Kylie and Gail are concerned
about how low Nick is, and both acknowledge that only Leanne can save him.
Kylie, always with Nick’s best interests at heart, wants her to return for love
and not pity.
Leanne meanwhile announces to
Gail that she came back for her son and the Bistro; bit of a change from
Wednesday when she said she didn’t know why she was back and had to return to
find out.
Simon begs Leanne to bring him to
Faye’s post-Hallowe’en party, but both her and Peter are busy, and Nick is too
ill. Ever the astute kid, he asks if Nick isn’t up to it, or if Leanne’s not up
to asking.
Leanne gives in, and drops him
around to Nick who’ll take him to the party. It isn’t just the Platt family in
shreds tonight as poor Gail’s Egyptian cotton sheets are torn to pieces for
Simon’s mummy outfit.
Preparations are also underway
over at the Windass’s, and Tim asks, “what’s so scary about a bin liner?” He
obviously never went door to door in the 1980s when bin liner based costumes
were omnipresent and eternally versatile. Tim agrees to buy her a costume, but predictably
forgets, and it falls to Anna to find one at the eleventh hour. She promptly
gives him a wallop, telling him she’ll be lucky if there are any left, that it’s
the busiest time of year. The fact that Hallowe’en is actually over seems to
have escaped her, and surely she’d be lucky to get anything. She succeeds
however, and Faye is Morticia Addams for the night. Why Anna allows Tim to take
credit for the costume is slightly baffling, as she normally takes
great pleasure in getting one up on him.
“Mum will kill me” Amy frets over
her broomstick. “No she won’t” says Tim to which Sally replies, “You don’t know
her mother.” Cue amusing Tracy related broomstick quips throughout.
Both Faye and Anna are consistently
rude to Sally, but she’s the only one speaking the truth; “It’s funny your name
is Grace”, she tells the Bride of Frankenstein, “cos you haven’t got any.” She
accuses her of being nasty, together with Faye, and even though he surely
agrees, Owen makes little of her by ordering Tim to “get her home mate”. Sally
promptly calls him a sexist pig, makes her exit, and leaves us with a giggling
Anna and Owen, a sneering Faye and Grace, and the distinct feeling that there probably
aren’t four more unlikeable characters in the programme; although spelled
G-R-O-C-E, Faye’s use of the word is somehow apt.
Grace’s paltry apologies seem to
work on Anna, but when she tells Faye that Simon ruined her party and needs to
be punished, her apprentice doesn’t seem too convinced.
Hallowe’en doesn’t only continue over
at the Windass’s, as Liz confesses that sombre David is creeping her out at the
other end of the bar. “They used to say he can move things across a room just
by looking at them”, she tells Eileen. Not only has David overheard, but he
obliges by mysteriously transporting a crisp packet across the bar without
touching it; and I thought the prospect of him as a brain surgeon was
frightening.
Friday’s episodes thankfully heralded
the return of the humour and fun that has been sorely lacking of late. Liz visits
grumpy Eileen in the cab office on the pretence of looking for Steve to try and
convince her to come out. Eileen cheekily suggests he’s “hiding under an invisibility
cloak”. Can you imagine a better superhero power for Steve? Perfect for escaping
when his latest madcap scheme, or ill advised deed has been found out; although
it’s likely he’d be too mischievous to be trusted with it. Eileen tells Liz
that even if Antonio Banderas were to turn up wearing only baby oil and a
smile, he’s unlikely to tempt her out. If his latest chewing gum ads are
anything to go by, she might actually stand a chance of this becoming a reality.
Liz succeeds in inviting her over
and tells her not to worry about money. The prodigal landlady is a joy to
behold behind the bar, and her return is central to facilitating much needed light
heartedness and fun. Her witty conversation with Sean, and subsequent boozy
evening with Deirdre and Eileen offered the levity the soap needs at present
considering the amount of grim storylines afoot. The anxious manner in which she
tries to tap Gail for information on her present family situation is a funny
sight. Sean’s dialogue was wonderful tonight, from describing his Sound of
Music outfit as “a triumph of modern costumery”, to telling Gail she was “down
with the gays” after she made a “friend of Dorothy” joke. He even says of Eva’s
downsides, “Eva’s got her knockers”. We can’t argue with that.
Meanwhile over at the Bistro,
landladies past drink wine and gossip with Tina. Gloria describes Liz as “scrag
end dressed as lamb”, and Stella retorts, “must be like looking in the mirror.”
Such an interaction makes me feel glad that they’ve moved on from the Rovers. I
never felt their coolness and often callousness had any place at the heart of
the Street, and this is reaffirmed by witnessing Liz in her rightful place at
the helm. Tina’s stories of the Rovers and her love life apparently make Gloria
feel like she’s in an episode of Sex and the City. She’s clearly never watched one.
Roy’s thoughts are elsewhere as
he continues to visit Hayley in hospital, and is happy to find out that she
will be coming home next week.
Gail has some home truths for
Leanne, reminding her of her own behaviour, and she’s not the only one. Gloria tells
her that dropping into Peter Barlow on the way to her wedding to Nick makes them
quits in her eyes. It’s strange that Leanne doesn’t show any reaction to the
news that Eva, her own sister, tried it on with Nick on their wedding day. In
any event, Leanne has been given food for thought, and she finds herself around
at Nick’s telling him she loves him. As they embrace, I’m left with the distinct
feeling that I’d rather it was Kylie.
By Emma Hynes
Twitter: @ELHynes
All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
6 comments:
I think Kylie and Nick will end up together at some point. They seem well suited to each other but don't know it yet.
Grace is the child you'd love to slap. She's a natural (actor that is). Putting Faye to shame in that department - Simon too. Just IMO.
Disagree with Anon. Nick and Kylie should never actually get together but should always be the 'it could have been us' couple. I wish writers would get the point that there's more excitement with characters not actually getting their heart's (or other parts') desire). Peter and Carla were ruined for me when they became an item.
I thought Nick already had been with Kylie?
I can see that Grace kid bullying poor little Simon, not cool.
I hate the storyline about Haley wanting to end her own life, that's a terrible storyline. Anyone suffering with cancer would probably think that's a slap in the face and cowardly.
How can anyone judge someone's desire to end terminal suffering as cowardly? Who can say where someone else's road should go and how it should end? Definitely not for any of us to judge; let the story go where it goes.
Nick has certainly already popped that cork and now it's more interesting to see he and Kylie interacting like mature adults who genuinely seem to care about each other. In many ways Kylie appears to have outgrown David (that's not hard) and should move on to something/someone else to keep exploring this character.
I have a fashion question: I would love to know where to find Leanne's character's blouses on this episode. There was a dark, wine-coloured one, and a really great black and pink short sleeved one.
Any idea how to track the brand down?
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