The Big Week, The Big Reveal

Wow! ITV really pulled out all the stops this week, didn't they? There were a few smaller fill-in storylines but mostly it was one major surprise after another. Big things were revealed, one or two which were superbly timed.

First we had Ken remembering Daniel was his assailant. The viewer knew by the end of last week and watched as Daniel quickly fell apart, guilt, pain, long held damage and resentment, it was all there as he attacked his father but wait, the door opens, that bookcase blocking the way shudders as someone tries to push through...just as Ken is accusing Daniel of killing his mother, his mother shows up on the other side of the door! I knew Denise would be back in the show but I had no idea it would be just then. Excellent stuff! Now to find out why she left and why she stayed away. A breakdown? That lasted for 6 years? And she had no friends at all in the  world she could send to check up on him?

Denise's reveal was that she'd had a breakdown and stayed away because she thought he'd be better off without her and still believes it. If she could see throught he walls of that bathroom to see her son trying to cut himself, scald his hands and shake and cry in a little heap in the corner, maybe she'd rethink that statement. *I* wanted to smack her for that. Daniel was about to have that discussion with his mother when he finally came out but the police showed up. Sinead had found the bloody book and oh too familiar inscription and the penny dropped there, too. But in the end, it was her that called the police.

Daniel turns himself in. I wonder if he could claim temporary insanity because he certainly is a damaged boy, no thanks to his mother. The detective is  practically spitting coins because Ken won't press charges. I didn't expect he would so that wasn't a surprise. Now the way forward is to find a way to help him. I think this was my favourite of the big stories this week, because I've been following it with great interest from the first, spellbound especially by Rob Mallard's performances.

Next up, Craig inadvertently revealed to Shona exactly who Bethany's boyfriend really is. Nathan was the ex that Shona was running from at Christmas, the ex that she has told people abused her, with at least one burn scar to prove it. When she confronted Nathan, she got away but was attacked and left for dead. Craig proves yet again to be the hero and rescues her, just days after helping a lost Bethany.

Nathan is feeding Bethany drugged drinks, just enough to keep her pliant but she kicked off so he dragged her outside and wielded his control by shouting, physically burning her arm and then blaming his actions on her. Typical abuser. She'll do anything to make up to him now, convinced she caused his anger. This really is painful to watch, painful in that your heart breaks for her.  The next reveal was Shona managing to get out of the hospital to warn the Platts about what Nathan was doing with Bethany sending them running en masse to rescue her.

They weren't in time to prevent the 3-on-1 in the bedroom, which was quite chilling to see, those men filing into the room behind her and Mel ensuring she stayed there. I didn't expect that. It's one thing to imply that she's heading into the bedroom and has had sex with a crooked copper, it's quite another thing to put her in a Three Men and a Bethany situation, even if it is after the watershed early air time but they went there, apparently. Bethany was "rescued" though she doesn't see it that way and refuses to take against Nathan. But I wonder if, at the end of the last episode when she looked at the burn on her arm and then her engagement ring, a little flash of doubt passed her mind. Just for a brief moment. One more reveal, Shona told the police that she ran away from Nathan when she realized what Nathan was trying to do so it sounds like she wasn't used sexually after all.


The thing is, now that we know Nathan's cohort in the whole scheme is a police officer, it's going to make things more difficult to prosecute him even when he was arrested at the flat. I'm not sure where the raid came from but I suspect one of the Platts probably called them while on the way. This ongoing story has been very interesting to watch, too, even if the subject matter is difficult. This happens. It's important because it might help someone. And, again, the performances, especially by Lucy Fallon and Chris Harper as the creepy Nathan have knocked it out of the park.

Nick's a good man with the kids, really he is. He did try to help bring them all together for Simon's sake but couldn't resist getting into it with Peter yet again, trying to prove he's the better football player. With Simon walking away in disgust, Nick's in the bad books again. When Leanne overheard that he could have provided Peter with an alibi the night his father was attacked, that was the last straw. He was willing to say nothing if it would get Peter out of their lives, not caring what the effect on Simon would be. He says he trusts Leanne but he feels like he doesn't belong. He would if he was able to accept Peter and Steve and be a decent man instead of someone that always has to have all the prizes.

