Kevin sure has made himself comfortable at Sally's. Now he wants to change Jack's name to his and change the birth certificate which is another kick to the gut for poor Tyrone. Ouch! It was inevitable but it has to still sting. Clearly Kevin is over his feud with Ken, because he asked him for adoption advice but Ken's experience is 30 years old. Wouldn't it have made more sense to talk to Anna?
Bill and Pam have reappeared and they're getting married apparently. But when Pam finds out about the name change she goes ballistic. But her saying that the baby's name is what Molly christened him doesn't wash. Molly wanted her and Kevin and the baby to be a family so she would have wanted Kevin to have Jack and give him his name.
I can understand Pam not wanting Kevin at the wedding but sometimes you do have to suck it up. She would have if the baby name thing hadn't come up and get her all upset again. It's a gray area, and Pam's still grieving. I kind of think Bill and Pam should probably delay that wedding a bit, don't you? Pam is throwing it in Kevin's face that stress caused the heart attack and in front of Bill on his sick bed, she's baiting Kevin and telling him she wishes he was dead. Nice.
Pam gave Sally a piece of her mind as did Rita, though more gently and Sally decided to chuck Kevin out. But too late, Bill had a heart attack from all the stress and Sally comforted Kevin in the way she always does, with a shag. Naturally, Kevin, who was already confident he and Sal would get back together properly, is convinced this is it. (Red wine will do that to you!)
But between Rita's advice, Jeff back on the scene, and Kevin making assumptions and telling his family they were back together, Sally saw the light and Kevin's out again. It's easy to slip back into old habits but Kevin's betrayal really was something that should not be overlooked. And Kevin made it as difficult as he could, leaving his stuff all over the place etc. and laying on the guilt.
It's difficult to review this storyline because rape is ugly and it's about control and it's hard to watch Frank be so smug and protesting his innocence. He almost seems to have himself convinced he's done no wrong. All of that is often the way, I think. This storyline is going to be difficult for some people to watch because it will definitely trigger memories. Alison King just ripped my heart out and I have not been through anything like that but you really believed her performance.
I thought it was very realistic, having Carla go through all the interviews and checkups. She did absolutely the right thing, as hard as it was. I can't imagine any woman going through all that if it was just something she did to get back at a man, no matter what Frank says or thinks. And why on earth can it not be rape if you didn't fight back? If you're so scared you just lie there, it doesn't mean you were willing. She did have some abrasions on her arms though. And I hope the officers that saw her terrified reaction to Frank can testify to that at a trial.
No matter how Maria thinks Carla treated her before, she's immediately the most supportive person and is standing by Carla all the way. I thought Maria has moved in with the baby but it didn't happen until later on in the week when Carla moved in with Maria instead. (You gotta love Kirk who realized he was surplus to requirements and moved in with Chesney)
And there's Peter "I don't love you" Barlow, who can't keep away from Carla who he says won't leave *him* alone. Leanne is immediately suspicious and rightly so. Peter's case isn't helped by fighting with Frank in the street (even if Frank was goading him and I know he did it to get Peter to thump him because it's good for his own defence case) and then he continues to run back to Carla to see if she's ok. He thinks he's being a friend. That may be but he's lying to his wife when he knows his marraige is teetering on the bring about this as it is. Leanne went to see Carla, allegedly in sympathy over the rape but in reality, she actually wanted to ask questions about Peter. Bad timing. It's not about you.
I'm surprised Carla could pull herself back to work. It didn't last long, and no wonder. She could barely put two words together let alone do a day's work. And Frank was there to poke forks in her and make his case sound very believable, making her think she won't be able to get a conviction. You really can tell he's got himself convinced he'll get away with it. As soon as i saw her get sleeping pills from Doctor Spare Parts, i just *knew* there would be trouble and there was.
Carla nearly popped her clogs but because she called Peter, he was able to get the paramedics. Leanne is very afraid she's losing Peter and maybe she should be. It's very clear that Carla still loves Peter, even to Leanne. And Peter is starting to seem very torn. Stella is supportive too but she doesn't know the truth. Stella, who barely knows Carla. Stella is rapidly turning into the Agony Aunt saint in the back room. You watch. She's pushed at everyone and will be available for a shoulder to cry on and advice to be given. This is only the beginning.
