The Males.
Recently the male characters have nearly been just as bad as the females; the males seem to have a toxic trait in almost all of them. I won't go into Cain Dingle in this post because they have given him different depths over the year since he got with Moira. I want depth to my characters, not that I condone some of the things Cain has done over the years.
Let's get the big one out of the way.
Mack!
I wonder if the writers or producers have written Mack like this is an undertone of a bullying, abusive, toxic man or if they have written it not knowing what it comes across as. I am trying to figure out what version is worse.
Mack's treatment of others, no matter what sex is bordering on disgusting at times. He has treated Charity, Chloe, Ryan, Noah and probably others appallingly or given them awful advice showing his views on women.
Like my previous post, he has ruined the character Charity, and I believe it will only worsen. Hooray for Super Soap Week. I noticed his abusive and toxic trait with Charity when Chloe moved in, and he wanted her to move out.
He used Charity's failures in the past as a mother. Below the belt, especially after what she went through with Ryan, we all know how long it took for Noah and Charity to get a proper mother-and-son relationship.
He then spoke to Noah about how awkward it would be for him to live with Chloe, using Noah's past with Chloe to get what he wanted. Sadly for Mack, it caused Noah to move in with Amelia and Dan for a bit.
Then we get to his treatment of Ryan; this one made my blood boil. Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know that my husband is in the Police, but I am a qualified Special Educational Needs zero to five teacher, so children and SENCO hold a special place in my heart.
When Ryan found out about Mack having cheated on his mum and wanting to go and tell her, Mack's words to Ryan made my blood boil. Using Ryan's health and disability is utterly disgusting and diabolical.
I want Charity to find out what Mack said to Ryan; I am dismayed they seem to have forgotten it. Well, trust me, Emmerdale producers, many viewers haven't.
Then we have the advice to Noah about Chloe, which I had forgotten until a lovely Twitter friend reminded me. If a girl says no, she doesn't mean it; go for it or something along those lines.
I do not condone what Noah did. He was old enough to know better, but that advice was utterly shite from a grown man with more life experience than Noah.
His treatment of Chloe is no better; okay, Chloe isn't my favourite character, but she is young and has lived a sheltered life. Mack has treated her like a dirty secret, hidden her away, sent her to Scotland, and now has moved her next door to his wife, parades her around in the pub and then acts like a petulant child when he is pulled up on his actions.
Please tell me this is a storyline they are bubbling away that he is a toxic, abusive man, or have they written him like that without considering how he has come across? Which, to me, is far worse than the first option.
Bob
So last night, we had Bob threatening to kill Liam—Bob, the man who has had more affairs than I have corrected spelling mistakes at school. Why have they gone down the Bob is angry at everyone route.
Wendy isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I will write about her, but he cruelly humiliated her at her place of work in front of patients. Why couldn't they use this affair to get him with Bernice?
Bob
Then we have David, pointless David, the man who decided to steal his partner's driving license and add points to hers without her knowing and then having the gall to blame her for not taking the points!
Has David had a good storyline since his excellent cancer storyline?
Samson
What have they done to Samson? Now I am not like others on Twitter; I have no problems with him not wanting to be a father, he is sixteen/seventeen, and he has his whole life ahead of him.
I also felt sorry for him when Sam and Lydia wouldn't listen to him about what he wanted. I am very much the woman who decides to continue with a pregnancy, but I also think Samson should be heard in a world where we want and value equality.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with how he rang social services, pushed his dad over, and blackmailed Noah for money using his daughter as collateral damage. Some would say he wasn't listened to; he did it because no one heard his wants.
And when we finally get an insight into his behaviour, we don't see him for three months, and he's completely forgotten about. I wonder if they needed Samson to turn into a bit of shit to make a storyline. Only some characters must change to fit a storyline's purpose, and Samson didn't need a character assassination.
They could have done a proper adoption storyline, a grown-up storyline for three teenagers, one with a criminal record. It would have been better than this rubbish.
Or if they went down the route of phoning social services, how about them charging Samson? As someone who has worked in Early Years settings, getting hold of Social Services when needed is utterly hard, and people making fake accusations is annoying.
Last night though, gave me hope that the character change had finished; he argued his point of not having Amelia and Esther live with them in a grown-up and articulate way.
I will add my annoyance with Lydia in this section; she doesn't listen, does she? Trust me; I understand her because, as someone who has had three miscarriages and problems with fertility, I understand her utter love of children and wanting to be a grandmother.