His lifelong sense of entitlement is his downfall. He's always taken advantage of Leanne when she's been vulnerable, knowing she always leans on him when she's been heart broken or let down. She's continually the one that gets away, that one that keeps leaving him when he messes up, trying to be her one and only. That's what happens when one person loves more than the other, when one person's definition of love is possession and triumph. He lost her again and knew it. Peter was a bit harsh, suggesting he throw himself into the sea. He didn't really consider it but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and nearly drowned under the quicksand.

Peter was then the one that kept Nick talking, trying to make him angry enough to fight to live. It worked and Nick was rescued just in time. Acrimony aside, there was no way Peter nor Steve would ever let Nick drown if they could do anything to help or get assistance. Nick would do the same for either of them. I think. Nick says he wouldn't but I think if the situation was presented to him, he would. Don't forget that Nick saved Peter's life after the tram crash. Then again, he also lured Peter back to drinking afterwards and had been having an affair with Leanne who was engaged to Peter at the time. Peter, flawed as he is, is definitely the better man.

Previously, as far as spoilers went, it was left up in the air whether he'd survive or not. ITV was very cagey about it. They're getting a lot better and keeping some things back as surprises which is a good thing. We knew the actor was leaving, would they actually kill off Nick? I really didn't think so but it was a close call, wasn't it? Nail biting stuff.

In the end, Nick gave up and walked away. Leanne was ready to stay with him after nearly losing him but she was that close to walking away before that. If he hadn't nearly died, he wouldn't have changed his attitude and even if they got through that day, it would never have gone the distance. He knows that very well. He told his mother that he didn't like the man he was turning into, and he wasn't coming back. I can't think of anyone that needs a fresh start more than Nick Tilsley and maybe he'll even manage to get Leanne out from under his skin. Will he be gone forever? Probably not. I would imagine that they will recast Nick some day and bring him back.

But for now, that's the end of Nick on our screens. At least he said goodbye to his mum! Yet another really good storyline. As much as I really dislike Nick, the chemistry between Ben Price, Jane Danson and Chris Gascoyne especially just leaps off the screen. Georgia Taylor and Jane Danson still have that sibling dynamnic, too. While it might have felt a bit out of character for Leanne and Steve to have sex in the first place, it certainly kicked off a lot of drama and a long running storyline.

In the minor leagues, Cathy finally kisses Brian after him faffing around his superstitions for half the week. I fail to see what she sees in him. It's Anna's 50th birthday and Kevin's organized a surprise party for her with Erica's help in keeping Anna out of the house until the appointed time. Anna's still finding it difficult to get close to Kevin due to her low self esteem over her burns. Careful, luv, Kevin doesn't respond well to partners who find reasons to shy away from his advances, even if they're good ones. Just ask Sally.

What a week of Corrie! I think this was one of the best "big weeks" I have ever seen on Coronation Street.There wasn't a lot of lightness or fun, very little humour and mostly what there was of it, Brian's buffoonery and susperstition, was just annoying. I wanted to get back to the drama and there was plenty of that.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

The face of an assailant

When the "Who Attacked Ken" storyline spoilers first hit t'interweb, ITV's publicity machine offered a photo of all the potential suspects including a non-family member, Pat Phelan. They do this. Then, quite often, they throw a twist in the works and the culprit ends up being someone entirely different and "expendable", a secondary character. I really thought that's where this was going and I suspected either young Seb, perhaps caught in the act of robbing Number 1 or Chloe, hoping to set Peter up for it.

In an unusual twist, the identity of the attacker is indeed in the above photo. As the inept DS McKinnon arrested or seriously questioned one after another until she'd hit on every one unsuccessfully, the airwaves were full of red herrings, clues and hints. Amy? No, Amy wouldn't have hurt her grandfather even if she was angry with him. She couldn't have done it and gone on as if nothing had happened after. Pat Phelan certainly had form for it but it wasn't him, either. Amy directed the police to Adam whose fingerprints were on a kitchen worktop while he was supposed to be out of town. Daniel has often shown a sudden and violent temper. Tracy was upset because she felt Ken showed preferred treatment to her blood relatives, which she is not. Everyone had a motive. Everyone had opportunity, or so it seemed.

