I guess my concern was always more how much focus does the show actually want to give them? Especially without Ben?

And I guess, for the moment, the answer is: none. That's something I'm extremely pleased about.

The thing with Callum only being a plot device, especially lately, is that the writers might not think he's locked into being a plot device just for Ben. He could be a plot device for Johnny, if that's what they wanted to do, assuming Johnny was a character they are interested in. And Callum was mostly a plot device for Johnny in the aftermath of the funeral, though so was Johnny really. They seemed designed to be incompatible and a couple nobody was supposed to root for.

Yet I guess I still feared that he and Johnny would continue to appear together, or they'd give Johnny a storyline where Callum would turn up and play a supporting role of some kind. Not that those options are off the table, but luckily they don't seem to be imminent concerns at present.

But I agree that Johnny seems more of a prop for Linda and Elaine at the moment. So ideally (for me) we won't get much of anything from him or Callum for a good long while. Realistically I guess they will at some point have to give one or both of them something to do, but then again, Callum went an entire year without a single storyline so it's not implausible that the same happens again until they figure out the Ben situation.

As a side note, I really do hate Elaine right now and have no idea why Wadey seems to favour her so much. It's insanity. She's so unlikeable.

Re the Johnny cheating or Callum realising it's not working scenarios: I feel like I'm now of the opinion that Johnny and Callum are not important enough characters for those to be realistic options. I thought they might be 2 months ago but now it seems the show will do as little as possible with them or their relationship until they can get Ben back. That's just my hope/opinion though.

I only see Johnny cheating to facilitate one or both of their exits, since I'm not convinced Johnny has a place on the show beyond being a roadblock for Ballum, but I could be wrong there.

I might just have tunnel vision but it does seem to me that the entire objective is another Ballum affair storyline (à la 2019) and that's it. Which honestly just makes me roll my eyes but here we are.

I've not got much to add this time except I agree.

The way Callum and Johnny were set up as a couple very much felt like it was solely to cause drama for Ben's return, and not really about them. There was 100% the opportunity to make it into a proper Callum story but, as you say, he seemed to be more of a prop for Johnny. And even then it just seemed to be Johnny whining rather than any deep character work.

It probably doesn't matter why it's happening because it's crystal clear the show doesn't care about Callum. At all. Not even a little bit. If they could change history to make Jay Ben's husband they probably would.

So even if it's not a choice the show is actively making, the fundamental matter is we're likely to get near zero Callum content. It's just interesting to me that when the show must use Callum, and it's obvious to me that's essentially at gunpoint right now, they've chosen to use him in the way that they have (i.e., keeping him with the Mitchells and away from Johnny).

I was recently thinking about your point regarding whether the aftermath of the affair was meant to either separate Callum from the Mitchells and Lexi for a short while, or whether it was meant to be a fundamental realignment of Callum's network to integrate him with the Carters.

Honestly, starting at the premise that the show doesn't care about Callum, I'm starting to think they weren't really planning on separating him from the Mitchells. Because that would have required character work that the show seems uninterested in doing. But maybe there was something in mind there for Johnny that would have caused them to go in that direction. Speaking of which...

Re the fallout of Johnny and Callum splitting up, I'd like to say that there won't be much, no matter how much time passes in terms of their relationship, because they gave us essentially no fallout for Ballum separating despite that being a five year marriage.

But perhaps that only speaks to Callum's lack of importance as a character. Since Ben's offscreen, we can't see how it impacts him. I'm still a little unclear on whether the show is actually invested in Johnny as a character, or whether he's just a plot device like Callum, albeit one who is slightly more important due to his history and family name.

So if and when Callum and Johnny split, I'm assuming the fallout will be minimal since I assume the relationship is not one the show wants us to be invested in beyond the obvious set up for the Ballum affair. But perhaps there will be some aftermath if Johnny is someone the show wants to focus on, especially in the case of a Ballum affair where they can then explore Johnny's feelings of betrayal.

