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For those EE fans out there following my Postcards, I want to apologize for the last few weeks with nothing new to say. To be honest, I am bored of griping about the current quality of EE. Unfortunately, the latest episodes have given me little positive drama to comment on. However, so many new observations have been springing to mind over the past few weeks, that even if I'm back to whinging, I thought I'd share them with the Walford Web readers, and see if anyone else feels the same way.

The last 2 omnibuses shown here in the U.S. (each is 4 episodes, or 1 week in the UK) have had only romantic-triangle stories. So, we viewers have to spend 2 hours listening to Lynne/Jason/Garry obsess about overwhelming "love", only to then watch Phil & Lisa leer at each other while poor Mark stands grinning in the background, followed by Paul in a dither over Precious, while Anthony & Zoe continue their rather ridiculous romance against the background of her family's disapproval. Yuk! As if that wasn't bad enough, the producers have decided to go "arty" on us; just in case the viewers didn't realize the parallels between stories, we are now subjected to jump-cuts, voice-overs from one couple while another is on-screen, Dot reciting her views on the sad state of matrimony while Jason & Lynne loudly swap spit, etc. Whatever happened to subtlety? When did EastEnders start playing to the mentally challenged in the galleries?

Since I am not one of the mentally challenged, I have a few pertinent points to mention. Firstly, (& I have brought this up in the past), hasn't anyone noticed yet that Melanie has jumped bail, leaving Phil Mitchell £30,000 (UK) poorer? If any sort of character consistency were being adhered to, we'd be seeing Lisa in hysterics trying to find Mel, while Phil would be having conniptions over the situation & using all his contacts to track her down. If Phil were getting romantic with Lisa in any way, it would be because he was trying to worm Mel's hiding place out of her, not a sudden desire for reconciliation! At least, that's how the EastEnders of old would be handling the situation. It seems quite odd to me that this potential gold-mine of a storyline has been ignored as if Melanie never existed.

Secondly, it's possible that BBC America has chosen to skip a few episodes, but what happened to Nita & Robbie?? Last month they were getting an apartment, Nita had chosen Robbie over a return to India, Robbie moved out with Gus's help, then….this week he's back living with Dot & Jim (as is Gus, apparently!) with no apparent heart-ache or depression, & no mention of Nita or his apartment. Excuse me, did I blink or something? Was there a press announcement that we didn't see here in the US? Or has Albert Square suddenly entered another, parallel universe, one in which Nita never met Robbie. Someone fill me in here, I'm a little confused!

Speaking of parallel universes, the short break-up of Ian & Laura also existed in one of those, this one a parallel legal universe. I know it's been awhile for those of you in the UK, but if you recall when Laura found out about Ian & Janine she threw him out, keeping the apartment & the kids, as well as changing the locks. Ian did nothing other than whine for Laura to forgive him & let him back. Watching this, my partner turned to me & said "EastEnders used to be a reality show. Now it's just another fantasy." I had to agree. Laura had no legal ties to those children in any way; all Ian would have had to do is call the police, and she would have been the one out on the streets. Not only that, but those kids would never have chosen her over Ian, not after the trauma of their early kidnapping & the subsequent custody fight. Ian is the only stability that Stephen, Peter & Lucy have ever had. The Ian of the past would not have hesitated to fight for his children; I miss that Ian, as annoying as he could be.

I could go on for quite awhile, but I'll wrap it up with this question: where are the Evans'? We've seen Pat once or twice for a minute, but Roy? Barry? Natalie?? Are they also victims of the management change? Did they get into car wrecks as well? C'mon, writers, please give us an Evans' storyline, please….