Geoff - again!

I can’t remember where I read this and of course it may not be true, but apparently, the Geoff story will not reach its conclusion until Christmas. So, hang on to your hats - we have a way to go yet…

I keep reminding myself when we see Geoff doing his usual lying, manipulating and playing Mr Nice Guy that he WILL get his comeuppance at some point – perhaps an extra Christmas gift for all the viewers. He will be outed. Tim will see him as he really is and we will witness Geoff getting his just desserts. But we are not there yet.

There has though, been some progress in the fact that Yasmeen has now realised just how badly his coercion of her affected her, largely because of Alya’s determination to make Yasmeen see. In the meantime, though, Yasmeen has had a heart attack, possibly because of the stress of what Geoff has done to her and ended up in hospital.

'She could have died because of you!’ yells Alya in Speed Dahl, as the pressure of Geoff’s machinations overwhelm her. She completely loses self-control and upends a table while shouting at paying customers to leave.

'All you do is hurt people, Geoff!’ She tells him. ‘And where is Elaine? Disappeared in one of your magic tricks? I’d de doing a lot of people a favour if I stabbed you with this bottle right now!’ Tim gently persuades Alya to put the bottle down, but it’s clear that Tim is shocked at the degree of Alya’s anguish.

Alya now launches her tirade onto Tim, quite reasonably asking him why he doesn’t open his eyes and see his dad as he really is?  Ryan arrives and is immediately certain that Alya has been provoked by Geoff. Alya accepts the blame for the mess she’s made but Ryan knows that Geoff is behind it. Ryan, on being told by Tim that Geoff is telling the truth as to what happened, says that Geoff, ‘is telling his version of the truth.’ He turns to Tim and tells him to open his eyes and see what Geoff is really like.

Tim has heard all this before from several people so he might, just might, start to suspect that there is something in what people are saying about his dad.

‘Why don’t you open your eyes, mate and see what he’s really like?’ Ryan tells him what Geoff has done. Geoff, knowing full well that neither Alya nor Yasmeen wanted alcohol in their restaurant, has ordered alcohol and got a licence to sell it without mentioning a word of this to Alya. Geoff of course, claims he’s only doing it to improve the business, but we know that’s a lie.

When Alya and Ryan have left, Tim seems less than warm towards his dad. When Geoff refers to Alya’s ‘hissy fit’ Tim is defensive towards Alya and points out that it was much more than a hissy fit that Alya was experiencing. Geoff suggests that he and Tim have a drink together but Tim walks off, not keen to be in his dad’s company. Before he leaves though, he asks his dad why Alya gets so upset, what did Ryan mean and also what is Alya implying about Elaine? Is Tim finally starting to realise?

We might have thought so, but on returning home, he is once more putting up a stout defence of his father to Sally. The ripples from Geoff’s behaviour are badly affecting Sally and Tim’s marriage and in addition Faye is talking to her dad about her granddad’s behaviour and naturally enough, is asking Tim to talk to his dad, because Faye doesn’t want to see her father and grandfather fall out. On arrival home, Tim is once more locked in battle with Sally. She is sympathetic at first.

‘I hate seeing you like this,’ she says to Tim. Sally then learns of the CCTV camera Geoff had installed, that he didn’t want people to know about. Sally immediately concludes, rightly, that he didn’t want people to know because people would think he’s manipulative and creepy.

‘He had it installed as a security measure – you make him seem like some twisted control freak!’ says Tim.

‘You either can’t see or won’t see what is right in front of you! Alya, Ryan, Cathy, Elaine! I think he’s a nasty bully and a liar!’ yells Sally.

Tim ends the argument – for now- by saying, He’s my dad! He brought me up and fed me! What do you expect me to do? Cut him out of my life? Well I’m not going to do that! Not for you or anybody!’

This whole situation is so difficult for Tim. In time, he’ll realise of course, the truth about his father; but no one, no matter how old they are, wants to admit that their parent is a controlling, manipulative, lying, cheating bully.

By Ruth Owen

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Oh, Yasmeen! What now?

Oh Yasmeen, I fear for you. Your hitting Geoff with a bottle and then again with the broken bottle stabbing him in the neck, was not a premeditated act but one born of months of coercion, extreme humiliation and cruelty. Who can blame you? Who could bear such an attempt to annihilate a person’s very being? Continually, for months, you have been the victim of a man who relishes in meting out such control, cruelty and coercion that you have to beg him to see your own grandson’s wedding photos.

Is Geoff dead? I’m not sure anyone could have survived the stabbing in the neck, so I’ll presume he is. But before I speculate as to what may happen to you, Yasmeen, I’m going to talk about the absolute horrors that beset you in Friday’s episode. To bear what you have borne, would have tested a saint. Is it any wonder that you retaliated?