I don't know though. It seems, for the moment, that the show is putting absolutely no effort into making the J/C relationship a thing, which you might expect them to do if Johnny was even remotely important to the show.

It's my opinion that they've had a bit of time now to pivot with the Jay situation. I don't think the Lexi situation is so important or insurmountable that they couldn't have written around it if the plan had really been for Callum to prop Johnny up and for the show to evolve Johnny into more of a character in the bigger picture of the show.

But maybe they do want to do something with Johnny, just not involving Callum until Ben comes back around. It would be easy to give Johnny a storyline or two around his business that has nothing to do with Callum whatsoever, and the excuse for why Callum isn't present could be the same ones they always pulled out when Ben would appear without Callum (e.g., he's at work, he's looking after Lexi, he's away, etc.)

It saddens me that I now see Callum like this. If this storyline has accomplished anything it's caused the scales to fall from my eyes and made me realise he really is an absolute nothing of a character.

But that's by the by.

The show has never cared about Callum as much as I would've liked, but it's definitely very apparent atm. I've always been someone who, yes, would've loved more Callum-led stories but more than anything just wanted a bit more of his pov. Even going back as far as Christmas 2019; it was obviously a Ben story, but I would've liked more insight into Callum's thoughts after he found out what Ben did and then taking him back so quickly. And there are many other similar examples.

I don't think they would've permanently separated Callum from the Mitchells bc of Lexi. I just wondered whether the conflict between Callum and the Mitchells/Lexi was intended to be a 1-2 week sl or more like a few months / ongoing tension.

I agree that I don't think they'll be much fallout to Callum/Johnny splitting, unless it's tied up in a Ben return. It was me saying realistically a longer-term relationship should have more fallout. But as you say, that's not always the case on EE. And we know they'll make characters do a 180 if it fits the plot, forget about if it fits the character.

I've seen a few takes of people saying if Johnny cheats / does something to warrant a break-up they want Callum to go nuclear as a 'I gave up everything for you' type thing. Whereas there's a big part of me that would kinda like Callum's response to be a bit muted as it doesn't affect him too much. Like if Johnny cheated Callum would obviously be hurt as cheating is never nice but he comes to the realisation that it doesn't hurt nearly as much as when he thought Ben cheated. That was the worst thing ever, whereas this is not nice but he'll get over it.

I was also a fan of the idea that actually nothing goes wrong between him and Johnny but he just realises Johnny isn't right for him. Nice enough guy but not for him. But that ship has sailed imo bc of how they've portrayed the relationship so far. It hasn't been shown to be a good, supportive relationship; there were cracks/red flags from the start.

I don't see them particularly wanting to do anything with Johnny in terms of his own sl in the near future. I think he's just going to be a prop for Elaine (and Linda, but icl Linda kinda feels like a prop for Elaine too atm - for some absurd reason Elaine seems to have taken over).

Your point about the show doing nothing for Ballum fans but also doing nothing to upset Ballum fans is something I hadn't thought of but is so well put.

I really hope that's why they've kept Callum with the Mitchells and gave us that little bit with Phil over Christmas. And especially why they've kept Callum and Johnny apart. I want to believe that's to spare us the unnecessary pain of seeing them together until the show needs them for something Ballum related.

I do hope you'll keep posting your thoughts. I know there's not much incentive with everything so quiet on the Ballum front and seemingly the entire fandom going into dormancy but I enjoy them.

Ngl the prospect of Johnny and Callum becoming a background long-term couple if Ben's return is further away then we thought is kind of excruciating. We already have at least 6 months to wait and if Max holds out longer it'll be even more painful.

Not that I think it won't happen, because it would make sense and they could just keep J/C as they are right now with minimal contact, but it would still be less than ideal. I can't see them breaking Johnny and Callum up unless they have another, better idea of what to do with Johnny but perhaps they will. That would be nice. Give him a different boyfriend and Callum can go back to waiting to Ben or something.

