In my book, at the moment, Todd Grimshaw is the best thing about Coronation Street. If ever there was an enjoyable villain, Todd is the one. Admittedly, it took a while after his initial arrival and a strange, ‘didn’t quite work’ storyline about some weirdly unconvincing gangsters, for him to find his feet. Now though, he is fully integrated into the street. He has his mum. Eileen is fully aware of her son’s faults, but he is her son so she will always stand by him. He did have his job until the sacking last night. Might Eileen be able to fix that? And finally, and most importantly, he has Billy back. After all his manoeuvrings, machinations and manipulations he has succeeded in his objective – to restart his relationship with Billy.
We knew from early on in his return that his target was
Billy, but there was one major problem, namely, Paul, Billy’s live-in
boyfriend. However, to Todd, yes, of course it was an obstruction, but one that
he could deal with and deal with it he did. And what’s more, we were able to
witness every detail of Todd’s plan. How fascinating it was too, as he worked his
way back into Billy’s affections. That is not to say that Todd’s methods were
in any way worthy of praise.
In actual fact, they were downright dodgy. It pains me to
say it, but Todd’s moral compass is defunct. In his efforts to secure his way
back into Billy’s affections he had to remove Paul. One ruse of Todd’s was to
employ teenager Will. Will succeeded in manipulating Paul’s emotions. Paul, soft-hearted and desperate
to help a person with an allegedly violent step-dad, (this last bit being untrue) Paul crossed the line and defied the rule of the charity for which he was
working. Paul met up with Will, annoying Billy who had warned him against such
an unwise act.
Gradually, Billy and Paul’s relationship was worn down.
Their unsuitability was highlighted by Paul’s behaviour and his jealousy of Todd.
It transpired too that Billy was still in love with Todd and that he had been kidding
himself. So, Billy and Todd are back together and who didn’t have just a
momentary feeling of pathos for Paul as he looked up to the window of his
former home, just as Todd was drawing the curtains for an evening in the company
of Todd and Summer. However, bad deeds cannot go unpunished and a chill wind will
surely be blowing Todd’s way before too long.
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Sorry but I'm just not warming to Todd 2.0 at all and for me he's far from the best thing about the show. The current reincarnation of this character lacks depth and charm, something that Todd of old had in waves and often made you more sympathetic to his cause. Unfortunately with new Todd every line comes across snidely, wimpish and feels too try hard.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing so far about his return as you've said is the break up of the terrible relationship that was Billy and Paul, but at the cost of some really badly thought out story lining (infiltrating an abuse call in centre?!?!) and Billy as a character suffering in the process. Want's to be with Paul one minute, Todd the next, it all felt so childish.
And the whole closing of the curtains whilst Paul looked up in the rain with his beer ... !!!
To be honest, Billy and Paul were great together and were always there for one another and loved each other despite their differences. The only reason they broke up was because Todd's dishonesty caused a lot of tension between them. Not only would Todd be facing charges for harassment, he would also be facing charges for solicitation and for endangering the welfare of a minor!
DeleteWhat surprises me is Billy in all of this. He did a complete 180 from 'you can't trust him, I know what he's like!' to being manipulated into dumping his boyfriend and getting back with Todd in the space of a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteTsk Tsk Billy. I feel for Paul who has been a pawn in Todd's vile scheming.
Completely disagree.
ReplyDeleteFor me he's one of the worst things about Corrie at the moment. Completely devoid of any personality other than smug and with none of the spark or complicated layers of the previous Todd.
The Todd I remember was full of contradictions, his moral compass was a bit wonky but there was always a cheeky charm and vulnerability there.
This version has no depth, he's an empty husk of a character that isn't even interesting enough to hate in a boo hiss villain way.
I was no fan of Billy and Paul together but I can't imagine why anyone would invest in Todd and Billy as a couple either when it's all built on manipulation.
The whole handling of Todd's introduction has been incredibly heavy handed and there's nothing but trading on past relationships that makes this character remotely interesting in his own right.
I've gone right off Billy. I quite liked him at first, he and Paul had zero chemistry I also thought Billy looked down on Paul and treated him like a child. Personally I think Paul can do so much better -- perhaps James? In my humble opinion Billy doesn't behave very Vicar like. I find him rather immature and self-absorbed. We have rarely seen him doing his job, all he seems to do is race around with his man bag saying he has meetings to go to. You would think an Arch-Deacon would have a house in to live near the church, not a grubby tiny flat.
ReplyDeleteSorry, just can't warm to new Todd.
ReplyDeleteCompletely disagree. For me he's one of the worst things about Corrie at the moment. Completely devoid of any personality other than smug and with none of the spark or complicated layers of the previous Todd.
ReplyDeleteThe Todd I remember was full of contradictions, his moral compass was a bit wonky but there was always a cheeky charm and vulnerability there.
This version has no depth, he's an empty husk of a character that isn't even interesting enough to hate in a boo hiss villain way.
I was no fan of Billy and Paul together but I can't imagine why anyone would invest in Todd and Billy as a couple either when it's all built on manipulation.
The whole handling of Todd's introduction has been incredibly heavy handed and there's nothing but trading on past relationships that makes this character remotely interesting in his own right.
Not in the Todd camp here. Is Eileen really fully aware of Todd's faults? No one but us viewers know. It's not just his faults. It's total outright lying, manipulating and hurting people to get everything he wants. It flirts with illegality at times (funeral parlour, call centre "client"). It's all he does. No person is like that. Old Todd wasn't at all like that.
ReplyDeletePaul wasn't in actuality "jealous" of Todd in the true sense because he was being hoodwinked. If he even knew a tiny bit of what Todd was doing, he could have had a fighting chance to stay with Billy. Those 2 may have been an odd couple, but they had a charm and a chance. Imagine a day in the life of Billy and Todd? Ewww!
I question whether Billy was still in love with Todd. He gave a few longing looks his way when he first came back, but didn't want to go back to such untrustworthiness, even if he might forgive him. He was tricked into taking back Todd. I don't even get the feeling Todd likes Billy, much less loves him!
I just hope the whole horrible truth comes out about what Todd did right from the beginning of his return. Doesn't Billy's religious or spiritual life cover his own behaviour at all, ever?
Billy is a hopeless character, fully occupied with his love/sex life. An archdeacon? A joke. Where is his Christian moral compass, his parishioners, his duties, his fatherly role for Summer. He's a pain in the neck. Why do I think he is playing Daniel Broklebank?
ReplyDeleteAbercrombie, well said! I agree with you 100%! Billy's love life is his number 1 priority. I could never understand why he got promoted.
ReplyDeleteO wow no. I disagree. Loved the original Todd but this one is always and only smarmy. Least favourite character!
ReplyDelete