Recently we have seen Geoff using his spy system to catch Yasmeen placing her carefully packed suitcase of best clothes in a cupboard and locking them in. Geoff, the all-seeing, omniscient one, forces Yasmeen to open the cupboard, then proceeds to burn her valued items. He has forced her onto her knees, he has presented her with the same meal for breakfast and lunch – cold, rich food, which in Yasmeen’s difficult state of mind and body just caused her to feel nauseous. Not missing a chance to humiliate Yasmeen further, he asks if it’s not up to standard for ‘Lady Muck’.   He has also given her chlamydia which, understandably, makes her feel unclean, knowing for certain in her own mind that she has slept with nobody besides Sharif, her first husband and, of course, Geoff. Again, he arrows in on his chance of telling her that she is diseased in body and mind  

Geoff and Yasmeen are invited by Tim and Sally to the bistro for a special tasting evening. Yasmeen gets changed and is immediately insulted by Geoff on her choice of outfit.

‘You’re not going like that are you? In your shabbiest sack!’ He unlocks a cupboard and brings out a red dress, unceremoniously forcing Yasmeen to undress and wear the new red dress, as Yasmeen literally shakes. He must know that the dress is overstated for the occasion, thus another chance to ridicule and mock her.

In the pub Yasmeen discovers that Geoff has gifted Sally and Tim the money for their wedding. There is of course, cunning here. What a great guy Geoff is! So generous, paid for our wedding! When the truth is that he has taken the money without consulting the 2 other shareholders, Yasmeen and Alya. When Yasmeen questions him, he resorts to the wedding vows of for richer or poorer, but that’s not the point here.

Yasmeen seems to have lost Cathy’s friendship, which is a bitter blow for both women but especially Yasmeen. Yasmeen calls out to her and Brian to sit with them but Cathy snubs her old friend.

He bundles her out of the pub, but not before Carla delivers her line, ‘Killer dress Yasmeen.’

Little does Geoff know that he has just a short while to live. He locks Yasmeen in the house and goes out again. Eileen sees this. Geoff is in the café, being as nice as pie. Will people believe just how cruel he was to Yasmeen?

In the pub we hear Sally, not at her best, commenting on Yasmeen’s dress, ‘What was she thinking?’ And that’s the point, as poor Yasmeen hasn’t been thinking at all. She’s been living in terror and isolation with a man whose express purpose it is to ruin her.

On his return home, Geoff launches several attacks on Yasmeen, who is still in her red (blood?) killer dress. He preposterously invents a story about Peter Barlow, who, Geoff claims has been saying that Yasmeen has been throwing herself at him. Her denial is heart  breaking -  a series of no, no, no, with real fear detectable in her eyes. How much further will this man go? A long way is the incredible answer.

He asks if she honestly thinks that he bought the dress for her. ‘Do you? That sassy little number screams Yasmeen!’ I bought it for someone who would fill it in all the right places. Firm thighs, full cups, hips you can hold, creamy young skin, glossy red lips.’

He calls her a bony old bore, he tells her she makes his skin crawl, he asks her why she can't grow a spine, that she has a wheedling voice, that she makes his skin crawl, that she is a shell of a woman, a husk, scrabbling on the floor like a dog as he throws chips at her, laughing and shouting, ‘Fetch!’

This must be one of the most disturbing scenes in the history of soap opera.

  ‘Till death do us part? God spare me. Maybe I should kill you – do the world a favour. Would anyone really notice if you were gone? If only you could look at yourself - dead behind the eyes and from the waist down. And here’s me thinking of all the long years ahead.'

Being unable to take anymore, Yasmeen picks up the bottle next to her and whacks him over the head, then with the broken part of the bottle, the jagged glass, she plunges into his neck. He falls to the floor. Yasmeen looks on, horror-struck by her actions.

By Ruth Owen, twitter: @ruth1722

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Geoff Metcalfe and his continued rule of terror

 I cannot remember a character on Coronation Street who has made me watch so compellingly and yet simultaneously be so completely repulsed, in equal measure.

But really, could this man sink any lower in our esteem? At the end of last night’s episodes, we see Geoff sitting opposite an attractive and much younger woman, apparently from an escort service. He mentioned money, so she is clearly not someone he is meeting innocently. Might it be the case that the money he is stealing from the restaurant is funding this meeting?

Geoff’s latest plan to remove Yasmeen totally from her support network is to tell how much better their lives will be in Cyprus. There may well be sun, cheap houses, oranges in an orangery, but Yasmeen would be at Geoff’s mercy for the whole time.

One of his tricks in persuading Yasmeen to fall totally into his grasp and submit her will to his, is to praise her, to tell her how gorgeous she looks, that she deserves a ‘better’ life and of course, that he loves her. He whirls her round the living room, singing The Last Waltz. And Yasmeen seems grateful!

Occasionally, just occasionally, Geoff shows remorse, which seems genuine and so his horrific behaviour, as contrasted with the remorse, becomes all the more convincing. The script writers have got this absolutely right. 