Icl I wasn't necessarily thinking that the show was purposefully trying to spare us from pain by keeping Callum and Johnny apart. I was more just meaning we should be grateful as it could be worse. It would maybe be nice to think it was purposeful but imo the lack of Callum atm is purely a bts and sl logistics decision rather than fan response driven. And let's face it, background Callum is not a new thing. I'm not sure fan response really plays into things, especially short-term, but I have no insight to that, so who knows.

If I'm being honest though, I would prefer to see scenes with Callum and Johnny if it actually properly delved into Callum's feelings. If the options are: a) Callum & Johnny scenes with a key focus on Callum's mindset / how it got to this point b) Callum & Johnny scenes with no real content / acting as if nothing's happened c) background Callum & Johnny, then I'm choosing option a. But as a doesn't seem to be an option, given the missed opportunities for depth for Callum over the years, then I'm going for c.

Agree that Callum & Johnny long-term is not a fun thought - and one I think very few people would be on board with, Ballum fan or not. But I also agree that a break-up would need to be the catalyst for something else; I don't think they'll break them up just for the sake of it, it would need to lead into another sl (or an exit).

I also wonder if the longer they're together the bigger the 'fallout' will be. Not that I think it would be particularly explosive if it's literally just the two of them involved. I just mean I'd expect more fallout/emotion from a couple of e.g. a year splitting rather than a couple of e.g. a couple of months.

If they didn't intend to, which I expect is the case because I really don't believe the show would do that, then this is a truly astounding case of manslaughter.

I don't think what we've seen was the original plan. I definitely think bts things have messed with the story.

I don't think we would've had loads of in-depth character work for Callum, bc let's face it the show has never done that, but I do think there would've been more to the sl rather than it just disappearing entirely. Who the focus would've been on though idk, as imo we've had a lot more of Johnny's pov on Jollum (and Jonno's death) than Callum's, in what should've very much been a Callum-led sl.

There's part of me relieved we haven't had anything bc I don't think it would've been positive from a Ballum fan pov. And it would have assassinated Callum's character further. I agree with the general consensus that the lack of Jay has messed up the dynamics they were gonna go with. I think it was supposed to be Jay with Lexi & the Mitchells and Callum with Johnny. Whether that would've just been a few weeks of conflict or whether they would've tried to position Callum away from the Mitchells/Lexi more significantly idk.

I think it was supposed to be Ben guest return > Ballum split > Callum officially with Johnny & conflict with the Mitchells > Ben permanent return within a year > ultimately a Ballum reunion.

But now the timeline's all messed up. The lack of Jay meant the short-term fallout & conflict with the Mitchell's was impacted; more difficult to split Callum & Lexi. And I think whatever the Tim sl was supposed to be got caught in the crossfire and ultimately dropped. At what point do they course correct? Will they? Or will they just pretend nothing happened like they're currently doing 99% of the time?

Imo there's now not going to really be any fallout until a potential full-time Ben return. We've passed the point for immediate fallout so if they do try to reignite the conflict in the next few months with no Ben return in sight I don't think it'll land well; it'll feel weird - what's the point? why now? why the lack of fallout up to this point? (we likely know why from an irl pov, but sl-wise it'll be odd).

I also wonder what their plan for Jollum is. I've said before, EE have not at all set them up as a long-term couple; viewers always like the build up of a relationship the most and they had no build up, and what we did get didn't make them seem compatible. And as many others have said, the conflict for them is Ben. I think the plan was short-term couple > Ben-related conflict > Ballum reunion. If Ben's return is not happening soon does that mean Jollum become a long-term couple? Or do EE find another reason to split them up? Imo they'll become a long-term background couple and will only get proper airtime, resulting in a split, when either Ben returns or one of them leaves.

I would almost guarantee that Ben will be back in some capacity within the next couple of years but atm I'm feeling like that will be further in the future than I thought immediately after his guest appearance. I don't at all think EE will be looking to recast any time soon, I think they're wanting Max back in the near future and I think that's what they planned on. I think a lot of the timeline decision sits with Max atm.

