State of the Street - August 2016

Kylie was laid to rest with pop music, burgers and controversy. You couldn't have it any other way, could you? David is angry. Very angry. He's trying to hold it together for his children but it all leads back to Callum, I expect. He can't be angry at Kylie for starting it all off with Callum and he's got to blame someone. He tried to ban Gemma from the funeral but was made to see sense there. He insisted none of Kylie's other old mates could come. They didn't but sent flowers which ticked him off and about the time he was doing an Irish step dance on the flower arrangement, Todd started in on him.

You see, Sarah figured out Todd thought she'd killed Callum after her incoherent raving while she was in the middle of a breakdown and she managed to convince him she didn't do the deed. She didn't, however, explain the truth so Todd thinks she's covering up for David. That might not be such a problem except he lied to the police to protect her, blaming Jason's father, Tony and because of Phelan's manipulations (though he doesn't realized that aspect of it), Jason left town and proceeded to get drunk in Thailand, fall off a wall and get hurt, all because he thinks his father killed Callum. Still with me?

Anyway, Sarah finally told him the whole truth to keep him from going to the police and he's promised to keep schtum though she had to work hard on his emotions for him to agree to it. We'll see how that works out for him. Meanwhile, David is struggling and it's only his little ones that are keeping him going as he tries to get them and himself through Kylie's and Lily's birthday. Some days it seems he's doing ok and others he finds he's just in a daze. Pretty normal, I'd say. Poor Max is feeling it terribly, too. I would love to see Nick have a bit more interaction with Max, he's the only one that truly knows what it's like to lose a parent to a violent act. As for David, we all know what happens to David when the anger boils over. It's not going to be pretty.

Steve's in a pickle. What else is new? His one night stand with Leanne has left her pregnant and Michelle is so broody that she's done a reverse on her previous stand of no babies and decides she wants one herself. Steve didn't want one let alone two though he might not have minded one if it had been Michelle getting pregnant by accident. Now, though, with Leanne keeping hers, he can't handle the idea of both of them producing a spare heirs each but it's too late. Michelle's pregnant, too. I wonder if the stress will send Steve back to up his meds or if that will be conveniently forgotten.

Cue the next 8 months or so of Steve ducking, diving, gurning, and trying to keep his wife from finding out about the other baby momma. Add into that mix that Liz knows and she's glaring and shouting every time she gets a minute. Leanne knows that Liz knows so she's cowering under that same glare. Michelle doesn't know, not at this point. She and Steve have promised, no more lies but he's pretty sure he'd lose Michelle if she found out about it even if They Were On A Break.

And then there's Nick. He's decided Carla was just a bad dream and like always, he comes running back to Leanne who, though she's tempted, decides she better run the other way because of the baby. Only Nick found out and persuaded her to stay and he'd raise the baby anyway, suggesting she lie and agree to tell everyone the baby is his, after a mad night shortly after Carla left. Gail nearly worked it all out and was very suspicious and superbly horrified. Except Leanne doesn't like lies anymore. Not big, emotional ones like this at least and she's going to cave in any time now.  Meanwhile, Michelle is the still in the dark seeing as Liz knows, too. Boy is she going to be pissed. That might be one lie too many.

And all that business between Robert and Nick was cringeworthy. Far too much testosterone being flung about and I have no patience for pissing contests and stags butting heads on the side of the mountain. Get over yourselves. I still think Robert and Leanne would have made a better couple than Nick and Leanne but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. I do hope they aren't going to put Robert and Tracy back together, because that never worked, either. The whole premise of him holding a torch for her all these years never rung true to my ears. Now that he can see what she's really like, surely he won't find any urge to rekindle those embers? There's been no hint but Tracy still throws longing glances his way when she spots him from afar.

Craig has decided that being a police officer is a much better option than being a starving artist. He's probably right, at least as an income to pay the bills and build on a pension. But here's the problem. You can't have an immediate family member that's been convicted of a crime and Beth seems to be hiding something. Beth has never told Craig about his father so it will probably turn out that he's in the nick.  The thing is, I used to have the distinct impression that Craig didn't know who his father was. He's never known him, that's for sure. I wondered if Beth never put the father's name on the birth certificate. If she didn't, how would the police be able to find out who Craig's dad was? Then, it logically follows, he does know the name of his father even if he's never laid eyes on him. Kind of unfair if they hold that against him but rules is rules.