Frank is smooth, too, isn't he? He can sure make his version of things look believable to Leanne who doesn't really trust Peter to start with. He put on a show for the people in the pub because Peter and Leanne were there and made sure to load up lots of doubts into Leanne's already suspicious mind. Her instincts are right even if he's not actually doing anything with Carla. He *has* to have feelings for Carla to behave this way. It's certainly turned Leanne against Carla and i don't think there's going to be any making up again.
Does she believe Frank? I don't think she's quite sure, given that her own sister was raped years ago but she's on the brink thanks to Peter's behaviour and finding out that Frank and Carla lied to the police about the accident. She was pretty cruel to Carla when Carla came to plea her case. I would say it was Leanne's threats and nasty comments that put her over the edge. Overhearing Peter calling Carla "sweetheart" when the paramedics were working on her sure didn't help.
I'll tell you who else i was impressed with and all, is Sean. He stood right up to Frank and wasn't afraid to say how he felt. He showed his true anger and contempt and didn't believe a word of Frank's flannel. Kirk nearly took Frank out too when he heard he had tried something on with his sister. The factory bees didn't know who to believe at one point, Hayley looks like a deer in the headlights and Julie doesn't know how to get her head around it all though it seems like everyone more or less believes Carla but don't understand why Frank was released initially. He was warned to stay away from the factory though the workers didn't know it. What would you do in their shoes, thinking one of your bosses raped the other? Would you continue to work there? Would you wait and see? I can't imagine what it must be like.
As the news filters out, no matter how smooth and innocent Frank seems to be, it looks like Carla has most of the supporters. Sean, the only factory bee that knew about Maria's encounter, wasn't surprised at all. Dev takes Frank's side. He's a fellow businessman after all. They don't do such things. *koff* Ok, Dev doesn't, but Frank does. yes, i know, innocent until proven guilty and the neighbours didn't witness what happened but of course we, the viewer, know. Frank is already telling Carla that he can twist it to make it sound like he was set up. Did the police not tell him to stay away from Carla and the factory? Of course they did yet he didn't. It seemed a bit fuzzy but they finally did re-arrest him.
Tina and Kirsty can't seem to help winding each other up. But now we know Kirsty is a police officer. Tina better watch how gobby she gets! Rita as much as told Tina to grow up but will she? Heck as like. Tina's turning thoroughly dislikeable these days. How come, after all these years that Rita's been parking her car in that little garage behind the Kabin, she's now parking it on the street, easily blocked in or scratched? Stupid contrived stuff for a bicker-fest between Tina and Kirsty.
Would *you* let a brand new driver borrow your car without even going for a drive with them to figure out if they are a good driver or not? And by the time the car had been scratched, i'm sure Tina told Kirsty the car was Rita's. Tina kicked Kirsty's tires but later, Kirsty accused her of breaking the headlight. Now *that* is a bit odd. And did you see how she looked at Tyrone when he defended Tina and expressed some admiration, and jumped to the conclusion that there might be history between them. I'm already getting a bad vibe here. But isn't the actress good??
Owen and Anna are together properly now. Gary is being adult about it but it's not going to be easy for Faye to accept. Gary and Katy got their heads together to get them together and set them up on a date. Why on earth Anna would dress with cleavage down to her belly button to go out to dinner with her son, I don't know but it was quite a coincidence when Owen walked in and got an eyeful! Awww isn't Kirky lovely. He knew without being asked that he was surplus to requirements when Maria moved Carla in so he is bunking in with Chesney. Did Chesney and Katy give up the flat altogether? They must have. At least Schmiechel has more room again.
Dev is now going to be even more insufferable. He thinks Aadi is a golf prodigy. Putting a ball a few yards isn't going to do that. He won't have the power to whack that ball down the green will he! Whatever happened to that fancy car lift Kevin bought and nearly got crushed under? It seems to have disappeared. Did he send it back? I know it was damaged but wouldn't he have had it fixed seeing as he spent so much on it? Tracy seems to be making nice with Steve. Maybe she's finally learning? Nahhh probably not.
Alison King, who plays Coronation Street's Carla Connor, has been talking to TV Times about Carla's upcoming nasty rape storyline with Frank Foster. And she says the storyline has left her "physically and mentally exhausted".
