State of the Street - July 2014

Gary and Izzy broke up, probably the result of all that stress and it looks like the Windass family have hit bottom. Owen is now bankrupt but it remains to be seen whether he'll lose the house, too. They didn't say, did they?  but it can't be far off.  Still, when you read the bottom, Anna figured the only thing to make it all better is take Owen back into her bed. She does love him or i'd have said it was a pity thing. Next thing you know they're all smiles and are hopeful and if they are about to lose their house, it's a bit odd nobody's panicking. They're acting like it's all over, for the grand sum of just over 5 grand, wasn't it? Just in time for Faye's teenage hormones to hit. Looks like there's something on her mind and according to Craig, the social media is ablaze with rumours about her sleeping around.

Is she being bullied again? Or is it true? There are rumours but I'm waiting to see if they're just that because if the rumours are true, we've already done that so why do it again unless the outcome is going to be different. I'd much rather see her get into a drug habit considering her mother was an addict. Well, no, I wouldn't *really* want to see that happen but it would be more in line, continuity wise.

The net is closing in on Rob so he's fighting even harder to point the finger at Peter and it seems to have worked. Now he just has to keep him there and keep the suspicion off himself. Meanwhile, he's jumpy and irritable and it's so obvious he's acting guilty and under pressure. I'm surprised nobody really notices. He couldn't be that upset over Tina's death or upset at what Carla's been through. Angry, yes, jumping out of his skin, no.


Peter's in prison and thinks everyone has abandoned him. Well, his father at least. That will probably be enforcing that old abandonment issue he has had since he was a kid and Ken shunted he and his sister off to Scotland when their mother died. It's not Ken's fault, nobody told him a thing! I don't really understand, though. Ok, Deirdre never said anything but I don't believe for a minute Tracy hasn't spoken or communicated with her father for over a year and even Amy would have been likely to tell  her grandad something big like Peter going to jail.

I know it is an unusual circumstance and we have to suspend disbelief on this one due to the actor's forced absence but it's difficult to swallow just the same. Deirdre still hasn't told Ken because he's going to be coming back very soon. Boy is he going to get a shock!

Anyway, Peter seems to have a congenial cellmate so we won't have to watch our boy struggle like Fiz did, not in that way at least. But he must be going through the physical hell of the DTs by now. Again, the Weatherfield police, who started off so promising because they could tell Tina was hit after she fell, dropped the ball. The circumstantial-at-best evidence just doesn't hold up. You can't count the fingerprints on the bracelet because Deirdre told the police she washed and cleaned it after the dog found it. Any prints on it after that are irrelevant, Your Honour. And why would he kill Tina then go and tell Carla about the affair? Any decent solicitor would have that charge run out of court. Of course we know Rob did it and soap law dictates he'll get nicked in the end. It'll be interesting to see how he holds up in the meantime because he's definitely not as steady about all this as he pretends.

As I said, Gary and Izzy are no more and now we have a new drinking game while we watch the street. Every time you see Gary in a scene, Alya shows up and vice versa. Have a pint (or bevvy of your choice) every time one coincidentally runs into the other. It's been happening all month, either directly or indirectly when we see one or the other in the background of the shot watching the one in the foreground. It's ludicrous and it couldn't be any more obvious and "in our face" that the powers that be are pushing them together. It's being forced and that's why it won't work in the long run. It will be interesting to see how they go about it, though, because Alya's a good Muslim girl and doesn't drink, nor will she jump into bed with Gary.

We have now met Kal's mother, Sharif's wife, Yasmeen. She's very forceful and determined, isn't she? I like her! She's far more interesting than either Kal or Sharif have turned out to be so far. It's apparent from the dialogue that she's the dominant one of the family and isn't afraid to get into trouble for causes she believes in. That's a nice addition to the character instead of her being just out and out bitchy and bullying her family all over the place.

Now she's determined to save the local library where she's head librarian. Fair enough, it's not just a resource for the community, it's her job! Nice to see that Emily was involved in a few scenes, too, and standing her ground like always. Yasmeen definitely understimated our Mrs. Bishop, Miss Nugent as was! There's fire in the old girl, yet! Roy is being drawn into it as well which is great. I'm so glad Roy will have a storyline of his own and this is right up his alley. He isn't confrontational but maybe he can find some of that fire within himself anyway. If Ken had been here, he'd certainly have been involved, too but when he gets back, he'll have his hands full with Peter.

Gail has a new project and his name is Michael. I always said he was the most pathetic burglar I've ever seen. Also, how did he get such a harsh prison sentence, short though it was? He makes it sound like he was inside for years and everyone seems to assume he's a hardened criminal. Now he's out with a monitor ankle bracelet, too. I just can't see it when so many first time offenders get their fingers slapped and community service at the worst.

