We're back with 10 episodes of Corrie to cover this week. How bad did your withdrawal get?
Gemma is in yet another awesome funeral outfit. This time going from Goth widow's weeds for Callum's to all out explosion of a crayon factory for Kylie's. But first, Macca shoves her around a bit, threatening her to try to get her to retract her statement about Clayton (and it turns out Clayton is only 15) but Craig redeems himself by chasing Macca away and insisting on calling the police. The police applauded Craig and so did Gemma. Now Craig decides he's going to be a police officer! Somehow I just can't see that gentle soul in that kind of a job and his mother's not very happy about it.
Craig is really serious about it. Tracy reckoned Amy never could be a cop because there is a criminal conviction in her near family. I was going to get hopping mad about continuity since Tracy's conviction was overturned by dodgy DNA evidence but then I remembered that Steve has an old conviction on his record. It might not matter any more as far as getting the licensee of the pub but if his daughter was to apply to the police force, it just might. Beth looks a bit worried at that news. What's she hiding? She keeps evading the question but was about to give him the run down. Turns out, it's only the immediate family that matter and Beth is clean as a whistle.
She says she doesn't know about his father's side but he's clearly touched a nerve and she tried not to post the application. Craig caught her, though, and shamed her into posting it (why didn't he just post it himself?) but she still hasn't told him why she's so upset about all this. Definitely hiding something. But what?
Sarah's home for the afternoon and seems to be ok. She even helped Gail, Audrey and Bethany go through Kylie's things for David who already has Kylie's funeral clothes picked out. They are all still worried he's bottling it all up. Loved that they brought up Blanche, talking about how she loved funerals. Gemma wants to go to the funeral but David very loudly refused permission. Later, he did listen to reason, from Gail and Sarah and conceded that Gemma could come. David consulted Max on what to do for the funeral, Kylie's favourite songs and food and all that sort of thing. I think Gail's hair was curling on its own but really, funerals are for remembering the person as they were and Max seems to get that. Max even wants to do the eulogy. Nobody thinks it's a good thing, i think even David is a bit worried about it but in the end, I think he'll help Max through it.
Sarah's determined to stay out of hospital because her family need her. David certainly does. His heart is filled with revenge and he certainly had that old Demon David look when he was hugging Sarah! Kylie's funeral was upbeat and a little heart warming when Max read his speech. Well done, laddie for getting through it! It was all pop music and burgers and bright colours and it was true to the Kylie we all knew and loved. But things don't go well at weddings and funerals and this was no different.
We heard that Jason was in an accident after being drunk which makes Todd angry that Jason had to leave in the first place. Todd, you will remember, lied to the police and told them that Tony killed Callum because he thought Sarah did it. He gets upset with Sarah who's shocked that he thinks she did it and Todd leaps to another conclusion. He proceeds to tear David a new one at the cemetery and David realizes why Todd accused Tony of the murder. There's no time to deal with Todd because Billy comes to bring David to the graveside and break up the fighting men. The family look on, appalled, Sarah especially because she knows what it's about. David isn't going to tell his mother about the reason behind the fight with Todd, either.
David is angry because Sarah must have said something that made Todd think she killed Callum and now he thinks Todd knows it was Kylie. Todd wasn't direct enough, you see. He was all around it, saying he knew the truth and David took it that Todd felt he was covering for Kylie. Todd showed up to finish having it out with them and revealed he doesn't know the truth, he thinks David did it. He goes on and on at David until Sarah ends up letting the real cat out of the bag, telling him that Kylie was the one that did the deed to stop Todd going to the police. David has a one on one with Todd. The truth isn't going to help anyone, especially not the kids. He points out that if he tells the truth, Jason and Eileen will come down on him hard for the lies he told. Todd doesn't seem at all threatened and tosses David to one side when David tries to stop him leaving.
The Platt family talk about David and how he is or isn't handling his grief while sat in a booth at the wake. Gail admits she'll miss Kylie. As will we all. And wait, Max decided on burgers and chips for the wake, but he wasn't allowed to go and have some and had to get takeaway instead?? Don't you think the pub could have allowed the children there for the wake? Oh well, at least Freddie and Gemma had a dance though Audrey seemed a bit jealous. And it looks very much like Audrey's crush on Ken might be waning in lieu of one on another grieving widower. But it seems that although Freddie likes Audrey very much, he feels like a mate, that's all.
Eileen is not best pleased with Billy but he managed to explain himself adequately. Before Billy and Todd could get away, Billy got called away to help with the church playgroup. Some of the "kids" at the playgroup were rather too old for it, though. In fact, they were old enough to be running the playgroup for the younger kids. I did laugh at Amy who spotted the connection between Billy and Todd in no time. That's her mother's daughter! Todd thinks that once Sean knows, and it's out in the open, things will be ok. I doubt it.
