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EastEnders: Janine and Billy
jamesc_715
Posts: 8,505 Forum Member
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It’s a real shame the producers have ruined Janine and Billy’s friendship. Since Janine’s return, she has manipulated Billy and doesn’t care about him at all. She’s using him for her scam and to cause drama between him and Jay.
I’ve noticed Billy keeps standing up to her more and doesn’t let her get away with it. No doubt when Billy finds out Janine has manipulated Will, he’s not going to forgive her and will likely wash his hands off her.
I’ve noticed Billy keeps standing up to her more and doesn’t let her get away with it. No doubt when Billy finds out Janine has manipulated Will, he’s not going to forgive her and will likely wash his hands off her.
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The smile she pulled when Billy when Will and Jay left for the presentation was ridiculous. I’m surprised she didn’t have a moustache to swirl.
Billy is pond scum. He beat Jamie for years and has been cruel to Janet and Will to hurt Honey. He has also been horrible to Jay, including now trying to have him sent to prison. I am disgusted any time I see him at this point. And his "friendship" with Janine is unwatchable this time around because it's just one sociopath manipulating a moron. They even had Janine say it.
I did want him to just have some happy ending exit and pop up in a recurring capacity for Will and Janet but right now way he’s going I’d rather see this pathetic waste of space manchild killed off.
Janine’s return has been absolutely dire. I think the Kim/Vincent Storyline is the only decent atm. The Monroe’s are ok but I predict that they are going to be the ones that are involved in the terrorist attack they are supposedly planning. I don’t think Aaron is going to last longer than 6 months.
Yes he beat up Jamie 20 years ago…I mean Janine just tried to manipulate a child, but that’s ok because she’s yaaas qweeeennn
Billy has no redeeming qualities at this point. He let Jay's father die and is now working to send Jay to prison. He kept quiet about his daughter's hit and run because he'd gotten a leg over with the woman who turned out to be the driver. Billy then made his partner and children homeless because he decided to dig up graves for a robbery. He was so bitter after learning about Jay and Honey, he hurt his children by twisting the knife about their relationship. He made ugly remarks about Jay and Janet, his own daughter. His beating the hell out of a child for years is just one of his many failings.
Janine is pathetic these days, so I'm certainly not going to defend her.
I would have agreed with you for a long time. The writing for him since about 2018 has been poor, and under this current regime, has been shockingly bad. They have destroyed the character.
The main problem is that they haven’t let the character evolve. The constant loser act is a bit ridiculous. The best thing they did for the character was under Sean O’Connor when they had him have a career at the funeral parlour and gave him an income. I remember a really beautiful scene where Billy tells Ian in the chippy that he had been given a promotion and instead of getting a snide comment back, Ian congratulated him. It was really lovely.
Why John Yorke felt the need to undo all that progression in a matter of weeks of taking control of the show remains a mystery in my view. Billy’s been a spare part ever since.
The minute Yorke and co felt the need to regress Billy back to a loser, it was game over for his character. Nobody in the current team has cared about him enough since to write him with even the tiniest little bit of dignity. He’s just been allowed to spiral further into the sewer and has expanded his repertoire of self pity and toxic behaviour just to make him extra unbearable for the viewers.
For what its worth, I actually never bought that Billy would have cheated on Honey back in 2017. Not after losing her once and getting her back. He wouldn’t have risked it. The illegal grave exhuming and losing his job again - absolutely spot on - vintage Billy. But not the cheating actually. But hey, the writers went there. He did cheat on his wife and lose her and their kids their home. It’s done and he’s been absolutely ruined by it. A real shame but I think EE have left it too late to redeem him now, even if he doesn’t go along with this latest scam, which is thoroughly appalling (and yet again, puts his children’s home at risk). He is as thick as he is spiteful. Imagine let your hate for a young man who bears you no intentional harm, overtake your love for your kids and their well-being and security? Yuck. No beuno.
As for Janine, well she’s always been a shit, let’s face it. No one is surprised to see her try to con someone for money - that’s Janine all over! But despite the fact that she’s always used Billy for her own ends (and their friendship has always been pretty one-sided), I naively thought that he meant a little more to her than most and that there would be one or two boundaries she wouldn’t cross. Billy’s children being that line in the sand. Watching her manipulate her oldest friend’s son last night when you know it’ll likely damage his relationship with his dad, wasn’t entertaining really. It was hammy and really kind of sad.
