First, it seems very clear Pat Phelan is going to put someone else in the cellar and let Andy go free to be their minder. Forget for a minute how he's going to be able to explain Andy's sudden reappearance because Andy won't likely stay away from the street. The big question is who will it be if he manages to pull it off?
All week, Phelan has been getting more and more worked up over Daniel's investigation and interference into his business and I bet most of you figured Daniel is going to be the next hostage. I don't think so for two reasons. One is that Daniel is known to be investigating Pat and if he goes missing, there will be questions. Daniel also has lots of family that will be asking even more questions to find him. The second reason is that I doubt very much Phelan would need a gun to keep Daniel under control to get him into the basement.
But Vinny/Harvey is another matter. That gun is for him, I feel sure. He's a much more dangerous person than Daniel and if he's going to be taking down someone like that, it makes sense that he'd get something to back him up.
The other storyline that piqued my interest was Nicola's visit to her mother's old friend and neighbour who went whiter than a white thing when she saw the photo of Pat Phelan and heard that he was Nicola's father. She didn't think her friend would have had an affair. Maybe she didn't. We've only got Phelan's word for it. Was he in love with her? Yes, I think so, but she rejected him in the end for her family, telling Phelan she was pregnant with her husband's child.Nine months after she broke up with Phelan, Nicola was born.
Lydia would have known Phelan since she was close to Nicola's parents and he'd have known her. I wonder if they had a one night stand either before or after Phelan lost the love of his life and that's where Nicola came from. Maybe she's Lydia's daughter, given to her friends to raise. I realize I'm reaching a bit here but why would Lydia look so shocked to see Pat's photo and be so sure her friend wouldn't have cheated on her husband? Because she was the one cheating on her husband with Phelan. Her friends might have covered for her and it's possible that they didn't know who the father really was.
Ok, maybe that theory is stretched a bit thin the more I think about it. What else could that be? Thoughts? Theories? Go for it.
Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)
Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
Jeanie:
ReplyDeleteAgree that it will be Vinny heading to the cellar--definitely not Daniel (as it had seemed) and Gary's not around. Vinny will not be missed and it will give Phelan a chance to get the money from him.
Lydia has probably had a sexual relationship with Phelan, but doubt if Nicola is her child. I'm guessing it was a very bad relationship--she looked terrified at Phelan's picture--whether because he slept with both women or because he blackmailed or raped her as he did with Anna. Something very unsavoury, anyways, which will end up being key in the exposure of Phelan to Nicola.
Great post Tvor! Speculating is half the fun of watching a show like Corrie:).
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the hostage won't be Gary. The fact is he's in and out lately,so if Phelan goes to have a talk with him about Nicola and it goes badly, who would even know in which country Gary's supposed to be or why he hasn't returned? This would be similar to how Andy's disappearance didn't launch a search.
As soon as Sarah finds out about Nicola she'll be too angry to care.Izzy would worry but what could she do about it? Only Anna is the sort of person who wouldn't let anything put her off searching. Since the actress is leaving, having her character get killed while trying to find her son would be great exit.
Does Andy's reappearance really mean he has to give a plausible explanation about his absence? No one bothered to look for him or report him missing even though,as far as they knew, he left without saying goodbye or where he was going. Only Luke knew Andy was supposed to leave with Steph and he was easily dissuaded from looking for him, so, why would anyone be minding his business now? What I wonder is where the captive will be held since sometime soon Eileen will expect to see the house finished from roof to cellar.
Speaking of Andy, he wanted to be a writer too, between him and Daniel, they might do something like start a small publishing company. That would be a change from the eateries, pubs and that tedious factory.
Not a lot of call for publishing companies in Manchester, they're mainly based in London
DeleteI think staying in London is fine for older publishers who opened up decades ago when it was the most convenient option but in this day and age it doesn't seem essential, With ebooks, online purchases and many publishers having their books printed wherever it's cheapest even if that's in Eastern Europe, a publisher could set up just about anywhere. That must be especially true if they mostly publish their own books and those of local writers.
