Coronation Street double episode review, Monday 4 March

Does Gloria have no sense of how ridiculous and, at times, how plain unpleasant she can be? The veil is worn of course, to draw attention to herself as the tragic, grieving fiancee. As we know she is grieving more for the lack of money than for poor Eric himself. As he rests in peace he is at least free of Gloria. And so to the musical choices for Eric's funeral - Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, and to add a little levity, We Built this city on Rock 'n Roll. And why not?

Karl is desperate to get back with Stella but Sean's favourite cougar is not in the least bit interested. Spotting Stella on the street Karl apologises for his behaviour. He says he's so sorry, he behaved like some 'desperado' and that he had his beer goggles on, which made him a 'cretin, a chancer' who overstepped the mark. Stella could not be clearer in her telling him of her wish to have nothing to do with him, even telling him he's not welcome in her pub. Then there is the phone call from Karl, Gloria showing a lack of sensitivity, calling Stella 'a delicate flower' once again accentuating her total absorption in no other person but herself. Then there are the flowers, beautiful though they are, but Stella does not want them, thereby giving another chancer, Dennis, the opportunity to impress his other half. Rita though reads the card and within that somewhat older casing still resides the Dennis Tanner of old.

When Karl shows up as the taxi driver for Stella after the  meeting at the brewery, it all begins to look rather sinister. That feeling evaporates for a while when Stella reiterates that the relationship is over for good and it seems that Karl is accepting of the finality of what once was. They hug and Stella arrives home, where in the bar are Gloria and Eva. Eva warns her mother that Jason 'has a right cob on' and Gloria speaks of how draining grief can be, though it's unclear how she should know that. That sinister sense returns just before the credits begins to roll as we see Karl watching as Stella switches on her bedroom light.

Are viewers a  little confused by Owen's behaviour regarding Tim? He seemed to be genuinely concerned that Tim did not let Faye down when she stars in the play Annie on Friday. If  Owen sees this as an opportunity to get one over on Tim, then it's unclear how his encouraging of Tim to see the performance will fulfil that wish. Hmmm. Surely Owen cannot be acting altruistically when he tells Tim that messing Faye around is cruel.

Good thinking by Tina and Fiz to get Kirsty's mum involved. As Tina says, it would be good for Ruby to have someone else around, not 'just undiluted nut-job'. Tina has a point when she says, 'Only a mother could love that vindictive cow'. When Kirsty's mum is eventually admitted to her daughter's house, it doesn't take her long to work out the truth. In fact Kirsty confesses and her mother urges her to tell the truth. 'I'll be finished,' says Kirsty. 'You'll be free,' states her mother. It looks very much as if Tyrone's days in prison are numbered.
             
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