Tyrone had trouble with the radio in the cab, that's the two way radio, not the music radio. It's all a set up, you see, so that later on Eileen would overhear Todd and Billy talking about their relationship and the secret is out. You can imagine how she took that, especially after having Sean crying down the telephone at her and her radar already being piqued. She's not stupid and the cat's out of the bag. There's a big confrontation but this time, she didn't chuck Todd out for scheming yet again. He is apparently sincere that he genuinely has fallen for Billy and I think he has. Then just a few hours later, Sean's back. Not in a flood of tears like he allegedly was a few hours ago. Eileen gives them their orders. They can't keep it from Sean. Todd managed to convince Eileen he didn't do it on purpose. And waiting until the funeral's over is just a time bomb waiting to go off.
Come the day of the funeral, Billy has to talk Todd down after the fight with David and his clearly affectionate gestures are pretty obvious to Sean who's just arrived. He works it all out in a blink of an eye and confronts Billy afterwards, in the church. Sean was devastated but furious at Billy's lies. Does Billy really think telling Sean that he and Todd aren't yet physical is going to help matters? The fact that they love each other is the betrayal. Sounds like Sean had put Billy on a pedestal due to his being a vicar and he's realized Billy is just like everyone else. Billy didn't break down until after Sean left.
Eileen is about to rush off to Thailand to nurse her baby. Phelan, as we've seen, already worked it so that Sean went to the church when he figured Todd was going as well and he knew darn well Sean didn't know about Billy and Todd yet. Sean comes running to Eileen in tears, heartbroken. Eileen doesn't say she knew even when Sean cries that he was probably the last to know. Phelan tries to badmouth Todd as the villain of the piece only to get knocked back hard by Eileen who tells him, basically, it's none of his business, which it isn't. See that mark? See that man over step it with his boots? He engineered a major suck up and managed to twist the situation to his advantage and won her back with emotional words including I love you which we all know he doesn't mean.
Meanwhile, Todd is really upset about the whole situation and thinks going to the police will sort everything out, even if he has to go to jail, too, for giving a false statement. But he still thinks David killed Callum. Sarah ends up telling him the whole truth and nothing but the truth, reliving the whole incident that pushed her over the edge. A few tears, and a little emotional blackmail on behalf of two young, innocent children, and, against Todd's better judgement, he agrees to stay quiet. Oh, it's going to come out somehow, some day, I'm sure of it, even if it's only to the rest of the families.
Now that crisis is over, Todd will have to deal with the fallout with Sean finding out about he and Billy. The tension is thick inside Number 11 and Sean keeps poking sticks at Todd. Understandable, of course but Phelan isn't very sympathetic and he's being slyly manipulating to try to get Sean out of the way. He's working his way through the family, picking them all off one by one, isn't he? He engineered a big confrontation and when Sean forced Eileen to choose, she went with her son, which was inevitable. So now Sean has lost his boyfriend and his home.
I can understand why he tried to force her hand, because it must be very difficult for him to be under the same roof as Todd and Billy. But here's the thing. When it looked like there might possibly be a reconciliation, Todd and Sean were talking and things could have been patched up, Phelan made sure Sean knew Eileen had prior knowledge and that slammed the door shut firmly being Sean and Todd has his eye on Phelan, knowing full well who was instigating and making the situation miles worse.
A new character, Vinny, a mate of Phelan's. He wants cash to invest. But is it legit? No, No it isn't. Take in non-refundable deposits and scarper with the cash. Phelan is still interested. He has tried to interest Eileen in a business investment for Jason's inheritance and she's not interested, with more important things on her plate but he managed to give her the business plan to peruse on the plane to Thailand where she's going to look after Jason for a bit.
Apparently, Jason has now seen the business plan for Phelan's "scheme" and Todd isn't happy that he's considering it. He also watches as Phelan works his magic sucking up to Sally who has an in with the council planning department, something he needs on his side if they're to move ahead and make it all look legitimate. But Todd is lurking around corners and he's ready and waiting with a warning for Sally, make sure everything is in writing and crystal clear. Sally had a meeting with Phelan and Vinny to go over all the requirements which neither man was too chuffed about.
You don't often get to see other people grieving on Corrie, friends like Eva who's heartbroken. I think it was a nice addition to see her sobbing on the bench in front of the salon, missing her best mate. Then Aidan wants to give her a quiet night in with no interruptions but has a bit of trouble managing it, even using Johnny's flat which was supposed to be empty. But they entered into a minefield. How many people have you slept with? Eva - 9, Aidan - 89. Talk about a mood breaker. They had a difficult time finding a place to be alone and Sean running to Eva was the last straw.
Eva's starting to make noises to Aidan about them moving in together. He is evading the issue as hard as his little legs can pedal though keeping her sweet in the meantime. Jenny has overheard that Carla's flat is empty and has given Johnny the idea that he should move in and he's got it organized in no time. I hope he's got furniture. You may remember Carla left nothing but a bed! Naturally there's going to be some misunderstandings about all this because Kirk took a message about the flat for Mr. Connor and he thought it meant Aidan. I did wonder why Johnny called Nick to find out about the flat. Why didn't he just call his daughter? I'm surprised she didn't offer it to him in the first place.
