Welcome. This evening is almost entirely devoted to the events on the night Joel died as the various pieces we have seen in flashback are linked into what I think was intended to be chronological order - but as we also keep jumping to various locations and to the current time some of what we see made no sense to me. First and second of these is a clip of Dee Dee at Billy's front door telling Billy that she has done something awful and yet, if this is sequential, we have not reached Dee Dee's segment., we also see DS Swain discharging herself from hospital - which it is later confirmed in the programme does not happen for some hours. Please story tellers this is awful.
The episode is framed by DC Green interviewing Max, the latter "repeats" his story whilst various scenes playout. Ed and Ronnie are looking for Joel. DC Green is removing some files - what they are and why becomes clear later but made no sense at this point (sorry but confusion rules). Then we have a scene with Max and Lauren where the latter cannot get Joel out of her head and it is doing her head in. Ed/Ron find nothing as Joel hides between some cars and in an adjacent building site. Ed/Ron return to Number 3 and Dee Dee hears them arguing and Ron drops the crowbar which she picks up (as per her story) and heads to Noble Street where Joel lives.
Bizarrely it is now earlier and DS Swain is at the police station talking to Tinks about Joel being drunk in Roy's Rolls but when we saw him moments before hiding he looked completely sober. We then shift to Platt Towers where it is indeed a banging gate which Lauren and Max heard. However Lauren is unable to sleep. Throughout Lauren keeping pour bile and spite about Joel being in her head onto poor Max driving him demented as well.
The next scene is back on the list of how does this make sense? Ronnie wants "someone" (presumably Joel) dealt with tonight but all we see is a dark figure - a shoulder on the right of the screen is I saw - and we have no idea who the individual is, or indeed the point in time at which Ronnie made this statement given that we have been time flipping. Sorry this is not telling a story.
Joel is about to finally drive away with note and case when Dee Dee's Mini screeches to a halt in front of him. She starts waving the crowbar around whilst she and Joel argue. He tells her that he did care for her - and he only tried to kill Frankie because he wanted things right between the two of them. It becomes clear that they have been sleeping together at least once (despite her view of no pre-marital sex) and she now hates him, calls him a predator and that those innocent girls did not want his evil attentions. They argue and she eventually raises the crowbar and smacks him down - but he recovers and grabs her leg. So Dee Dee always KNEW she had not killed Joel. We see her phone call to DC Green who heads to Noble Street - where his car clips the other one we know suffered damage that night.
At the precinct DS Swain is on the phone to Betsy and a hooded figure snatches a bag from a lonely female. DS Swain extends her baton, and a car accelerates towards her and she rolls over the screen and onto the ground leading to some very painful injuries. The registration number of the car is SD06 FZC a 2006 Toyota Avensis T3-X, so hopefully the police can track down the miscreant(s). The bruising is fairly impressive and we see her insist on leaving the hospital (which happened earlier).
Joel is able to get out of being arrested by DC Green (which would have saved his life so he may not live to regret this) as he points out that he knows that Green planted the evidence on Nathan Curtis relating to the hair found in Curtis's van. Joel gets into his car and drives away. DC Green goes to the Rovers (where he is living) and we see him get a bottle of whisky from the bar after deleting the call record from Dee Dee's call (BTW do we think that Dee Dee remembered to withhold her number when calling him earlier?). Then he has a huge swig of whisky before returning to the station. The files DC Green uplifted earlier relate to Nathan Curtis and the planted evidence. In fact I think this reveal is immediately before the files were shown being removed earlier and this event took place after the confrontation with Joel. And I hope you are all as confused as me.
Lauren is not sleeping picks up her phone and turns on the tracking software to find that Joel has also turned his phone on. She leaves a call for Lisa saying that she knows where Joel is and Max comes downstairs. Why did Joel turn his phone on? So that he could leave his fake "farewell" message. Lauren insists they go to the location - but Max's testimony is that only he went. However the flashback scenes show two versions - initially just Max goes "alone" but later we find there is another person in the vehicle. Max arrives at the viaduct and finds some convenient steps to the top of it where Joel grabs him from behind and holds him against the edge of the viaduct. Max claims to find some loose masonry and then hits Joel over the head.
What plays out in front of us is very different. Joel does grab him but then releases him so that Joel can use his mind games as he is not afraid of a kid (who is holding the CS canister in his face). They circle each other whilst standing on the rail tracks and yet neither stumbles or trips on the sleepers and for reasons I cannot grasp Max does not use the CS spray. "Why Not" - I was shouting at the screen? Joel calls Lauren a little tart and states that she does not really like Max, that she is trash and not worth anyone's time. Joel distracts Max, knocks the canister from his hand, grabs him and is close to strangling Max when there is a dull thud and Joel collapses on to the rail track. Joel is not done and starts to get up and heads for Max when there is another thud and then we see Joel, presumably lifeless, sprawled on the track.
Max's vision eventually clears and he sees Lauren holding the offending masonry with which Joel has just been dispatched - he really should have let Green arrest him earlier! Lauren had been told to stay in the car - but she had followed Max and will not call the police because her story would collapse because she has a motive.
In the present DC Green is calling Max a liar - if he was being overpowered by the taller and stronger Joel it was not possible for Max to use his right hand to smash Joel on the back right side of his head - making it self defence - the angles do not work. Max sticks to his story but DC Green is convinced that another person had to have been present.
In the past Max and Lauren try to work out how to spin the events to match Joel's planned disappearance and so remove the suitcase which we know Carla sees them with later back on t'Street. The masonry and canister are simply thrown into the distance but were found when the police searched as they had not taken them far enough away.
DS Green remains unhappy but tells Max he will be charged for murder and will be interviewing Lauren as obviously he suspects she was also present.
In a very bolshy fashion Lauren denies that she was present and that Max went to the viaduct by himself. Lauren confirms the tracker software - but merely for self protection. She sticks to the story. She also says that Max would never harm anyone.
At Platt Towers Shona returns from prison and tells David that Clayton is in a bad way and despite everything he is still her son. David makes it clear that he feels Shona should cut Clayton off completely. Tinks turns up and advises them that Max is being charged. Now both Shona and David have sons who have "killed".
Dee Dee has a problem. She needs to take a test. She sends Ed/Ron away when they pop in. We do not see the result BUT you will note that she is wearing a top which covers her necklace. If the opening scene of her talking to Billy was supposed to be after this scene there is a disconnect because in the earlier shots her necklace was visible - so I am afraid to say that there are loose ends which I cannot explain.
In the Rovers (why - anyone could be listening) Green tells Swain that he does not entirely believe Max - but he is convinced both Max and Lauren are lying to him. He feels sure she was at the scene. Lauren re-reads Max's note left in the flat explaining why he had to hand himself in and that he went after Joel along and killed him in self defence. Frankie needs his brilliant, brave, gobby mum who never listens says Max's note. He tells her to be the mum which Frankie needs and that he loves her.
Roll credits.
My apologies if some of the above does not make sense. There are at least two scenes (Dee Dee / Billy and Ronnie / strange man) which I cannot explain and like Max's story to the police even if Lauren did do it there is something else off. Green suspects Max is lying and we know he is doing it to protect Lauren - but there are loose ends which I hope will eventually be explained. If people can explain the points raised either tell me on Twitter or comment below please!!!
Written by Ella Greenhill. Directed by Duncan Foster
Kosmo
