Coronation Street Double Episode Review 23 March 2015

It is the day of Gavin’s funeral and Gail is on her way.  Andy, Gavin’s impersonator is also there but Gail and Andy have decided not to speak to each other or show any sign of recognition, for fear of giving the game away. Gail, who makes no effort to disguise her contempt for Andy, tells him it won’t be any problem for her to have to ignore him. ‘I wish to God I didn’t know you,’ she tells Andy.

 They may not give the game away, but it is not really a game. Michael’s son is dead and despite his bad heart, doesn’t Michael deserve the truth? How long will Andy go on pretending he is Gavin? Should we blame Gail for not telling Michael the truth and for not insisting that Andy tells Michael the truth?

Michael will never have another chance to attend his son’s funeral and despite the animosity expressed by Gavin towards his father, surely death and its finality, changes things. As the hearse draws up to the church, Barbara voices what many of us think on the sad occasion of seeing the coffin, in that it makes the whole thing real. It is particularly sad when the funeral is for a young person, as was Gavin, with so much life unlived.

Gail’s plan is to leave the funeral as quickly as possible and head off to be with David during his mediation with Callum. However, she is stopped in her tracks as Barbara insists that Gail attends Gavin’s wake, so that she can speak to Susan.

It is not just Michael who is affected by the deceit. Susan, Michael’s wife and the mother of Gavin wants to bury the past and give to Michael the memories which he missed as his son was growing up.  Susan confesses that she ‘made Gavin hate the sound of his (Michael’s) name.’ Susan tells Gail just how much she would like to be able to speak to Michael and how now she realizes that grudges are a waste of time. Gavin is her only child - she didn’t succeed in having any children with her second husband, which might make Gavin’s funeral all the more poignant.   Susan though, is told that Michael’s heart would not be able to stand it. But how will Michael’s heart hold up when he eventually finds out that a web of deceit has been wrapped around the truth, as surely some day, he must?

David is very much on edge, waiting for Gail to arrive. Callum is there with his mum and, naturally is rather relishing David’s distress at not having Gail with him. Disastrously for David, he loses his temper as Callum describes the misery that Max has had to endure living at the Platt household, with his mother Kylie in particular, who is a drug addict. Fury builds in David as he listens with incredulity to the lies that Callum is telling about how he no longer deals drugs. Naturally mum backs that up, parents always keen to believe the best about their children.

On arriving home Gail is involved in even more lies. David accuses her of not keeping her promise and of letting him down. Gail struggles to give an explanation but Andy helps out by claiming that he had a possible heart scare, which might be believable, because of  Michael’s heart problem. Adding to the huge tally of lies, as David is mollified, he agrees to say nothing to Michael about ‘Gavin’s heart problem.

At The Rovers Michelle is having a bit of a clear-out. She finds some unopened letters from the taxman. The fact is that Steve owes the taxman £10,700. Steve has simply ignored these letters, clearly burying his head in the sand. Michelle tells Liz about the tax but it is hard to mention it to Steve as he is rather pleased with himself for having successfully completed an airport run. If Michelle broaches the tax topic, will it slow down or exacerbate Steve’s recovery?

Liz contacts the tax office in order to check that the amount is accurate.

Steve is devastated when Michelle tells him about the tax bill. He accepts that he pushed the letters aside as his depression took hold and that he will sort it out, though Michelle is clearly worried about what will happen.

Much to Kevin’s surprise, as he thinks things are going well between them, Jenny says they are to finish. Jenny believes that Rita and Sally and some others will never be able to accept Jenny and Kevin as a couple. Kevin decides to visit Rita and persuade her to give him and Jenny a chance in their relationship. Rita agrees to do that and Kevin arrives home with the good news. Jenny and Jack are playing happily. He asks her to give them a go and it might be the case that little Jack will be part of the reason Jenny agrees.

It’s not long now before Faye gives birth. Craig, who has been brilliant with Faye, urges her to change her mind about her plan to give birth in secret without a medical professional on hand. The birth will be frightening and perhaps overwhelming not only for Faye, but also for Craig, who will surely not desert his friend as she gives birth. He tries to hand her a pregnancy book, which he has borrowed from the library. Faye doesn’t want the book and says, ‘I know it’s going to be horrible. I don’t need a book to tell me.’ Craig says that feeling the baby kicking must be ‘well weird’.

Anna offers Craig and Faye a treat in the café but Craig has responsibilities – Daryl needs his cage cleaning. So it’s just Anna and Faye in the café. Anna asks Faye what’s wrong, saying Faye is not herself and that she seems always tired. Thinking quickly, Faye uses Katy as her excuse, saying she misses her. Anna talks about how young Katy was when she had a baby, but that now she is trying to sort her life out. That can’t be easy for Faye to hear.

Bethany Britney made quite an impression on her first appearance. As we have seen, she can be quite manipulative and no doubt her tales of her supposedly dreadful life in Milan, will succeed in persuading Gail to allow her to stay in Weatherfield.  Not yet though.

‘How come there’s no milk?’ asks the delightful Bethany. She then asks David, ‘How do you put up with her? No wonder she’s had so many husbands.’ These words are hardly those of the devoted granddaughter. Still, Gail says Bethany is to be on a plane to Milan, which, according to Bethany, ‘is not all designer jeans and gelato.’ Gail insists, ‘Your place is with your mam.’ As Gail says, she has brought up David so is wise to every trick in the book.

Michael rolls up with fish and chips for him and Gail, thinking she needed cheering up. Gail has a melt down. After the day she has had she needs Michael to look after himself, not eat greasy food and to drink, even though it was only shandy.

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