Langford on Soaps: Aaron On Trial For Murdering His Lover On "Emmerdale!"

In the July edition of Langford On Soaps….

In GOOL THEATER, Salem begins to learn that Sonny is gay on DAYS and not everyone is that accepting about it. And on EastEnders, Christian takes a stand about his and Syed’s future. In GOOL SCOOPS AND SPOILERS, Malick must make an important decision about his career on Holby City, and Deniz is in danger on All That Matters. And in GOOL NEWSBEAT, U.S. soaps All My Children and One Live to Live aren’t so dead after all. Plus, the Inside Soap nominations are very gay and Danny Miller talks about Aaron’s murder trial on Emmerdale.

All this – and more!

GOOL THEATER

Neighbours

It seems as if the real problem Chris’ father has with his son is that he’s gay, but he doesn’t want to go there. Maybe he's afraid he'll say something he can't take back. I just get the sense they never really resolved that, and it remains a big pink elephant in the room. There’s a lot of tension between Chris and his dad, and it can’t be because Chris wants to wear a cute blue jumpsuit and fix cars.

Speaking of Chris and cars, I loved the scene where Kyle remarked that he didn’t think Chris would be into cars. Chris, who is far too innocent for his own good, didn’t even conceive that Kyle said that because Chris is gay. At least Kyle had the sense to make tracks rather than let Chris see what a homophobic boob he was.

Emmerdale

The one thing I’ve always loved about Emmerdale is the great sense of community this soap has. Stories and characters don’t exist in a vacuum. What happens in this town affects everyone in some way or another, even if it’s just gossip about what’s going down with the neighbors. This sort of interaction is the way good soaps are written.

As interested as I am in Aaron’s woes, I really loved the scenes between Chas and Carl. They have such chemistry and their scenes are full of intensity. Sure, Carl might be sincere in his desire to help Chas, but he’s not above using that money to lure her right back into his very sexy arms. And despite her protestations, it can’t be long before Chas is back with Carl and they’ll be finding ways to make each other miserable all over again. Still, Aaron should have taken the money. But Aaron always cuts off his nose to spite his face.

Also compelling were the scenes where Hazel was made to realize what a mistake it was to hold on to Jackson’s things, that it wouldn’t bring him back. But even better were the moments where she misses her son and regrets that he couldn't adjust to his disability like Steve did. Pauline Quirke again gives an amazing performance and is the MVP of this storyline.

People of the Valley

Okay, I need for this story to get moving. For weeks we’ve played the same scenes over and over. Macs is cold and unfeeling to the people around him. He gives Iolo the brush off. Iolo tries to talk some sense into his brother, only to be giving the boot. A week goes by and we see the same scene again, only in a different room or setting. It's time for there to be some sort of development. Not only is a dynamic and provocative story losing its power, but the characters are really starting to be damaged, most notably Iolo.

Iolo has done everything but directly ask Macs if Scott raped him, skirting around the issue, alluding to it, but not actually addressing it. And it’s long past time for that to happen. Iolo knows something horrible happened between Scott and Macs; he’s seen and heard enough to put all the pieces together. He can also see Macs falling apart and ruining his life and I just think it’s irresponsible for him to do and say nothing while this happens. If he doesn’t want to tell anyone and betray Macs confidence that’s one thing, but he could at the very least confront Macs about this and not beat around the bush.

Perhaps that is coming and the show is building to it. But they need to get there and soon.