Hot and Bothered: Fri Apr 30, 2010 Corrie Episode Review

Written by Jan McVerry (7:30) and Mark Wadlow (8:30), directed by Durno Johnston

Graeme’s got his feet right under the Platt’s kitchen table as they trash-talk Natasha with Nick in ear-shot. David asks if Natasha was hot and bothered last night Nick makes it clear that Natasha’s worth any bother their talking about – rubbing it into Graeme’s shoulders.

At the salon Audrey and Natasha are fawning over Lewis and Nick respectfully and David doesn’t want to hear a bit of it and even accuses Lewis of using lifts in his shoes. Lewis (and his lifts) come by and drop Audrey off some beautiful flowers and tries to swan her away on a lunch date but she’s got an appointment. Oh, look who’s busy now. Looks like neither of them can out of their appointments for the day to meet up. He suggest they meet for breakfast the next morning and stays for a cuppa while requesting David put the kettle on and throws David his coat.

It’s a high-stress atmosphere at Underworld with Carla on the phone banging on for satins with Nick at her beck and call and Trevor waiting to speak to her. When she requests Nick take her somewhere he tells her he’s got plans and he can’t. While on the phone, Trev hands over a pie to which she heartily bites into whilst on hold. There you have it folks, he’s literally got her eating out of his hands! Carla’s in a real bind at work and really needs Nick to get those fabrics and begs him to back her up. Nick comes into the salon to cancel on Natasha again but Audrey says he simply can’t. Why doesn’t he just take her with him? Carla busts into the Rovers in a rage and finds Nick on his date with Natasha and wants to know why he hadn’t done what she’d asked. Nick tells her the samples are on their way by motorcycle courier and she’ll have them by 9pm that evening. Good thinking. Nick and Natasha are snogging on the couch when David comes by and interrupts their date. She suggests they go upstairs and bid David goodnight.

Rita complains to Emily that she feels old (that’s the person to complain to about feeling old) and Emily reminds her that most women her age are rather stationary, not selling stationary. Rita tells of another run-in she’s had with Audrey and Emily rolls her eyes to the heavens saying she won’t act peace-maker again. Emily suggests that Rita concentrate her efforts on getting Tina to come back to the Kabin. Emily reminds us that Tina’s father’s been dead for two months and it’s about time that she return to work. I’d agree if I were looking forward to seeing her and her attitude on the screen again. She’s a nice girl and all, I just can’t stand the aggro.

Rita rings up at Tina’s flat but gets no answer even though she can see Tina’s silhouette in the upstairs window. Sean comes into talk to Rita about badly Tina’s treated Jason and how she won’t even talk to him. Graeme overhears this and thinks that maybe Tina isn’t even in and has just gone to stay at her mums. They wonder if she’s even there and Rita says there was definitely someone watching so she must be. Later, Graeme tells David about Rita suspecting Tina’s in the flat and wonders if he reckons it’s true.

Graeme goes by Tina’s flat later and knocks on the door. Inside, she can see him below but remains quiet and unmoving. Graeme writes a note and shoves it through the letterbox. Tina looks in a rough state. She looks worse than Rosie did in John Stape’s Gran’s attic! He must have indicated what monies were owed to him from window-washing since Tina barged into the butchers later with his money and a sour face and that’s just to start. She sacks him and gets mad about him bitching about her in the street. She goes to leave, but stumbles and faints. Ashley and Graeme run to her aid and place her on a chair when she awakens. Graeme wants to take her to the medical centre but she says no and tries to escape. When Graeme goes to make tea and Ashley serves a customer Tina quickly escapes out of the butcher’s. Graeme notices she’s gone and runs after her. She’s gotten into her flat and locked the door. When Graeme gets back to the butcher’s Ashley gives him the rundown about just who’s boss in this business. Sheesh, he’s not having a good day. Graeme can’t let things be and takes his ladder up to Tina’s window and peers in. To his shock and horror he sees her slumped unconscious on the ground. Graeme busts Tina’s door down after a few tries and finally gets in. He finds Tina and calls an ambulance but she stirs awake, so he cancels it. He wants to know what’s going on. Tina’s just angry that he’s broken the door down. He realizes that she’s not been eating very much and asks her when she’s last eaten. He find a can of soup and feeds it to her against her will. Graeme thinks that Tina’s anorexic. He tells her that if she eats the soup, he’ll go. Tina concedes. She tells Graeme that she’s not got an eating disorder, she just can’t stop thinking about her dad and has terrible grief and no coping skills. She tells Graeme that she doesn’t want to eat because she doesn’t want to live.

Lewis stops by the Kabin and Rita tells him that she’s very pleased for he and Audrey – genuinely. She wonders if he’ll be winding down his hours and asks him to tread carefully. Lewis tells her that it’s business as usual and Audrey’s taking it in stride. Lewis surprises Audrey at home and tells her how his date for that evening has cancelled on him. Audrey figures her loss is her gain. Lewis thinks she cancelled on him for a younger model and figures maybe he’s not cut out for all this after all. Uh oh – stage 5 clinger alert! The love-blind Audrey just smiles at herself comfortingly. Lewis says he has enough money aside to quit, but not enough to retire on. *Red Flag* He talks about a restaurant he wants to own on the Greek islands and how he’d like to spend half the year there and half here. And guess who’s going to pay for it? Three guesses, first two don’t count. Oh, he’s such a scam artist!