Everyone is calling him a thief but as I recall, although he did break in, he didn't steal anything because Kylie scared him off. Anyway, he took to Gail straight away and admitted it. He fancies her something rotten. She was only just starting to return the affection but yet again, she's up against her family who don't trust him. I can understand them being a bit worried initially but he really isn't that threatening and is more of a sad sack than a hardened criminal. Nick even made her choose and rather than break her family even more than it is, and pandering to her spoiled brat of a son, she gave Michael the boot. I don't imagine it's for long, though. I think he'll be back.

With Lewis, her family's concern was warranted but it does seem like Michael is a good guy, who was only brought down to crime by circumstance. So far, anyway. They might make a pretty decent couple and if the actor is going to stay, maybe Gail can find some happiness finally. It's nice to see her smile and having fun. It would also give her a chance to rub it in Eileen's face, too! I really hope Michael can find it in himself to smack Nick, though. No, ok, not. He'd probably have more luck standing up to him verbally and keeping his integrity as he has been doing.

Nick is being viler than a vile thing. Fair enough, Leanne hurt him a lot but nobody's pointed out that he was the one that insisted she leave him in the first place. Then he became sorry and decided he could win her back but it was too late. I suppose he's being so nasty because he's feeling foolish on top of it all. I don't think his brain injury is coming into play here at all, not this time around. He's not being impulsive for the most part, he's being vindictive, calculating and plain old nasty, both to Leanne and to Michael. Nick the Dick (let's be blunt but not as graphic as I'd like to be!) This is my blog and I can call him that, right?  Nick might act threatening but even with his latent brain injury, he's just having a bad temper tantrum because he couldn't have what he wanted after he pushed it (her) away.

I never liked Nick and Leanne together and I always felt that she rebounded on Peter to Nick. Now she's rebounding to Kal so chances are pretty good that's going to end in disaster, too. It's too bad Leanne seems to be the sort that can't be without a man. Ever. Sends the wrong signals, I think.

Dennis is gone again. What a shame how much they wasted that wonderful actor and character. It was so nice to have that connection to the old days though they rarely had him do any reminiscing. The problem with his scheme with Julie to "make him homeless" so Rita would take him back in is that I think Dennis really does love Rita but Dennis being Dennis, he resorts to scheming and it backfires. Rita still has enough distrust in Dennis after being so hurt to have doubts once Norris brought up that little gem. She made him leave once and for all.

Andrea has been outed and Lloyd knows she's married. Or was. She's left that pathetic stalker-wannabe but Lloyd currently won't have her back. I don't know why Lloyd seems to be even more of a loser in love than some of the classic love-losers like Curly Watts or Steve McDonald. He really does seem to be a chump, doesn't he? Neil is sadly running around begging Andrea to come back and Lloyd to give her up. He really must have had his head in the sands of Dubai or wherever it is he goes away to work. Never had a clue she was bored, unhappy and felt trapped.


It's annoying to me that people trapped in an unhappy life like that continue to do nothing about it when there would be no real reason why they can't leave. Neil doesn't appear to be violent so she can't be scared of him that way. She also doesn't seem to have any friends at all aside from Steve. She did mention once that her friends are also Neil's and she didn't want to put them in the middle but really, it's just contrived so she'd be putting Steve in the middle between her and his best friend. Duh. This storyline really has turned into a cliche and I've gone off it and off Andrea now. Even if Lloyd ends up forgiving her and taking her back, he should never trust her again but he would, wouldn't he? Because that's what he does.

We lost Marcus, too. He finally saw the light and realized Todd was playing him the whole time. Todd's such a pathological liar. I think he even knows it but he can't seem to help himself. They wasted Marcus when they put him with Maria and I never bought that Marcus would fall for Todd. But it was contrived to give Charlie Condou his exit storyline. Don't you find that exit storylines end up being rather lame on the whole, general preceeded by a visit from a personality transplant fairy. In spite of the unbelievability of Marcus falling for Todd, I enjoyed it because even if it seems like a big personality change for Todd, he's turning into a really enjoyable bitchy character to watch. He's not evil, not like Tony Gordon, but he's nasty, manipulative and self serving and it's a hoot sometimes watching him play people. Frustrating that they continually let him get away with it though. Eileen keeps overlooking it because she doesn't want to lose him again? She'll only finally put her foot down if the actor wants to leave.

AT the moment, Todd is kind one dimensional. I hope they find something that can redeem him because if it keeps up like this, there might be no way back. You don't want to back a character into a corner. Even Tracy Barlow seems to be showing feelings for her family these days, albeit briefly.