Friday 3 June 2016

Carla, Nick and the Uninvited Guest


(This post was originally posted by Ruth Owen on the Coronation Street Blog in May 2016.)


Carla and Nick are going to get married. They are going to live by the sea near Devon, leading  idyllic lives, untrammelled by the complications of children. Carla, now a welcome addition to  Nick's family, has reassured her mother in law to be that there will be her very own room, just for her, in their new place, thus softening the blow of Gail's precious first born disappearing down south. Michael is down south too - Brighton allegedly, and though a good distance, Gail might take a detour and stop him, buy one and then lure him back to Weatherfield.

I'm sorry to say that I have not relished the lovey-dovey goings on with Carla and Nick. Carla is not suited to this happy clappy love life. The declarations of love, frequent and apparently sincere, for now at least, rings hollow. That is because I find it impossible to believe in Nick and Carla as a couple. It doesn't matter how many times they declare undying love to each other or tell each other just how wonderful their life will be away from Weatherfield, just the two of them. For me, they fail to convince. I have tried hard to believe in them, but the effort gets me nowhere.

I cannot picture Carla fitting in to a semi-rural, village-like existence. She is a city girl with bells on, an urbanite. She is a hardworking business woman who enjoys the cut and thrust of the challenges facing her daily. She loves her work, which has in several ways saved her from herself. Her business is what gets her up in the morning and has outlasted any man with whom she has been involved. She has considerable respect from her work force, largely due to the example she sets and her innate skill at being firm but fair. The business meetings, the work jargon, the hurrying through orders, the offers of overtime - all gone.



And what about Carla's sartorial choices? All black clothing (mostly) stiletto heels, snazzy bags. She will need a whole new wardrobe. What beckons for her is a sensible outfit, a windcheater maybe and a flat-shoed future. Carla is far more suited to London, Paris, Milan, New York.

And what of her friends? Michelle and Roy in particular. Having Gail as a house guest is a poor substitute for friendships such as these. There'll be a few tears shed from Carla, Michelle and Roy as she departs the cobbles, waving farewell.

How the actual wedding will go is anybody's guess. This is, after all, a Coronation Street wedding. The catalogue of wedding disasters may add a page soon, or it may not.

The uninvited guest? Oh yes, well that would be Nick's reincarnated brain injury. Has the injury been resurrected in order to cause wedding chaos or will it lay dormant for ever more? We will soon know...

(Please note - I do not mean to be flippant in any way about real and often devastating brain injuries. Here, in this post, I am talking about a fictional character with a fictional brain injury).

Ruth - twitter @Ruth1722



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