Celebrate good times, come on! After last week's nine o'clock shenanigans there was a danger this week's episodes could seem tame by comparison. No guns, no gangsters, no teenage boys plunging down staircases. Instead it turned out to be rather marvellous as we got a lot of funny, warm, character-filled scenes that were well-written and interesting. Major applause should go to Berri George, whose first ever episodes for the show on Wednesday were witty and clever and lovely to watch. But we also need to thank the Alahans, again, as Dev's sexcapades with Bernie - and Aadi's horrified reaction - provided us with innumerable scenes of proper laughs. My favourite line of many was when Bernie discovered Dev was ashamed of their tryst and told him he wasn't her only option:
"I've got blokes banging on my door!"
"Bailiffs?"
Marvellous. Of course Dev couldn't resist Bernie for much longer after that, because he is, fundamentally, a walking penis, and he's not had a girlfriend since Gina. The mix of "George Clooney and Omar Sharif" - Bernie's words, not mine, believe me - seems to have captured her heart, which is an unlikely but fun pairing. I've a lot more time for Bernie now she's just a bit rough round the edges and isn't, for example, selling her daughter's urine on the internet.
Unfortunately Deveroo went straight back to denying any interest in her, and delightfully, this is now getting Mary riled up. No storyline has ever been made worse by involving Mary.
Check your spelling. Daniel's been a bit of a pain lately - actually not lately; he's been really quite annoying since at least he was paying sex workers to wear cardigans, and possibly longer than that. His job seems to be loitering at the edge of scenes being vaguely disapproving and/or hectoring; I suppose somebody in the Barlow family has to do it while Ken's busy in, ahem, Southampton. (I wish they'd simply pretend Ken was there for Peter the whole time but wasn't onscreen. "It's time to go into theatre. How annoying it's happening just as your dad tops up the meter outside." "Have you got news of the operation, Daniel? Ken's just gone to the loo but you can tell us anyway.") Anyway, Daniel won back a lot of my affection when he couldn't stand an errant "your" any longer and took the law into his own hands.
Yes! Good man. This is a streak of vandalism I can get behind. Apostrophe pedantry is a dying art and of course Daniel will be at the forefront. Now let's see more of his Odd Couple flat share with Paul, which hasn't been featured at all since he moved in. I'd love to see how the slobby Paul and the uptight Daniel are getting along. I imagine all sorts of hilarious shenanigans, plus a healthy streak of homoeroticism.
Or perhaps he's realised that he can only handle two little girls at one time so if he keeps Alina he'll have to get rid of one of his daughters. Alina Pop! is still floating around on a cloud of perfection, making egg mayonnaise and crisp butties for Ty and getting her nemesis Fiz a job at the factory, but she's got a strange childish side to her. How else do you explain her glee at that awful picture? She couldn't have been any more pleased with it if she'd drawn it in crayon at nursery. In the meantime, I would very much like to see the production of Grease that this is advertising, because it looks atrocious. Having said all that, when Hope told Alina "you've got lots more make up than my mummy" I shouted "that's because she's a WHORE" at the TV so I may be slightly biased in this matter.
Save Emma! Tyrone and Alina's non-stop sex-fest is now starting to intrude on Emma's life and this must be stopped. The poor girl needs her sleep, and she really shouldn't have to be jamming up her ears with cotton wool so she can avoid the Danny and Sandy themed roleplay going on in the next bedroom. ("Ah wella-wella-wella-UH.") On top of that, she got the bad news this week that the Rovers is up for sale, placing her last remaining job in jeopardy. It's been totally glossed over but Emma was first and foremost a hairdresser, coming into the show as a trainee at the salon, and the closure of Audrey's has ruined her career. I will never stop being annoyed by how blithely the salon has been excised from the show; it's been an integral part of the set for nigh on thirty years and they simply handwaved it away as "yeah, Maria and Claudia don't want to reopen it, whatever." There was that period where Alina Pop! had her Pop Up Shop but even then she didn't invite her friend and housemate to join in the business, instead keeping all the clients to herself. Emma's now on a fragile wage from bar work, the pub is on the market (and we all know how great that well-known estate agent who've paid a lot of money to be in all the shots is, wow I bet they'll sell in no time, it's so easy) and she must be supported. I hope Curtis the doctor reappears and sweeps her off her feet or at the very least buys her a nice cocktail or five.
This update was written under the influence of chianti. Now that Peter's got his new liver, that's freed up a slot, so if you want to donate an organ to a drunken fool, contact me on Twitter @merseytart.
3 comments:
Great post as always - well worth the wait!
I think they're trying to show how Hope is affected by the split, but I agree the car thing was OTT.
Her escalating behaviour before (and needing a stay in a residential school) was simply an excuse to cover the actress who plays Fizz's absence. She was either A: pregnant off- screen or B taking part in some silly celeb show.
Talking of which - isn't it time someone got pregnant? I'd have Adam and Sarah - she doesn't want it, as her career is going so well, plus she's got the invisible child, Harry, who must be a round 3 now.
Adam is over the moon - so what do they do?
Or of course, it could be Alina pop! Ty wants to get married and they wed, but she miscarries. This makes Fiz soften towards the couple but the romance has reached it peak and Ty, as a married man, goes back to Fiz. Just an idea!
Kids can't really be on the set during the pandemic. That's why we've not seen much of Grace and Michael's baby. So not much point in having another pregnancy whilst this is going on.
Jenny McAlpine had time out for maternity leave
Well, I was on a work break while reading this and nearly snorted Mountain Dew out my nose. Thanks for cracking me up again, drunk or otherwise.
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