State of the Street - November 2014

As expected, Peter's out of prison after Rob was exposed as the murderer. Nice twist having Tracy be the one to lead the police to him, albeit a selfish one since she was likely able to do a deal to get the stolen goods trafficking dropped. She might have used Amy as an excuse and that was probably part of it, to be fair. She's still not Mother of the Year but as Amy has grown older, Tracy seems to be able to relate to her better. But as per usual, Tracy won't take any blame or, in this case, let someone she loves (Rob) take the responsibility for his actions. She's got to blame someone else and this time it's Carla. Rob did it all for Carla, you see, so it's her fault, not Rob's for his own actions and decisions. This is why Tracy will never be redeemed. She won't take responsibility for her own actions and always needs someone else to blame for whatever stress she's under. It's also why Amy is starting to turn into a mini-Tracy, lying to make situations worse in order to get attention.

Peter really did think that Carla might forgive him and have him back. Realistically, down deep he probably knew she wouldn't, but I would assume he convinced himself otherwise as a prison survival instinct. It got him through those last few days and out the door but one final rejection and he ran for the hills. Or the sea. Portsmouth, anyway, where he's been before. I wonder if he still owns a betting shop there like he did years ago? Remember? He had Adam with him to help run it before Adam mysteriously ended up in Canada and needing his grandad to help when he got ill. Farewell Peter. I hope he comes back someday. Chris Gascoyne has been one of my favourite actors on the show.

Across the road, Tim is now learing to read, first with Anna's tutelage. Some may say that seems out of character for someone like Anna, not overly educated herself but why not? It seems to me that anyone that can read competently has the potential to teach someone else to read and almost all parents teach their kids their ABCs before they go to school, don't they? Tim would be too embarassed to go to an adult literacy class lest everyone find out and besides, having him do that on the sly wouldn't be as good a plot device so we have Anna teaching him and Sally suspecting an affair. And then, of course, it all comes out, Sally is quite supportive and now wants to take over as teacher and that will be a disaster if ever there was one. She's far too demanding and it will drive Tim crazy. I think it would be nicer if Maddie helped him. And in the last week of the month, after Sally found out about Tim, we've had nothing. No show of her helping him at all. I hope they don't let it die a pitiful death, with Tim suddenly reading, having had all the blood, sweat and tears over Dick and Jane in the background. But that's probably what will happen.

 As expected, the Windasses have to get out of their house but I'm surprised they ended up in the bookies' flat. Well, I'm not but I expected the corner shop flat which isn't any larger so I guess it doesn't matter. I forgot that Katy and Joseph live with Steph now, because I was stunned...how on earth all those people fit in the house at Number 6 was baffling enough but now they're going to somehow stack them like cord wood in a pokey two bedroom flat? But it's at least marginally credible because Gary will be kipping on the sofa. I guess Izzy won't be visiting as often because the stairs will be difficult unless Owen carries her up. And, also as I expected, it leaves Number 6 free for Yasmeen and Shariff who have a really nice home already. Realistically, they'd never sell up and move to Coronation Street but again, plot devices must dictate and there will be new neighbours that get a cheap house at auction. It's not a good luck house, though. There have been a lot of deaths and bad things happen there. Any new tennant should really avoid it.

Gary's still sneaking around with Alya but that's bound to come out sooner or later especially since Leanne knows. You know what? I don't really care! I liked Gary and Izzy but I don't feel the spark with this pair. There doesn't seem to be a lot of spark between Kal and Leanne either. Leanne always worked best with a "bad boy" like Peter or that Danny Baldwin, remember him? Ohh, how about Leanne and Gavin? I bet that would light the Bistro up under Nick's backside!

Kylie's on drugs. Then she's not. Then she is again. Make up your mind, chuck. She tries to resist the temptation of her old life but her new one is laying on the guilt and stress and now that she's dipped her toe in the water, she can't seem to resist jumping in for a swim even if she's actually wallowing in a dirty old canal instead of a sparkling clean lake. Sorry. Got carried away with analogies, there. I know the actress will be going on maternity leave soon, probably just about at Christmas so I'm trying to figure out how that's going to play out. Rehab? Rock Bottom and then a healing visit to her sister Becky for a bit, leaving David holding the responsibility for the kids? Or will she go off with Callum and come back after her mat leave, tail between her legs, all strung out and wanting help? Because of Max and Lily, he'll take her back, you know he will.

And then there's Gail, Michael and the prodigal son, Gavin. Michael's on medication for his heart condition. I half expect a transplant at some point, for extra drama. Gavin has turned up and understandably is hesitant about getting to know his father again. God knows what his mother told him over all those years. And speaking of his mother, he was very cagey when people asked about her. He's got the markings of a bad'un though and he's got his own secrets. I reckon he spent time in jail during that spell that David said there was no sign of him when he was doing an internet search. What was he in jail for? He certainly liked the idea that Gail must have savings and Audrey owns a business as well so he could very well be yet another con man out to fleece the McInPlattBerts clan somehow. Only Gail doesn't have much money, does she? We know David bought the house because Gail lost all her money to Lewis. Anything he paid for the house would have paid off the money she borrowed against the house for the last con man. She hasn't really discussed finances with Michael.

We viewers are feeling really bad for Steve, who is really struggling. He can't talk to anyone and he can't pull himself out of his depression, not without help, help that he can't accept he needs yet. He can't concentrate, can't sleep, He's doing anything he can to distract himself. I can't blame him for spending time in the Bistro. Steph is jolly and cheery and has no expectations of him while Michelle just keeps ragging on Steve making him feel worse. Michelle is sure he's gone off her and the world revolves around her. He won't talk to her so that's it, it's her, not him. He can't tell her what's wrong so she sees no other way but to leave him and he lets her go. He did get diagnosed but he still can't talk to anyone, not even his mother because when he tried, she tore a strip off him, too. He's retreating into himself further and further. It's going to be a painful story to watch, but a very good one.

It was a bit of a stretch, that telescope taking years to get to Norris from Australia, wasn't it? The only thing that irked me is that Norris aka the writers made it sound as if Ramsay sent it before he died, "to make amends". Except Ramsay died on the plane en route back to Oz. Unless it was in his will, which it certainly could have been, he didn't send it himself. If he'd wanted Norris to have it, he could have brought it to England himself when he came so that option's off the table, too. Anyway. It's the little things, isn't it? And having said that, that whole storyline with Norris chasing a parcel that he only had to ask be delivered to the Kabin rather than chasing the delivery man around day in and day out was ludicrous and extremely painful to watch. The only brilliant bit was that scene where the little guy in the depot held all the cards and shut the office up in Norris' face because he didn't have ID and it was closing time! Excellent stuff! The other good outcome was finding out Craig was an astronomy fan and him helping Norris with a tablet app. Anything with Craig in it lately is just lovely. I hope they show a bit more of his friendship with Faye, too!

We had a visit from Cilla who was uncharacteristically restrained. Chesney was bitter and cynical, and he's probably right in that she only came back because she was ill but she really did seem to have a reality check when she realized what her children thought of her. I think she really did have a few regrets and accepted that she got what she deserved. Still, she was only there to facilitate the exit of Jennie McAlpine (Fiz) for her maternity leave. I enjoyed seeing her again, and it was good that she wasn't over the top but still showed flashes of the old, selfish Cilla now and then. I think it's good that they have progressed her a bit now that she's older.

And that's the State of the Street in November. We're scooting up to the big Christmas storylines. I wonder if anyone will have a Merry one? You can pretty much bet the Platts won't!