Put the knife down, Anne

For once, the real killer's name wasn't screaming at us from the headlines. ITV threw out red herrings, five possible suspects in fact, all of whom had a motive for murder, though Michelle's was the weakest of them. Carla and Peter each had pretty strong reasons to kill Frank but I knew all along it would end up being his mother, Anne. No, I didn't *know* know, but I was pretty sure because after all my years of watching soaps, I can pretty much tell how it's going to come out.

Because Anne just wouldn't kill her son with intent, I also reckoned it would be an accident, which it appears to have been. She's shown signs of lashing out and being impulsive before so it's not unbelievable that during a great steaming row, charged with anger and shock, she'd grab the nearest thing to hand and clout him with it. I don't know what she expected would happen if she whacked him with a heavy bottle half full of whiskey but I don't think she was really thinking about anything but what she'd heard and found out.

Frank raped Carla. Worry about Frank's court case contributed to her beloved husband's demise. Frank was unrepentant and scornful of his mother. Grief, anger, shock, even guilt because she believed Frank over Carla who was brutally raped, it's a clear case of a crime of passion. She may do time for manslaughter but I think it will be a light sentence under the circumstances.

By rights, Anne is Frank's next of kin. What about the factory? Even if the solicitor can say he drew up a contract for the sale, nobody can prove it because the contract has been burned. Carla won't admit it and neither will Michelle or Peter. Should they be punished for that crime? Technically you could say they contributed to stealing back the factory majority share. Anne must inherit Frank's minority share. Will she stay a sleeping partner? Will she give it all to Carla? If she does, it better be all legal and proper.

Will Carla forgive Sally after all the nasty things Sally's said in the past? Sally will grovel and apologize, and Carla will put it down to being mesmerized and under Frank's oily spell and our Sal will be back lording it over the others in the factory before you know it. Life goes on.

The whole storyline has been very good in spite of criticism that rape does not belong on Corrie. I agree with that but if you are going to have it, do it with good actors and decent writing. They built up Frank well. Cold, calculating, controlling. Carla couldn't have Peter so once again, she went with whoever was available and once again, paid a price. The rape and aftermath was horrific but well acted. The trial was full of holes but soap trials always are. Frank didn't get convicted and that happens in real life a lot, too. But as it's a soap, we knew Frank would pay in the end and he did, with his life.

Classic whodunnit but also a classic cop-out with the expendable crew member being the culprit. I did waver at one point that it was Jenny Sumner because she could very easily have been brought in to become the woman Frank tried to attack next but, no, that was too easy. I wondered if Sally would be threatened by Frank and would lash out in self defence. That could have been the second most likely scenario but I think Sally would have owned up straight away. No, it had to be Anne, Frank's own mother.

From Frank's death, over the next couple of weeks, we could see Anne swinging from a shifty look to hysteria as guilt overcame her and back again. On the day of the funeral, she tried to reach out to Carla to apologize and then she cracked open. She nearly made a clean getaway but Sally discovered the truth but fell and knocked herself out before she could raise the alarm. Carla managed to get to the house before Anne could get out and the confession came gasping out of Anne as she admitted she'd killed her own son!

It was breath taking stuff. When scenes end and I'm catching my breath, I know it's been superb, Corrie at its best.

But with the good, there's always a plot hole or two.

1. Where's Jenny? She witnessed the signing of the contract, she was Frank's lover and his collaborator. Ok, it was a dirty trick they played on Sally but you'd think she'd have at least gone to the funeral or the police would have mentioned talking to her.

2. Have you ever owned such a silent garage door as the one on Anne's house that Kevin lifted up to sneak in the back? Would you leave it  and the door into the house unlocked? There wasn't a grind or rattle inside the house to be heard when he lifted the door.

Never mind. It didn't take away from the finale of this storyline but the Jenny thing was odd.

There's been a lot written and speculated about this whodunnit as there always is when Coronation Street finishes off a long storyline with a bang. I enjoyed the storyline. I enjoyed the twists and turns as Sally fell for a calculating and dangerous man with her friends and family worried for her safety. I was amused as Frank quickly tired of her after the trial, her chuntering on about frozen entrees and him almost visibly shuddering at the thought of playing happy families with her once her respectibility helped his reputation at the trial.

