Oh look, Carla has her driver's license back (remember she got done for drinking and driving this time last year). Michelle moves forward alone and has Julie for comfort at least. Mind you Julie would comfort just about anyone whether they needed it or not! Carla rewards Michelle's loyalty by making her office manager. If Sally were still employed there, she'd be in a major sulk. Underworld workers wouldn't give back the mis-directed order of silk pattern pieces and flaunted it in the pub with a stray pink hankie. Childish but effective. How could they even tell that one little piece of fabric was from their shipment and not legitimately belonging to Underworld?
The tram crash anniversary is rapidly approaching and Emily wants Peter to make a speech as the sole survivor of the victims. That sends him into a spiral of post traumatic flashbacks in spite of the fact that it's his wedding anniversary too but they don't get a very nice present. Seems Leanne's got troubles in utero and it's going to be difficult getting pregnant. She's upset, Peter doesn't seem to take it as seriously as she thinks he should, and with the service and a speech looming, Peter can't handle the pressure. Carla is right there to advise and commiserate.
It goes downhill from there when Peter discovers a mate of his from his support group has died and Carla mysteriously shows up at the support meeting. She's always drinking like a fish but she only seems to show up when the plot requires her to be thrown at Peter. (By the way, that half hour was a focused-on-Peter episode, the day in the life of an alcoholic. That's why it seemed like Peter was zipping from scene to scene to location to location)
So he's trying to write his speech and listening to the tram rattle by. No wonder It's all too much for him. He starts drinking then and the next day when he can't face the memorial ceremony he buys another bottle, dives into it and crashes at Carla's rather than let Leanne see him drunk, at Carla's "helpful" insistence. Now he's decided he has to have Carla, because she, unlike the booze, won't kill him.
He's substituting her for the booze, you realize that. And I think Dev should have contacted Ken or Leanne right after Peter walked out with that bottle. He could tell Peter was in a state.
Oh, and since nobody else seemed to notice, I'll say it. Happy first birthday, Hope! And speaking of Fiz, Sally told her Frank might be hiring. Did she go for the job? doesn't look like it since we haven't seen her in Fosterworld. Maybe she doesn't want to work for A. Sally and B. a rapist. She must be eligible for some sort of single mother benefits as must Katy.
There's a lot of rude people on that street. During the service when the choir were singing, Rita was gabbing to Pam and Bill, Leanne was whispering to Ken. Mary was going on about mint imperials and Norris was grumbling. And for someone that hasn't prepared any sort of speech, Ken was word perfect. Owen and Anna didn't really bother with the ceremony right on their own front step. Kylie and David were messing around winding up Owen.
For all Nick keeps saying he's over Leanne, he still considers that Peter "won" the prize. So maybe he's still wearing his heart on his sleeve a bit? Everyone else gets through the service and Ken steps in and makes a nice speech. Pam and Bill show up and Mary is as always, obnoxious.
Leanne has to be the one to ask Carla if the machinists can make the costumes for the school play that she and Sunita are helping with. Seems a bit of an imposition if you ask me but Carla does it anyway. Peter wanted a taxi from Lloyd, but then we saw him getting his car from Tyrone at the garage.
I don't know why Tyrone is so upset that Kevin wants Jack to have the Webster name. Tyrone doesn't want to see Jack, gave him to Kevin and knows he's Kevin's son. You would think it would hurt him a little bit less if Jack didn't have his name. I suppose it's one last piece of his former life "taken away" from him. Kirsty reckons she's the best one to help Tyrone over the anniversary of the day his life blew up (Molly was leaving him, Baby not his, Molly dies) but really, all he needs are his mates, not a formal counselling session. Again, this makes Kirsty feel like an outsider and she whines that nobody likes her. Well that part's true enough.
Owen seems to be coming over all parenting with Faye now. You know that's not going to go over well with her. She already resents him taking Anna's attenion away from her. Now Faye has fallen through a rotting floorboard in the shed and Owen intends on taking it down. Um. Builder? Wouldn't it be easier just to replace the floor or even rebuild it from scrap wood? No, because then there wouldn't be a way of causing friction with the neighbours and instigating a silly feud between grown up Owen and barely out of nappies David though David did have a point about making sure the pond was safeguarded so Max wouldn't fall in, given that Max probably would climb the fence to want to play in it. The pond being filled with fish was a given once Owen mentioned in the pub that he used to own fish, much to my surprise.
It's Owen's new project, except it isn't even his house and property. Well ok, it is his property but if there's sitting tennants, should he realistically take over the garden like that? Should he be letting himself in willy nilly? Typical Owen charging in though. Owen already had said he'd put a grill over the pond for safety yet didn't mention that when David went ballistic over it all. And what is the point of having a nice pond with fish in it if you're going to cover it over anyway? Do you really need a tacky plastic heron keeping watch? Why would he need it if there is a grill over the pond to protect the fish. I can't blame David for taking the mick but this feud is going to get old really fast.
Becky has a load of cash, Lloyd's depressed and wants to wash his hands of Weatherfield and now he's got a tax audit on his hands. He needs that like a hole in the head though the auditor was pretty amusing. But does an "on the spot audit" actually give you a week to sort out your paperwork? That auditor was great! A bit of a mother fixation but funny as heck.
Cue St.Ella to the rescue. She's the saviour, Mother Hen and Agony Aunt to all who sail in the Rovers Return these days. They get to know each other better over the course of her helping him and him helping her and next thing you know it, poor old Lloyd decides she's not just offering him a shoulder to cry on and tries to kiss her in a clumsy drunken kind of way. It should have ended there but she's walking around like it's a big secret. Overreact much? Meanwhile Karl is blissfully ignorant and on a gambling high. or low, depending on how you look at it.
