Coronation Street double episode review, Monday 3 February

Tina is back but only for a few days, until Friday, while she sorts out a few things and returns to her couch in Shepherd’s Bush and her bar job. Lloyd kindly accepts no payment from her for her Streetcar ride and tells her that Weatherfield is much better than ‘that London'. As Tina says, it’s the bright lights  and she can’t resist them, with a touch of sarcasm The question is though, can she resist Peter Barlow? From his cocky facial expression he clearly believes she can’t. As he talks to her we see how unsettled, rattled and generally perturbed by his presence she is. Despite her denial that she has come back for him, her whole demeanour seems to refute that claim.

It was uncomfortable viewing to see Carla and Tina together, Carla (or should that be Queen Carla, as she has risen so much in our esteem after her kindness to Hayley) clearly at a loss as to why Tina disappeared without saying goodbye. What has happened to the sisterhood Tina? Or do you not subscribe? Tina’s ‘affair’ (yes and Peter’s) is particularly reprehensible as Carla has been nothing but sweet to her.  There is a lot to be said for self-control and for not betraying your friends. It was a good cover-up to say that it was Rob who was bothering her and easy for Carla to believe, as she would be delighted for Tina and Rob to get together, even suggesting that she might give them a nudge while Peter looks aghast!

The satisfying aspect of all these machinations is that this is all playing out in Soapland, so we can rest assured, though it may take a while, that the bad will  get their comeuppance.

So to the newspaper bill - £18.60 which Tracy claims she cannot pay, so is refused the cola drops for Amy, the daughter Tracy now realises she has. Rob decides he will pay the paper bill thus securing the cola drops, by paying in pennies.  Not as clever as he thinks he is, he then talks to Tina, joking about the kiss they shared and to Carla too which Norris overhears. 

Later,as Rob and Tracy see Norris and Mary coming towards them, cruel Tracy calls them Daffy and Donald and it is this which spurs Norris on to reveal the damaging knowledge he has. Tracy emits a she-wolf cry of anguish and runs off to her mother. She asks Deirdre to guess who it was that Rob had cheated with. ‘I’ll give you a clue - she hates my guts.’  Deirdre’s facial expression as she says, ‘That narrows it down,’ is genius and should be painted and hung in a gallery somewhere.  Deirdre, rather surprisingly, finds herself persuading Tracy to forgive Rob, confessing that she’s not his biggest fan, but also tells Tracy to milk the situation, to keep him on a tight leash and to get a romantic mini break out of it. As Tracy flounces out saying she needs air, Deirdre suggests Tracy takes Eccles, but there is no leash for him.

Tracy is in no mind for reconciliation and throws Rob’s belongings out onto the street, after having told Rob, in reply to his, ‘What we have is amazing’  that in fact what ‘we HAD was amazing’ and so Rob is taken in by his sister, Carla.  Peter seems very keen that his sister and Rob should get back together and the reason is clear, though it confounds Carla, who was aware that Peter wasn’t keen on Rob and Tracy being together. We know though that if Rob is ‘on the prowl’ Peter is afraid that one of Rob’s prey would most certainly be Tina.  

Gratifying though it was to see Tracy so upset and furious, it also produced an even better result and that was Mary’s praise and denunciation of Norris. She begins by praising him and it is clear that Norris is enjoying it. Norris says, ‘That ugly encounter left me quite traumatized.’ Mary did tell him that the way he was behaving by telling Tracy what he knew about Tina and Rob was unseemly, but he ignored her and carried on. Mary’s denunciation begins with the stark, ‘You deserved it.’ Softening the blow a little she says, ‘You have many endearing qualities, you are community- minded and very, very moral.’ She tells him he has good clear morals and expects others to live that way. She continues, ‘You’re a stickler for detail – the way you scrutinize the grammar on everything you read – it’s absolutely fastidious.’ Then comes an explanation as to why Mary sees Norris as a conundrum. She informs him that he is ‘a despicable busybody who delights in upset and distress’ wherever he can. And who can argue with that? Her final warning is probably the best. ‘It’s only a very stupid man who will risk the wrath of Tracy Barlow. You have stirred up a hornet’s nest.’ With the foreboding of a soothsayer, Mary, not so stupid after all, predicts future events. 

The scenes with Dev and Kal, each rather amusingly criticising the other for the same thing, was quite amusing if a little unconvincing as to how business partners might talk of each other. Each calls the other ‘a nightmare’ which adds a touch of concern as to how they will work together. Jason’s dad, Tony is keen that his son isn’t ripped off and tells Kal and Dev that no, Jason won’t give then a ‘ball park figure’  but will give a proper estimate in the morning. Why is he so keen to be involved? Might he have a selfish motive?

Sophie and Maddie seemed to be getting on reasonably well until Sally came along. Turning up at Maddie’s house her mum mistook Sally and Sophie for the social services and had told Ben, Maddie’s little brother,  to stay out of the way - Ben having run away from his foster parents.

Back at Sophie’s for tea Sally oversteps the mark, by her criticisms of a situation she does not know nor understand. Maddie leaves, quite rightly telling Sally that she knows nothing about her family. 

  

Andrea is everything Michelle is not, which was clearly exemplified in tonight’s episodes. Andrea is cheerful, good fun, and has a sense of humour. Interestingly, Steve was more than a little reluctant to give out Andrea’s phone number to Lloyd. So it becomes clearer that Steve may have feelings for Andrea and maybe, just to make it more complex, Andrea agrees to go out with Lloyd to make Steve jealous - a real test to come of the strength of Lloyd and Steve’s friendship, not to mention Michelle’s reaction.

Would you trust Phelan? A man who comes to your house to make a ‘joke’ about whether he will release the money or not. This is surely going to go wrong –both Phelan and his wife not people you would trust or befriend.  None of this bodes well for Phelan and Armstrong.    

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