So Aidan figured the solution was to book them into a cheap spa hotel. He said something like 80 quid each. I hope he wasn't expecting her to pay. Very bad manners, that. We already know that Eva got the wrong message through Kirk and she thinks he wants to surprise her with the flat when it was actually a housewarming for Johnny. She certainly got a let down.
I love that Liz doesn't give Steve any room to wiggle out of things like telling Michelle the truth. She came up one side of him and down the other. I love Liz to bits! Did you see Leanne's face when Michelle told her she wanted a baby too? Talk about someone's flabber being totally ghasted! Michelle thinks a baby will bring her and Steve closer together. That's not the reason you should have a baby. Anyway, Michelle's taking Steve to Ireland for a baby making trip which didn't seem to last all that long. Steve came back before she did. Leanne is still looking for jobs and Nick wants her to go in and open a new restaurant with him. She's got a lot on her plate with the baby, though he doesn't know that yet.
Robert is still snowed under at the Bistro and having a difficult time with it all. He used to run a restaurant, didn't he have any trouble then? Or, wait, he was married at the time so she probably did all the day to day management. He went off on Steph for taking an off-menu order but didn't realize it was for little Max. That took the wind out of his outraged sails. Steph is starting to dig her heels in and good for her. The situation is really getting untenable. The staff isn't happy but at least he apologized.
Robert has turned to the bottle to cope and it's not having a good effect. He's snapping everyone's heads off at work. He's now lost Zeedan as his co-chef and I bet the rest of them are on the verge of mutiny as well. Meanwhile, Nick has decided to open up his new restaurant in the viaduct unit that's just appeared between Kevin's new garage and the Bistro in a spot where the interior of the Bistro should be if you try to work out the logistics. Or else the interior of the Bistro is very tiny and only the width of the big outdoor arch which it could be. And why would Robert continue to call the restaurant Nick's Bistro? I think not.
He went off in the van after drinking and Nick called the police and you know what? That might have been done out of spite but it was also the right thing to do since Robert did test over the limit. Of course he thinks Zeedan dobbed him in. Steph figured out pretty quickly that it was Nick and told Robert so that he wouldn't take it out on Zeedan.
I can't blame Leanne for getting sick and fed up with the both of them, rutting like stags on the mountain top, vying for supremacy. Far too much testosterone. He apologized but when she found out he is trying to get back at Robert and he called the police, that was evidence of further spite and she's washed her hands of the pair of them and gave Nick a right talking to. She's right as well, he has to put the past behind him. Steph gave Robert a talking to from that end. He was having a great, big, fat pity party after losing his license. I think Leanne's attitude is what spurred Nick on to call a truce and Steph's words lead Robert into offering Nick the chance to buy back in but naturally, they weren't going to agree. Steph (and i continue to really like this character a lot) called Leanne who metaphorically knocked their heads together. 50/50 no arguments. And she's agreed to take her job back and Nick's decided he wants to get back together with her but she's keeping him at arms' length and we know why.
Zeedan continues to see Rana around and thinks she's a habitual flirt. Only in the cafe, she wasn't flirting, she was fending off the dollop but he didn't wait to find out. Yasmeen now decides to try to get Zeedan and Rana back together. They had a little heart to heart and it's back on again. Not that I care or anything. Oh dear, sounds like Julie and Brian are split up. Luke is still not too happy that Caz is hanging around.
Izzy is home in a week and anticipating a grand, romantic reunion with Gary but he didn't want her to get that impression and doesn't know how to get out of it. He thinks they can be a family without the romance. But considering how Izzy feels, it wouldn't work, and we all know it even if Gary doesn't. Sean had to work an extra shift because Michelle and Steve are in Ireland. A few hours later, Steve's pulling pints behind the bar. I guess that was their travel-home day. Oh, there's Faye. We haven't seen her in months.
Emily has apparently given Norris the green light to sell a lot of her old stuff on eBay though Rita reckons he's clearing out everything and warns Norris she's going to have her eye on him and his sales. (I hope this isn't a fore runner that she's not coming back!) I'm surprised Norris has only just discovered eBay! She gave Norris a hard time but then he came back with two huge jars of sweets for Max and Lily.
David is invited to play darts with Luke and Kirk. Luke worries that he doesn't know what to say around David. Kirk? I think being around someone like Kirk who wouldn't walk on eggshells if he knew how would be just what David needs. Faye and Time went paintballing. Laughed at her telling Tim he was running away, deserting! Aww. It's nice to see Gemma making an effort to change her life. Why shouldn't she set a goal to manage the kebab shop? Give her time, I'm sure she could get there. He's going to encourage Gemma into being a Good Samaritan and the 500 pound prize won her over.
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