Coronation Street

[Slade]

If I’m honest I can’t really get worked up about Fiz. For me the whole thing driving that storyline was John Stape and whilst he’s not present I’m not that interested anymore.

Sophie really annoyed me when she transferred £20000 from Kevin’s bank account to that of what was supposed to be the charity. The thing that bothered me the most is considering her faith she kept trying to justify her actions and make excuses as though they were acceptable. But she knew full well what she did was wrong. Thankfully at least Sian, didn’t agree with her and managed to convince her to come clean. TBH I don’t blame Kevin for getting that annoyed (especially considering that the whole thing was a con). He was probably a lot calmer than I would have been. I didn’t really blame Kevin for going round to see James either. I would have wanted to do that. At first I thought James was involved but I guess I can accept that he was duped just as much as Sophie was. Sally actually wasn’t that bad either yesterday and I agree with her stance to back Kevin. Let’s face it though, the only reason why she wasn’t annoying was because Fiz wasn’t there.

Although I understand why Gail did it she’s only got herself to blame for Kylie outing her like that. Irrespective of whether Kylie was waiting for the right moment after Gail tried to pay her off it was only going to be a matter of time before Kylie mentioned something. I really wasn’t sure whether Kylie was waiting for the right opportunity to expose her or whether she genuinely didn’t want to damage David’s relationship with his mother. I’m surprised Kylie thought Audrey would give up the flat above the Salon and sling out Maria and Liam. I actually don’t mind that Audrey’s had enough of Kylie because at least she gave her a chance first. Irrespective of Audrey’s personal feelings at least she was prepared to accept her wholeheartedly as David’s wife if not a Granddaughter in law.

[Red Ranger 1]

I kind of agree that this whole thing with Fiz being locked up feels a bit pointless unless John's coming back and also a bit similar to Gail's plight last year.I do still feel sorry for her though.I can understand her wanting Roy and Hayley to look after Hope rather than having her in prison with her and hope they step up.I go back and forth with my attitude towards Chesney:Sometimes I like the fact he's standing up for Fiz but other times he seems a bit immature.Can't quite get my head around Owen suddenly being a bit paternal towards him, at first I wanted someone to tell him to back off but then it seemed like he was actually doing the right thing.

Sophie's actions annoyed me as well, they were completely illegal and I suspect that there's not going to be any consequence for her apart from being shouted at a bit:Despite his threats, I can't see Kevin pressing charges against her, which he probably should do.(By the way, have I missed something?I thought Kevin gave half his winnings to Sally?Why was Sophie acting like he was the only one with money?)Sadly I saw some photos on the cover of a soap mag a while back that implied something dodgy was going on, so I'd been suspicious ever since the apparent break-in.I'm not sure if James is involved or not, he does seem a bit too laidback and casual about it.

I can understand Leanne being annoyed but I could find myself not liking her if she keeps being this cold.When she made that comment about your family being the people you grow up with, not the ones who turned up when you're grown up, I really wanted someone to say "Er, you mean like James?Or Ken and Peter?Or Peter and Simon up to a point?" rather than muttering a few embarrassed agreements.Agree it's not been a good week for Eva either, although again I can understand her being annoyed.

Whilst I think Gail did the wrong thing trying to pay Kylie off and I thought she was a bit childish on Monday competing with her to cook for David, I can well see why she doesn't like her and I'm finding Kylie more and more annoying by the episode.The three of them(or four with Nick)living in that house was always going to be a disaster and it probably is best if they move out.

[alexx]

I thought Kevin gave half his winnings to Sally?Why was Sophie acting like he was the only one with money?)

I could be wrong but I'm sure I remember her giving it to him back because she felt he needed it more with a baby to look after.

Interesting and realistic scenes with the Webster's - such a mess of a situation but I did wonder how Sophie managed to transfer the money in the first place. I'm sure you need to go threw a number of tight security 'stages' during application in order to create online account passwords etc Anyway, once I'd accepted that she managed it I thought it was a good plot to watch unfold.

I wasn't watching when Gail was in prison so I am enjoying this Fiz stuff. I'd like to see Roy and Hayley take a bit more of a center stage, they are good characters.

