Hayley continues to be frustrated at Roy, this time for moving her things around. Even though he has her best interests at heart,
she doesn’t seem to see it that way. The old Hayley resurfaces when she visits
the factory, but disappears when she returns home. As she encounters a single
sock while sorting Roy’s pairs, he achingly observes, “if it’s not one of a
pair, what use is it?” Not content with forcing Roy to visit Jane with her,
Hayley is impatient, mean and disrespectful to him, insisting he drive when he
doesn’t want to, and disgusted when he struggles. “That’s what insurance is for
isn’t it” remarks a passing Carla, although Roy is unlikely to be found driving over the
limit and trying to convince Hayley to swap seats with him as they sit bonnet deep in Barlow’s Buys.
Things go from bad to worse when they
arrive at the hospice to find Jane has passed away. It doesn’t get any easier
for Roy as he bears the full brunt of the blame for why Hayley didn’t get to
say goodbye to her, having urged her not to go to visit after being herself
discharged from hospital on Wednesday. His quiet and innocent observations and
considerations are continually subjected to eye rolls, snipes, criticism and disdain,
and it’s painful to watch. As Hayley declares “Poor Jane”, all I can think is
poor Roy. “I can hear myself being horrible”, she declares; so can we, and it
makes for difficult viewing. As we hear Roy tell how her
company at night “nourishes my soul”, our hearts hurt for him. But it transpires
that Hayley is more determined than ever to end her own life for fear of dying
as Harold, and it appears that she will refuse to treat Roy with any respect
unless he accepts this. His pain is tangible, and we wish with all our hearts
that the old Hayley would come back to comfort him as she naturally would in
all other things. As they argue further she says, “I feel like I’m losing you
already”. Surely it must appear the other way around to Roy, as the Hayley we
know and love has turned unrecognisable.
While friction continues between
Todd and Jason, Julie’s warm welcome bursts with her trademark exuberance.
Despite him sniffing his nose up at her having succeeded in getting him a job
in packing at the factory, he’s happy to let her stand him drinks in the pub.
He tries to wow Gloria with his
cocktail making skills in return for a job at the Bistro, but Gail and Nick
stumble upon the scene and are none too happy.
Nick can’t remember ordering a bacon butty at Roy’s earlier in the day,
but no detail of Todd’s treatment of both Sarah Louise and himself has been forgotten. “I’m sure there are plenty of bars out there that’d be happy to snap
you up” clips Gail, to which Nick replies, “Timbuktu maybe”. Haven’t heard of
that one; is it on the Parade?
Tired Faye seems to have enjoyed the
concert, but Owen warns her about playing himself and Anna off against eachother.
As she and Grace enjoy burgers at Roy’s, Mary cheerily chips in that the
ketchup doesn’t count as one of their five a day. Grace is unnecessarily nasty
to her, and when she leaves upset, Faye weakly observes that Mary’s alright. She
has proven an unlikeable character in the past, but in contrast to Grace, Faye
is a veritable cherub. Grace suggests throwing stones at Mary’s motorhome by
way of revenge. When Faye seems reluctant, she continues her bullying campaign by telling her “You’re so boring”, and accuses Simon of being scared. Despite being uncomfortable about it, they proceed with her plan, and succeed in upsetting poor
Mary.
While she obtains comfort from Norris and Emily at The Kabin, Faye looks
on as Grace starts spraying Hairy Mary on her home with cream. But they’re caught red
handed by all three, and run for cover. Faye fails to escape a passing Owen
who, like Mary, Norris and Emily, is none too impressed, and takes her home.
Owen’s anger at being undermined by Anna was
earlier softened when she said she’d make it up to him that night, and he
asked her to leave the Marigolds on. Yikes. He's likely to become further incensed having witnessed this latest
bout of bad behaviour, and seeing Anna defend Faye yet again despite the
evidence. If Anna wants to stay on the good side of Owen, she might be better putting those gloves to the use they were
intended by making Faye clean Mary's van.
Owen pays Mary a visit, and as
she relives the bullying of her school days, the detail of her recollections
tells us how painful and long lasting the effects have been on her. It is good
to see the often volatile Owen show real heart and sympathy.
Over at the Rovers, Steve’s
attempt at helping Amy with her school project gives Michelle and Liz ample
opportunity to belittle him. It wouldn’t be so bad if he had someone to back
him up, but Lloyd is beyond useless, continually making jibes at Steve’s hair
loss and weight. Things don’t get much better when Amy finds that her father has
done her project on the wrong war. Maybe if the little madam had done her own
homework, she wouldn’t have cause to strop. Meanwhile her pink schoolbag slung
over Steve’s shoulder may as well be his as he has to tell his mother what he
has done wrong.
The only thing that will make Amy
talk to her Dad is a pony; considering Liz and Michelle’s attitude towards him,
the last thing Steve needs at the Rovers is another nag. “If I were you I’d
start saving up for therapy sessions now” says Liz; seems over the top for a
botched toilet roll cardboard project, but as the daughter of Tracy Barlow I’d
call that a safe investment.
Steve’s subsequent appearance in
a blazer, and announcement that he’s enrolling in college ensures further sniggering
and additional opportunities for Lloyd to make weight gags. I find this
baffling as Steve looks perfectly fine to me. Furthermore, why is there a
differentiation being made between the kind of bullying Mary has been subjected
to, and this apparently more palatable version which is supposed to represent the
lighter side of tonight’s episodes? Even when Steve feels he has had the last
laugh by revealing to Lloyd that he overstated the length of the course to have
some “Chico Time”, he can’t resist slagging off his looks. Come on Lloyd,
you’re a nice bloke, head on over to the jukebox and change the record.
By Emma Hynes
Twitter: @ELHynes
Follow Coronation Street Blog on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog and Facebook: CoronationStreetBlog
All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
