There is no doubt that the world is better for its Roy Croppers. People like Roy offer so much, and we all benefit from their wisdom, kindness, and honesty. It’s a cruel irony that they themselves are more likely to suffer due to their sensitive natures, and they beat themselves up more than most when their human failures see them breach their own high moral standards.
Roy’s concentration suffers tonight as he berates himself for the error of judgement that has caused Cathy to break up with him, and Carla spots this, leading to a lovely scene in which the friends discuss how they cope with the harshness of life. For all the wisdom he has imparted, it seems Roy may have something to learn from Carla, as she questions the point of being hard on oneself and asks, what’s to be achieved by it? With her encouragement, he resolves to go and win Cathy back.
Despite a valiant effort to shake Nessa off, she follows him and makes her presence known as he sits outside Cathy’s. Her advice, that he should think less about emotion and allow himself to simply feel it, is not only insulting, but it might be a good idea for her to start practicing the opposite herself before she does any more damage.
Meanwhile, Cathy has managed to set the house on fire when a bin containing Nessa’s love-letters and mementos goes up in flames. It was rather unnecessary for her to become trapped, as she had full access to the front door, but nevertheless it allowed Roy to be her knight in shining armour. When she tells him he saved her life, it’s clear that she doesn’t only mean tonight, and there’s a lovely chemistry between them in that moment.
However, even that couldn’t prepare me for the wonderful scene which lay ahead in which, back at Roy’s flat, he confesses his love for her and she returns the sentiment. Tender, tentative, yet full of emotion, the pair embrace on his sofa, and I’m in awe on mine. There is such joy in beholding the very minutiae of David Neilson’s performances; every thought, every emotion in that huge, yet humble moment, was there.
Meanwhile, a rejected Nessa seeks solace in Ken only for him to break up with her. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one with a lump in my throat when he told her there was another woman, and that it was Deirdre. To be honest, this was a most fitting outcome, as we had really yet to see Ken struggle in the aftermath of her death, and I think it is important and natural that he show some signs of this.
After wishing Roy and Cathy well, and hitting Audrey with a bitter “he’s all yours”, Nessa makes her departure. Although her time on the street was short, and while I couldn’t say I liked her per se, I felt Nessa brought a quirky vibrancy to proceedings and found her brass neck to be somewhat entertaining. Perhaps the fact that she found herself at odds with Ken, Audrey and Roy, three extremely popular stalwarts, as well as the lovely Cathy, may not have endeared her. There was also her deviousness and depravity, two traits of which Corrie fans have had more than their fair share at this point. Nevertheless, while there might be some who won’t miss this character, I wouldn’t mind seeing her on the cobbles again, given the right circumstances.
Kevin’s new-found professionalism suddenly makes the longstanding graffiti on the garage an eyesore, and he calls the council to have it removed. The rather unfortunate outcome is that Maddie’s mural is destroyed. As Kevin apologises, Sophie confesses she no longer thinks of Maddie every day, and her Dad reassures her that that's okay. Her admission seemed rather hasty to me considering Maddie died just over seven months ago, but then everyone handles grief in different ways.
After Sophie welcomes Kevin’s feelings for Anna, they’re both impressed to learn she has enlisted the help of Craig and Caitlin to paint a new mural. What an excellent character Craig is. He has some sterling traits and it’s great to have a positive young role model on the street. Even Sally’s disdainful comments concerning his art don’t discourage him. I initially thought Craig replied with "I will always defy people,” (which I hope he does when it comes to any detractors) but Alison on Twitter clarified that it was in fact "art will always divide people." A very mature and respectful response to criticism. Even in the café, Faye felt comfortable asking both Craig and Caitlin what an installation was, and they answered her without derision, and encouraged her to join them. What a pleasure to watch.
Elsewhere, Mary falls for Brendan’s charms and decides taking advantage of Dev’s empty house to consummate their relationship is preferable to a night of budget pub grub. It was heartening to find Dev sticking up for her when Norris went on the attack, but it was similarly impressive to see Norris make a beeline for Brendan to criticise him over his treatment of Mary. It must be remembered, however, that Norris was begrudging her this happiness before he knew Brendan was married.
Over at the factory, Kate’s efforts to talk about the family situation are stonewalled by Carla and Aidan who simply aren’t interested in discussing it. Carla has other crab cakes to fry as Nick tricks her into coming to the Bistro to look at wedding menus with Robert, but she manages to wriggle out of it with the help of pressing factory work. I'm not quite sure how she's keeping such a secret from Nick. After all, while not the same thing, she wasn’t willing to keep Johnny’s secret for any length. I suppose she did tell Roy earlier in the episode that some secrets are best kept. Robert genuinely looks like he could care less, and after his threatening behaviour towards her during the week, you’d have to believe that’s the case.
In the end, Kevin and Anna finally kiss, and despite my misgivings over the manner in which poor Joanne was dispensed with, the scene itself was rather gripping. All we have to do now is get the popcorn in for when Sally finds out.