This is random but I'm sure a number of characters have just disappeared without a trace, or maybe I missed an episode where they suddenly departed with an onscreen explanation. Keven's dad, his wife/Molly's Aunt and Connie (Jack's partner). Last I remember was them at Molly's funeral/wake. Also we haven't seen Betty in months it feels like.

Edited July 13, 2011 by alexx

[Slade]

Kevin did actually call the police although at least you could argue he changed his story to keep Sophie in the clear. I don’t think it would have been very plausible if he had gone through with reporting her to be honest.

So it would seem as though I was wrong and James is the bad guy – dun, dun, dun! After being shafted out of the £20000 he conned out of Sophie he’s now resorted to try and rip off his own grandfather. And to make matters worse he scared a defenceless child. I suppose at least Tracy’s onto him although it would be ironic if she did manage to expose him given her track record.

Carla’s reaction to Leanne’s pregnancy leads me to believe that her feelings for Peter have far from subsided and her and Frank getting together is simply an attempt to try and get over him. When Maria finds out about them now being an item she’s going to be extremely displeased.

Leanne’s reaction to Carla finding out about the pregnancy was hardly surprising but I still thought she was a bit harsh with Peter. I was starting to think he was on the straight and narrow but as Ken mentioned if he or Carla hadn’t been in the Rovers Peter very well might have relapsed although there’s still Stella I suppose. It’s unfortunate that Leanne let this thing to Carla get to her, else she might not have felt compelled to make some really unpleasant remarks to Peter, he might not have felt the need to storm off, she might not have naturally realised what she said gone after him and fallen down the stairs and lost the baby. I felt really sorry for her but once again didn’t like her attitude towards Stella. I’m glad Peter told them the role she played in finding her and Stella’s other half calling the ambulance and was really glad when Leanne let Stella console her.

Sylvia really cracks me up sometimes. He comments towards Audrey when she was working at the cafe and Becky when she was casually reading a newspaper made me smile.

[Red Ranger 1]

I thought Kevin gave half his winnings to Sally?Why was Sophie acting like he was the only one with money?)

I could be wrong but I'm sure I remember her giving it to him back because she felt he needed it more with a baby to look after.

Ah, yes, I think you're right.Me and my memory.I think you're right about Bill, Pam and Connie having gone as well, it just seems to be a case of them not living on the street and the plot having moved away from them.As for Betty, she does seem to have these long absences.The actress is in her 90s so she probably needs the rest.I think she's one of the ones they'll carry out in a box.

I don't know much about online banking so I don't know how realistic Sophie being able to transfer the money was.I guess she had the account details and security questions like "What's your date of birth?What's your mother's maiden name?" wouldn't bother her?Although Kevin did phone the police, he still let Sophie off the hook which I'm not sure was the right thing to do.I found the way he was once again treated like the bad guy, as if a father pressing charges against his daughter when she's stolen tens of thousands of pounds from him, rather annoying.Deirdre's remark about how they kept going easy on Tracey and she just kept doing worse things was fairly pertinent, although at this juncture I can't see Sophie ending up that bad.

So, James is exposed as a conman(to the viewers if not the characters)and then plunges headlong into monster territory by threatening Amy.It's been a long time since I've been on Tracey's side (round about 1999 probably)but it's a shame Ken and Deirdre didn't take her seriously.

I did find Leanne's initial reaction to Carla knowing about the pregnancy a bit extreme but I guess she was kind of proved right when Carla started making snipes about cravings in front of Simon.I was quite pleased that she didn't instantly change her mind about Stella and only offered her a perfunctory thank you and I'm not sure Peter did the right thing by telling Stella about the miscarriage.I think Leanne just wanted comfort from anybody at the end but now the door's open she won't be able to push Stella away anymore.

Not sure about Sylvia, some of her comments make me smile but I'm not sure I like her as a person, even though they do seem to be trying to add a bit of depth to her.Sean's sniping at Marcus is a bit irritating too.I think that actor who played Anthony the Freshcos manager is the one that keeps getting cast as gay characters even though he's straight(Casualty, Family Affairs).Sally being made supervisor caused me to raise my eyebrow a bit but I guess she is the best of a bad bunch. Izzy would probably be able to do it but I guess she's a bit young.

