back to being disgusted with him the same way after he assaulted Paddy. I was actually glad that Emma called the police and would have been happy if he had gone to jail. Irrespective of James cheating on Chas he didn't deserve that.

So Lachlan remains completely unrepentant about Alicia. I've got mixed feelings. Part of me would be happy to see the back of him but I really don't like Donny and don't want him winning and conning Lawrence out of a large sum of money (even if that means Robert has the upper hand).

Quite enjoyed the interaction with Lawrence and Edna. It's a shame the writers used their past history as a reason for bringing him into the village in the first place but completely abandoned the idea shortly afterwards.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think they pretty much destroyed Rachel's character with her departure last year and while I liked the idea of her coming back and bringing down Charity I do wish she'd gone away again afterwards. Instead, she wrecked Sam and Tracy's relationship, which I was quite enjoying by that point, threw another hand grenade into Jai's life and is now playing mind games with a mentally ill girl to get her own way.She's actually made me cheer for Lisa.

I'm up and down with Carly.There have been moments when I really disliked her, most notably her rant at Brenda that got her kicked out (and, while I think Brenda rose to the bait too easily, the getting her name wrong gag had ceased to be funny by then).I was glad that she changed her mind about skipping town, even if she had already spent the money, and I think she is a bit of a lost soul so hopefully now she's in the "girls' house" and making an effort with Vanessa she'll improve.

I like Emma too but I think that may be a combination of liking the actress and my habit of going against the crowd and not condemning a character who does actually seem quite genuine at times.But I'm fully expecting I'll be disappointed and she ends up being a psycho.Debbie frustrates me at times: I used to really like her, now I often really hate her, but every now and then I see a glimpse of the person she used to be.Ross is one of the few people she shows rare kindness to (and treats badly the rest of the time) so I quite enjoyed their escapade but now...I don't think she loves Pete, I think she's settled for him as the safe option because he's good with the kids, which isn't the worst reason to marry someone but I can't see it ending well.

Part of me wanted Lachlan to go so Alicia and her family could moved on, but that seems to be happening anyway so in a sense it's right he has to stick around and face the music.It did frustrate me a bit, even though I sympathised fully, that Alicia was coming down hard on Jake because of a fear that he'd end up like Lachlan otherwise, so I'm glad she's realised that's not the way to go.And now Ross has blown the whistle on Robert (and still no-one knows he's a killer) things could get interesting...

[Slade]

Every time I see Debbie and Ross getting on I keep thinking it's inevitable something is going to happen but then they put it to bed by having Debbie playing it safe by sticking with Pete. So I'm not sure what the writers are playing at.

Ali annoyed me with her attitude a while back towards Jai and whilst I agreed with her stance on Rachel, I've gone back to disliking her. It was Shaun's choice to join the army and Dan just supported him. Shaun then is involved in a car accident that was unrelated to his duties and Ali pins the whole thing on Dan. Blaming him for allowing Shaun to sign up in the first place, threatening to move and take Amelia away from him and generally being unpleasant. Whilst I loathe to agree with Keri, I was glad she stuck up for him.

I have to admit, I am starting to quite like Tracy. I find her really funny sometimes. With Nicola gone, I think it's a great idea to have her move in with Jimmy as I've already enjoyed some of their scenes and it could make for a very interesting dynamic. A massive plus for me is the fact that Bernice can't stand her so it will wind her up to no end living with her and that's one of the best things about Tracy for me, the fact that she annoys characters that I generally don't like. I did find Val's reaction to her moving out quite interesting. She obviously views her as a replacement for Amy so she's hoping that things don't work out at Jimmy's so Tracy can come begging back to live there.

Whilst I'm not particularly a fan of her character, I personally think this storyline with Laurel and her alcoholism has been brilliantly done. The acting from all those involved (particularly April's character has been first class). That scene where she shouted at April when April wanted to read a story and Laurel wanted her to go upstairs so she could get drunk was very powerful. I really liked the way April apologised twice and Laurel realised how horrible she had been told her that she loved her and gave her a hug. And then after Laurel passed out, April tried to wake her up and couldn't, Arthur left to get Marlon, Laurel started to choke on her own vomit and April had enough sense to call emergency services which ultimately led to saving Laurel's life. She's been extremely fortunate, not only to be alive but because Marlon decided to give her another chance. I was almost certain that he was going to want out of the marriage but I'm glad he didn't, for better and for worse and all that. And if he did end it all that stuff they went through previously would have been for nothing. Doug's attitude really annoyed me. I accept that Laurel is his daughter so he's obviously going to defend her which is fair enough but given that he kept the fact that Laurel took April to hospital he had the audacity to blame Marlon for the whole thing. I accept that Marlon hasn't been a good husband, particularly his attitude towards Laurel when they found out Donna was terminally ill but he had April dumped on him and had to adjust his whole life to accommodate her. Nobody forced Laurel to start drinking. She made that choice through her own free will. Hopefully she will think long and hard about this and try to get the helps she needs to sort herself out. One thing I did like was the way Rhona was more emphatic towards her given her own drug addiction.

So Vanessa's pregnant and the baby could be...Adam's. Think I made a comment a while back about the UK stealing Aussie storylines although I accept this sort of thing does happen from time to time in British soaps as well.