Emmerdale

[Homeandawayfan.]

They need to end the Killer Cameron storyline. Sick and tired of this story now. It is quite far fetched as well. I found it odd that Cam confessed to Debbie he killed Carl, Gennie overheard, they chased after her in the car and Gennie crashed and then died a short time after. I would have thought Debbie would have smelled a rat and had a suspicion Cameron finished her off if she was still alive immediately after the crash.

[Red Ranger 1]

Personally, I found Gennie's murder to be telegraphed with a big neon sign:The moment Cameron insisted on Debbie staying by the roadside while he went down to the car alone I knew what he was thinking.I even thought Debbie was woefully naïve for not realising, even if she doesn't know he killed Alex for the same reason.Like Slade said, the soap police would have to reach new levels of incompetence to not be able to tell the difference between someone who died in a car crash and someone who was smothered:And they have!I've given up feeling any emotion other than frustration at the shallow way they're pushing characters around without developing the plot at all.So Debbie knows but she's keeping quiet.Gennie knows but she dies straightaway.There's a recorded confession but everyone's just playing Pass the Dictaphone and there's no reason for them to listen to it.Frankly, I won't be surprised if they drag out this tedious nonsense until Christmas.

In two minds about Nikhil:While he has a responsibility to Molly, I kind of wish everyone would leave him alone and let him deal with it in his own way rather than trying to force him to react the way they want.I'll put up with Brenda slapping him because she's the only person, except Chas at a pinch, who's got the right to feel as bad as him, plus she's handled it pretty well otherwise.Interesting how many people are blaming themselves, kind of nice that Cain didn't doubt Dan.

Well, I never thought Steve would end up this sinister.Guess Bernice is learning the hard way that if they can do it with you, they can do it to you.And Nicola could end up paying a high price for her snobbery.

Victoria's riling of Katie was a bit childish but very funny.

[Slade]

I'll start by saying Emmerdale is probably my favourite soap at the moment.

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes last week when Cameron and Debbie's affair was exposed. That moment at Gennie's funeral with Chas at the realisation when she saw Cameron look at Debbie, despite being in denial previously and realising that Gennie was right all along. The best thing for me about storylines like this is when the sordid secret becomes public knowledge. And the scene when Chas told Cain and Diane and Cain went to the front of the bar and smacked him in front of everyone is just the type of thing I like. Not so much the hitting but the outing itself. Charity actually took it a lot better than I thought. I was kind of expecting her to hit the roof so was a little disappointed that she didn't. I was a bit annoyed when Rachel referred to him as a dirty cheat because it's not like she's done anything like that has she? Only went and slept with someone else's husband and got herself impregnated. What I find quite interesting now is that it's gone full circle. Chas stole Debbie off Cameron and now Debbie's stolen him back. I know Cain smoothed things over with Chas a while back but I did like the way effectively Charity had to eat her words. She was an absolute cow to Chas and now she has no comeback as there is not a single thing she can say to defend her daughter. And you could argue that Chas has behaved a lot more dignified than Debbie did. Not once felt the urge to kidnap her and stick a shotgun to her head. However Chas's attitude towards Declan has really annoyed me. She's basically acting the same way towards him that Charity did towards her. She didn't out his covering up of Alex's body because she was particularly disgusted with what he did. This essentially comes down to him doing the dirty on Katie pure and simple. Which as we all know is completely hypocritical given her track record. Also she doesn't seem to have an issue with Charity doing the dirty on her best mate. Funnily enough Charity seems to be one of the few people that has sympathy for Declan and I don't think it's because she's trying to get money out of him or has any feelings towards him. I just think she can empathise with his situation. Would Cain have gone through with pushing the car off the quary sending Cameron to his death? I don't know. I didn't think he was bluffing. There is an argument that Cameron deserves it given that he's murdered three people but it still doesn't change the fact that Cain is a dangerous person.