Nice to see Amber back as well, I always liked her.Good to see her and Sunita together as well.I seem to remember Sunita was written out in the first place because the show wanted to concentrate on the relationship between Dev and Amber(which I didn't really agree with at the time), so we haven't seen much interaction between them before.Don't seem to be getting on that well so far but Amber does take some getting used to.

Edited July 17, 2011 by Red Ranger 1

[Slade]

Did you watch Family Affairs Red Ranger? I used to love initially with the Harts and hated when they killed them off. Pete Callan was my favourite character but I don’t suppose you would have liked him. If anything I think he’s exactly the sort of character you wouldn’t like.

Anyway, although Peter kissed Carla I’m glad he backed out of sleeping with her at the last minute. This actually confirmed my earlier concerns about any residual feelings between them. And Carla openly admitted to Peter that she loved him. I think Peter did the right thing telling Carla they should keep their distance from each other. I’m sure he loves Leanne but the way she was towards him when she found out he didn’t want the baby and the fact that he’s been struggling to be teetotal certainly didn’t help in resisting Carla’s initial come on. I do have the feeling however that Carla going away with Frank only temporarily solves the problem which leaves me in two minds as to whether Peter should tell Leanne about what happened. If he tells her she could finish with him for good. The problem if he doesn’t is that he’s having to keep all the stuff with Carla from her and you do wonder if something’s going to happen eventually and next time he might not be able to resist her charms although he’s told Ken so at least someone can keep an eye on him.

Well I’m glad Ken discovered his own Grandson was prepared to con him out of house and home and that he was involved in the scam with the soup kitchen. So Tracy was right, Kevin was right and Ken, Peter and Sophie were all wrong. As I said yesterday on another thread I’m all for redemption and even forgiveness and I can understand Ken wanting to keep this quiet but I had doubts about him simply not doing anything about James whatsoever. James openly admitted to Ken before he pushed him that he had no guilt whatsoever, his only regret was being caught and that he was going to do this to someone else. So you can argue that Ken had a duty to involve the police although I did feel he felt guilty about James’s upbringing and didn’t want to shop his own grandson. This is similar to the situation Kevin had with Sophie except that Sophie was genuinely sorry about what happened and probably won’t do it again. When Peter wanted to tell Kevin I didn’t like the way Ken was against it initially but I’ll give credit where it’s due and he did go round to tell the Websters everything knowing full well how Kevin would react. I don’t like the way Kevin spoke to Ken especially when Ken was leaving but I still feel his behaviour is perfectly understandable. As I said before £20000 is a LOT of money so I still can’t blame him and don’t like the way Sally told him to leave inferring that he was the bad guy for still being annoyed about it.

It’s pretty obvious now Becky is out of the way Tracy is using Amy to spend more time with Steve. Stella’s already clocked onto this but I’m not sure if Steve has yet.

I’m so glad Eva’s started to interact with characters other than Stella and I quite enjoyed the stuff with Nick and Gary and I don’t mind her at the moment.

I have to admit I found it quite amusing seeing Sally crack the whip at the factory now she’s temporarily the supervisor, especially with Gary and Izzy.

It was so funny how Owen was looking at Anna on Monday. You could tell he wants her and I’m wondering if the feeling is reciprocated.

Although Gary is pretty full-on I put that down to his trauma when he served in the army and lack of social skills. I started off thinking that Izzy was really harsh how she reacted when he got a job in the factory but his behaviour is something to worry about if I’m being honest. He’s becoming increasingly obsessed and it feels like he’s trying to mollycoddle her. Even before Friday I thought the rate they were going she’s bound to reach the point where enough is enough but after she finds out that he hit Sean, I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t finish with him. Gary was completely out of line and that was totally uncalled for especially against someone who wouldn’t harm a fly. It definitely highlights Gary’s insecurities and one of the reasons he has very few friends which reinforces my earlier point why he is so focused on Izzy.

[alexx]

I really like Garry and Izzy, they are great characters, very 'real' so I enjoyed the Thursday and Friday episodes, well played.

