Rain greets two sad occasions: Kylie's birthday and Leanne's leaving. David has a birthday present of a garden swing for Max and (the slightly too young for swings) Lily. He literally has a screw loose as Bethany sits on the insecure swing and breaks it. Craig insensitively uploads a photo of the incident and before long, Bethany is convinced that she is fat and is swigging diet pills with cola and David is pressing the spare screw into his palm so that it draws blood - from the shock of Bethany's fall or the stress of the day?
It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a Street to stop Leanne from leaving. Aidan persuades Eva who persuades Nick, whilst Simon hides the coach tickets and lets Nick hear, via mobile phone, that Leanne still loves him. Simon is unusally perceptive and senstive for a 13 year old boy - I reckon he fancies living in Victoria Court more than bunking up with his Aunty Toyah in L8. This subterfuge and David's talk of adopting Max, as well as his nihilsm over some Stallion lager ("Maybe it's too painful, maybe it's not worth it") all convinces Nick to do an Usain Bolt through Manchester coach station to save Leanne from a life in Liverpool and to be the baby daddy to Leanne and Steve's child. Nick declares his love for Leanne and she reciprocates, under the eye of the most patient coach driver I've ever seen. No doubt Toyah will be upset, but she's been living thirty miles away from her sister and never bothered to visit? I wonder who's looking after the juice bar in Streatham since Spider is off in Peru with Aunty Em.
One person who isn't going to be happy that Leanne hasn't left is Steve, who cheers up considerably once he thinks that she's gone, accompanying Michelle to her doctor's appointment, asking questions, agreeing to go to ante-natal classes and promising pomegranate juice for his wife.
Sharif has forgotten to pretend to forget that it's his and Yasmeen's Sapphire/Aluminium Oxide wedding anniversary and they have a nice day of lunch and art to look forward to. At the Bistro, Zeedan has to spill orange juice on Sharif so that they'll go back to the house and take part in the surprise party that he and Rana and Alya have arranged. It's hard to plan a surprise when the surprisees have free will.
Sharif has his own surprise: firstly, he's arranged to take Yasmeen to Bruges, home of canals, chocolate and the 1302 Matins Massacre (I love Roy's facts) and secondly, when old family friend, Sonia, turns up, having been kicked out of her house by her husband. Slowly, it's revealed that Sharif may not have been at the allotment all the times he has said he was there, and that he and Sonia have been having an affair for seven years. Seven! This is as mysterious as the suddenly divulged fact that Yasmeen's parents disowned her when she married Sharif. I do wonder if one of the consequences of the eventual disclosure of Sharif's affair will be Zeedan abandoning his principles and making Rana a happy woman. I hope so - I like Rana. Just as we need a battleaxe on the street, we also need a minx and there hasn't been one of those since Rosie left. I also hope that we learn about the mystery of her parents at some point.
At the end of the day, Leanne is on her way home and back on the street, both parties wind up. "It's been sad but lovely," says Gail, unaware that her grand-daughter has body dysmorphia and a tub of internet diet pills. "It's been the most perfect day," says Yasmeen, unaware that she's just invited her husband's mistress to live with them.
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Roy's gloomy facts may have put a dampener on the conversation but they are an example of the quirky humour I always loved in Corrie.
ReplyDeleteAt least Sharif's secret mistress didn't turn out to bring Rana's mother, but doubtless we'll find out about Rana's weird family in time, otherwise she'd never have mentioned them. I can't believe in the affair though, when Sharif clearly adores Yasmeen.
I would actually like to see Zeedan stick more firmly to his principles following this future revelation. He's so unusual in the Corrie den of iniquity!
ReplyDeleteI've been watching for years and it's a sort of rule that if something happens or is said out of nowhere, it is going to have some significance to some future event. In this case it is Yasmeen's out-of-the-blue mention that her parents disowned her when she got married. It's my guess that Rana has also been disowned by her parents. Wasn't there an incident in one of her earlier appearances with a dubious ex? Maybe it's to do with him. I will look forward to seeing if I'm right, or way off!
Monday was a great night for David Platt fans. My goodness, from mourning his wife to being a loving dad to his kids to being the wise younger brother to Nick, he was all that and then some, and in a supporting role. (I think I'm becoming like a certain blogger with her love for Spider. :D ) But that's not why we watched.
ReplyDeleteI like Nick and Leanne, so was happy to sit through the cliched run through the bus terminal. When Usain Tilsley finally got to the bus (it was still there, happy ending in sight), Simon was unnaturally hopeful for a grumpy 13 year old (good move with the cel phone, btw; get the confetti ready). I thought the other ladies were going to burst into cheer when, after clearly listening in, Leanne agreed to stay (well, they didn't but I did). Not sure how his brain will handle Steve being the baby daddy at first but after David's talk about Max, in time it'll be fine. Hmmm, Liz vs Marion as left out grandmothers, Amy vs Simon as only children becoming older siblings,...
The Nazir party (!) was very strange, Roy's sparkling party chatter aside. I have enough reservations about Sharif and Sonia to fill a blog post.
Well spotted Louby re Yasmeen's parents disowning her. I wonder if she chose Sharif rather than an arranged marriage?
ReplyDeleteAnd what about Alya being almost disowned when she dared sleep with Jason out of wedlock. Sharif was terrible to her! What a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteChritine I love your рicture - is it an evil flumр, :)
ReplyDeleteI loved Roy's factoids about such obscure things, I thought that was a great bit. I guess now we can quit speculating about Sharif being Rana's father too. Overall though, I thought they were good episodes, hopefully a sign of what is to come under the new leadership. And Jane Danson is still the best crier, I don't care what anyone says!
ReplyDeleteStill don't like the Sharif affair storyline, it just seems so out of character seeing as how he loves Yasmeen and took the moral high ground re Alya and Jason.
ReplyDeleteGotta laugh every time that someone moves out on Corrie and they only take 1 bag of clothes, or in the case of Simon and Leanne, one bag for TWO PEOPLE! That can't possibly hold all their clothes, shoes and toiletries. And they never take any personal belongings. What about Simon's football gear? What about photos, kitchenware, bedding? Nope, nothing. Sean had everything in a garbage bag when he left. It's crazy.
ReplyDelete