Carla has collapsed and Phelan has cornered Steph. So we pick up at the Rovers, where Carla's kidney failure is now broadcast news.
Gary and Nicola plot away, as Phelan speaks to Steph and asks her to give Andy a message. Meanwhile, Roy fills the paramedic in on Carla's condition.
Steph pushes Phelan and he grins, as he has now got her thinking that Andy has not gone to the cobbles in the sky. Meanwhile, the hush money for Zeedan and Rana is out in the open. Yasmeen is livid, and for a change it gives something for this character to do.
"Denying your true feelings to save face in the community" in Yasmeen's eyes is wrong. However angry she is, she thinks being true to yourself is important. Yasmeen is a great character, when she is allowed to be. She has morals and a modern sensibility.
Carla is in hospital and Billy might be out, but he is learning walk on crutches, so he is not out of the woods. Adam arrives, as the nurse is leaving and gives him some more pills. Billy turns them down, so Adam offers to do the washing. He is going to get Billy addicted.
The Connors and Roy hold a vigil at the hospital. The transplant is now imminent, as the nurse states that they will have to work fast. Daniel is in the Rovers being picked on by Ken and Peter. Pot and kettle, these two have played the field many times.
In walk Tracy and Steve, and they find out the news about Carla. Jenny senses that Spain might not be on the cards, as Johnny feels that he is needed and could be the donor. But, Aidan insists it should be him.
Steph tries to leave and Gary finds her. She flees in a cab, with nothing for Gary to go on. Phelan has got to her.
Adam has turned into Mary Poppins, helping everything become spit spot. And Summer comes home from school, wanting to take over.
Zee comes home and Yasmeen confronts him about 'the deal.' Yasmeen asks Rana to leave, whilst she speaks to her grandson, alone.
Gemma comes to work and Cathy tries to tell her that Chesney has turned into her 'great defender.' She builds the story up and Gemma is impressed. Will they fget together, it feels late in the day.
Gran, Yasmeen listens to Zee but insists that the deal is pointless. She then declares if they stay, she'll keep the secret but if they move out, then she will tell all.
Phelan drops Nicola off and Phelan sees movement in the window. Seb is up there. Will Phelan go after him?
Carla has all her rellies around the bed. And Aidan sees this as a chance to right some of the wrongs he has done.
There was some fire in the show's belly tonight. I like the fact that the Nazirs have a major storyline, and I love the fact that Carla now has so much support.
Corrie is taking some stick lately, but I think it's getting better now some of these secrets are out.
Glenn Meads
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8 comments:
So was that it? Was that all Steph's return was? Surely not.
I think Steph will return, at the very latest, when the bodies are found - at the end of April(?). Steph's the one the police will keep in touch with so she may return before then because of something they tell her.
In the real world, a sibling's funeral would be enough to come back for, but in CS, they don't come back for just that. There has to be more to it.
Tisha Merry is so pretty I could be happy just staring at her on the screen for 22 minutes. But it’s better if a character has a real reason to return for it to work. Like if Z opens his restaurant, jobless pal Leanne comes in as his manager and Steph, back for Phelan’s trial or whatever, is convinced to work with them just for a few days. Which stretches into years. And sparks fly between her and equally pretty Adam. Yay!
Other than that, last nights episodes were the most satisfying pair I can remember in a looooong time. I was laughing out loud (Shall we just have a quiet drink, Trace? No.), cheering as Chesney beat posh Henry in a street fight and Steph shoved Phelan aside, gasping as Phelan picked up subtle clues normally reserved for viewers, slipping into continuity with Leanne watching over Zeedan for Kal, even loving Robert’s dapper fashion statement, all so so so good. And then there was Roy, Yasmeen and maybe Ken and Jonny. Even without their own stories, they are the je n’sais quoi that pulls it all together. Even the minor stories (chats between Cathy and Gemma, Dev and Gina, Gary and Steph; Billy’s physio — Summer seemed concerned about maybe losing another dad), usually tossaways, tonight they really worked and added something. Bravo cast and crew!
After being one of the biggest grinches here lately, I too agree tonight's eps. had a better feeling about them. Can't put my finger on it exactly. Maybe complaints are having a small effect?
There seemed to be a better balance of serious and funny. I do love Gemma, but the character is skirting close to panto territory. Really enjoying Yasmeen's portrayal of wise gran. More of that please!
Agree that they were both good episodes. And that there seemed to be a balance. That's all we're asking for. Yasmeen was fantastic, hoping we do get to see more of her. I'm not liking the idea of Chesney and Gemma together though, I'm kind of hoping we see Henry come back with some grand gesture.
We're always asking for a better balance between dark and light, serious and comic in Corrie, but I think that gets misinterpreted as comic scenes (Brian and Cathy, Gemma hijinks, etc) interspersed between the dark, heavy scenes (Phelan murders and so on). What Corrie used to do better was find the comic *in* the serious. Steve and Lloyd added a lot of this, whether it was Lloyd trying to cover for Steve's lies, or Lloyd trying to hide his relationship with Liz from Steve. Throughout all of this, Steve was developing a serious connection with Becky, interspersed with heavy storylines involving Michelle and Kylie. The John Stape story also started with a series of stupid lies and comedy of errors that ended in tragedy. David Platt and Graeme Proctor injected comedy and surrealism into an endless stream of misery regarding Gail, Joe McIntyre and Tina. There's nothing and no one in the Phelan storyline to alleviate the gloom - and simply juxtaposing that story with free-standing comic scenes that have nothing to do with Phelan's human demolition project creates an unsatisfying montage.
Well said, Anonymous at 21:40. Like I said, I'm not sure why I found last night's eps. a bit more enjoyable. But was it just a case of less horrible being acceptable as a change of pace? Less of the dreary Phelan thing helped, but as you say there is nothing at all whimsical or humorous about that whole story.
You give good examples of past integrated storylines that just happened to strike a funny-bone now and then in the course of normal stressful lives. Now it feels like whenever they fear we'll get spooked, they shovel in a few scenes with over-the-top Gemma, Brian or now Sally's sister.
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