Happy 15th 16th Birthday to Adi & Asha Alahan! With 2021 offering no partying prospects whatsoever, Dad Dev has gone one better and renamed the corner shop in their honour! - as though ageing them by a year wasn't enough! So what do we make of this Cory then? Is Asha heading down the same path as her mother, is he the bad lad we all imagine he will be? I think the relationship with Nina is a better path for her. Some great scenes in Roy’s Roll’s tonight too. Roy educating us viewers with some Alexander Pope poetry (kudos to the writing team, of course). If a literary salve is ever needed - Cropper is your man!
Putting Yasmeen’s paranoia or concern, aside, I think she may have a point about the lad’s coercive behaviour. Is this just a repeat of what has already been though, but for the younger generation?
Peter’s descent into a spiralling sobering depression and deliberate suicide continues and, aside from his threats to Adam, I’m surprised Carla claims to care upon finding out about the Do Not Resuscitate document. I think that is what it's called but legal parlance isn’t my thing. I am a fan of this new factory set and the usage for dramatic effect, but why are we not seeing the sewing machines?
Less concerning is the prison set set-up, I wonder if Jenny is best off out of it? Johnny’s decline aside, I’d much prefer to her behind the bar at The Rovers, wine in hand and dishing out witty put-downs to punters! Also, the pub backroom is playing far too much of a part in this Carla / Peter showdown. These two are just toxic now, aren’t they! I used to love these two together but she is pushing Peter to drink - it has to be game-over for the couple I’m afraid. The first part of recovery is to rid yourself of toxins, literal and physical, trust me-I know! The intervention from Jenny was needed, but Ken’s resignation at his drinking again, not so much. Addiction is tricky ground and is quite a raw subject, Corrie write it well though - they always have with the alcoholism story arc. We have yet to see family recovery. Can the Corrie writers take us through that? I would love this to be Peter’s final sobriety storyline concluding with his permanent abstinence, of course.
What is a rucksack? Well, if located in Coronation Street, you can bet it is part of a crime - probably! Tim wants his bag back from Gary, and yes that rucksack the one that Gary carried Faye’s weapon in. Instead of finding out from Faye though, DC Willets doorsteps Tim and tells him about the attack evidence. Can Tim work out his daughter’s involvement? He never noticed his Dad was a psycho, did he! The depth involved in this whodunnit is far weightier than the repercussions of the Adam and Carla tryst and involves more of a cast ensemble. I’d be unsure if this is a cast bubble due to the pandemic, but like the 60th demolition episode, I enjoy it when quite a few characters are involved in such storylines.
What are you thinking? Let us know in the comments!
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Loved your thoughts about the episodes Ryan, although I think blaming Carla for Peter’s drinking is a little unfair. Personally I feel they’re equally to blame for how disastrously things have turned out. The truth is they have a painful and complicated history which they’ve never properly addressed, which is why things have inevitably fallen apart.
ReplyDeleteIt’s clear Carla’s not forgiven Peter for cheating on her all those years ago because of how often she brought it up in the months leading up to her sleeping with Adam.
Before agreeing to get back together they should’ve had a conversation about Peter’s affair, Peter should’ve acknowledged the hurt he caused her, apologised, then they could’ve healed from it and moved forward.
But no such conversation has ever taken place.
I think the plot with the blackmailers at the beginning of last year was meant to be the catalyst for the breakdown of their relationship: Carla wasn’t sure what Peter’s true feelings were about her ‘sleeping’ with Jordan: Peter started helping Abi in secret which brought Carla’s trust issues to light: they stopped being intimate: Peter kept making insensitive remarks: he started drinking behind her back… Again, these things were never really talked about and brushed aside, which, in my opinion at least, is why things have snowballed to the point they're at now.
In terms of who’s to blame for Peter’s drinking, while Carla’s dalliance with Adam certainly didn’t help things, the book ultimately stops with Peter. It was his choice to start drinking again. Just like it can only be his choice to stop.
Ken giving him that ultimatum was a really great scene: Stay or leave, live or die – the decision must be Peter’s, it’s not one he can have forced upon him, and Ken realised that.
I’m torn over whether I want Peter to survive this or not. So many times over the years he’s been on the brink of death then made a miraculous recovery, so perhaps its time for the writers to show some guts and kill him off to really hit home the dangers of alcohol abuse? On the other hand, Peter’s one of my favourite characters, the world’s depressing enough as it is, so maybe a happy outcome showing people can beat their addiction is what’s needed? I can’t decide.
Either way, great review and a great set of episodes.