Anna’s miserably slumping around again and David tells her he’s avoiding her since she’s a piece of work these days. Anna bursts into tears thinking Gary’s out on the street and David tells him that Gary’s fine – he knows he is. David says he knows that Gary’s fine, for sure. David tells Eddie and Anna that he promised Gary he wouldn’t let on since he’s only trying to protect them. David tells them he’s out and about in Weatherfield but Eddie doesn’t believe a word of David’s mouth. David proves it by calling Gary and Anna hears him answer and grapples for the phone. David tells them that Gary’s at Len’s and the Windasses head out. They arrive at Len’s but realized that Gary’s already gone. As they’re driving, they spot Gary in the alleyway and have to chase him down. Gary apologizes to his mum as Eddie’s parked cab causes quite the traffic jam in the street as a couple of kids get away with stealing some items since he’s left his door open.

Anna and Eddie get Gary home and try to figure out why he’s gone AWOL. It looks like they’ll find out soon as men in uniform ring at the door just as Gary’s finished his bath. Gary runs upstairs and tells his parents to lie for him so Eddie tries his best. The sergeant tells the Windasses how bright Gary was and how he had the makings of a find soldier. The sergeant is lenient and says that as it stands, Gary is looking at a fairly light punishment but the longer he leaves it the worse it’ll get. He gives them his card and instructs them to have Gary call him when he shows up and goes on his way. Later, the Windasses are even more confused as to why Gary went AWOL. In the pub later, Eddie calls the sergeant.

Mary comes into Norris’ room the next morning to bring him breakfast and he hopes it’s high-energy since he’s got a full day itinerary planned for them. He points at his hiking boots and says “these boots were made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do.” Suddenly Norris is in a fit since it appears that the laces from his walking shoes have gone missing. Gee, how did that happen? Mary tally’s up all her competition entries and asks Norris where his are and finds that he’s not quite kept up to par when she sees a drawing of a witch on a broom stick. Norris tells her he didn’t come to beautiful Bronte Country to do competitions! Norris tells her that doing competitions all day doesn’t float his boat and she looks quite disappointed. Norris says he wants to ring Rita and ask her to take him home and she can stay and enjoy the cottage. This doesn’t float Mary’s boat. Norris tries to call Rita but realizes that the socket’s broken and Mary says she might have knocked i with the hoover. Norris thinks that’s bloody convenient and wants to call from the village phone but Mary says it’s too long a journey at night. Norris asks her to drive him in the camper van so Mary reluctantly agrees.

Mary looks under the hood of the camper van and does something so that when she puts the key in the van won’t start – all with a coy smile on her face. Scary Mary still insists upon calling Norris “Heathcliff” and herself “Cathy” to live out her Wuthering Heights fantasy. Mary breaks the news to Norris that the engine on the camper van has conked out. Norris pops the bonnet and has no idea what the problem is and figures they need to walk into Howard to get a mechanic out. Mary scuttles this notion telling him it’ll be dusk soon. She suggests cuddling up by the fire with a nice competition entry instead. They go inside and read up on the Bronte classics and Norris tries to get the grill to work. Mary finds it unsettling that there’s probably not a soul around for miles and says she thought she found something in the showers. Norris jokes that perhaps it was Heathcliff and Cathy out for their evening constitutional. She asks Norris if she can come in with him if she gets scared in the middle of the night to which Norris replies, “absolutely not.” For extra precaution, Norris slides the dresser infront of the door and climbs into bed in terror.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Natasha noting that Lewis didn’t get Audrey’s flowers from a petrol station.
- Lewis suggesting to Audrey that he could come over to hers for breakfast the next morning. He’ll warm the croissant, she can warm the bed. Wow, that was naughty! It’ll be a while before I can eat a croissant again for breakfast now.
- Lewis throwing his coat at David and requesting that he put on the kettle. It was as though he was the editor and David the lowly assistant from “The Devil Wears Prada.” Or, in our case, The Devil Wears Lifts.
- I agree with all of Sean’s sentiments regarding Tina at the moment.
- Carla biting into the pie in Trev’s hand while on hold with a client on the phone. That was something I couldn’t picture her doing! Maybe Trev will make Carla more “human” and likeable.
- Audrey requesting that David get her tea and clean her towels – in that order. He jumps up and says “yes, my commandant!” Audrey has NO sense of humour!
- Mary finding Norris’s competition entry but seeing a page with a hand-drawn witch on a broomstick instead! Gee, who is that supposed to be a likeness of? Bahaha.
- Graeme telling Ashley that Rosie’s got the body and the face but she’s just to “me, me, me.” Ha-ha.
- Mary wants Norris to check the bushes around the cottage in Bronte Country and he jokes that perhaps it’s just Heathcliff and Cathy out for their evening constitutional!

LOWLIGHTS
- The state that Tina’s let herself get into holding herself hostage up in that flat!
- Mary is competition OBSESSED. I’ve never seen anything like it!
- Anna getting mad at David and accusing him of playing them like a violin after he was the one who helped them by telling them that Gary was okay! The gall.
- Gary actually running away from his parents when they’re about 20 feet away. Seriously? The jig is up, buddy.
- How rude Tina was to Graeme in the shop. My, what a mood she’s in. I can see her being depressed still, and possibly having a mental health issue, but what about the rudeness?
- The repulsive Eddie Windass blowing his smoke into the sergeant’s face. It must make these military men sick to know who they’re fighting for. Ech.
- This annoying thing that NuNick always does with tugging on the front of his jacket. It’s bloody irritating!
- That Lewis is SUCH a scam artist! I can’t believe that Audrey is entertaining the though of him after raking Gail over the coals for supporting Joe!
- Even though she’s rude as hell, I do feel bad for Tina.

Overall Episode Review: 8/10
Drama: 9/10, Humour: 10/10, Classic Corrie: 6/10, Wow Factor: 6/10