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It’s not been the most cheery of Corrie weeks, sadly, with many issues being aired, rather than rollicking storylines we can all get behind. So bear with me as we wander into Weatherfield and I’ll try not to concentrate on only the woe of the week. Not even Kirk’s attempts at Mongolian throat singing could cheer this week’s episodes up.
We start in hospital (sorry) where Oliver is diagnosed with mitochondrial disease. Leanne and Steve, in a bizarre scene, sit at Oliver’s hospital bedside reminiscing about the things that little Oliver used to say and do when he was a baby and I’m sitting there watching this, thinking, you two were never that close, and none of this happened. It’s just not working for me this storyline, I don’t care about Oliver because we’ve never seen him in all of his years on the Street. I’m not being cruel, just honest. The only interesting thing to come out of this storyline is the juxtaposition (and there’s a word I don’t normally use) between Steve as Oliver’s real dad who hasn’t really been a part of his life, and Nick who’s not Oliver’s dad but has.
Elsewhere this week, some light relief came in the form of Evelyn being taken out for a night dancing with Arthur. I like these two together and would like to see more. But when Arthur calls in for breakfast the next morning before an appointment at the medical centre, Tyrone and Fiz are all nudge-nudge, wink-wink about whether Arthur has stayed the night or not.
Another nice little moment – and believe me, I’m desperately looking for them this week – came in the form of Roy knowing that Nina’s choice of music was Cradle of Filth.
Gemma begins vlogging this week after attending her first counselling class for those suffering from antenatal depression. In her video blogs, she aims to tell life as it is, warts and all, for new mums, especially when she’s got four babies to care for.
And then we come to another issue, this time racism and homophobia all wrapped up in the Bailey family storyline arc. This family came into the street, new faces, new stories, new possibilities and opportunities but instead, have ended up just being one issue after another. I’m not a fan of this family and believe me, I really want to be. I like Aggie, I like Michael and James. But Ed’s always shouting to the back of the theatre, too much for my liking, too loud. And when Dev used the term ‘woke’ and Ed told son James to ‘live his best life’ I rolled my eyes in despair. Let’s hope next week gets back on track.
And that’s just about that for this week.
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This week’s writers were Julie Jones (Monday); Ian Kershaw (Wednesday); Ian Kershaw (Friday). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at Coronation Street Blog: Exclusive: All Current Corrie writers online
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Glenda Young
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10 comments:
Friday felt like a public information film highlighting the evils of racism, rather than drama, probably because of the quality of the acting of the parts of Ed and Dev. Not meaning to detract from the seriousness of the message, but that is how it came across, as a lecture.
Yes, it was like a sermon preaching to the viewers. No drama, no warmth or humour, and nothing much there to entertain us, really.
Yes, racism is important - I understand that - but why is Corrie chosen as a vehicle for this message?Why haven't The Baileys been given a regular storyline, such as an affair or maybe one of kids not being Ed's. There's been Ed's gambling, but that been quietly dropped, hasn't it? James as a gay footballer is new and interesting, but nothing seems to happen. Why haven't we seen daughter Dee Dee?
It's characters getting on their soap box in a soap!
I would say in its favour that at least we are being spared scenes of Yasmeen being tormented in prison.
Otherwise, there's not much to compliment it on just now. I think one of the script team got the medical dictionary out and chose at random a condition that they'd not used before.
In the old episodes the children of that era were often seen, not doing anything in particular, eating their breakfast or maybe in the cafe. Not just brought out for the latest issue to be addressed.
I really liked Emma's bit in the pub. Probably because I feel I know the character, I thought what she said about ignoring/not truly appreciating the racism she'd experienced was entirely within character for her.
Simply because you all groans in despair when more affairs arrives, asking if there is no chance for a whole new story ideas. And now they delivered, and you groan again... Hmm, take a gooood loooong look at yourself - I am a fan of this storyline as racism is awful - even more now.
I thought Friday’s episode was good. Normally I groan at “issue” based storylines. But the acting and quality of dialogue lifted it. I like it when characters speak from the heart and you get to know their true feelings. Because it seemed to arise naturally from an everyday occurrence it was far more powerful than the Oliver storyline which seemed so forced.
The Oliver storyline is very badly written. Steve and Leanne chatting as if they brought him up as a couple was just wrong. All they did was fight over visitation rights, and then took it in turns to "have Oliver". We never saw either parent actually interact with the child.
I wouldn't say that Nick has been a big part of Oliver's life as he abandoned Leanne when Oliver was a baby because he couldn't deal with Steve who has been a big part of Oliver's life as Oliver's biological father and only showed an interest in Oliver when it suited him such as manipulating Leanne to let David take the fall for the theft of Audrey's money.
Even in the hospital,we don't see Nick next to Leanne by Oliver's bed but in a corner sulking and jealous over Oliver's parents bonding in a light-hearted moment.
The Baileys only have relevance in the show when they’re highlighting an important issue. They’ve not been developed as characters; they still feel at odds with the rest of the street, so this racism storyline didn’t pack the punch it should have because a) they’re not fleshed out characters I care about, and b) the acting isn’t great – sorry, but it’s the truth.
Ultimately I have the same problem with Oliver’s storyline. We’ve barely seen the kid since he was born so all this drama doesn’t hold as much weight.
I wish Corrie would go back to having more character-driven plots, because these days the characters feel less like people with pasts and more like cardboard cut-outs used to portray the latest social ‘issue’.
I want to be entertained as well as educated, Corrie.
@Anonymous 16:44 - I agree with your thoughts, and would say that a case in point is the story involving Dev and Asha. We are invested in these characters, and the actors have done a stellar job in portraying their storylines.
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