Little by little, alibis were given and some were proven, some were not. By the end, Daniel's alibi, proven with a tram ticket, was in tatters and the identification of a pair of red trainers as his seemed to have sealed his fate in Ken's memory. But Ken still only remembers the shoes, not the face.

Then Adam decided that he'd leave town after a dressing down by Peter and Tracy. Adam previously pretended to leave town when Ken ordered him out. He'd hit rock bottom and had no other option but he didn't actually leave. I didn't believe he'd have upped sticks and gone so quietly after Peter and Tracy's suggestion. I had been coming to the conclusion over recent weeks that he was the attacker all along, because Adam has been far too focussed on trying to move the attention away from himself, trying to find reasons to pin the blame on anyone else. When one person was cleared by the police, he'd move on to the next and so on. There wasn't any more evidence against him than there was with anyone else, just enough to be circumstantial but nothing really definitive while Ken still had no memory but Adam was determined he wasn't going to go down for it. Why? Because he's guilty, that's why. Or so I thought.

Ah. But Ken's starting to have memory flashes. Was Adam so quick to leave town to escape the inevitable? That's what I thought. Tonight, it seemed Adam signed his own arrest warrant inadvertently. Ken had recognized those shoes and Sinead identified them as Daniel's but she thought he meant the heap of clothes next to the shoes. Ken only said "who owns that stuff?", not "who owns those trainers?". Adam came to say good bye and right on top of his things in an open duffel bag were the shoes in question.  Oh heck. It was Adam! Ken even called the police on him though Adam is insisting it wasn't him though admits he was there but was too angry at his grandfather to call for help when he found him at the bottom of the stairs.

But Daniel was planning to go off as well. In a very contrived situation, his ex-landlord has waited almost 6 months to insist on a paint job at his old flat which you would think he would have rented out to someone else rather than lose that money for that long. But no. Swallow that one and move on. Daniel is persuaded to bring Ken with him which he did try to avoid but couldn't and Ken offered to help him revise for a poetry exam, using that big book he gave him awhile back, the one he wrote a message in.  You remember, the message had a phrase that Ken used to Sinead who repeated it to Daniel. He realized it was Ken that was the reason why Sinead felt she had to go through with the abortion and he was livid. Remember that sudden, violent temper he's got?

This, then, is the face of Ken's attacker.

And this, then, as we later discovered, is the blunt object used to thump Ken on the back of the head, still bloody. Daniel had to buy another copy and forge the note and now the two of them are in an empty flat alone together. Ken still hasn't remembered the actual incident but as Brian found out, sometimes memories can flash back to you when you least expect them. It's very likely going to happen next week. 

And once Ken remembers, since it isn't a murder charge, Daniel's fate isn't a done deal. I think that since it isn't that sort of crime, Ken can refuse to press charges if he wants and it's possible he might do that. He's been aware that his own interference has caused his son's anger towards him, and he's long felt guilty about abandoning Daniel who probably holds old resentment. But I expect, since Ken was willing to call the police on Adam, he'll do it on Daniel as well. Will Ken withdraw the charges in the long run? Wait and we'll see, I guess.


I enjoyed this storyline. It kept me guessing and I'm glad ITV didn't take the usual safe route of landing us with a secondary character that we don't care for as the villain of the piece though if it had been a murder case, I have no doubt that's what would have happened.

I wonder where they'll take Daniel now. Will he be humbled by his father's (anticipated) forgiveness? Will he become the family pariah? Will Tracy be insufferably smug because there's someone else to take the heat off her criminal past? Will we ever find out what happened to Daniel's mother?  What do you think?



Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Let's Play Detective - Who tried to kill Ken Barlow?

