I really did find watching Coronation Street to be an irritating experience last night! Not because it was dreadful or badly written, but because I got involved and invested time in the two main stories featured. And I do hate myself a little for caring at all about the turgid ongoing surrogate story. However, with both the surrogate storyline and the developing baby plot with David and Kylie I felt myself coming down strongly on the side of one character both times. It may be controversial but I have to get this off my chest, here's what I think.
Round 1 - Tina v Tommy
I've never been a fan of Tina, in fact I would quite happily axe her soon as look at her. And no, I don't mean literally take an axe to her. Tommy isn't far behind her in the unpopularity stakes with that constant puppy dog expression and his inability to man-up as it were. I have already commented on how these characters have been written old before their time, however the surrogate story is obviously not going away anytime soon. I know Tina is doing a good thing for Gary and Izzy however I can't help but side with Tommy in all this. I don't like how every situation revolves around Tina as if she is the centre of everyone's world. And I hate what this story has done to the previously quite reasonable Windass family. Yes, I know Tina is only doing this to get her and Tommy out of the debt Duckworth Junior got them into, but there must surely have been an easier way?! I mean, Rita, Ginger Goddess of the Gum Drops was handing the money over to our little tangerine Tina without even the slightest mention of a vodka and tonic on the house! If I was Tommy I'd be running for the hills! Or at least Blackpool to see his granny Doreen. She must have money. Well, they did have a Jag back in the day when they paid for him.
Round 2 - David v Kylie
I have really taken to Kylie. The writers have been giving her some great material and she always carries it off with aplomb. Dare I say I actually prefer Kylie's character to Becky? I do hope Paula Lane's career takes off as well as Katherine Kelly's has done, post-Corrie. However, back to the plot! I'm loving the new career-driven Kylie, taking pride in her work and showing there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. I got very annoyed with David last night as he really should be supporting her endeavours, given that he wouldn't help her out at the Salon. Instead David, set on becoming a father (God help us all), flounced out when Kylie refused to go with him for another baby-making session (again, God help us all). Surely his childish behaviour means he is really not ready to be a father?? Anyway, I cannot wait for this story to develop further, as David's reaction when he finds out Kylie is on the pill is bound to be worth waiting for.
So whose side are you on? Do you agree with me? Or are you just shocked and stunned that I've managed to write something vaguely positive about Tina's surrogate storyline?
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I'm firmly on Team Kylie but I'm afraid i'm reluctantly on team Tina on this one. Tommy needs to leave Tina and stay left if he's that upset about it all. No more of this whinging and sulking, leaving and coming back. It's your fault she's doing it, Tomster, so suck it up or walk away and stay there, preferably off the screen so I don't have to look at you sobbing into your beer in the Rovers.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tina and Kyle all the way. Tina is doing something good for Izzy and Gary, but also getting herself and Tommy out of debt so they can have a fresh start without money issues hanging over them. Any other option means probably years of paying back money before they can move forward.
ReplyDeleteBoth the would be fathers are acting exactly the same...selfish, self-absorbed and b o r i n g.
ReplyDeleteSame lines, same facial expressions and even though the females say they do NOT want a baby, the he-men almost force it on them. I almost adjusted the contrast on my TV last night before relizing that Tina actually IS orange! And her character is awful..screechy, whiny and I am still not understanding why Rita, if she's so keen to pay off Tina's debt, doesn't just march over to Owen and pay him.
I'm definitely on team Kylie. Have been liking her more and more and yes as I was never a fan of Becky I do prefer Kylie. And she is fantastic at the Bistro - a great move.
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning more towards Tommy than Tina. I used to like Tina but she's been grating on me more and more. I think she's completely underestimated the effect the surrogacy would/could have on her relationship and I think something that big should be a decision made by a couple not an individual even though it is her body. Plus given that Rita offered them the money, I find it even less plausible. That being said, I agree that Tommy needs to stop whinging and accept it.
I'm with Kylie and Tina. Kylie is right, they're in no position to afford another mouth; they can't afford their own apartment. They are at crucial career development points in their lives -- if they don't succeed now, it will be very hard later. David's head will explode when he finds her pills, but it that brings out his evil, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI think Tommy is the waste of space in that couple. Even pregnant Kirsty was able to get a packing job at the factory, yet he can't even find a broom to push, and he's thousands in debt. He wasn't willing to take a handout or a loan. His girlfriend, who could have just walked away, is making a huge sacrifice. Kinda sucks, Tommeh, but like everyone says, you owe your friend, time to man up.
