State of the Street - December 2014

Tracy's vendetta was hugely annoying and a bit limp by the end. Did anyone really think that what she'd been through would somehow profoundly change her? Thought not. She couldn't accept her own part in her unhappiness, she wasn't willing to blame Rob, who loved her, so she's going to blame Carla. She's been advised to Grow Up which isn't going to happen any time soon. She's having financial trouble, which tells me that the only reason they had customers before is due to Rob's charm. She's determined to "make Carla pay" so what does she do? She gets into the factory and messes it up a bit. See, sledgehammering the sewing machines, that might have been more of an inconvenience. Too bad she didn't take lessons from Becky that time! Even Carla had more grace and was willing to say no more about it. Did Tracy back off? Did she heck.

Luckily, she ended up having other distractions. Rob obviously didn't get a trial because he ended up confessing. He was sentenced to the full whack. I suppose he must have confessed rather than make the crown pay for another trial, one he couldn't win anyway. Anyway, he's been done for murder and Tracy's trying to keep her head above the financial waters that she's drowning in. Tony to the rescue, she's desperate. And a bit of comfort turns into the inevitable shag and my money's on it not being the last one they have. Liz is going to make a meal out of her when she finds out! Todd already knows or has a pretty good idea, and he's going to enjoy having that over Tracy's head, mark my words.

Steve is sinking all his and Streetcars' money into the money pit of a kit car that he never should have bought in the first place and to give Amy an overwhelming Christmas. He's using it as the ultimate distraction so he doesn't have to face anything else that's weighing on him. He's not reaching out for help and the doctor can't make him. I know he needs to see a mental health specialist but surely a GP can prescribe some anti depressants? But that would make the storyline too easy. It has to be drawn out a bit longer and it will end in a crisis, a major reality check with Steve hitting the bottom before he'll finally get the help he needs. I hope it's soon because I'm getting heartily sick and tired of Michelle's moaning and crying.

Gary and Alya were hiding their budding relationship in the shadows and ginnels until they got caught out. Leanne knew but kept her silence for a little while but before she could spill the beans, her family found out and it all hit the fan. Kal thumped Gary, Gary hit the cobbles, figuratively and literally. I had to feel sorry for him at this point. *everyone* turned against him except his mother and Faye. Everyone kept treating him like crap no matter what he did or didn't do, especially Owen and Katy who has always been unpleasant anyway. I don't think he deserved to be treated like the neighourhood pariah (or "Pirhana" as Les Battersby used to say!) I really didn't buy Alya and Gary as a "Romeo and Juliet" couple in the first place. Sadly, I predict they'll continue to play them that way.

Owen sabotages his job, Izzy makes him feel like dirt and he ends up so desperate that he attempts to rob the cafe of all things. Well, he got the hard end of Roy's cricket bat for that though it horrified poor Roy. He'd been bullied for months by "youths" and scared earlier that day by them and reckoned it was one of them. Serves Gary right for robbing a neighbour, I do have to say that much. For that one deed, he does deserve contempt. But I had a good old rant about how he's been treated prior to that over here.

It was Sofa-gate in the Webster house this month in a wonderfully funny story where Kevin bought a second hand sofa off someone trying to offload her furniture so the ex-husband wouldn't get it. Kevin traded with Tim and Sally thought the sofa was horrific until she found out it was a designer brand. I still think it was horrifically ugly! The best outcome is the excellent double act that Kevin and Tim have become!

It's tradition that the Platt christmas be an utter disaster and this year was no different. Kylie spent most of December playing silly beggars with Callum over the drugs. She seemed to be away from it for awhile then she'd give in to temptation again. Back and forth unless she was into it more than we saw on screen. David found out about the drugs but not about Callum straight away. But Kylie seemed to finally make a decision and chose her family. That made Callum decide to haunt Kylie's life. It's as if he persued her all that much more when he couldn't have her. I think it's more about control than him deciding he can't live without her.

He got his hair cut at the salon and his car fixed at the garage. Poor Kylie was losing her mind! Finally, a gift for Max on Christmas day and it all went pear shaped. All Kylie's secrets blew out of the closet and after a gritted-teeth Christmas dinner for the children, David threw her out. She went with Callum probably because at that point she had nowhere else to go. (The actress is off on maternity leave.) If Kylie can manage it, she'll clean up her act, dump Callum and get a job somewhere. I predict that David will find her in a run down caff somewhere, perhaps having put Callum back in prison for dealing. Maybe she'll even have gone through a rehab program, all of which will prove to David that maybe she has changed. I expect they'll find their way back together. I hope so.

We also discovered that Gavin isn't Gavin and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to tell the secret. The real Gavin seems to be somewhere that either has no mobile coverage. Surely after all the urgent phone messages this fellow has left, he'd have called if he could. Maybe he's already dead of the heart ailment that Michael has!! You can see that Gavin likes Michael and he's fancying Steph like mad but is trying not to get too involved. I think, for a change, this guy isn't going to turn out to be a wrong'un. I don't think he intended on pretending to be Gavin for any personal gain though it kind of seemed like that at first, with the plumbing crisis when Michael and Gail gave him some money. It wasn't a huge amount but if he was unemployed it was probably spent to keep some of the bills paid. Anyway, I'll be interested to see how this unfolds.

I'm enjoying most of the Nazirs. Well, Yasmeen and Sharif anyway. Alya needs to get away from Gary. Zeedan seems to be sulky and one-note but he probably has potential and if he has a proper storyline, he'll be ok I think. Kal turned out to be quite dull and he's dragging Leanne down.

Sean's met a gay vicar, Billy, and I like what I've seen of him so far. Sean needs to calm down and not be so frantic and nervous all the time and if he does, maybe this might go somewhere. Todd's made a mountain out of a little scratch. Boring! Dev and Julie are loved up. Lloyd and Andrea seem to be spare parts.

And so we turn the page over to a new year. Wonder what Corrie has in store for us and all the characters? All the best wishes to you all!