Ken nearly came a cropper again but it wasn't a stroke this time. Surprisingly, really, considering the stress and shouting going on there over the past month. I really did expect another stroke. He's been losing his temper left, right and centre. Adam and the drug dealer, Daniel chucking Oxford away, Tracy giving him grief, Peter maybe drinking and cheating (he wasn't but Ken thinks he was). It hasn't let up.

But no, all these people are building up grudges against him and he's landed at the bottom of the stairs in a right old mess.The police have been called to the hospital. They say he's got bruises on his wrists consistent with a struggle and a bash on the back of the head that looks very much like someone hit him. He bruises easily due to medication but I think someone still has to have grabbed his wrists tightly and I think that leaves off Amy at least.

But who could it be? The publicity photo above shows all the suspects that ITV is suggesting. I don't think it's any of them. The most likely suspects would probably be Peter, Phelan, and maybe Daniel. They were harbouring the most anger.

Sinead was drunk but she was on her way to see Ken to give him a piece of her mind. No, it wasn't her. Tracy was angry that Ken wouldn't back her and help her buy the flower shop from Peter but though she might have struggled with him, I don't think she'd have bashed him over the head no matter what she's done to Charlie Stubbs in the past. She was out looking for Amy and didn't have an alibi but I think she's off the list, too.

Phelan says he came in the back door to shout at Ken and found him at the bottom of the stairs just as Daniel arrived. I know he's got history, having left Michael to die and having presumably killed Andy but I think he's too obvious.

That leaves Daniel, Peter and Adam. If any of those actors were known to be leaving the show, I'd have said that would be the person. But as far as we know, that's not happening. Adam has a grudge and Amy was going to slip him some cash. Adam knows where the spare key is and was going to go in and get the money. Did he? Did Ken find him at the top of the stairs? Adam pretended to get a flight back to Manchester the instant Tracy texted him and timed his arrival at the hospital to make it seem like he did just that but we know he was skulking around the night before. I don't know if he'd have shown up at the hospital if he thought Ken might remember it was him, though.

That could be said for Daniel or Peter, too. Daniel has a temper, we've all seen it. But Daniel was on his way to Number 1 after seeing an inscription from Ken on a book. That doesn't seem like a guilty man. Peter was pretty close to the edge over the Chloe stuff. He nearly drank and it looked like he was about to do a runner when he saw the ambulance. He didn't look guilty to me though in the hospital the next day when the police got involved, he did look worried. He does blame his father for ruining his life yet again. He does have the best motive of all of them.

But that's the thing. In soaps, the most obvious or likely usually isn't the perpetrator of a crime though they're usually the one arrested. Therefore, Soap Law says it can't have been Peter.

So who was it?

I have two suspects with a third runner up in a pinch. The guilty party is almost always a secondary character, an expendable  crewmember that we can lose easily unless we know an actor is leaving the show. Barring that, and we haven't heard anything to that effect, there are two.

Chloe. She is obsessed with Peter. She could have done it to set Peter up in revenge. Another one it might have been is that young whippernsipper, Seb. He might have got into the house to try to steal something. He's tried that before. Ken might have caught him. Either of those chartacters are unnecessary to the plot. Chloe's involvement would stitch up Peter so that might be the more likely. The outsider is Adam, in spite of what I said. Or maybe it's wishful thinking because he's not a character I enjoy at all.

The next few weeks or months will tell. I don't know how long it will take. The new producer has been quite good and springing surprises on the viewers and that's a good thing.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

The Abandoned Barlow Brothers

Peter Barlow lost his mother to an electrical appliance when he was only a small boy. That's going to affect any child but then his father gave up trying to look after twin children and gave them over to their grandparents who raised them in Scotland. If you watched Corrie through the 70s and early 80s, you will know that Ken rarely visited them and rarely had them back home to visit him. They were mentioned from time to time and I'm sure he sent them birthday cards and Christmas gifts even if it wasn't shown on screen.

Daniel Osbourne's father, Ken Barlow, barely had a look in when he was growing up and his mother went walkabout 6 years ago, with no further sight nor sound. These two men certainly have a lot in common and I think they've kind of bonded over that.

