Just get over it. Cast your mind back to 2010/11, a distant, far off time of over eight years ago. Gary was invalided out of the army because, sadly, he'd seen his mate Quinny blown to pieces in front of him and he was horribly traumatised. For months Gary suffered from PTSD, getting nasty flashbacks to the grisly death of a friend, combining therapy and prescription drugs to cope, and even breaking down and imprisoning Izzy as the combination of survivor's guilt and mental imagery combined to scar his brain. Now though? Now Gary's a merry little psychopath who doesn't seem to feel any guilt about deaths at all, so I'm guessing he's cured. His actions directly resulted in Rana being crushed three months ago and he's not even shed a tear, blithely continuing with his life without losing sleep, and this week he clubbed Rick to death and stowed him in a shallow grave and then trotted back to Coronation Street for a pint and a pork pie. He got a momentary instance of emotion when little Jake played in front of him, perhaps feeling shame from his dark acts compared to the innocence of youth, perhaps wondering who the hell this kid was who hasn't been in the show for the best part of a year, but that was it. He was more upset that Sarah-Lou was holding hands with Adam Barlow in public.
I'm not at all happy about Gary turning into a murderer. Firstly, none of it is that engaging, and some of it just plain doesn't make sense - where was he dragging that body to, given they were literally fighting next to an open grave? Secondly, Gary's a good, interesting character, and this feels like an exit storyline. Thirdly, we just had a murderer in the show last year, and then he was murdered, and he was actually murdered by the mother of this murderer. It's all way too murdery is what I'm saying.
On the plus side it looks like the show has invested in a drone, so I'm looking forward to some dramatic overhead shots of Rita's wig from four hundred feet up as she crosses the Street to the Rovers.
Costuming is important. Much as I miss Devendra, I have to admit I was excited at the idea of Evelyn behind the counter of the shop. She's only been there a week but she's already delightfully interrogated Beth about her purchasing habits so she can stay. More importantly, she swept the pavement while wearing a floral housecoat, which was of course amazing. Instantly we were reminded of Hilda and Ena and other great bolshie ladies of the Street, while it still being completely in character. With any luck we'll get more scenes of her lording it over the customers at the corner shop and loudly judging Steve when he nips in for a Rustler's Microwave Burger and a bottle of off-brand bourbon.
You can go off someone. In their first week, I was delighted by the Baileys. They were fun and interesting, they sparked, and they seemed like nice people. This week, they annoyed the hell out of me because of their plan to make a lot of noise to irritate their neighbour. Ok, Claudia could've been a little more polite, but at the end of the day, they smashed a hole in the wall of number one and then didn't seem to be breaking their neck to fix it. It wasn't like she'd taken against them for no reason - Ken had wandered down in his bathrobe and caught
Camera skills are valuable. It's very easy to be snarky - that's why I do it all the time - but we should also be sure to notice when people do things right. So a round of applause for Daniel who filmed Robert and Michelle's proposal and, more importantly, rotated his phone to the horizontal so he could film it in landscape. Finally someone on the Street can use a camera properly! Perhaps he learned it from that remarkable photography teacher whose skills were absolutely off the chart. Beth started the lesson on Monday unable to take a picture without getting her finger over the lens or accidentally using the front facing camera and taking a photo of her eyeball. By Wednesday she'd taken a photograph of Bertie that was so incredible it was long-listed for a competition in the Gazette, and by Friday she was breaking out professional backdrops and angled lighting like she was David Bailey.
Either that teacher's methods are so phenomenal she should be lecturing at the Royal Photographic Society or Beth is some kind of camera savant with a well of hitherto untapped skills. This time next week she'll be on a plane to Syria to take pics for Time magazine and she'll have a Pulitzer by Christmas.
Let's not say goodbye, let's say au revoir. With the mystery of Sylvia's ring solved, Wayne bid Roy a fond farewell, telling him just how important the Croppers had been to him. Roy asked him to keep in touch but the scene still had a ring of permanence about it I really wasn't happy about. I don't want Wayne to go. He's been an absolute breath of fresh air, a new character with his own quirks and personality traits; quiet and thoughtful, but stoic when the likes of Imran were bellowing at him, and loyal and smart. He, and actor Adam Barlow who played him, were a high point in every appearance. I hope his departure is only temporary and he comes back to the Street very soon - perhaps he could take Carla's vacated spare room, or, since he actually has a decent job, he could move into his own flat. His nerdy little character would be a great addition to the show, sparking off the other characters in a different way. Not everyone has to be a cocky Jack-the-lad. Imagine if Wayne came back and fell for Emma! They could be a 21st Century Curly and Raquel. Stick that contract in the post now, ITV: you know it makes sense.
Unlike the bellboy at Adam's swanky hotel, the author is not saving up for a pair of trainers, but his loyalties are still extremely easily bought. Contact @merseytart on Twitter for a price list.
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12 comments:
Actually Curly and Raquel was not that romantic at all, Curly loved her but Raquel did not love him at all.
Scott does seem to be ignoring the small trivial detail that Rick was trying to kill Gary at the time. As for Rana's death it was an accident he did sabotage the roof, thinking that no one would be in the Factory at the time. Also I don't really see Gary's actions as psychopathic.
You can't really defend Gary, he is a nasty self pitying character.
If his defence was that Rick was trying to kill him then he should have rung 999 straight after killing him and explained what happened.
I hope they let Maureen Lipman act. Problem with Corrie is once they discover an actor's hitting the right notes, they over-egg the pudding. Examples: Gail and Brian were turned into buffoons, Sally almost became Hyacinth Bouquet. Evelyn is a brilliant character and would make a great odd couple team with Roy. Re: Gary, we might have had a hint from Izzy's row with Sarah that she and Jake will leave with Gary. Sarah told her to have another crack at Gary and Izzy might do that. They've got two sets of parents they could live with.
To be kind, I'll say that Mikey North has been given such dreadful scripts that he's always struggled to convince. However, my real feeling is that he's just not cut out for an acting career...so I'm afraid I'd vote for him being locked up for a long long time!
Evelyn and her housecoat whilst working reminded me of Maggie Clegg and Renee Roberts in the shop ….. brilliant ! keep Evelyn working at the shop, I think the corner shop has been neglected over the last 10 to 20 years,it needs to come back to the heart of the street !
Maureen Lipman should be put on a long term contract. She’d love it and, more importantly so would we.
Jeanie (anon): Not a big fan of Gary's but I agree with the post--it was sad to watch him go down this path of no return and ridiculous to have a second killer on the street taking form-especially when he was feuding with the first one! Yes, Gary's always been a violent character--Rick's death is very similar to his clubbing Phelan with the board, the incident that bankrupted Owen. But a key part of his character was still supposed to be his good heart, despite his quick temper. At worst, he's a manslaughter type of guy, not a psychopath capable of killing, covering his tracks, and carrying on.
But I can't imagine he will stay on now as a long term character when he is responsible for two deaths. The reference to the Christopher medal that he left with the body will seal his long term fate (I'm guessing). And most likely down the road they will milk the situation for more deaths before it all ends in tears. Just kind of sad to see him end up this way--especially after his kindnesses to Faye and all Anna did to protect him and keep him on the straight and narrow!And for what point? Another killer stalking the street?!
David Hughes, I agree with you completely! No offense at all to Mikey North but I just don't think he is that good of an actor.
As a Canadian I find Mikey North's speech incomprehensible. He seems to gobble syllables whereas as other actors are able to articulate a Manchester accent but still enunciate for us foreigners.
That's because Mikey North is from Yorkshire and not from Manchester. It's a totally different accent altogether
He can't articulate a Yorkshire accent either.
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