Declan is in serious trouble. He's practically on the brink of going under. You could argue what he did was morally reprehensible but I can understand why he did it? He had taken a big gamble on the festival and had everything to lose so he was faced with a delima when a body turns up. From his perspective if the police conducted an investigation, financially he would be finished. I actually don't believe him when he tried to keep Katie quiet by telling her he would fess up once the festival was over. He would have stood absolutely nothing to gain by doing this and only would have made the police suspicious. Hindsight's a wonderful thing but I don't think he would have been in that much a better position had he gone to the cops at the start except for the fact he wouldn't have to fork out for expensive legal fees to prevent himself from going to jail for murder. I have to say that woman copper is highly annoying. She's sarcastic, smug and really up herself. In saying that she appears to have a nice pair of you-know-whats. I swear blind that she was purposely sticking them out multiple times when she was interviewing Declan. Did the writers actually put that into the storyline? Given the size of her bodyframe I am left wondering whether they are real or not. Anyway I'm really not sure what to make of Jai regarding this. I don't like the way he's seems so smug about seeing the beginning of Declan's apparent demise and again it just seems hypocritical given what he did. Although I accept it's a personal issue as opposed to a moral one. Also, I do wonder what he would have done if he was in Declan position with regards to Alex's body. From a business perspective I can see how it doesn't make good business sense to decline Declan's offer to buy into twenty percent of the business but I think it would be very difficult. Twenty percent is still effectively silent partner status and I just don't think he would be able to put the past behind for the sake of the company. Now that it's been publicly revealed that Alex was the person they found it will be interesting to see the backlash, particularly from people like Victoria, Andy, Adam etc who were friendly with him on personal level. Have to admit though, I quite enjoyed Cameron's reaction. I do think there's inconsistency here. Cameron suffocates Gennie and the police can't tell she was murdered. Yet the were able to tell from the soil samples that Alex's body was moved from one location to another and they were able to identify him as the victim.

Although I was glad they managed to make Nikhil see the light regarding Molly, I really hate the way he just upped and left with her to go to Canada leaving Brenda on her own. It just seems selfish IMO. Brenda's undergoing treatment for Cancer, she's not sure how long she's going to be around for, her daughter's dead and they only family she has left has been taken away so I really feel for her.

At first I thought Vanessa was using the situation with Rhona to her advantage but now it feels like mutual manipulation. Vanessa is using Rhona's addiction to get closer to her but Rhona's is using Vanessa's infatuation to fuel her addiction so in that sense their both as bad as each other and it feels like an extremely unhealthy co-dependency. It's Paddy I feel sorry for. He's the innocent victim in all of this and is caught up between two selfish people. He really didn't deserve to be hit by Rhona and I wonder if that brought a flashback to when Aaron violently assaulted him. Can't really blame him for going through her phone and their marriage will continue to deteriorate until she comes clean about everything.

Even though I don't like Victoria, I found myself really frustrated at the way Betty was trying to keep her away from her own home. Betty is a character that I really, really dislike and is on the same par as characters such as Blanche and Norris from Coronation Street and Coleen from Home and Away i.e. bitter, mean spirited people who don't have anything good to say about anyone, very often make nasty comments and have very few redeeming qualities. Seriously why is she even still on the show? What purpose does she serve?

[Red Ranger 1]

I really wish Cain had pushed Cameron off the cliff and I really wish he'd pushed Debbie off with him, the pair deserve each other.I get that murder is, you know, wrong but there comes a point where you have to judge a show by its own moral code and whilst Cain might be a psychopath at least he's "our" psychopath.Which makes him the much lesser of two evils next to Cameron, who seems to have a complete absence of feeling where other people are concerned.Some would say that's the definition of pure evil.It's a shame Sarah accepted him back so readily, she's probably going to be hurt when his true colours get exposed, round about 2016 the way things are going.Even with the discovery of Alex's murder, he's had a few moments of worry and now he's shifting the blame to wherever it'll stick.Declan's come off worse than him:I don't have much sympathy for him but at least he seems to have finally realised what he's done.He doesn't deserve to be in the frame for murder but it'd be nice if a perverting the course of justice charge stuck.Ahhh, Jayne Ashbourne as the policewoman.I've suddenly got this very vague memory than she appeared in the show twenty years ago as a model sent to the Woolpack by a new brewery they'd signed up with for a grand opening or something.I could probably find the photo if I could be bothered to look.

Rhona and Vanessa ended up as deluded as each other with the belief that their lives were somehow good and healthy.Whilst I think she did want Rhona to get better, Vanessa clearly enjoyed being the most important person in her life while Rhona seemed to veer between being dependent on her and basically prostituting herself for a fix.Oddly, I haven't really sympathised that much with Paddy, he's been a bit self-righteous and he and Rhona have never really convinced as a couple so I wouldn't mind if this was the end of them.

Guess it's kind of ironic that Brenda forced Molly on Nikhil rather than letting him leave without her and he...left with her.Hard on the grandparents but in a way he's got to do what he's got to do and at least they've got a chance at a life.