Great scenes at the Barlow house surrounding James coming clean, even if it was because he was forced too. Sally, I did think she was rather amusing at the factory too, especially when she was peeping out at everyone threw the blinds. But as for Friday's episode, this is where she seems so inconsistent to me - she seemed to be back to being genuinely wise and forgiving, totally unlike herself when it comes to Fiz. She was standing in the kitchen lecturing Kevin about how its a great quality to be able to see the best in people and forgive and Kevin should try it sometimes - I was waiting for him to tell her to eat a piece of her own cake but he didn't.

Its a a rather interesting romance Audry has with Mark. And Owen is obviously going to end up with Anna, which seems quite natural actually. He's totally different to Eddie but I think the writers seemed to have taken her down a different track too, she's less 'silly' these days which is a shame really, I liked that about the character.

I don't know what to make of Tracey but she does genuinely seem to want to create family for herself and Amy with Steve. I haven't seen any of their history so at the moment I'm just presuming she means well, even if she can be quite manipulative. I laugh at her banter with Ken and Deirdre, shes quite rude to them at times but they just seem to accept it which is funny to watch.

Edited July 24, 2011 by alexx

[Slade]

It’s funny, as messed up as Gary is, I felt he genuinely believed he was trying to help Izzy. Possibly a substitute for one of his comrades in Afghanistan. I think Izzy felt that which was possibly why she didn’t finish with him which surprised me and perhaps I seriously underestimated how much she loves him. Well I hope he does get treatment and sees it through. Izzy shouldn’t even think about resuming their relationship, let alone having him move back in until he’s shown marked improvement although it’s going to be hard to tell because he may appear OK for the most part and then all of a sudden relapse.

Owen is usually portrayed as pantomime villain or a mild bully but I’ve actually quite liked him this week. Considering that his daughter had been held against her will I thought he handled Gary really well. When Owen told Gary the only reason he wasn’t in hospital was because he felt Gary was sorry, I wasn’t sure Owen was being entirely truthful. I actually though ANNA was the main reason Gary wasn’t in hospital. Regardless I really enjoyed the scenes with Owen and Anna and for the sake of the storyline would like to see things develop romantically.

I found it really funny when Tracy was trying to get Deirdre and Ken out of the house so she could entertain Steve. No way should Steve have slept with her. Especially as it was a direct reaction to Becky’s admission that she moved on. And if Becky has moved on like she said why should she care who Steve sleeps with? It’s understandable Steve would think Tracy told Becky, hell even Ken could understand it. But the way he spoke to her afterwards he was just asking for trouble. In saying that as Deidre pointed out Tracy’s whole pretext for seducing Steve was essentially flawed. Amy was the only reason Steve was at their house otherwise he probably wouldn’t have even given Tracy the time of day. And even when it was obvious he didn’t want a relationship she was practically begging him. When she told Deirdre she was moving to London at first I thought she was bluffing and I still did even when she got into the taxi with Amy. I’m hoping she wakes up and realises she was just being childish trying to punish Steve for rejecting her and decides to come back to Weatherfield.

[Red Ranger 1]

Did you watch Family Affairs Red Ranger? I used to love initially with the Harts and hated when they killed them off. Pete Callan was my favourite character but I don’t suppose you would have liked him. If anything I think he’s exactly the sort of character you wouldn’t like.

Ah, you know me too well.I was annoyed when they killed the Harts(seven regular characters dying in one go has got to be a soap record)but I kept watching until the end.And yes, Pete Callan started off as someone I could go from utterly loathing to grudgingly approving of, then when he murdered Josh Matthews I decided he was completely beyond redemption.I was cheering when he was finally killed and only sorry we didn't get to see it.My favourite was Roy Farmer, especially in the post-Hart period when he turned from a rather dodgy character into a virtual saint.I was upset they killed him, especially since the woman who was effectively responsible not only got away with it but got a happy ending.

Back to Corrie.

Lot to catch up on.I was annoyed that Peter kissed Carla and glad he backed off.I do believe he genuinely loves Leanne and whatever he feels for Carla isn't as strong.Carla really doesn't seem to have learned anything from Tony, going out with a potentially dodgy guy when she's in love with someone else.Peter had better look both ways when crossing the road.

I think Ken was kidding himself when he said James would be punishing himself more than the law could, the guy obviously felt no remorse.Shame really, since I quite liked him to start with.Nice to see everyone rallying around Ken in the aftermath though.

