u/TeaJunkie91

I’m literally sick of Betsy. The girl has been in peril or walked herself into trouble more times than Lois Lane and if speculation about what her upcoming storyline is about is true, I’m already over it and it hasn’t even begun.

The thing is, I don’t even blame Betsy per se, but the writers at Corrie seem to be completely devoid of inspiration or creativity for anyone who isn’t a new character or a guest character and it’s frustrating as hell.

It’s like they get stuck on a character for an age and everyone else falls to the wayside.

When was the last time Amy Barlow had a decent storyline since the rape storyline? Or Lauren? Liam and Jack never get a look in.

What is the point in paying all of these actors to not be used for anything significant other than filler scenes just to use the same one or two for bigger storylines?

They’re pushing it like it’s Sydney’s first big storyline but she’s been involved in countless ones since she arrived; Joel, the break in at Underworld, Mason, being shot by her own mother, her other mother coming back from the dead, Corriedale, the murder plot. It’s not like she’s been a background character who is suddenly getting a big break. She’s had more screen time than most of the other young actors combined.

I really wish the writers would learn the art of balancing the cast better because it’s starting to feel less like an ensemble and more like a Main Cast, Supporting Cast and Guest Star scenario.

As much as I hate the murder twist storyline at least we got to see some of the other cast actually be involved in something for a change like Maria and Tyrone.

And now they’ve suddenly remembered that Abi is still around.

I’ve gotten to a point where the only scenes I actually enjoy completely without anticipating the writers messing it up somehow are the ones of Debbie’s Angels getting drunk and having a good time. It takes me back to good ol days when there was more balance on the show.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like they need to give Carla a decent solid storyline. I’m not counting Swarla because that was more relationship based. I’m talking about a good juicy storyline Ali can sink her teeth into as the main player and really lean into all the tools in her acting box.

I know we had the Rob thing last year, but considering it was her second transplant storyline, it was also sort of a recycled storyline just slightly different.

Over the last 4-5 years, it feels like they’ve shifted Carla into this mentor / supportive character role, which don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the softer side of Carla and it probably feeds into Ali’s shifting dynamic behind the scenes being a legacy character/actor.

But I miss the fiery side of her from years gone by and seeing Ali carry a storyline. She’s a force of nature as an actor but sometimes I feel like they’ve softened Carla too much that she lacks the fight she used to have.

I mean, seeing her get locked up by Becky…. Really? Carla Connor who grew up on a council estate and chewed up and spit out many man and survived more trauma than most being that easily overpowered by a weasely little wimp like Becky?? The one who was able to almost toss Tracy Barlow off the cliff she was going to jump from herself??

I dunno, rewatching old clips of Carla from the earlier years just made me miss how dynamic the character used to be. She was fun, feisty and fierce. But lately she feels a bit like a spayed puppy.

Or maybe I’m just feeling a little too nostalgic reliving the old days.

I’ve always been curious of the concept of soaps running spin offs for special storylines where they can push boundaries beyond the pre watershed.

I know Hollyoaks have gone down this route for particularly harrowing storylines. But could this actually be a viable option for soaps going forward?

Not just Hollyoaks but Home and Away have pulled similar spin offs in the past to tell storylines that would otherwise be too dark or too consuming within the narrative of the original format.

If Corrie were to do something similar, keeping the soap drama for the original timeslot and reincorporating more domestic family lightness in the original and branching out to the spin off for more procedural heavy or dark topical storylines where they’re not restricted by pre watershed regulations, could that be a happy medium between pleasing the viewers who crave the old school vibe whilst also appeasing the generations who are more invested in the streaming type content that interests them allowing for overlap between the two?

That way, the original format isn’t too topic or police procedural heavy and fans can get the best of both worlds without having to compensate one for the other.

It may also offer a solution to people who feel the half hour episodes feel too choppy when it comes to screen time of scenes.