Over the past couple of years, Amy has turned from an utter brat into one of the show's most compelling characters.I've rather liked her chats with Andy, Victoria and Zak about Kyle and it's nice they were all there for her.It would be rather contrived if she somehow got him back and I kind of hope it doesn't happen but it'd be nice for her to have some sort of contact.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Red Ranger 1

[Homeandawayfan.]

Emmerdale feels like The Debbie Dingle Show or Cameron Murray Show. I dont care if they are in major storylines, they shouldn't keep appearing in every episode. I cannot remember when they were last not in an episode.

I hope the killer Cameron storyline will be history soon. It was the 40th anniversary last year when it all started.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Homeandawayfan.

[Slade]

Firstly I thought that Sean and Amelia blackmailing Cameron was absolutely hilarious. The look of fear on his face when he suspected that someone was onto him and their surprise and joy when he actually followed through with their demands was good not that I'm condoning what they did.

I always suspected that Cameron's time was up just after Gennie died when they showed the tape recorder. And I think they showed it again when Nikhil was collecting her things. Once again another really good week. I suspect that this storyline is coming to an end which is a shame as I've really enjoyed it but I accept that it could not have gone on indefinitely (Interestingly it seems to coincide directly with Karl's storyline from Coronation St). I thought Chas's hardline attitude towards Debbie was spot on. She doesn't deserve one bit of sympathy. Debbie didn't have a problem with Cameron killing someone, just as long as it was someone she didn't like. And had she shopped Cameron to the police when he fessed up, Gennie might still be alive. We've seen Chas forgive Debbie (or at least not hold any grudges) for kidnapping her and holding a shotgun to her head and stealing Cameron back from her but I'm not sure how long it will take her to get past this. Irrespective of how I feel about Debbie, fair play to her for cooperating with the police letting the place be bugged and getting a confession for murdering Gennie. Although she annoyed me when she went to see Brenda even though Chas gave her specific instructions to stay away.

Have to admit, I found it really funny when Cain, came in to talk to Debbie about the garage and Cameron was trying to wind him up and Cain made a comment about the time he took him to the quarry and Cameron jokingly told him he didn't like being tied up and gagged and the police heard everything.

Thought the scene where Debbie told Cameron the game was up then the armed police surrounded the house before she managed to escape was really good. And Cameron appears to be acting full on psycho now. Although he has also confessed to murdering Alex if the police don't find any DNA evidence linking him then I don't think a conviction is a clear cut as the police are making out. All they've got to link him to the three murders are confessions (possibly the recording with Gennie but even the police said before that wasn't enough) and given how deranged Cameron is now acting I think a good barrister in court will be able to argue that he wasn't in the right frame of mind and a confession is just part of the psychosis.

Found Cain and Moira in yesterday's episode really frustrating. Firstly when Cain came in and had a go at Andy for biting Debbie's head off even though his attitude towards her as of late hasn't been great. Then when Cain stupidly let the cat out of the bag about what happened with Cameron when he was going to kill him and Moira got on her high horse forgetting that Adam tried to burn Cain alive. Interestingly Moira doesn't seem to have a problem that Cain conducted illegal activities to get her the money to pay Declan.

Although I really like this side of Amy and I do hope that things work out for her, this whole thing with her pretending to be a childminder so she can spend time with Kyle is all going to end in tears. I just don't see any good coming from it. And I think quite a few people will end up being hurt.

I was really hoping this storyline with Alicia and David was over, especially now that the annulment has finally gone through but we're back to where we were before were both of them clearly have feelings for one another but neither one of them wants to make the first move and just be honest.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think the Cameron thing went on way too long and the character's motivation has seemed all over the place, which may be appropriate given he's clearly deranged but it's hard to keep up.Never mind it being nearly a year since he first killed someone, it's been obvious for two and a half years that he's a psycho and yet no-one seemed to notice.The scene where Debbie and Chas try to work out how many people he's killed like a game of Name That Tune was bordering on farcical.Debbie being put through the wringer feels very appropriate given that she's almost as culpable as him, I'm glad Andy gave her a serve and it's a shame people seemed to be queuing up to tell him to be quiet.I just hope this is the end and they're not going to find a way to drag it out for another six months.

Glad that Steve finally got exposed as well and does seem to have gone for good.Nicola let herself get sucked in way too far but fair play to her for showing Bernice what he was like in the end.

Amy's taken this too far.Going to see Kyle was just about okay but tricking Joanie into letting her look after him and lying to everyone that she knows she's his birth mother is crossing a moral line.The fact that Val's being typically vile doesn't help either.