I love, love, love that Gemma is getting a proper storyline. She's making a big effort to turn her life around and it's really funny, watching her try to do good deeds, succeeding in some and annoying the heck out of people when she doesn't succeed so well. I like that Rita, once she found out what Gemma was doing, seemed to be supportive. Rita has often been behind young women, having faith in them and helping them grow their confidence. Gemma's face just lights up when she does something that makes her feel good about herself. She always has shown signs of having a good heart but she's been a survivor and had to be tough. I hope she sticks around. The character is a total delight and the actor is fantastic. It really looks like she's having a ball playing Gemma, too!

Aidan and Maria. Really? Two people that have barely said a word to each other the whole time they've known each other and they end up shagging on the sofa after a drunken evening of sob story wallowing about their respective partners. I don't buy it and I don't see where they're going with this. I never really thought Eva and Aidan were that great a couple but then that's because he was always portrayed as a playboy and not really all that committed to her and him trying to avoid moving in with her only cements that impression.

Maria and Luke were ok, a bit boring, but she seemed to look down on him. He's younger than her and it felt like she didn't really respect him as a grown up, an equal. Surely they aren't going to put Aidan and Maria together so what was the point of the fling? Aidan is running around in a panic all the time and insisting Maria act normally. Seems to me he's the one that needs to settle down but Eva is so daft she's not going to notice.

Meanwhile, Maria took in Caz who has her completely fooled as to her real bonkers personality. We've already seen Caz lie to try to keep Kate, and to try to stop the inevitable court martial. She's aggressive and she's jealous. She's got all the ear markings of a potential obsessive stalker and Maria wants to be very careful. Maybe Aidan will be the one to rescue Maria from whatever Caz ends up doing? That's a thought.

Audrey seems to be stuck between two grieving widowers. On one hand there's Ken who's interest is growing and on the other, there's Freddie who likes her but seems to be keeping her at arms' length which you would expect so soon after his own wife died. But Freddie is starting to turn Audrey's head his way more and more and Ken keeps having to look on from the outside. He burned his bridges when he got involved with the Loch Nessa monster and by the time he'd recovered from that disaster, Audrey seemed to be cooling down a tad. I actually think Freddie and Audrey would make a great couple rather than Audrey and Ken. Freddie makes her laugh and Ken is just too serious and his idea of fun and hers are miles apart. It's still all very low key, though. I don't know if this is heading to real romance or not.

I can see why Ken would be attracted to Audrey. Apart from the fact that Audrey is a nice looking woman, she's not as well educated as he is and he always has gone for that, someone to reinforce his view of himself as Educated with a capital E. Audrey needs someone to take care of her and have fun with her. Alf Roberts was so not Audrey's type but he was devoted to her and though she may have married him for the security she needed at the time, she did grow to love him deeply. I just can't see Ken being devoted to Audrey. He couldn't even manage it with Deirdre much of the time! It's just not in his nature. He knows he wasn't a great husband and he knows he didn't appreciate what he had until he lost it. Leopards don't change their spots.

Billy and Todd are now a couple. Todd has even less respect for religion than Sean had so I don't know how well this will go. You don't have to be a believer but you do need to respect your partner's beliefs. I certainly don't want Todd to see the light because he's too much fun to watch as a bad boy. I think probably Billy and Todd are a bit of a better match but even then, still not sure it works. I do like Billy as a character and maybe he can bring out the better man in Todd. 

Last but not least, Phelan is still scheming. He got rid of Jason and he's managed to get rid of Sean once the whole Todd-Billy thing came out. That probably would have happened anyway because it can't be easy for Sean to be in the same house as Todd and worse when Billy is there. Still, a few sly words from Phelan and Sean's ultimatum went badly against him. It was ill advised anyway. Todd is Eileen's son and since he's been a good boy lately, that trumps the lodger no matter how much he's loved, too.

Phelan is also trying to get his hands on Jason's inheritance and a pal has come up with a scheme. Build a show-flat to lure in investors and then shut it down, where all the deposits are lost and a mint is made. Surely that's illegal but here's assuming Vinny has a loophole to prove to any investigations that it was just a failed project and the contracts signed will probably have a clause about a non-refundable deposit. They need start up money and Vinny either isn't using his own because he doesn't have it, is also using some of his own or is too smart to use his own.

This is just the kind of scheme Phelan enjoys but it took a bit of work to persuade Eileen to persuade Jason to let the money go. It's all happening, though, so we'll see where this is going. Will it work or will it backfire on Phelan? Todd will probably be the one to bring him down somehow but it's difficult to know how that will happen just yet.




Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)