Team Tina - Tommy keeps sulking, it is so annoying. Either dump her or support her fully! And Tina's idea is good, help the Windasses and help them!
ReplyDeleteTeam Kylie - Kylie is being responsible and David should wait a bit.
Loved the 'responsible adult/ truculent teenager' reversal scene where Kylie screeches: "GAIL!" and Gail jumps two feet in the air in shock and guilty admonishment.
ReplyDeleteLaughed that much, had to immediately rewind to see if Kylie did shout (she did) and yes, it showed Kylie the senior physiological 'parent' and Gail regressing into a lackadaisical 'juvenile'.
Lots of enjoyment to be had watching Kylie succeed in her job, and quietly cheered at Eva's vocal moral support in Kylie's success in turning round the disgruntled customer
- but the writers have to be careful they don't stray from the truth of Kylie's character by including THEIR vocabulary rather than KYLIE'S vocabulary as they proceed with this character.
By that, I mean that last week and it may be an accidental, isolated example, they had Kylie dropping the word "euphemism" in to her casual conversation. It stopped the action dead for me, but would not if any/most of the other characters had employed its use, and I lost what followed for a few seconds.
Kylie is a girl who would just as likely pull a derisory face and ask: 'what's a euphemism?' rather than include it in her everyday vocabulary.
David, for all his faults is the street's king of deadpan.
Loved his alcohol fuelled slow-burn reply to Kylie's: "You'll never guess what happened" of: "Elvis walked in and ordered steak and chips?"
I know Corrie has a reputation for a history of "strong women" and "weak men" but David And Tommy take it to a whole new level. They're not just weak, they're infantile.
ReplyDeleteWithout his mother and grandmother giving him a job and a home, David would have nothing, and because he's insecure he wants to prove his manhood by bringing another child into his mess of a life. He's a spoiled baby himself!
As for Tommy, he was so desperate for a father, he threw away 1st the inheritance from his grand father, then a loan from Tyrone. He can't manage to find a job or a place to live on his own, but he doesn't want Tina to try to come up with a solution for paying his debts. She doesn't want to owe (her substitute mother) Rita money. She wants them to be able to start clean in a year, but the (rightfully!) guilty Tommy can't handle that. His twisted idea of manhood seems to mean he can't grasp that being a surrogate is NOT "carrying another man's child". It's "rent a womb"! As for complaints that Tina is a misery, think about who she's burdened herself with. She was fun when she was with Graeme!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, everyone is better off with a Graeme, but I would say that ;)
Set that one up for you, didn't I? All it needs is a rim shot!
ReplyDeleteI think Tina is being written out. Her passing out was foreshadowing. Tina will die because of the surrogacy and Tommy will forever blame Gary.
ReplyDeleteHow did David find the money for a hotel room when he did not have enough to buy Max a pair of trainers?
Can't help siding with Tommy on this one. Anna, Gary,Izzy e.t.c are doing my head in. All this faffing around Tina, inviting her over for tea treating her like the queen of sheba, when this baby is born they won't want to know her anymore. If I were Tommy I'd have fleed the country by now, he can't even go a day without Gary being there offering to buy drinks and so forth. When this story is over it will be a good day.
ReplyDeleteHow dark is that tan of Tina's she looked like one of Dev's long lost daughters yesterday! Gary and Co are indeed becoming very creepy indeed.
ReplyDeleteI was so happy to read someone else was irritated with this episode. But for me it was both of the whiny boys. Tommy especially, since David is always like that, albeit a bit worse now with the baby fever. Tommy needs to stay and support Tina or get the hell out of there, he is making things so much worse.
ReplyDeleteHey, here's a thought. So what if Tommy did leave Tina. She'd still get the money, with no obligation to pay off his debts. I wonder what she'd do with it? Go for some type of training? Bail out Stella and buy a share of the Rovers? Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteThe only slight nod i'd give to Tommy is that Tina went ahead with the surrogacy without talking to him first, then when he objected, she said she wouldn't do it and then changed her mind and had the implantation behind his back again. That was wrong of her not to discuss it with him at least if they're supposed to be partners. However, she is doing it for good reasons and as someone else says, he should support her fully or get off the pot.