DeleteI often buy books directly from the publishers' sites, a convenience that didn't exist until about 10 years ago.
I agree with Anon. I've lived in Manchester all my life, and it's really not renowned for this type of industry, either modern or old school
DeleteI looked it up and there are 5 publishers in Manchester as we speak, that's not a lot compared to London but it means it's obviously not impossible. A city doesn't have to reknown for an activity for there to be people doing it.
DeleteWhat's the point of speculating if we say everyone ends up at the knicker factory again. The show has built new sets, I certainly hope that also means the residents will also have new activities to carry out there.
Wow. 5 in a conurbation the size of Greater Manchester isn't a lot at all. Really it isn't. Maybe they could find work in media city. A much more viable option. Journalism, script writing. Far more opportunities, and just down the road
DeleteRather than Philemon being the love of Nicola’s mother’s life, perhaps their liaison was non-consensual. And Lydia knows about it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Pat mixes up "love of his life" with obsession. Maybe he has a type, as Anna and Nicola (thus her mother she resembles) share some similarities. There could be a very unhappy background story.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as Andy is set free, he'll scarper. Even if he stays around the Street, his contrived story will soon fall to pieces. I said in a post below that other sites are speculating that Phelan and Lydia are Nicola's true parents. Anything's possible. The main difficulty in this storyline is I don't much care about any of the characters. I've only known Nicola about five minutes and still get her muddled up with Shona. When stories about new characters move too quickly, it's hard to get invested in their lives.
ReplyDeleteYou, too? Why does the show keep casting similar looking brunettes? It caused confusion when Peter was stalked and again now.
DeleteSurely it's Anna who'll end up being killed by Phelan. Then he can help bring up her grandchild.
ReplyDeleteI am very curious to find out what Lydia knows about Phelan, when I saw her reaction to the photo on Nicola's phone I thought that finally someone was going to tell Nicola the truth about Phelan, someone who Nicola would actually believe this time. But no, Lydia just shut down. That's the only part of this storyline that I'm interested in at this point.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought it would be Daniel but unlike Andy, he has too many connections on the street. And he’s used to being alone, so it wouldn’t be quite as horrible to him. I like Maricha’s idea that it could be Gary. Vinny is the bigger fish in Phelan’s pond, but Gary may have hit a bigger nerve, his daughter. With his army skills, hot head and PTSD, Gary would be a very different prisoner than Andy. Plus they have history. Phelan is more clever but Gary has the physical advantage. Could be interesting.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Aunt Lydia (!) thing goes, the whole Nicola story began because she bore such a strong resemblance to her mother. I think she knew him but wasn’t Nicola’s mom.
Jeanie:
ReplyDeleteRather than a publishing company Andy can go in with Daniel to write a best-selling true life story, "Encounters with a Psycho." Especially if they both end up sharing a sojourn in the cell. Andy can become a millionaire and go sweep Steph off her feet, rescuing her from the wealthy but boring guy with the yacht she's now hooked up with.
Now that it's been discussed it does seem likely that the relationship between Nicola's mother and Phelan was non-consensual and the friend knows this. That would explain her look of horror and also her flustered confusion about what to do or say--how do you tell Nicola that the brilliant new dad is a rapist or stalker? And it would be perfectly plausible that he could have done the same thing to another woman that he did to Anna--sex offenders tend to repeat their crimes and use the same MO. So in the same way that we see Phelan discrediting Anna now--saying she became obsessed with him--we only have Phelan's word that he and Nicola's mother had the love affair of the century.
Since Kate Oates took over, the characters have become well-versed in references that extend beyond the street. Beth talks about buying a trampette she can use while watching 12 Years A Slave in the comfort of her own home. David has a star-gazing app. In light of that, all kinds of new things seem possible, including characters like Andy and Daniel teaming up to write or livestream all sorts:)
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of naysayers you 'anonymous' lot are. Just because Manchester isn't known for publishing companies doesn't mean someone can't have some ambition in trying to start one!
ReplyDeleteNo. Just realistic.
Delete