Well, Gary seriously lost the plot, although he seemed surprisingly back to normal soon afterwards. Hopefully he'll take his condition seriously rather than dismissing the psychologist's advice like he did the doctor's.Owen handled it surprisingly well, I am actually quite liking the guy at the moment, maybe Anna's bringing out the best in him.Canny of Katy to realise something was up as well.Faye seems to be developing into a bit of a precocious cutie.

Steve slept with Tracy?!Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire.Having said that, I did feel a bit sorry for her when he had a go afterwards.It soon evaporated though when she seemingly decided to take Amy away just to spite him.I hope he does enforce the court order.

Given all the spoilers saying Amber had a big secret, like Sophie I was expecting her to be pregnant. The fact she'd been kicked out of college was a bit of an anti-climax and also pretty obvious:If she's back permanently which seems to be the case, it's obvious she's not going back to uni.She does seem to have slipped back in like she's never been away, hope her and Sunita get on better soon.

Loved all the little everyday conversation bits that had nothing to do with the plot, like Karl and Lloyd discussing celebrities dying while you're out of the country and Ken being more interested in the film than Tracy's latest crisis.It's the sort of thing Corrie does well.Wasn't sure if Audrey having a go at those two louts who were laughing at Marc/Marcia was a good idea but they didn't seem to do anything in retaliation so I guess it came off.

Regards the previous discussion on who's left the show without telling anyone,

a spokesman did mention a few weeks back there were no plans for Bill to reappear but it was mentioned this week that Pam will be back in September

.

[Slade]

I had completely forgotten what happened with Pete and Josh but a quick look on Wikipedia reminded me. And I do recall the episode where Pete actually hit him across the head with the candlestick holder. Although I still enjoyed Family Affairs afterwards, I thought it would have been better if they had only killed some of the Harts off leaving the rest to deal with aftermath. Apart from Jack (who killed himself) I thought the male family members were pretty useless so I would have kept Mel, Holly and Annie and maybe Sam.

Anyway, I don't know what happened in that episode to make Sunita a right cow towards Amber. Dev's attitude was more understandable because he was acting like the overprotective father who was extremely disappointed with his daughter for being chucked out of Uni. I felt Sunita on the other hand was acting the way she was because she resented Amber staying there.

I thought both Becky and Gail were being pretty immature about Nick's job offer working behind his bar. Becky was trying to wind Gail up and Gail only wanted to go for the job because she didn't want Becky getting it. I do feel Gail has more of a reason to have a gripe as Becky barged pass Gail in her own house, threw cutlery around attacked Kylie then assaulted David when he tried to break them up.

I think Gail is usually quite harsh with Kylie but not only was she quite perceptive figuring out something was wrong when Kylie received the telephone call but surprisingly showed a remarkable degree of compassion and overall came across quite well yesterday. I thought for the first time she acted like a mother in law. I felt a bit sorry for Kylie when she was crying because she wanted to be a mother to Max but felt she wasn't good enough and he deserved better. I think Gail did too hence the reason why she adopted a different approach to usual. As harsh as Gail is I think she can be quite good in those sorts of situations. I recall her having a similar chat with Tina several weeks ago when Graeme left with Xin. I have mixed feelings about this overall though. Whilst I think in most cases a kid should be with his/her mother and would like to see things work out I remain sceptical. Having a kid in a reasonably overcrowded house could cause quite a strain on everybody and could have an adverse effect on David and Kylie's relationship. Gail might have been the one to convince Kylie but we'll see what she's like in a few weeks when Kylie and David get fed up of looking after Max, decide to go out and leave her holding him. There's also the fact that Becky lives on the same street and she's bound to want to get involved. Incidentally I have to admit I quite enjoyed the scene where Becky saw David and Kylie, made snide remarks towards them and Kylie retorted by saying that her and David were going to ask to have Max back. That wiped the smirk off Becky's face.

Didn't even think of the significance of the damage on the bumper to Owen's van until he confronted Chris at the Rovers. They way Chris reacted and the fact he has been a lose cannon in the past leads me to believe that he could have damaged the van then simply forgot about it. There was also the fact that he didn't really argue when Owen said he would be docking his wages and shortly afterwards dropped the drinks so presumably we'll find out what's wrong pretty soon.