State of the Street - November 2013

It's been so hard watching Roy and Hayley grapple. Hayley wants to end her life before she gets to the point where she's stupified on drugs and Roy doesn't want to waste a single minute he can get. The Great Divide seemed uncloseable until Roy realized that lying for the one he loved on this was the only way to close it and make Hayley's last months happy for her. It's the unselfish thing to do though it goes against every fibre of his being. He's got to pretend to support her decision when he can't bear the thought of it. I wonder if they'll actually have her go through with it or if she'll slip away before she gets the chance. Or maybe they'll just leave it ambiguous and we'll be left to decide for ourselves if she did or didn't. I don't know how long she's got but I reckon we'll have one heart wrenching bittersweet Christmas at least.

I hope they start having her showing effects of her illness soon because she still looks the picture of health. She's just had her first chemotherapy session and jumped right back in and finished Carla's wedding dress. You'd think she'd have been wiped out after the treatment. Are they not going to show her suffering any ill effects at all? We did get one scene where we finally saw her break down and tell Roy she was scared and didn't want to die.That was something I expected to see a lot earlier. Roy is hovering and fretting over her and she keeps pushing him away as getting under her feet. Or she's forcing him to face the things he's trying to avoid. The first I think might be a bit hard, the second seems to be a bit of a necessity with Roy's head in the sand so much.

It's such a tough thing on everyone involved. I thought we'd be seeing more of Fiz and Tyrone through this but so far, not a lot. I do like the closeness between Hayley and Carla that we have seen since Hayley got ill. We didn't really see a lot of that before.

David's lurching around from pillar to post and while I understand Kylie's anger and disgust, I don't think she can legally keep him from the kids unless she tries to go to court. He must have a lawyer/solicitor over the sale of the house at least so why doesn't he get him/her to write a letter? They're all ganging up on David and rightly so but is it fair to keep him from the children who don't understand? Audrey was the first one to crack, though, letting David at least come live with her. You could see that coming. Tina had had enough. Weird, David was full of help with cooking and cleaning at first but obviously it didn't last. As much as what David did with Nick was awful, you can't help feeling a bit sorry for him. Just a little bit.

Now Tina's helping out with Simon. Because, you know, a kid that can find his way home from Blackpool at the age of 6 can't manage to walk a couple of blocks to school in his own neighbourhood. He's also at that awkward age where he can't really be left home alone but is almost too old for a sitter. Not too old to be the victim of bullying though. Poor kid!


Ironic isn't it, that Faye was bullied and was drawn into Grace's bullying, mostly letting Grace to the dirty work but going along with it. Grace bullies Faye as well but Faye is desperate to have a best friend, something she's never had. You can tell, though, that little by little Faye had doubts but was both afraid of Grace and afraid of losing her only friend. I bet Grace has been bullying a lot of the kids and now that Faye has finally outed her, more kids might want to be her friend, too, kids that would be true friends, not false ones. I wonder if we actually will see Grace having any consequences now that Faye has shopped her to the cops. I certainly hope we see a bit of fallout in the coming weeks or else it was a real, pardon the pun, cop out. It was a good storyline, I thought.

The girl that played Grace really nailed it and Ellie Leach played Faye well, too, with those little looks that the viewer could see, letting us know Faye knew she was doing wrong. It was frustrating, though, watching Anna be so blind for so long even though Owen and even Izzy suspected Grace and Sally had her number from the start. Sally probably *was* Grace when she was young!

Nick's still forgetful and tempermental while he's recovering. It's a good storyline, something a bit different, isn't it? Once Nick's physical issues are healed, there really isn't any type of therapy you can do for a brain injury except wait it out and hope for the best.

By the end of the month we're careening wildly towards Peter having a fling with Tina. Is it appropriate? No. Is the age difference as appalling as it was with Molly and Kevin? Yes. Does it make sense? Yes. And the reason I say yes is because Peter's ego and self esteem has been taking a kicking these last few months. Carla's barging ahead with the wedding, as do most brides but Peter's been focusing on Simon and Carla doesn't understand the lad is his priority. Then there's the lovely Tina and there's Peter's Barlow genes kicking in. Tina's on the rebound from Tommy and vulnerable and Peter? He might be old enough to be her father, but he's a hell of a lot sexier and good looking than Kevin. And in that fling, it was Molly that did all the initial flirting. Kevin never had a roving eye utnil she put the idea into his head. Kevin being the father of daughters not so much younger than Molly also added to the ick factor.