Hiya! It’s just Jordan with this week’s Sunday review. That’s a new one, right? Yes, our usual Friday trip to Weatherfield was moved to Sunday evening for something called football. So much happened in the hour-long episode, I’ve hardly any idea where to start.
The horror film drama continued in last night, as Andy’s plight
at the hand of evil Phelan dominated much of the episode. Pat has gone to the
trouble of finally feeding his hostage, treating him to a chicken Caesar salad.
Not that he gets to enjoy it, however. Andy, his health draining rapidly,
faints at the sight of the salad. When he comes around, he begs Phelan to take
him to a doctor. Surprisingly, he relents but changes his mind at the last
minute, calling a trip to the doctors “too risky”. The would-be writer knows
that if he does not receive medical help, he will die and Pat coldly leaves him
to do so. After all, his long-lost daughter has now bought a flat on the Street
and he thinks celebrating with her is more important than keeping Andy alive.
It is only when Nicola mentions the death of her parents and how the loss will
never leave her, Pat feels a twinge of guilt. Since lying is his second
language, he makes an excuse to leave and then gives an Oscar-winning
performance to Dr Gaddas at the medical centre to obtain some antibiotics. He
arrives back at the one-star Hotel Phelan to find its only guest showing very
little signs of life and is left to feed the antibiotics to his delirious
victim.
Our Pal Sal is driving her latest hair-brained scheme at
full speed. The mare has decided to run for mayor and her campaign is as silly
as one would expect from Sally. After
persuading an initially dubious Tim that it is time to revive her political
career, she holds an official campaign launch in the Rovers, promising to buy a
drink for anyone who attends. At this ridiculous
soiree, to which she has gallantly invited the local press, she evades every
question with a fruitfully empty answer, practically changing from Metcalfe to
May in the blink of an eye. Among the attendees at the campaign launch is
Weatherfield County’s new mascot. After winning a local audition earlier that
afternoon, Beth’s Kirky is now the proud wearer of a bee costume. Sally is less
than thrilled to have a bee in attendance, but when the journalist begins to
take more of an interest in him, she is utterly dismayed. When it is suggested
to Kirk that he runs for mayor too, Our Pal Sal almost fainted on the spot.
"You sounded like a real politician then" "Oh thank you, Fiz" "You evaded the question beautifully" | " |
Another hair-brained scheme is about to take place up in
Todd and Billy’s flat. Tracy has sent Amy round to the salon to get a
back-to-school trim, but Amy insists on having complicated highlights put in.
When David refuses, knowing how much bother he’d get into with Tracy, the
stroppy teenager widens her options, seeking help from know-it-all Summer.
Together, along with the help of Asha Alahan, they raid the corner shop for
household cleaning products such as bleach and baking soda. With Todd having to
run out to an emergency at work, Summer opens her dodgy salon in the flat. When
Todd comes back he gives them all a telling off and orders Amy to wash her the
bleach out of her hair. A piercing scream is heard from the bathroom as a distraught
Amy finds Summer’s homemade dye hasn’t quite achieved the blonde highlights she
was after; her hair has been frazzled into a startling orange instead! In an
attempt to keep all this from Tracy, Todd suggests Amy stays over for the night
and then they can sort it before Tracy finds anything out.
However, The Wicked Witch of Weatherfield knows her daughter has been up to something when she asks permission for a sleepover at Summer’s. The self-admitted sneak knows when her daughter is trying to pull a fast one, and marches over to the flat to find out what is going on. She knows Amy doesn’t even really like Summer. Things got even more ridiculous with the use of a hat, which did little more than fuel Tracy’s suspicions further. She boldly rips the hat off and claims she’s going to kill David Platt, until Summer timidly owns up. She goes on a classic Tracy-style rant, labelling the new parents as pathetic, and suggesting to Summer that she puts herself into care. (On a sidenote, it gave me a daft thrill knowing that the young actress who plays Summer is called Matilda and I made a silly connection to Roald Dahl’s Matilda, who also led her own homemade hair dye mishap!)
However, The Wicked Witch of Weatherfield knows her daughter has been up to something when she asks permission for a sleepover at Summer’s. The self-admitted sneak knows when her daughter is trying to pull a fast one, and marches over to the flat to find out what is going on. She knows Amy doesn’t even really like Summer. Things got even more ridiculous with the use of a hat, which did little more than fuel Tracy’s suspicions further. She boldly rips the hat off and claims she’s going to kill David Platt, until Summer timidly owns up. She goes on a classic Tracy-style rant, labelling the new parents as pathetic, and suggesting to Summer that she puts herself into care. (On a sidenote, it gave me a daft thrill knowing that the young actress who plays Summer is called Matilda and I made a silly connection to Roald Dahl’s Matilda, who also led her own homemade hair dye mishap!)
"It's flamin' orange!" |
Elsewhere, a lovely new friendship is blossoming in the form
of Rosie and Gemma. If Rosie is Barbie then Gemma would probably be Sindy and
the pair make an unlikely but very entertaining double act. Gemma has confided
in Rosie about her growing concerns for Rita. At first, Rosie seems to think
she’s fine but that is until she finds a bizarre list in the kitchen cupboard
at the flat. Rita has been writing lists of things one would normally remember
- such as “Jenny is going to marry Jonny”
and “Norris is allergic to nuts”. Later that evening, Gemma tries to explain
her concerns to Rita. They’re both sat watching a soap – the first time I’ve
ever known a soap exist within a soap – and Rita is having trouble remembering
the name of the woman who always wears big earrings, in what I’m sure was an
allusion to Bet Lynch. Gemma is then
baffled to hear Rita recite the intricate details of the storyline; she practically
broke the fourth wall with what she said next, uttering what I would call Line
of the Year in all of Soapland.
"Alex!" "Eh?" "And that's Rachel. Three weeks ago, she went under the wheels of a minibus. Not only that, his brother were driving it! Don't they tell some daft stories?!" | " |
An hour-long episode which had a good balance of comedy and
drama. The Phelan/Andy scenes are rather sickening to watch but the horror was
diluted nicely with the rest of the comedic scenes. And as for Rita’s condition
– I am probably in the minority here but I will not be taking part in the
#SaveRita campaign. I think, if Barbara Knox wants to leave, then this is the
way to do it. Send a fabulous character out on a storyline which will cement
her status as one of television’s finest actresses.
As always,
Thanks for reading!
Jordan
Twitter -@JordanLloyd39
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6 comments:
Thanks, great write-up, Jordan! I can't get the images of that horrible rat in Andy's prison basement dwelling out of my mind. And then...spiders... and bugs all over the counter-top where Phelan place the lamp! Eurgh!. Had to cover my eyes.
Amy's hair didn't look that orange to me. She just looked like most actresses do eventually, gradually getting blonder and blonder. Even raven-haired Carla Conner had blonde creeping up from the bottom of her locks last time I saw her.
Interesting side note about Matilda, Jordan!
Definitely a well-done hour long episode though. Still don't like Sally's sister. What's the point of her again? And why was Steve wearing a 'baseball' cap, a creeping Americanism. I'm a bit grumpy today.
I dislike Gina, she's so jealous of Sally and dragging poor well-meaning Sal into trouble. Daft character.
Yes, Sally often overreaches and sometimes makes a fool of herself - still, no reason to call her "the mare." Sounds like a derogatory comment on her gender and age.
Gemma and Rosie together are very entertaining.
Btw, Brookside had it's own soap. I can't quite recall the name, something like Mayfield Place maybe.
It was a play on words actually. No offence intended.
Mayor and mare.
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