Does anyone get the impression that Chris G is weary of rerunning this storyline?
ReplyDeletePeter and Carla haven't been used wisely since Peter's return with Toyah (awful re-entry storyline). Until this current crisis with Peter's drinking, the actor wasn't used much and looked half-hearted when he was on. The litmus test for me is whether I would miss a character if they left. I was never a Carla fan but I really liked Peter. Ten years ago, I would have been very disappointed if he had died in the viaduct crash. These days, I wouldn't miss Peter either. I need to know who to blame for ruining the character! It's true Covid filming hasn't helped storylines but Peter and Carla are getting very repetitive. If these were your friends, you'd have walked away from their dramas by now.
ReplyDeleteAs a not totally pessimistic exit for Peter, I think he should die of an alcohol-related incident rather than liver failure. It is a drama, after all. It could be hyperthermia or an accident of some kind. A deathbed scene with Simon, Carla and Ken would give Chris G the chance of an amazing award-winning performance and could deliver a message about the condition.
It's a travesty what the writers have done to Peter and Carla. They've been back together for all of five minutes and now they've gone and split them up again. As a fan who waited five long years for them to reunite- this is what we get?! Oh well, at least I still have Gary and Maria to root for... said nobody ever.
ReplyDeleteI’m done with Peter Barlow, just as I’m done with Gary Windass. Real life is tough enough without these two wastes of space. Less seriously, I love Tim, nice but dim, but please ask him to remove that dreadful tar stain before he’s next asked to go topless.
ReplyDeleteI’m done with Peter Barlow, just as I’m done with Gary Windass. Real life is tough enough without these two wastes of space. Less seriously, I love Tim, nice but dim, but please ask him to remove that dreadful tar stain before he’s next asked to go topless.
ReplyDeleteJeanie (anon):
ReplyDeletePeter blaming Carla for his drinking...now that's pretty rich.
The guy looks good in a leather jacket, leaning against a wall with a cigarette in his hand. Admitted. But he has been a loser, a deadbeat dad, a cheat, and an alcoholic for years before he and Carla ever became an item. Never mind the pain and betrayal he inflicted on her when he had his affair with Tina.
So now, to have him repeatedly berating her for causing him to drink and glorying in her self-punishing and self-abasing behavior, just underscores how abusive and toxic their relationship is.
Make it end please...every time I see Carla Connor abase herself (again) and grovel and beg over this POS I feel sick. I've always found her very much the female Mike Baldwin of the 21st century, so to have her in these types of scenes just underlines how Corrie can't seem to let a strong woman remain strong. Mike would never be grovelling and beseeching and beating himself up like this, don't make Carla do it just because she's a woman!
P.S. For those keeping score, Carla sleeping with Adam once, just once--after Peter verbally abused her and drove her off--while struggling with a mental illness and recovery from (yet another!)rape is in no way comparable to Peter sleeping with Tina for months, starting on their wedding night, causing the loss of her baby, leading to the incarceration of her brother etc. The degree of betrayal--particularly emotional betrayal--is not even remotely comparable.
I am also done with Peter, Carla and Johnny. I would not miss any of them if they left.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I'm not the only one!!! Why does the Producer(s) think they're perfect for each other???
ReplyDeleteTheir story is ALWAYS on repeat and they're both so incredibly boring. We have seen Carla's soft side for so bloody long, new fans would only know her on this side.
Please for the love of God end it! They are NOT good for each other and really how can they come back from this. Never did I think I'd fastforward when these 2 are on.
And where does Peter go from here? Sad to say but he's gotta be killed off....he's got nothing and as mentioned before he is a deadbeat. Awful, vindictive, holier than thought attitude.
While watching the last episode I wondered, where have all the strong females gone?? Nina looks to be one.....Evelyn.....thats all I can think of. May we please introduce that to the program again? For a show thats all about "the message and hitting it home " maybe reintroduce the 2021 strong, independent woman. We could use of them imo
Having read the comment by Anon. 16:14, who said that (s)he wouldn't miss Peter, Carla or Johnny, it occurred to me, because these are all fine actors, that perhaps the fault lies with the writers, not the actors. Maybe it is the storyliners who should leave rather than the actors.
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely the writing. Carla and Peter used to be two of the best characters on the show, it's the fact they're given the same self destructive storylines over and over that's the problem.
DeleteThe writers should either split them up for good or let them be happy together, otherwise it's going to be the same merry go round of misery forever and both characters desserve better.
Carla was best as the strong, mouthy factory boss... but when she's with Peter, we only see her defeated, downtrodden side. I want the old Carla back!