To provide some levity this evening we continue the story of Brian's Italian 8% which he has espoused with an Italian flag in the Kabin window and by later complaining that Roy's ordinary coffee is not really up to the required Italian mark. Roy challenges his taste buds to identify the origin of various coffees and later in Roy's Rolls a taste test is organised for Brian to distinguish between a rich Italian blend and a poor Costa Rican alternative. Mary is responsible for knowing which is which and when Brian waxes lyrical she confirms that he has got it right. However once Brian has departed she admits she was lying and the "best" coffee he chose was from Costa Rica.
Roy, Mary, Rita and Brian gather later for Roy's "dish of the day" - lasagne. Brian suggests that the lasagne could do with more oregano which annoys Roy and Mary has to report that she lied earlier after Rita says that the Italian palaver has got out of hand. Brian beats a hasty retreat, not paying for the meal as he originally offered.
For those of us who watch Emmerdale, another acid throwing event is one too many as regrettably in both cases the victim was not the intended target. Ryan does not want to see his damaged skin and turns down the request initially. Daisy attempts to talk him around but has little success. She crosses paths with Alya and convinces her to go and see Ryan. Michelle cannot come to see her non-son as she herself has had an operation and cannot travel. Alya goes to the hospital and assures him that he is stronger than he thinks and that she will be with him, every step of the way, as she later tells Daisy. Alya later returns to the Rovers and reports to Daisy that she has managed to get Ryan to change his mind and allow her to visit and also to see the damage to his face.
Marco reappears and entices Beth to a session at the Chariot Square Hotel to plan a school reunion. Significant amounts of going back over the names of school friends and events but very little achieved other than the consumption of a couple of bottles of wine. Beth clearly relishes the attention but is unsure as to what Marco is actually after especially when he places his hand on her knee. She later tells Glenda that she has told Marco by text that there will be no further contact as she has realised that Kirk may not offer the appreciation and attentiveness - but what they have is special.
Michael has produced some new designs as he is intending to make contact with the potential US distributors (Owen and Angelique) from whom Stephen withdrew the deal under blackmail pressure from Rufus. Inevitably they tell him that Stephen had withdrawn the deal which confuses Michael (never a difficult task). Michael challenges Stephen over his dropping of the deal and the lying to the factory staff - which leaves Stephen shaking in his boots whilst he thinks about how to answer. He eventually admits that there is a better offer on the table. Michael sees the gap and goes back to Owen and Angelique and gets an improved deal from them to be signed up. Stephen must feel like it is one step forward and two back. Faced with Michael's persistence and excellent deal which has stitched up the Americans, Stephen meets Rufus and offers him a 10% rake-off of the profits on the US deal. Rufus counters with 25% and Stephen is out of his depth, due to the blackmail underpinning the situation and shakes hands on it. Rufus then tells Stephen about the new house he is renting with a mahoosive swimming pool and Stephen's eyes light up.
The wheels rolled along for the Aaron, Amy and Summer triangle with the CPS determining that the lack of positive evidence meant that prosecuting Aaron was unlikely to be successful whilst contents of Amy's phone history could throw an unflattering light on her previous behaviours. Tracy wishes, against the views of the rest of the family, to run a campaign on the basis of the police legitimising rape as "too many people are getting away with it".
I hate to criticise - without the soap airing I would not have a chance to say anything! The Brian story felt it was just running the numbers; on the Amy story there was, in my view, poor exposition confusing the difference between "belief" and "proof"; and in what universe does any boss promise bonuses on an unsigned, undelivered, unpaid contract? I once tried to explain to a salesforce that taking an order was well and good but they got their commission even if the buyer never paid for the goods so perhaps helping convince their customers that on-time payment was worthwhile might be helpful - especially before taking another order! I should be back next week.
Written by Susan Oudot and directed by Ian Bevitt.
Kosmo
The storylines are often saved by whichever actor is playing the key role. For me, this goes a long way to make up for things that don't quite hold together. Elle MulVaney is a great actress and she can demonstrate a whole range of emotions which means I'm not too bothered about possible plot holes. On the other hand, we have Todd Boyce as Stephen. He doesn't have the light touch which Graeme Hawley had as John Stape nor does he have the sheer evilness of Connor McIntyre (Phelan). So that just leaves the story line which is simply bizarre. It isn't true that an actor can only work what they're given. Corrie actors, by and large, make their living by working with very little direction and sometimes very poor scripts.
ReplyDeleteThe Brian being Italian just didn't work, this has been a week full of harrowing stories and as an attempt at comic relief this was neither.
ReplyDeleteI agree- Brian's Italian thing was just absurd.
ReplyDeleteIt was to give light moments in the dark plots, but it didn't work for me and neither did Eveleyn's dog dying. I just wasn't convinced by it.
It was all very sudden and the dog wasn't ill in the weeks leading up to it.
Roy is a stickler for clearing and tidying, so he wouldn't leave dropped nosh on the cafe floor, no matter how absorbed he was in an online chess game.
I'm actually going to stick up for Todd as Stephen. I think he's pretty good as the slippery sneaky snake!
I'm glad that we finally have a lovely break from Max Turner. Sorry but I think the new actor who took over his role isn't all that great at acting.
He knows his lines but the way he delivers them isn't particularly strong or memorable.
The Platt cast - those who play Shona, David, Nick, Gail and Audrey are all fab compared to him.
I see that Fay is leaving later this year. I hope she takes Craig with her!
On a final note, yes the scripts can be poor but I suspect that the script writing team are given certain scenes/ episodes to write beforehand.
Stories are discussed in production meetings and decided then.
If you get saddled with the silly Brian scenes, then you're saddled with them. If your heart isn't in it, then it will come across as poor!