Carla went through the gamut of the pain, anguish, anger, despair and fear through the rape, trial and shock of Frank's admission of guilt and then being questioned by the police. Later she thought Peter, the man she finally got her hands on, committed the crime. She struggled to be a step mother. She kept her cool at the end, knowing Anne was distraught.

And Anne...played by Gwen Taylor, she was awesome in every original sense of the word. What a smashing actor she is and what a fantastic job she's done all along! 

This is why I watch Coronation Street!

Thoughts on Frank's trial

Here's a few random thoughts and ideas about Frank's rape trial last week:

The opening arguments really exaggerated Frank's personality and the incident. But you have to do that to make him look as guilty as possible. Calling him a sexual predator implies he makes a habit of raping women. Maybe he does but maybe he doesn't. He's certainly a vile ratbag for doing it even once, don't get me wrong.  He's no Mr. Niceguy.

Carla's testimony was riveting, wasn't it? She was really believable and it looked like Frank even had a moment or two of guilt flash across his face.  His face started off cold and stiff, impatient, dark eyes snapping.  The more emotional she got, and when she described the actual rape, you could see a subtle change on his face. It softened, he swallowed hard, he looked away...it showed a definite look of regret. You could sense he still loves her and maybe, down deep, he realizes what he's done was wrong when he heard how scared she was of him. He may not accept it, and he justified it by his utterly positive belief that she was in love with Peter and carrying on with him all the time.

The prosecutor really raked Carla and her reputation over the coals. She practically called Carla a prostitute for allowing Frank to invest in the business, knowing he fancied her. The more the prosecuting attorney lambasted her, especially about Peter, the more Frank seemed to shore himself up and recover his resolve. Forget sentimentality, he's back baying for her blood.

It made me very angry that the prosecutor used Maria's attractive dress and the fact that she was drinking, to imply she should have expected his reaction. All of that does not justify anything, anyone's history, background or what they were wearing, none of that should enter into it ... but that's what happens a lot in these kinds of trials so in that respect, I found this realistic though it made it difficult to watch.

Unfortunately, Peter having to admit he now is having an affair brings doubt on Carla's testimony even if they insist nothing was going on then. When Anne passed Leanne the photographic evidence in a very measured and planned way and she hollered out in court, that sealed the deal.  There's always at least one obligatory outburst in a soap trial and if it isn't  during the testimony with someone outraged at a lie or some other such injustice or shock,  then it's someone screaming that the verdict is unfair! And even though that outburst  technically could be construed as wrongly influencing the jury because it wasn't evidence actually presented in court. I think they could even be charged with perverting the course of justice if it could be proven Frank and his mother were in cahoots over it. We know they were but proving it is their word against the law's.

Peter admitted the affair under oath. You can tell the jury all you want to disregard it but you can't unhear something.

Once the affair came out in court, I knew he'd get off. It put reasonable doubt on Carla's testimony. Frank was found not guilty and walked free.

Now Peter and Leanne have to deal with the fallout. Leanne is willing to get past the affair because she knows he did the same for her and Nick's affair but Peter's determined to be with Carla. I guess he can keep that promise even if he's rubbish at keeping them long term. There's Simon to be considered and if Peter thinks he and Carla and Simon can be one big happy family, he's got another think coming.

This was a bit more realistic than most soap trials tend to be though still some gaping holes. Some great performances, especially by Alison King and Andrew Lancel. The expressions that crossed his face were impressive. From cold to guilt and regret, to smugly satisfied.  Chris Gascoyne and Jane Danson as runners up in the performance accolades as does Gwen Taylor as Frank's bitchy mother. By God/dess,  doesn't she put Gail and even Mammy Connor to shame! Carla's had a lucky escape in the mother-in-law stakes there!

Where do we go from here? I hope we don't see Carla cowering every time she sees Frank. I'm sure they'll start setting up suspects for the forthcoming murder plotline and we can start adding up the clues from this day onward.