I can't remember if Moira knows about Adam trying to kill Cain or not.I thought she did but then she made a nasty comment to Chas, when Adam was in the frame for Alex's murder, about how he isn't capable of killing anyone and Chas and Cain shared a "Yeah, let's not go there" look.

[Slade]

The best thing about Steve's outing was that it shafted Bernice as well. Can't stand either character but sadly Bernice seems to have gotten over him and is back to making snide unpleasant remarks to Nicola.

What I was afraid would happen regarding the situation with Amy and Kyle has happened. Nobody is happy now. I think it's actually brought out the worst in Amy and Val. Val has been particularly vile blaming Joanie for simply wanting to protect her grandchild. And Amy trying to have Kyle taken of Joanie which I think is ridiculous given that she was not supposed to have any contact with him whatsoever. The way I see it she gave him up and with that any parental rights. It seems as though Andy and Eric are the only people who seem to have any sense regarding this. I now actually hope Amy doesn't get Kyle back given how she's acted.

Found it cringe-worthy when Ashley told Laurel how he felt and I was willing him not to say anything. Marlon and Laurel have been together for a while and I'm kind of indifferent about them now. Still it temporarily brought out an unpleasant side to Ashley who quite wrongly took it out on Edna.

Wasn't really sure what to make of Paddy sleeping with Chas. I really liked scenes with these two when they were friends and think there is a bit of chemistry there but given the fuss Chas made about Carl and Eve and given what Cameron did with Debbie I surprised Chas would sleep with someone else's husband regardless of what she did. I'm disappointing with Paddy as it now seems he is just as bad as Rhona. I do think he should come clean and tell her what happened. Funnily enough Rhona and Cain are both absent obviously on holiday together offscreen.

Why do the writers insist of dragging the stuff with David and Alicia out like this. It feels like it's been going on for donkey's years. It's obvious they are in love with each other.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this storyline with Cameron so I was over the moon when I heard he would be escaping from prison (this is one of the problems with going into any shop you just happen to look at magazines and encounter British soap spoilers). I've found the scenes when he escaped from the van, came back into the village, took out the policeman, then Marlon in the Woolpack really exciting. I'll happily admit, I've really, really enjoyed seeing Debbie suffer. I hope it continues. I didn't really like Cameron involving Sarah like that but at least he didn't hurt her and I don't really want anything to happen to Chas because I do quite like her. And I think her attitude towards Debbie has been spot on. No way should Debbie be allowed to get away with it that easily. She kept quiet about Cameron killing Carl and her part in Gennie's death and Zak wants Chas to forgive and forget just like that. No way. I suspect however that assuming Debbie and Chas come out of this, Chas will let bygones be bygones which will be disappointing. Now that Cameron has everyone at gunpoint, although she's not a direct target my only regret is that Charity is not there to suffer the same potential fate as her daughter...

[Red Ranger 1]

I really can't believe I was defending Amy and saying how much she's matured a few weeks back.Talk about a turnaround.Her behaviour where Kyle is concerned is abominable.I really hope that she stands no chance of taking him away from his family and I really hope there'd be no chance of it happening in real life.If there is, then that's an indictment of just how much society's values have become messed up.I guess with Val and Kerry, two of the vilest, most self-centred characters in the village, as mother figures, it's no wonder she's ended up this selfish.

I'd kind of like Paddy and Chas as a couple but they were both in the wrong place for it to happen.I was disgusted with Marlon's behaviour towards both of them while he casually coseys up to Ashley's wife(or is it ex-wife now?).The true legacy of him and Laurel is that he's lost any right to claim the moral high ground.I file both Paddy/Rhona and Marlon/Laurel in the same category:The show keeps insisting they're made for each other and belong together but I've never really believed it.Producers and actors keep saying they're popular couples but I hear a lot of negative or indifferent comments. Frankly, I don't think people are brave enough to admit they made a mistake.Character assassinating Ashley to justify Marlon and Laurel was not going to win anyone round which is probably why they seem to be going the other way now and trying to make him supportive.

Declan seems to be turning into a bit too much of a supervillain so him giving the villagers shelter at Home Farm was a nice touch.