She can't, though, forget the wishes of her stepson; he has told her numerous times that he doesn't want to be a father. Does someone also want to remind Lydia, who is paying for her granddaughter, babysitting her, supported Amelia during pregnancy and was there at the birth? It wasn't Samson; it was Noah. Being a dad isn't always about biology; it takes more than that; it's about being there. You could tell in the car the other day that Esther recognised Noah; if it were real, Esther would think Noah had her dad.
Noah
I am going to applaud Emmerdale on this. Well done for breaking the stereotype of making people come out of prison worse than what they went in.
My husband is a police officer and always gets so annoyed at the TV showing how prisons are, and he knows prisons very rarely work in which they should do, which is reform, give you a trade and help you never commit a crime again.
So well done on giving Noah a profession and so far not turning into a Cain. Now I like Amelia and Noah; they work well together, but he needs to stand up for himself and tell her that she is sometimes immature and wrong. There is nothing wrong with it; she's a teenager and still learning to be herself, but her behaviour recently isn't the best. Please see my first blog on Amelia.
I would like to see more scenes with Noah and Charity, some of Charity's best scenes have been with Noah.
Wendy and Victoria
Oh, good God! Where do I start? It's such a shame Wendy isn't a great character because Susan Cookson is an outstanding actress, I loved her in Casualty and Land Girls, and Emmerdale isn't giving her the material to show off her acting skills.
Even though soaps have a certain leeway in what can happen in real life, not being a qualified nurse still nursing is pushing the boundaries. And how can she work at the GP and the hospital? Wow, does she ever sleep?
At first, I thought she and Liam were a bit of fun which we needed in Emmerdale, but it quickly turned boring. At first, I thought well, this is great. It will be Bob and Bearnice together and Liam and Wendy together. But it's just turned into a storyline to make Bob angry, and Wendy looks utterly stupid, considering she's the one that had an affair and now demanding Bearnice move out.
Then we get to Victoria; what does she do? What is her purpose on the show now? She's the last Sugden remaining, but she's so yawn-worthy now.
She's turned into a busybody that is in everybody's business. Before last week, had she and Amelia ever had a scene together, and now she's going to court with her to support her? They've just turned her into a Betty about twenty years before her time.
Chas
I saved the best to last. This past year has seen the utter character assentation of Chas Dingle. I am still determining where they can go from here with her.
Her affair with Al was the worst thing they could have done to her character. It didn't help that Al was one of the worst characters they have bought in recently.
My mother fought cancer during lockdown and was so lucky to survive, and for Chas to use her mother's illness as an excuse for her to have an affair left me feeling sick.
She's had no consequences for her actions; she's just carried on with her life; okay, she's lost her son and her husband, but has she shown any remorse?
I wanted Charity to kick her out of the pub and move in with Noah and Amelia to spite her. But alas, no, Charity was the one to support her.
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Emmerdale needs a massive overhaul; the same characters are getting storylines repeatedly. This means we are getting bored of them, the writing could have been better, and we are seeing the same people all the time.
We have seen too much of Amelia, Gabby, Chas, Charity, Mack and Chloe. We've got bored of them.
We don't see characters for months, such as Samson, Lydia, Eric, Zak, Jacob, Brenda etc. I know with Zak, it's due to age, and I understand that.
The overuse of characters is making us dislike them. Please use the whole cast!
They seem to need to remember past storylines as well. Was I the only one shouting at the TV last summer at Kerry when she kept trying to break up Noah and Amelia?
I get it; you might not want your daughter going out with a boy that's just come out of jail, but considering she burnt Frank to death, I think that was hypocritical.
I was shouting for Charity to remind her of that fact. Same with Amy when she was trying to get custody of Kyle, now Cain isn't going to win father of the year anytime soon and isn't winning awards for the best citizen in Yorkshire, but Amy did set fire to the sweet factory and caused Frank's death.
I am already sensing the storyline of Kerry's return, the jealousy over Mandy and Charity helping Amelia and being upset about Noah's most probably living with her. Please give me strength.
However, Kerry has my permission to hurt Mack and Chas for their lies and deception.
Positives
- Mandy and Paddy are just perfect together; a bit of fun is just what we need.
- Marlon, Rhona and Mary - I love this dynamic; Mary and Marlon working together is perfection.
- Gail - I know she's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like her. She reminds me of Laurel when she first arrived, and she's a bit of fun behind the bar. Also, it's nice to see relationships on TV showing people with disabilities have a love life.
- Nicola, Jimmy, Bearnice, Laurel. Need I say more? Even though the Kidknapp storyline was awful this week. Laurel is still a character with depth and could have so much more to her.
Next blog post:- Racial representations.
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