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Instead of asking Simon, or even telling him, that he was going to move in with Ken for a while at Number 1, Simon comes home to find all of his clothes laid out on the table. He knows he’s ready to be packed up and sent off, again, and he’s right. Leaving him with Ken, Tracy, Robert and Amy might give Leanne a better life, but it fair broke my heart and will do little for Simon. He stood on the doorstep of his new home, abandoned and alone as Leanne walked away from him. He cried out to her that if she walked away from him, he would never forgive her. And still she kept on walking, first with tears in her eyes and then relief on her face. Leanne, you are an absolute cow. And that’s something I’ve never said in an update before and I’ve been writing them for a very, very long time.
Speaking of Callum and killing people, Ken takes Eccles for a walk along the street and the dog starts sniffing around outside the Platts. Could it be the stench of a decomposing body under the manhole that Eccles can smell? Well, she did once sniff out the bracelet that incriminated Rob Donovan after he’d killed Tina McIntyre, so if anyone can solve a crime, Eccles can. Go Eccles!
Elsewhere this week, Sean and the Vicar try to plan a holiday. With Billy’s church commitments (pre-Christmas choir practice, Christmas, post-Christmas funerals from flu, Easter) they agree on a date for a week away later next year. Sean wants to go clubbing in Ibiza and Billy wants to go to a croft on the Isle of Mull. I’m not sure what a croft is, but hey-ho. Sean mulls this over but isn’t best pleased. Billy, bless him, then agrees to a week in Ibiza with the first part spent in the hills and the solitude and the second part spent in the clubs and the noise. There was a lovely line from Eva when Sean was talking about holidays and said he wanted to take Billy to Cape Cod. “Cape God?” she asked.
In the Streetcars office, Michael is shaken when a woman wants a cab to 22 Station Road. He recognises the address so offers to take the woman home as she’s afraid of going indoors on her own ever since she was broken into and robbed. Did Michael once rob this lady’s home? He certainly feels guilty, and after he sees her safely home, she gives him a list of chores he has offered to help her with around the house. Eileen’s not happy when she sees the list which includes tiling another woman’s splashback. “You never look twice at my splashback,” she says. Ooh, I bet it’s right mucky.
And that’s just about that for this week.
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This week’s writers were Damon Rochefort (Monday double); Mark Burt (Wednesday); Debbie Oates and Jan McVerry (Friday double). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at http://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2008/11/exclusive-all-current-corrie-writers.html
Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com
Website: glendayoungbooks.com
Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.
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11 comments:
I have to agree re Simon and Leanne.
If one more character says that Leanne "tries her best" and praises her parenting skills, I will scream. This storyline to me should be about Simon and why he is so angry, not about what "poor Leanne" has to put up with. Underneath all that anger, is a terrified little boy.
Leanne insisted that she should be the one who brings Simon up and she has always took pleasure in telling Peter when he can and can't see his own son. Now that things have got difficult, she's dropped him off at Ken's. The poor kid even thought he was going into care.
Sadly, I think even if Leanne eventually decides to get him professional help, it will still all be about how she is coping with it.
I agree with Anonymous above that this storyline is about Leanne and not Simon. It's a ruse to bring in her next partner and, in true Corrie fashion, a few hugs and several kickabouts in the Street will solve all Simon's problems. If they do involve a counsellor, the story will probably still focus on Leanne's parenting skills. That might work with Kylie and Max, but Simon is a much more strongly defined character. We need to see Simon talking or just being with a friend or confidant who is soley for him, and not trying to mediate between him and his mum. Having a friend saved Faye ie Craig from being a one dimensional unpleasant character. I thought Zeedan was going to take on the role of Simon's mentor but that seems to have fizzled out. Hope they wrap this story up quickly if they aren't going to handle it properly.
Simon's hormones are obviously raging as well. I grew up with 4 brothers, and when they reached a certain age, it was slammed doors, yelling, threats to leave home, constant infighting between them. Mum would roll her eyes and carry on...it's a wonder my she came out of it with half a wit..oh wait...