Talking of supervillains, what the heck was with Cameron's escape from jail?Did I miss a month's worth of episodes in which he suddenly acquired an army of henchmen or hired some mercenaries? Who were those people that freed him?I keep expecting some big twist because at the moment it makes no sense.Found the prospect of him killing again manifestly dull, when you're onto the fourth victim you kind of become desensitised.That said, I hope Alicia survives:She kind of painted a target on her by implicitly declaring her love for David and it'd be typical if she died and he's left choosing between marrying his second choice or being alone.(The fact he didn't even seem to notice Priya was still in danger speaks volumes.)I'd like it if Marlon died though, which I never thought I'd say.Probably won't be that lucky.Doubt Cameron will kill either Chas or Debbie, hard to shake the feeling the continuity announcer basically gave the resolution away, hope she didn't.Mind you, I also hope we don't have to sit through another hour of him pointing guns at people.Don't want him to die, that would be the easy way out, he deserves to rot in jail knowing everyone hates him.

[Slade]

I agree it was ridiculous, especially regarding continuity but I still found the actually jailbreak really funny and quite enjoyable. Whilst I was disappointed Charity wasn't directly involved I do accept the final showdown had to be with Cameron, Debbie and Chas. So Marlon to the rescue and Cameron in hell as Zak put it.

I've been extremely frustrated with this storyline with David/Priya and Alicia. I thought David was completely out of order the way he sidelined and neglected Priya when Alicia got shot. I actually felt really sorry for her. I thought he was completely spineless in the whole thing. He was obviously in love with Alicia all along but didn't have the guts to finish with Priya sooner. The only positive thing I can say is that at least he didn't go through with the wedding. I didn't blame Priya for wanting to tell Jacob and her behaviour has been completely understandable. I suppose Alica didn't really have any choice but to tell Jacob the truth. I assume he's gone to find Leyla.

This storyline with Amy/Kyle continues to frustrate me. I was actually pretty glad when Amy was told she had zero chance of getting Kyle back. And Kerry really annoyed me yesterday lying to Joanie to get her to change her mind about Kyle. I wish they would just leave the poor woman alone. TBH, I'm not sure I like where this storyline is going. It seems as though they are deliberately trying to portray Joanie as someone who is too old, by herself and struggling to raise Kyle. And then there was Cain's reaction when he realised the child he saw was his own son. Almost feels like they are trying to set her up for giving Kyle back to Amy.

I wasn't sure what Rhona's reaction was going to be when she found out about Paddy and Chas but it was almost like she didn't want to get annoyed because she felt she had no right after what she put Paddy through. I do actually hope they manage to make a go of it. And at least Vanessa isn't being a nuisance.

A character I find interesting at the moment is Moira. Since she shacked up with Cain, her morals have shifted. John would be turning in his grave. She knew Cain conducted in illegal activities to get her money to pay Declan a while back but now she even seems OK with him stealing a whole load of cars right under Declan's nose, including Declan's own car the using the money to pay Declan back for what rightfully should have been his in the first place. This is bad enough but she also harbours the person who car jacked Laurel, supposedly one of her closest friends. And there's also the fact that she was prepared to help cover up Marcus being shot whilst participating in the attempted robbery of drug dealers. I suppose there is another side to looking at this. Moira values family and is simply doing what she has to to survive. She barely knows Marcus but was prepared to risk her friendship with Laurel because he is one of her own. With regards to her allow Cain's indiscretions, I guess it comes down to her morals or keeping a roof over her head. So I suppose she thought Cain had already stolen and sold the cars there was nothing she could do to change that so she might as well keep her livelihood. I think what bugs me about this is not so much that Moira accepts what Cain has done is that it always seems as though Cain can commit these crimes at will and there seem to be very little repercussions or fallback on him directly. I think there's an argument that Cain actually did Declan a favour - He got £60000 and if he's taken out the right insurance claim on his car he should be able to get full whack for it. Which would be more than what he would get selling it.

There's no doubt that Declan has made some pretty ruthless decisions but I'm still on his side and hope he doesn't go under. Just about the worse thing he did was cover up Alex's murder but again I think he was subscribing to the logic that the murder already happened and there was nothing he could do to change it. I mentioned this before but personally I didn't believe him when he said he would reveal the body after festival which didn't happen. He would have had absolutely nothing to gain financially by doing this. But I don't disagree with what he's done since. Why should he put other people before himself? How many of those people would do the same if their positions were all reversed. They all pretty much hate him anyway. So I support what he is doing. Didn't really like the way he spoke to Megan. It's obvious she is trying to do what's best for him so I didn't like when he had a go at her like that although admittely that was more to do with his estranged wife turning up. Really hate Katie. Why oh why did she have to come back? Just hate the way she's moved herself into Home Farm with that constant smug expression on her face. Declan should just through her out. And now she expects him to fork out on a cottage for her. She's indirectly responsible for this mess and the financial situation he's in and wants a free handout. Declan should really tell her where to go.