Coronation Street double episode review, Monday 19 May

In several ways, Tina and Maria are similar. Both of them are young and attractive, and both of them are seriously deluded, Maria maybe more so than Tina. Both of them purport to be the friend of the woman they are betraying - in Tina's case Carla, who is also pregnant and who, so far, has been nothing but kind and thoughtful towards Tina. In Maria's case she and Fiz have been very good friends for ages so why on earth does she think it is ok to try to take Tyrone from Fiz and break up the  stability of a home where both Fiz and Tyrone appear to accept each other's children very well - in fact, they seem to treat them no differently from their own children. It's good, it's about as good as it can be.

In Peter and Tina's case, Peter is the guiltier of the two. He is married to Carla and although Carla wasn't pregnant at the beginning of Peter and Tina's affair, she is now and so the support she craves from Peter is her right. Tina is guilty but not as guilty as Peter.  We know that Tina will die soon, so we know that the affair will end soon. But the fall-out can only be out of this world.

To return to Maria, of course anyone would feel sympathy for someone whose partner had left them, especially when Todd flaunts his affair with Marcus in front of Maria whenever he gets the chance. One instance of this was when David and Maria had been set on to clean the windows of Audrey's salon. Todd swiftly puts his arm round Marcus as he notices that Maria is outside. Marcus is irritated by the childish, pointed gesture, but Todd says he's just making sure that she's got the message.

In her deluded state she shouts out to them both that she has met someone, who is 'lovely, kind, decent - something that you will never be.' David chides her and asks her why she  did that. He tells her that it makes her look pathetic. She then tells David that Tyrone feels the same as she does, and she knows that that is true. 'We were so in love,' she insists. David emphasises the past tense.

Maria does seem to be genuinely unhinged as he seems to believe that Tyrone is in love with her. Not previously a spiteful person, this time Maria has crossed a line. The texts she has sent, the vicious, cruel and terrifying words that she wrote to make Fiz and Tyrone actually believe that now she was free, Kirstie was spending her whole time stalking them and at any minute could spring out and attempt to snatch Ruby or commit other chilling acts.

Audrey does her best telling Maria that she must dig down deep inside herself and find the strength to get back on an even keel. Kirk is great too, of course he is, because Kirk is Kirk and he has much comfort to give tonight. Maria and Beth are both lucky to have him.

Beth didn't go through with her surgery, even though she had got as far as the operating table. It seems likely though that she would have had to pay the surgeon some money, but it seems that there is enough for a family holiday. Still, her description of feeling a powerful loneliness just as she was about to undergo surgery was enough to make her realise that her operation was not the way forward.

Good, as ever, to see Craig tonight. He was intent on feeding Darryl a grape, though not too many warns Sinead as it seems Darryl suffered a digestive problem. Clearly he's embarrassed hearing his mother's operation discussed and asks, 'Do you have to talk about this out loud?'

Carla has real grit and determination and she is putting that to good use to try to get Peter away from alcohol. She does love Peter very much and as Rob points out, he is her weakness. She suggests that by telling people they are having a baby, it may serve to keep Peter on the straight and narrow. This sends Peter into a swirl of panic. She tells Peter what is true for all of us that, 'Today is the first day of the rest of our lives.' So easy to say...

'I am a loser,' says Peter in a moment of self-knowledge. True - and your brother-in -law is doggedly on your case. He sees Tina and Peter talking but when he quizzes Tina she calmly tells Rob that Peter was talking to her about Simon, plausible enough, but it is surprising that Rob doesn't twig. Rob is no fan of Peter and recognises that he is his sister's weakness. 'Weak, lying fraud,' says Rob of Tina's (and Carla's) beloved.

In The Rovers, Liz is delighted with her hair and her new hairdryer, which gives all the volume and none of the frizz. We heard about them from Tracy, who had bought a lorry load from Tony. In an apparently trivial act of revenge after Liz told Tina no, she couldn't just go and make a phone call,  Tina tells Liz that the hairdryers are from Barlow's Buys and that Tony supplied them. Liz tells Tina that a few hairdryers do not mean that he is Ronnie Briggs.

Tony hands over the keys to Jason, and says it's a gift for the past 20 or so birthdays and Christmases that he failed to be at or to give a present for. Jason then has 'the keys to the kingdom' but even as they are celebrating with a bacon buttie, you get the strong feeling that anything that Tony is involved in will go badly wrong, even though Eileen herself seemed cheered by Jason's new acquisition.

Just had to save this comment for last. When Tina is invited for a cup of tea and Rob bumps into Carla as she is coming out of the shop with some milk, Carla tells Rob that Tina is with Peter and says, 'She's been a right little star that one.'


Download our App | Follow on Twitter @CoroStreetBlog | Like on Facebook



All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License