By Emma Hynes
Twitter: @ELHynes
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17 comments:
Brilliant. Roy and Cathy declaring love was beautifully done. David Neilson and Melanie Hill were great together as usual. Anna and Kevin's storyline is good, too.
I won't miss Nessa but I do hope she pops back in now and then to cause some trouble. She was deliciously awful and livened things up. I think Deirdre's death and how it affected Ken was definitely a delayed reaction. More and more lately, especially over the holidays and with the broken pottery mug, too, Ken seems to have faced reality a bit more, his grief a bit more evident.
Sally makes me laugh. She is well over Kevin and thoroughly in love with Tim but still doesn't want to see Kevin with anyone else important in his life.
at first when the fire took hold at Cathy's I had this feeling of deja vu - then I remembered, of course, Becky did the same thing to pics she had of Steve & her together when she was living in the flat above Streetcars. Luckily Nick passed by, saw the flames and dragged her out. So same old, same old. However they really did the best at the end with Roy & Cathy sharing a cuppa together and a declaration of love for each other. I actually had tears in my eyes.
Ness? Good bye & good luck. Tara.
Craig & Kaitlin - wonderful - please give us more.
Anna & Kevin - well I'm actually warming up to the idea - this could work & be fun to watch and I'm waiting for Sally to be on the council, obviously there were a ton of references made to that effect tonight. Corrie doesn't do subtle very well unless you consider subtle like a dump truck.
I liked the episode but Brendens "Im all man" comment had me tasting bile. So gross. He reminds me of a slimy used car salesman. I dont like him at all. Poor Mary
And the fire thing... Cathy was weakly coughing out for help, then Roy and Nessa hear her yelling plain as day, with the door locked and windows shut? That had me eye rolling
I think Nessa is a great character. She was kind of wedged in very quickly and now she's gone. She was a great catalyst for action and bile.
I think Nessa is a great character. She was kind of wedged in very quickly and now she's gone. She was a great catalyst for action and bile.
Is that it then? Is Nessa definitely gone? I'm disappointed if she is. Awful woman, (I certainly cheered when Ken dumped her!) but an effective character and very well played. We need these abrasive types. I can definitely see an ongoing role for her. She'd work well on the shop - or the medical centre, as we're apparently going to see more of it, with the coming of Rana. Nessa would be the archetypal scary doctors' receptionist, with a flighty young sidekick.
I presume so Cobblestone. It certainly looked like an exit with finality to me. I very much agree, the abrasive types are necessary, and she was ideal and very well played. I've also thought Dev's shop would be the perfect place for her. I like your medical centre idea too.
I totally agree about the fire thing and hearing Cathy plain as day from outside. Had me eye-rolling too. :)
I really don't like Brendan at all - really badly acted I think. But surprised nobody noticed (or has yet commented on it) that when Mary and Brendan were in the pub/bar, the puddings special board was right behind them in plain sight a couple of times. Did ANYONE notice under Choice of Toppings "Crushed Nuts (Not suttable for nut allergy sufferers." ... I've asked @ITVCorrie if that was a deliberate typo or not. So far no response. Hmmm I have a feeling someone screwed up. lol
Nessa was that real character that you were meant to hate and played so well by the actress. She was no pantomime baddy type as we've seen with Todd and Tracy. Just full of herself, tons of energy and so confident that she was ready to get what she wanted but selfish to the core. I thought her a great addition to that age group, something lacking of late.
I think she could work full time.
Beth, you describe Nessa perfectly! I've met lots of people like her--overbearing, self-confident, make themselves the centre of attention wherever they go. Take up all the air in the room, as the expression goes. Not truly bad though--just very self-centred. Characters like this are a lot more believable and fun to watch than over the top baddies like Tracy and Todd. How much motiveless malice can we take?
I was wondering why her or Alex didn't get cast cards right away, just like other new recent additions. The way that they were building her and Alex up in the news, I thought that they were going to become regulars, with the connection to Cathy.
I think that's the problem with all these new and returning faces. There are quite a few coming in and they build them up properly with big articles and storylines, then they only last for a few months. Kind of sucks!
I was wondering about the new male character that will be joining the cast soon - is it possible they will let Nessa get her claws into him? He just lost his wife who was a client of Kylie, so it is possible that Nessa just might bump into him, literally.
Could somebody please explain to me who starts a fire, controlled or not, in the middle of their living room with boxes + lots of other stuff around.
I have never heard, nor seen anybody doing this. Seems like the writers ran out of ideas.
Why on earth would somebody do that. Ridiculous.
Mike
I'd love to see more of Nessa too, she is a great female Corrie character, with so much potential, brilliantly played with humour and a touch of pathos. And I must be one of the few who's never warmed to Cathy. The actress is excellent but I find the character irritating. What will become of her when Roy leaves to look after his mother?
It would have been refreshing to have Ken break the habit of a lifetime and deal with Deirdre's death, by adopting a little dignity and keeping his trousers on. He will move on to Audrey now! Ridiculous! He is no catch, a shop soiled, much married man in his seventies certainly not George Clooney!
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