To take it back to the point in your ask - I agree EE hasn't done anything to keep Ballum fans interested recently. But they also haven't done anything to particularly anger us either, so maybe we should take that as a positive. Though from EE's pov I don't think that's a positive - they thrive on engagement, whether that's good or bad. I would also say they should be more worried about the lack of engagement with the show as a whole, I accept as a Ballum fan there's not going to be anything to engage me Ballum-wise in the very near future, but the show as a whole is not engaging me either and from feedback I've seen online it doesn't seem to be interesting others either.

The thread of Callum's feelings for Ben has not only been invisible, but the entire storyline has just disappeared into an abyss for some inscrutable reason.

I really don't get what the show is angling for here, or why there was a rush to set up obstacles for Callum and Johnny only to have them completely disappear for over a month.

It's like what you were talking about regarding opening up the box of Callum's feelings. I thought it might get opened up after the funeral, and then when Lexi found out, and then when Phil or Kathy returned from visiting Ben, but none of it has been explored at all.

Instead they've just shoved it all offscreen and as much as I was initially relieved about that, I don't know how I feel anymore given it's been some time now.

I don't have much to add to this except I totally agree.

It's another 'was it always planned this way or have bts things messed it up' (but given the state of the whole show atm I'm feeling less forgiving and saying it was probably planned).

I'm worried that the longer we get nothing the less likely we'll get anything i.e. we get another few months down the road before we get any meaningful Callum content and by that point Ben's return is a distant memory and EE think there's no point revisiting it / things have moved on.

I also have no idea where it's going. If a permanent Ben return is on the cards and this is ultimately a Ballum story, why is there not more feeling from Callum or more fallout from family? And if Ben isn't coming back and it's a way to move Callum on, why was there not more effort put into building up the Callum/Johnny relationship and why so many obstacles so early - obviously us Ballum fans weren't likely to be on board with them together but the narrative has not at all made it seem like EE actually want anyone to root for them.

I'm gonna try to keep this concise but I know I'll fail as I could go on for days about Callum / the sl and I have many conflicting thoughts.

As with many ee sls (see: PR) it's not the sl itself I have an issue with but the execution. I've said right from the start when Ben left that I wouldn't necessarily be against Callum (trying to) moving on but it would have to hit certain narrative/emotional beats for it to land for me, and they haven't been hit.

The key thing for me was that if Callum moved on there needed to be a continual underlying thread that Ben was still IT for him. And that thread is so underlying it feels like it doesn't exist atm. I keep going from 'I don't like this / it's ooc' to 'okay, I don't like it but it'll make some sort of sense if xyz happens' and xyz never happens e.g. Callum wouldn't cheat on Ben > okay, but he wouldn't cheat repeatedly > okay, but he'll be consumed with guilt/regret/remorse.

I can get on board with many of the theories/rationalisations I've seen people make, and I've thought the same e.g. Callum's compartmentalising and putting everything Ben related in a box because it hurts too much. But every time I think that box'll be opened, it isn't. When are we going to get an exploration of Callum's feelings (which lbr has been an ongoing issue for many years)?? We got a bit during his interactions with Ben the other week; the 'break-up' scene was my favourite in a while because I actually felt like there were feelings and care between the two of them. But since Ben left, it's gone again.

And that's not even mentioning the Lexi of it all. Callum seems to have very little care about her feelings atm; no more putting her first. He's always been shown to be great with her and in-tune with what she needs, what's happened to that??

I like him having a backbone, I liked him calling out the Mitchell's hypocrisy, but having a backbone doesn't mean he has to lose the caring/empathetic traits which I feel like were core to his character. And that backbone also seems to have disappeared again with Johnny.

I also just don't like Johnny, he's given me the ick since he arrived (I haven't seen the previous iterations of Johnny), so that hasn't helped matters.

And the pacing has been awful. I know some of it was likely due to Max's availability so I can give the benefit of the doubt for the start of the sl, but the speed of the last few weeks given Max isn't going to be back for several months at the earliest??? I just don't know where it's going or what they want us to get out of it.