He has succeeded so well in his manipulation of her that he has brought Yasmeen to the sorry pass, where she agrees to disown her own granddaughter, Alya, who sees with great clarity exactly what Geoff is doing. ‘I have to let her go,’ says Yasmeen. Unbelievable!  Later, even though Geoff isn’t in, it takes Alya a good while to get Yasmeen to agree to let her in. Once inside, Alya shows her grandmother the article of the affray in which Geoff was involved, with a woman called Jocelyn. Geoff returns and says that Jocelyn attacked him, even though he was the one arrested. Make what you will of that!

Geoff brings home a lovely meal and says, ‘Tonight is all about you!’ Managing somehow to gather up the courage, Yasmeen asks Geoff about the affray. After a while, defending himself, he looks murderous and throws Yasmeen’s food onto the floor, breaking the plate, food all over the carpet, the carpet that Yasmeen has probably cleaned a 100 times since Geoff’s reign. We then witness the heart-breaking sight of Yasmeen trying to rescue the food and eating some off the carpet. He denounces her for this and Yasmeen says that she knows she’s hard to live with. ‘Hard?’ exclaims Geoff. ‘Impossible!’ he concludes. ‘You make me sick,’ he adds for good measure, as Yasmeen sobs into the carpet. He puts his coat on and heads towards the door. Yasmeen begs him not to go. She asks him to tell her more about Cyprus. ‘You’ll be lucky if I went to Stockport with you, never mind Cyprus.’

Hard though this storyline is to watch, really hard, nevertheless it has brought about some terrific acting from the two main players. So utterly convincing.

By Ruth Owen

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Geoff - a nasty piece of work? And goodbye to DS Beckett for now

He's a cunning one is that Geoff, and I must confess that his behaviour is making me feel at worst disturbed, at best uneasy. The most upsetting aspect of this coercive control storyline is how deceived Yasmeen has been and how she has been forced to believe that somehow, in some way, not to her knowledge, she has profoundly upset Geoff. She believes, quite wrongly, that she has been unreasonable, that she has behaved in an irritating way, albeit quite unwittingly, but what she cannot work out is how this has happened.

The reason that she cannot work out what she has done that is so wrong, is that she has NOT done anything wrong. She genuinely cares for him and that is how Geoff is able to manipulate her and exploit her. Yasmeen is a woman who is honest and concerned for others. She is not bitter or jealous, and we could say that she has had sufficient tragedy in her life to make her feel embittered. Viewers will remember that her son Kal, died in a fire and that her husband was discovered to be having an affair, with a woman who Yasmeen thought was her friend. Then, her grandson Zeedan and his wife Rana divorced, when Rana fell in love with Kate.

Yet Yasmeen retains a zest for life and a care and concern for her fellow friends and family. She’s busy, she’s at the restaurant, Speed Dahl, helping Alya, and she’s at the community centre, organising events. She is a good woman! This is why Geoff can, at least for now, succeed in his machinations.

Geoff fitted security cameras to make Yasmeen feel safe, he claimed. The problem was that Geoff had not discussed this with Yasmeen. However, Geoff had done a good thing for her hadn’t he? That makes it extremely difficult for Yasmeen to complain. How can you complain or be angry at someone who wants to protect you? But, but but…When Yasmeen, in a very reasonable fashion, suggests that Geoff should have discussed it with her to see if that was what she wanted, Geoff does his affronted act. Don’t you want to feel safe? I thought you’d be pleased etc. all accompanied by a hurt expression. ‘You make me feel like a stranger in my own house.’ Who wouldn’t sympathise with Yasmeen?

And now, Geoff is succeeding in worrying Yasmeen by suggesting that there is something wrong with his health. He is being convincingly dismissive, in a, ‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ sort of way. He’s attempting to make Yasmeen worry by being all noble and heroic, in a – Oh please don’t waste your time thinking about me, I’ll be alright, I don’t wish to cause any trouble, way. He lied about palpitations, says he’s tired - and with patient confidentiality he is completely safe in that his lies will not be discovered.

Just recently, we’ve seen Geoff having to cover himself when Tim walked in when Geoff was talking about his health to Yasmeen. So far he is getting away with his lies and deception.  Having fitted security cameras in Yasmeen’s house he can spy on her.

Geoff, you are a sinister and deeply unpleasant person. The sooner Yasmeen discovers this and frees herself from you, the better.

In fact, deceptive Geoff it may well be Alya who is your undoing…

Just a word or two on D.S. Beckett – we’ve not see her for a while quizzing the residents. She’s probably in the twilight of her career and I would say that if she did retire she would be much missed.

She tends to pop up unexpectedly, and she is never welcome – but that doesn’t faze her. She’s no doubt well-versed in dealing with surprised and shocked expressions on a variety of people.

Her face spoke loudly of experience and wisdom an she could detect a lie as rapidly as a sniffer dog discovering a Class A drug. Her expression spoke a thousand words – some of those words being, ‘I’ve seen every trick in the book, mate, so just don’t try it because nothing you throw at me is new.’

The way in which she said, ‘Yes, you may go now, Mr Windass/ Mr Tilsley,’ suggested that, yes, physically they could go, but she had their soul.

I will miss her. I also live in hope that she’ll return. We need a wise ‘old’ girl to put these folk to rights.

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