Hello, sweet anon! Thank you for really reading my Live and Organized. I appreciate that.  I’m delighted that you picked up on my IM vs. KO comment.  Now, I’ve worked this out with only a few people, and now it’s making its way to the mainstream.  I’m going to hide this behind a cut, but here I go! Sorry if I offend anyone out there but this is what I’ve seen and feel is happening. I will break this out into positives and then negatives. (Yes, both have positives).

Kate Oates

What Works

Kate Oates is good at dark, dramatic story.  The ones that, if one thing is done wrong, the whole storyline is over. For instance, Bethany’s Grooming storyline was done beautifully. As is the start of David’s rape story.  She knows how to hit the right beats and promote social issues in significant ways, so it grabs the attention of not only the fanbase but the general audience as well.  That is great. On Emmerdale, she did this with Edna and her inability to pay for heat or food. Elderly not being able to afford the cost of living is a real problem in the United States (where I live) but the UK as well. I could argue her Woolpack Siege is part of the dark, dramatic story but didn’t have a social issue involved.  It didn’t have a great buildup, but once Cameron came out with the gun, there was this slow build up to Debbie/Cameron/Chas. She compared that human build up to the building filling with water about to explode. If I remember correctly the building exploded right when the triangle exploded.  It was great television and had a lot of great writing, direction and camera work. This covers the big helicopter crash that had a big build up with multiple characters involved.  Same with the ‘Who Shot Robert?’ storyline that borrowed from a famous Hitchcock movie but it still surprised people.

What Doesn’t Work  

Even though I said she is good at the big dramatic story, she tends to make everything dark. She has trouble with comedy plots. She tries, but it just doesn’t happen. For instance, on Coronation Street, Liz and Eileen hiding out in the toilets to avoid an annoying person was meant to be funny.  Also, Gemma (the resident comedy plot who I adore) was recently attacked by Fitz for sleeping with Tyrone.  Instead of it being dramatic they tried to make it funny, and it just left me hating everyone but Gemma because Fitz has no right to throw stuff and grab Gemma for something she let her boyfriend get away with.  Her idea of light and funny doesn’t exist. During her reign on Emmerdale that happened too. There was an imbalance of comedy to dark.  She had Alicia sexually abused, Adam cheated on Victoria and Ross shot Robert because Andy paid him to do it.  So much fun.

Also, I’m writing this here. She had a ton of cheating during her reign of Emmerdale and currently Corrie. So, the whole argument of Iain only does cheating storylines falls apart instantly since all showrunners use cheating. Even Kate Oates has used a cheating trope the wrong way. Tyrone/Gemma ring a bell? Aiden and Maria? Come on now. She planned to kill off Robert and just make him a one-dimensional character though he was a legacy and Ryan deserved better back then. Thank god fans grew to love him, and he got to stick around long enough to see a different showrunner direct the character.

She also repeats stories. Here is a list of all the stories she is repeating:

1) Kana/Billy and Todd = Robron (Kana is…less than impressive. Billy and Todd’s demise couldn’t be helped)

2) Cameron = Phelan (SIGH)

3) Summer = Liv (Ok…that is less repeating and more trying to compete and complete her new version of Robron. Sorry. I like Summer but Team Liv)

4) Eva/Aiden/Maria = Ross/Debbie/Pete (think about it. Both had terrible people stuck in the middle. One named Debbie and one named Aiden. )

5)Rita (a beloved character) almost dying = Val (actually dying) (I think the fans saved Rita. Those campaigns to keep her around at any cost was intense.)

Those are few I can name off the top of my head.  I remember pointing out more with someone, but I lost track. Either way, she has her favorite tropes, or she tries to recreate, and it falls flat…most of the time.  

Iain Macleod

What Works

Iain is good at using a shows history in a creative way.  Sometimes it easy to just barrel forward and leave your mark by creating new families or new characters and let them squeeze themselves into the canvas. Iain has been using the shows history and building on that history.  He did it with Robert and his sexuality and daddy issues.  Which did upset long-term viewers since some long-term viewers view Jack as a bit more innocent than he was actually on screen. He recently showed this strength by bringing a beloved family back, The Tates.  Using that history (that family has a strong history), he can easily bring back fan favorites while developing a future for them in the village.  Joe fits, and because he fits so well, Graham (who he brought with him) fits in as well.

He knows how to mix the village up.  For some reason 2017 had everyone in their corners but around November 2017 and beyond the village starting mixing again.  People who aren’t in the same storylines still hanging out at the pub together or having a conversation in the pub is happening again.  I think Robert being taken out to a club by other characters wouldn’t have happened in 2015 or even 2017 but in 2018 it worked. Everyone was talking and taking advice from each other by that point. The village feels alive again.  

He is good at creating new characters.  Jessie, Gerry, and Graham are some original characters that have added so much to the village and still have a long future ahead of them.  I can see all three characters sticking around for a long time.

What Doesn’t

I think he has trouble working with characters that he didn’t create, or he can’t draw some history from.  That is why direction for The White family has been a bit on the crazy side. Not in a good way.  Since The Whites are limited in terms of history, he seems to struggle with what they will be or do next.  Which lead to uneven characterization and general confusion.  Killing off two seemed to cut down on the confusion but who is left is just hanging out till the next plot point. So, that was horribly done.

He is headstrong. If he wants to see something on screen, we are getting it.  He wanted to see Robert with a kid.  We have it (I say it worked out ok for now, but it was rough going getting there).  He wanted to see some couples broken up and mixed up, so we got Pete and Priya (hot summer romance…not.).  He doesn’t look at the bigger picture or long-term effects of storylines.  There is quite a bit of 2017 that is full of experiments that just failed miserably.

He loves his favorite plot devices. He loves babies (everyone got a baby last year…and Chas this year.), and he falls back on cheating even when it doesn’t make sense (Laurel/Bob and Priya/Pete) and many more that is abused quite a bit on the show. To the point when we were tired watching.  

To tell you the truth, one thing they both are good at is getting viewers to watch, comment and freak out over the show. Both shows are consistently neck and neck in the ratings and have created their own little corner of the soap world that is getting both Corrie and Emmerdale noticed internationally.  Both have many faults, but they have done a lot of good as well.  They understand social issues, and how to relate those issues to their audience. One would argue both have gotten attention from a younger viewer base than former showrunners.  However, right now…I like where both are for the time being. I think Kate Oates needs to stay at Corrie and people need to recognize that 2018 has been better than 2017 for Iain McLeod.  He is learning, slowly, from his mistakes of 2017.  So, let’s keep everyone in place for the time being. For my sanity.

I’m sure I pissed off enough people with this off the cuff answer to the lovely anon.  So, what do you all think? Tell me below.