Peter, especially in his Chris Gascoyne incarnation, has shown all the signs of having abandonment issues which have manifested themselves in a fondness for the drink. He's also got his father's "any woman any time" gene and finds it difficult to make a long standing commitment.  He regularly berates his father for dumping him and blames a lot of his failings on his father's non-participation in his life yet has always craved approval from his one remaining parent and yet resented the hell out of him at the same time.

Daniel is very secretive born from having to pretend his mother was not gone while he was too young, really, to be living on his own. Should the authorities have found out, he'd have been taken into care. He obviously had no contact or relationship with his mother's sister (she whose husband Denise had an affair with back in the day) and no other family it seems. He's been on his own for a long time. We don't know if he's got abandonment issues as such but he's bound to when you think of it. We just haven't seen how they've manifested themselves yet.

Children take on so much and learn what they see.  Neither of them ever had a father figure that was ever present in their lives. Peter certainly didn't grow up learning how to be a good father and so has never found it easy being one himself, often at a loss when things get difficult. He grew up seeing or knowing that his father flitted from woman to woman and he mirrored that behaviour. We don't know why his first marriage broke up though he has been known to blame his absences due to being in the navy but I think there's a pretty good chance he had a welcoming bed in every port.


Peter's been a lifelong screw up, or at least as long as he's been an adult from what we know and what we've seen. Just maybe, though, he's starting to take responsibility and grow up. A bit. His father's sudden illness seems to have affected him deeply. It seems like Daniel's reaction has been to  take refuge in books and in his schoolwork and keep his head down.

Daniel was an unplanned child but Ken in his middle age was anxious to do things right this time around. He and Denise were not love's young dream nor were they soul mates in any form. In fact, in the cold harsh reality of the aftermath of the affair, Denise realized she was most definitely unsuited to life with Ken and a baby so she left the baby with Ken initially and walked. Ken tried, he really did but he was a single middle aged man who had no clue how to deal with an infant. He hired a nanny and that helped but he never had the chance to see if he could make a go of this parenting thing. Denise returned and took baby Daniel away, to Scotland because her sister's husband happened to be from that country.


Ken tried to make an effort  at first but gave it up as a lost cause and thus, Daniel really had no memory of him.  Yet another of Ken's children was lost and cut loose from a paternal influence. We next saw Daniel when he was a boy of about 10. Ken and Deirdre were having difficulties and Ken began to think he'd like to make an effort with his son. His son resented Ken's efforts as too little too late and Ken soon gave up again. We would hear Daniel's name on occasion over the intervening years, usually when Tracy or Peter wanted to call Ken's parenting into question.

But Ken apparently had a contact number for Denise in his address book. After he had the stroke, Peter went through the book to contact family and left a message with Denise, or so the dialogue went. Daniel got the message eventually and came to see his father. Before you think this was a plot hole, it's very possible that telephone number was the landline in the flat where Daniel was living. Since he didn't want people to know he was living alone under aged, he would have left the answering machine message on there that his mother recorded.

And where was his mother? Daniel says they weren't getting along, typical teenage stuff and she became more and more agitated and decided to leave. He thought she was coming back but she never did nor did she ever get in contact. It does seem strange. On comment I've seen suggested she could have been bipolar and could have ended up on the streets. That would be an interesting way to take this. Her abandonment had to have been devastating to him.

He's been keeping secrets so long that it's no wonder he's reluctant to open up now. Peter has taken him in hand and has been very supportive. He's a big brother and he's also old enough to be a father figure, really, and Peter seems to really like his little brother. It really seems like there's a weight finally lifting off Daniel's shoulders, relieved to have told the truth and to have someone that he might actually be able to depend on (he doesn't know Peter well yet!) for once in his life.  He was almost in tears when Peter assured him he would be there, as if Peter was a lifeline to a young man near the end of his rope that sorely needed one.

This chemistry between the two brothers who seem to have bonded quickly, able to relate to what the other has been through over their lives is evident. We've long admired Chris Gascoyne's acting abilities and the young man playing Daniel, Rob Mallard, is really showing his acting chops, too.

It will be interesting to see where they take this.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)