Meanwhile Max is living with Kylie and that hurts Becky's tender heart too. Kylie rightly wants Max to settle and it's not going to be easy with his beloved Auntie Becky around. Max is only back less than 5 minutes before he's gone missing leaving Max and Kylie frantic. David only popped inside to put something in the oven but we all remember Max's tendency to run off don't we? Kylie immediately thought Becky took him but he'd gone looking for Becky.
Max is sitting quietly in the back room of the pub. Since someone would have noticed him coming throught he front, he must have slipped in through the back door or smoking door entrance. This again brings Kylie to the realization that little Max really has never bonded with her and that maybe Becky shouldn't come around too much. That's fair but it hurts. Still, at least she didn't scream at Becky about it. Gotta feel for Kylie, she's scared and worried that she can't be a good mom and doesn't have all the maternal feelings that Becky does. Poor kid was way too young and had no example to follow. It'll be a struggle but I think with David's help she'll grow into it.
All this wine bar business seems contrived to put Eva and Nick together. After how badly her ex hurt her, I'm surprised she'd send business his way at all. Getting stuck in the warehouse was a bit silly, especially when that dog went mental, an empty van was parked outside the property ready to be loaded, and the guard didn't even think to check around very much. So Eva and Nick are now a couple, oddly enough they seem quite suited, both a bit shallow and self important. (Oh come on, Nick wants to be seen as a hot club owner when the club is literally in a hole in the wall in a back street nowhere near the jumping club scene in town).
Gail isn't especially pleased but she never is and Stella is worried he'll hurt Eva like he did Leanne. Someone needs to remind Stella that Nick and Leanne did an equally hurtful job on each other even if Nick did the initial persuing. And Nick and Eva getting busy in Gail's living room? That boy needs his own flat! It's ridiculous.
Someone else that seems a bit self important is Dr. Spare Part, Matt who thinks Tina is hot but is uncomfortable that she's "just" a barmaid and an upgrade to waitress in a wine bar would be somewhat more preferable. Tina doesn't agree and he can't understand why she doesn't have any ambitions. Even so, she did dress a bit oddly for a job interview at a restaurant. I think she's young enough to be allowed to drift for the moment, especially if she's got a job that she really likes. It all ends very damply when she tosses the traditional pint over his head in a childish strop. He really didn't deserve that but in the Rovers, that's what constitutes "yer dumped!".
Aadi did well in a golf tournament. Has anyone reminded the Alahan's it's nearly December? Do they play golf year round in the UK? Sophie's grumpy and petulant about Sian being too busy at schoolwork to pay attention to her. Well that's what happens when you thrown your own academic life out the window. She perks up when Amber offers to go to the cinema but pouts again (and is jealous) when Amber dumps her for an old boyfriend, as you do at that age, so Sophie drops her in it by alerting Dev to the fact that his baby is probably shagging herself senseless. Oh very adult. Amber was very snotty about referring to Sophie as her dad's "shop girl" when she does the very same thing, work in the shop because she's chucked school. And Amber might have called Sophie for being "childish" but she did dump Sophie two days in a row and that's not fair. She really has turned into a little cow, hasn't she?
Sally seems to be making herself indispensable to Frank and Fosterworld. Do we see that spark of a newly minted crush in her eyes? Frank advised her to talk things over with Sophie after explaining that making mistakes was the best way to learn. Yes, but getting married too young is a hell of a worse mistake than investing in a business that goes bust.
Sophie and Sian are rowing about the schoolwork and Sophie accidentally knocks a glass of water on the laptop without a backup in sight. Oh dear. She moans about having to start all her work over again, something that's going to be a bit tricky on a burned out laptop! anyway Sophie finally tells Amber she loves her (no, it's a crush but i suppose at 17 you don't know the difference all the time) and Amber didn't even figure that out. I'm surprised at that. Sunita figures it out pretty quickly and is all nice and Big Sistery to Sophie whose mother is too preoccupied with Frank and her chances of becoming the power behind the power in Fosterworld.
Sophie does what she did before, Amber gives her the push off and she urges Sian to run away and elope instead. Splain to me again why it's a good idea to get married at 17? I'm with Sal and Kevin on this one, they're way too young. Oddly enough, Sian seems more concerned about the Websters' reaction than that of her own parents, her father being dead set against the relationship all along. Of course Sally manages to persuade them not to elope and backs down, allowing a proper wedding on December 29 and Amber points out, quite rightly, that it's only been 24 hours since Sophie was protesting her love for Amber. Rebound anyone?
Kirsty seems intent on revising Tyrone's fibre intake and broke a perfume bottle of Tina's without saying anything and didn't offer to pay for it until Tyrone said he would. And wouldn't someone notice if a bottle of perfume was broke? That scent would linger for days! Tina is still wandering around in a towel. Not much changes. End result? Tina gets grief from a cop and a clamp on Rita's car in town. Tina promised to try to make more of an effort to get on with Kirsty but she went mad when she caught Tyrone giving Tina a hug. At least Tyrone gave her a scolding for assuming he and Tina had the hots for each other.
I see Lloyd didn't waste much time replacing the sofa that he burned (the one he's probably still making payments on). It doesn't look very comfy so he probably dragged out of a skip somewhere. Stella managed to get back to the pub as a hen party entered, still working on her own. Why would she not have scheduled the party to some time when she had more staff? And lastly, who would have thought Kirk would get lucky with a gorgeous blonde bride who was having last minute cold feet?
