Right I’ll come out and say it – Johnny Connor you don’t deserve Jenny! A controversial view I know as most Corrie viewers enjoy the Connor/Bradley partnership, but I think that Aiden’s suicide has exposed the major flaw in their relationship - that Johnny doesn’t realise how lucky he is.
Obviously we’re now seeing Johnny at his absolute lowest ebb, and that is understandable. His grief at the loss of his beloved son is vicious and all-encompassing and poor Jenny is on the sharp end of it, unable to do or say anything right.
Most of us are at a loss for words when we try to console someone. No doubt Jenny hoped that whatever she said Johnny would understand that it came from a place of love and caring, but he doesn’t. He can’t. When he hears her platitudes: ‘He was a lovely man’; ‘If this can just save one life,', it enrages him. When she tries to talk about her own experience of losing a child he thinks she is invalidating his pain.
The worst thing for Jenny is that she is probably treating Johnny the way she wanted to be treated when she suffered the loss of her own son. Without getting all ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’, I imagine that when Jenny lost Tommy she wanted to talk about her pain and be listened to, to feel that she wasn’t alone. Whilst Johnny, an old-school man’s man just hears empty words which don’t fix anything and so takes refuge in anger, a large bottle of scotch and Liz McDonald’s cleavage.
So yes, we could argue that we shouldn’t be judging Johnny by his current actions but I think that even before Aiden’s death he was showing a distinct lack of appreciation for the radiant Ms Bradley-Connor.
On more than one occasion he’s seemed embarrassed by his wife, telling her off for drinking too much, shushing her when she talks too loudly. This is quite outstanding behaviour when you consider that Jenny is nearly 20 years younger than him…in the words of Alan Partridge: ‘back of the net!’. Plus, she’s loyal, attentive, wears lovely fitted dresses and has immaculate hair. Really Mr Connor if you think Liz McDonald is going to be a more dignified partner you’re very much mistaken! Have you seen those red spandex leggings?
It’s true that Johnny is a step up from her Jenny’s beau Kevin Webster, but mainly because he can use words of more than one syllable and is able to purchase a different jacket in 30 years, so I don’t think he should go resting on his laurels.
Maybe Jenny and Johnny can work, I hope so. It would be good if they could come through this and emerge as one of the great Corrie power couples. But I fear that Johnny’s drift towards Liz in his hour of need is a bad sign and that like so many Corrie men, he won’t realise what he had until he loses it.
Still, if the worst comes to the worst I’m going to really enjoy the incomparable Jenny Bradley facial expressions as she takes him for everything he has at the divorce courts!
Kelly Archer
On Twitter @mskelstar
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Great post, and I say that because I agree with it! Probably, Jenny and Johnny won't go the distance but that's par for the course in Corrie. The thing to remember, though, is that Jenny set her cap for the boss and she got him. What a prize! She enjoyed rubbing everyone's nose in it more than loving the man. Then she really fell in love with him. She took on quite a firm of Connors and she very nearly sunk without trace. I sense that Jenny fighting Johnny's corner about the Will marks a turning point in her relationship with the Connor women. Ironically, when/if she splits with Johnny, the women may be on her side rather than Johnny's. That's about Jenny. Now about Sally Ann Matthews: she has really shown herself to be an excellent actress. Those amazing subtle facial expressions *away* from camera when she's in a group. Wonderful non-gurning, non-smirking looks that speak volumes. Back to the characters, Johnny doesn't have Jenny's hunger for better things. He's happy with what he's got after working hard for years and he's not good with change. Jenny needs somebody more like Robert.
ReplyDeleteHumpty. I totally agree with everything you say, apart from your last 6 words "Jenny needs somebody more like Robert". No, really, you wouldn't wish that on the lovely Jenny, would you?
DeleteJenny Connor rules. Long reign their relationship
ReplyDeleteI think Johnny and Liz are a better couple. I didn't mind the Kevin and Jenny pair, though.
ReplyDeleteI didn't enjoy Jenny when she first showed up and in her relationship with Kevin. But now she's a favourite and it's because Sally Ann Matthews is doing a great job, especially in the comic bits. She's realized a full character for Jenny.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the writers changed Johnny's character and he started to belittle Jenny. (before Aiden's death)
@Humpty Dumpty - Good points, but I would bet that no matter what she did for them Michelle and Carla would turn their backs on Jenny if she and Johnny were to split up. And they would justify it by saying her assistance with the will was just selfish gold digging behaviour (i.e., just to increase Johnny's net worth so there would be more for her in an eventual breakup). I'd like to think Carla would be better than that, but I know for sure Michelle wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! I am a fan of Jenny. So for an episode last month I thought that they were making her unsympathetic in her dealings with mourning and traumatized Johnny. But I was pleased to see it was just the one episode. Otherwise I am glad to see Jenny, if not hunky dory with Johnny right now due to his grief...she is being accepted by the Connor women. She seems to finally have a family and think it is great!
ReplyDelete