With this current storyline (and the doomed Honey/Jay romance) this production team have successfully managed to trash 4 separate relationships that were the better part of 2 decades old: Billy and Jay, Billy and Honey, Honey and Jay (soon) and now Billy and Janine. Nice going, you clowns… 👏🏻 Absolutely no respect for the history of the characters and the show and no idea whatsoever that the audience want to watch. (Clue: it isn’t seeing much-loved, long-term characters having their special bonds with each other destroyed, possibly permanently). They’ve already done plenty of that since they came in, if anyone wants to look around and survey the carnage…
A real shame.
I bet you’re right and this is exactly what happens.
I suppose if it does, we should thank Janine for bringing a swift end to that doomed relationship. But it’s at too high a price. Several 15-20 year old bonds, once previously quite special, gone. Possibly forever. Just because the story team like demolishing stuff for kicks.
The show has been built on history, family and friendship links like the ones mentioned above. Yet this team continue to see no value in them and break them apart. They’ve done it with everyone. This is what’s killing the show. There’s nothing left to invest in anymore…
Well we knew this would happen under this incompetent duo who seem intent on destroying this Show.
This is very well said. And sad.
Thanks. It feels like a real punch in the gut sometimes as all four were previously characters that I hugely enjoyed watching and rooting for (well, I never quite rooted for Janine but I bloody well enjoyed her). Now I’m literally down to caring only about Jay (and his recent material is really trying my patience) and occasionally Honey, who irritates me at times, but I can feel sympathy for her at other times.
Billy has been “dead to me” (to coin his favourite phrase) for a while now due to his constant shitty behaviour and as for Janine, well I don’t really know what to say. The return has been disappointing because she’s not currently being written (or sadly acted) with any nuance or refinement at all with this return. Janine is usually at her best when she’s scheming, but all this is very panto I’m afraid. Not to mention that it’s harder to enjoy it when there’s not one iota of justification for her behaviour this time. She’s screwing over an innocent man who’s been good enough to give her a job and put a roof over her head, as well as her so-called best friend and his children. Usually Janine goes after those who have genuinely wronged her. I’m not entirely sure why EE thought we’d want to see her dismantle the life of her oldest ally and those around him. It’s not fun.
But the depth of investment is wearing thin because EE has given no thought or care to the long term fates of these characters and how exactly they are supposed to realistically coexist on the programme after they’ve wrapped up the dreadful storylines they’ve thrown them into. Whether they cut the cords on the bonds permanently or try and sweep it all under the carpet and have them all laughing together in the Vic over drinks next year, there’s no satisfying outcome to be derived at the end of this now. A reunion will feel shallow and unearned and permanent estrangement will feel desperately sad. What a massive f**k up from EE…
It does. No one expected her to be all sweetness and light and everyone was looking forward to her getting her claws out. But I don’t reckon anyone wanted EE to start her off as an irredeemably awful mother and than start abusing the only friend who’s ever stuck by her. EE have literally begun her return by appearing to sever the two closest links she should have. No one ever thought Janine would be mother of the year, but shunting her daughter in care homes for years was a disappointing start. And now with Billy (who she’s always played on a bit), she’s now gone after his children which is pretty dark and a line I thought she maybe wouldn’t cross. Oh well. Janine is enjoyable as a soap bitch only if there’s nuance to the writing and her behaviour is at least to a small degree, understandable. Currently, it is not and it’s all coming across a bit panto unfortunately…
She’s worse than her usual self though. She usually targets people that kind of deserves it. Well there was Barry but he was annoying! Lol. And she was after his money who she thought was dying so you could kind of understand her targeting him. Jay is a decent guy who has given Janine a job and a home. It doesn’t make sense why she hates him so much.
Don't get me wrong, I don't give a crap about Honey and Jay's 'romance' and I never bought or believed in the relationship, but still, the whole thing leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Yorke trashed Billy and Billy and Honey's relationship long before Oates and Sen got there, but ruining Billy and Jay's relationship is hammering nails into the coffin. It's one of those bonds that shouldn't have been spat on to this degree. And I agree about Janine, I didn't find her manipulating Billy, Will and Jay entertaining at all and Billy's children (because that really includes Jay) should be the unspoken line in the sand that even Janine doesn't cross. Because if a longstanding character like Janine will cross those lines, what's to stop other long standing characters crossing lines like that? And this is how we descend into the mess we're in, where characters become just nasty cardboard cutouts, doing nasty things to nasty cardboard cutouts. They did it to Stacey and Ruby and Sharon and Ian and now it's Billy and Janine's turn.