ReplyDeleteTommy's right about the Adam's family that makes up the Windass clan though. They're protecting 'the stork' 'the vessel', that carries their investment. Previously they'd cared nowt for Tina personally. And who can really blame them for feeling like that?
ReplyDeleteOnce the baby's born, will they want to encourage Tina to be so tight a part of their close knit family unit with the possibility of inadvertently igniting Tina's latent mothering instincts? Doubtful, very very doubtful, they'd willingly ever want to invite her round so much again.
It's a commercial transaction and the unspoken caveat is that Tina should reduce her visibility around 'the family' and just dissapear, once the birth has taken place.
There'll be none of that 'come-round-and-put-your-feet-up' then!
- In fact Tommy should bide his time wait until Gary and Izzy are having a private and personal moment with 'their' baby and burst in on them - relentlessly, as often as he can for 9 months after, on as many occasions as he can, slapping Gary on the back, offering to buy him a pint, and beaming: "Now then, how's OUR baby doing then? Goo-goog-achoo."
Tina's side here. Tommy's being a jerk
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ReplyDeleteI thought it was cute the way Anna Windass referred to her family as "The Addams Family" last night..the writers might have a sense of humour after all!
ReplyDeleteI am thoroughly enjoying the development of Kylie and believe she's on her way to outshine Becky for sure! David has always been a waste of space and his baby-making nonsense is beyond ridiculous (clearly got the idiot gene from Gail in this area).
ReplyDeleteThe entire surrogacy situation is bad. I agree with abbyk that it would better serve Tina's own interests to continue with the pregnancy, as it doesn't make any kind of sense that she's doing it to pay off Tommy's debt when he outright objected to it. If she isn't doing this to protect her own interests in some way 9even just to do something good for Gary and Izzy) she's a complete moron. This story just serves to emphasize that this couple are not on the same page at all and should just go their separate ways.
Kylie can hook up with Nick and David can breed with Tina. Done. The Windasses can then sell their babies on eBay, as none of them can afford to support them!
I think they should just scrap the whole idea of Tina's surrogacy and let her miscarry. Anna would've been the best choice as it's not unheard of for a mother to carry a baby for her daughter (or son in this case)and the storyline would/could have some very interesting twists for sure. I can't imagine what a young man (who is not the father) feels about having intimacy (or lack of) during those final months of the term, so I can see where Tommy's coming from. They're both in a state and maybe once his Gran dies he'll get back on his feet.
ReplyDeleteI like both Tina & Tommy (although I almost stopped watching Corrie when Graham left). I loved him the most. Tina should miscarry, Tommy should run and Graham should swoop in to save the day. Let Anna be the surrogate, she's strong and let's see how Owen handles that one!
Never has one storyline "damaged" so many characters, IMHO. Gary's desperation to be a father is not only completely unrealistic, but his complete and utter lack of consideration for Tommy's feelings makes my flesh crawl every time they are on screen together. Although the writers seem to have forgotten, Owen was completely against Izzy having a baby, not only because he didn't think she could cope with the pregnancy but because he didn't think she could cope with raising a child, yet he is now almost as desperate as Gary. And as for Anna, although up to now she has been written as one of the most moral characters in the Street, she cares now for no one but Izzy and Gary.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the family gathering round to watch Tina pee on a stick, gathering round for a celebration every time Tina goes to see a doctor... it's just nauseating.
What happened to the Tina that would have told them to bog off and mind their own business?
A truly horrible storyline. Please Mr. New Producer - make it end soon.
Odd seeing the orange Tina among the living dead on Anna's sofa - they are like a flock of vultures waiting for the kill - very creepy. I'm hoping Tina has to have an amniocentesis for some reason and it is discovered that it is fact Tina and Tommy's child, not Izzy and Gary. The maniacal Owen would probably try to bully them into pretending it really is Izzy and Gary's and hand it over.
ReplyDeleteShanny said: Did anyone notice that the "guitarist/singer" playing at The Bistro is David???? I nearly fell off my chair laughing. I had no idea he could play. Am I the only one who noticed this???? LOL!
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ReplyDeleteNot a lot of love out there for the surrogacy storyline I see!!