I know I'm in the minority but I'm still in Leeanne's corner and understand her being at the end of her tether,dropping Simon off at his grandfather's who may I add should've shown more interest in his grandson after Kal's and Deirdre's deaths instead of his love life with Nessa.
I also think Simon needs to go into care if only to realise how fortunate he is to have a caring mum.
I completely agree with Anonymous 16:08, and completely disagree with this blogpost, except for the comment that Simon should have been in counselling long before now.
Leanne has been trying her very best for a very long time, and has been Simon's protector for a very long time. She has helped him deal with many disappointments along the way. She took him on when his own family showed little interest in him.
Let's not forget that she has also recently lost Kal. It burns me up how problems with the children are so frequently blamed on the mother. What about his father, Peter? Going to a grand-parent would be a natural thing to happen for awhile when there are difficulties.
If anyone should feel guilt, it should be Ken, as it is his irresponsible son who has abandoned Simon (as he abandoned many of his partners before). Yikes!
I think Leanne walked away because she was afraid she really would hit him next time.
Leanne was also abandoned by her birth mother and in later life by her father as well. Stella attempted to reconnect but soon got busy with her own complicated love life. While Simon is younger, Leanne has similar issues also. No matter what age we are, the inner, if the inner child is hurting it surfaces in moments of crisis. I don't think any woman should be called a cow for walking away from physical and emotional abuse.
As someone who has been a social services candidate in the past, I believe that the idea that counselling is a cure-all is overrated. For one thing, you give up all autonomy in addressing your own problems. You become a case number and the state assumes a right (even an obligation) to butt into your private business. For another thing, case workers are paid to show up, not necessarily to make a positive difference. Some people end up pretending that the problem has been fixed just to get free of the bureaucracy. I wish the writers would take this up more often as a storyline in itself. On this site, many viewers comment on how hapless the authorities, such as the police, come across. But there's more to it than that, I think. When someone is in a lower socio-economic class, especially if they have had brushes with law enforcement (Steve M, Tony, Graeme, David, Gary - well, 50% of the street), they're more likely to be suspicious of the police, or other 'benevolent' authority figures. Although it was never mentioned as such, I thought this would explain why David and Kylie opted NOT to call the police after Callum was killed, but chose instead to keep the authorities out of their lives and take matters into their own hands. Police-community relations are often influenced by class dynamics in ways that seldom get exposed on TV.
The story between Leanne and Simon brings exposes some very interesting issues. If it were her abusive husband, rather than her abusive adopted son, I doubt anyone would suggest that Leanne should have "asked" or even "told" Simon that he was no longer going to live under her roof. How many would suggest that counselling would fix everything and that Leanne is a crap person for feeling relieved at being able to walk away from Simon? No doubt an abusive spouse would also attempt the emotional manipulation of saying that if Leanne walks away, he'll never forgive her.
Leanne took this child on with the best intentions, now that the going has gotten very tough, she has left him with someone he might respect because he's made it clear he has no respect for her. In the real world, no doubt school teachers and a variety of community services would already have been involved and perhaps helping Simon cope differently. However, this is soap and by design things will always be taken to the extreme.
I also feel this story has been written to reflect the nature of today's community, in that everything - including relationships - have become disposable. People also do not seem to seek resources and outward support because we are all supposed to be rock stars and emotions are weakness. This story touches on a lot of a valid issues, even though they are presented in the most extreme case.
For those who condemn Leanne for leaving Simon with Ken both out of fear of causing him physical harm and out of fear he might cause her physical harm - are you so sure you would react so differently under the exact same circumstances? Do you really believe you truly understand where each of these characters are coming from emotionally? I don't see how that can be genuinely possible.
The great thing about stories like the one between Leanne and Simon is that they bring the viewers own issues to the surface. I would suggest that those who are most profoundly affected by this story and react the strongest, should perhaps take some time to look within. Clean up your own house before you judge someone else's.
I've never been convinced that Leanne took Simon on with the best intentions. A lot of it was about her wanting to take something that Peter loved away from him because she was a woman scorned. Over the years she has enjoyed being on her high horse, judging Peter and controlling his relationship with his own son.
She does what she wants and claims that she's doing it for Simon.
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