RIP Kylie Platt

I've just finished watching two very emotional episodes of Coronation Street. I don't think I've seen better performances all year.

As I speculated yesterday, Kylie got stabbed while defending Gemma from Clayton. I was leaning towards David being threatened but it was Gemma after all and the yobbo tried to rob the shop after Gemma gave him short shrift earlier on, full of the confidence that Kylie'd given her. He returned, tried to rob the shop and Gemma wrestled him out the door, getting knocked unconscious for her trouble but Kylie came charging around the corner to help her old mate and got it in the chest. No surprise that Clayton was carrying a deadly looking knife. His sort usually do.

I thought, Oh heck, that stab wound is right at the area of the heart, she won't last long. Surprisingly, it wasn't instantaneous and she had enough time to tell David everything she wanted to tell him, pouring her heart out with his tears washing her face. That sounds so dreadfully theatrical, doesn't it? My tears were flowing, too, I am not afraid to admit.

It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to come. But wait, she fell about 30 feet from the medical centre. Surely they have doctors in there? I don't think they could have done much either, but perhaps they could have eased the pain a little if nothing else.

When she died and David howled, I gasped and was in floods. I've seen the best performance from Jack P. Shepherd in particular tonight and I've seen Jack P. Shepherd put in some mighty ones over the years.

All around, everyone was amazing. Between Gail's heart breaking for her son and the daughter in law she grew to love to the neighbours being profoundly shocked. Roy attempting to help but seeing there wasn't a thing he could do. Craig feeling horribly guilty that he didn't do more when it kicked off. We all know he's just a kid himself and I bet Beth is thanking all the Gods and Goddesses her son didn't try to be a hero. I hope he can help and be a credible witness but Gemma survived so she will be able to tell the police Clayton's name.

I'm also very glad that Gail brought up the similarity to Brian Tilsley's death and how she made a mess of telling Nick about his father. Nick was about the same age as Max and Sarah Lou was probably close to Lily's age. Gail is going to have flashbacks about that one for some time to come. She admitted she didn't handle telling Nick the right way and urged David to be very clear about Kylie's being dead, not just gone away. I think he did a pretty good job. He did tell the children she was dead though in heaven waiting for them. There may or may not be a Heaven but children don't have to think about that aspect.

This is the kind of Coronation Street that we fans want. I know they can't do high emotion like this all the time, but it's what they do so well. When we see the mundane and the rushed, the over-sensational and the underwhelming, we get frustrated because we know it can hit these stupendous heights of greatness. And it was great. Top stuff.

David has to find a way to carry on. He's got kids to keep him going, often that's the only thing that gets a person through something like this. I expect he'll go off the rails at some point, raging against the night in his grief.

Well done to all involved. Rest in Peace, Kylie.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

More Kylie Speculation

The last blog post here was speculation on how Kylie will die. I'll admit, and it was obvious, that my guesses were all in fun. This time, I'm using my imagination and educated guesses based on soap cliches and laws.

Let me say right here and now, I have absolutely no idea how Kylie will die. ITV are being very cagey about it, even in future spoilers. I do wish they hadn't spoiled that she was going to die at all but they did and cats that are out of the bag cannot be put back in.

Soaps follow a pattern, and there are clues you can follow if you want to guess what's going to happen. There's the Phrase of Doom where someone expresses hope for the future, or how happy they are, or how happy they are together and will be together forever. Uh oh. That's it, they're doomed. Something's going to happen and it isn't going to be pretty.

If someone faints, they're usually pregnant. All sorts of situations that are unusual pop up which are out of character or out of the ordinary. You can bet they're contrived as a means to an end. That brings me to my speculation on Kylie's death.

It wasn't surprising that Callum's druggie sidekick Macca showed up at his funeral. But since then, he and his ne'er do well brother Clayton have been mithering Gemma in the kebab shop. Since she hasn't been out of touch with them all along, mentioning nights at the Dog and Gun frequently, they would have known where she was working in all likelihood so why show up now? Because somehow, their presence is going to contribute to Kylie's death.

Kylie's been feeling more and more guilty about the effects that her killing Callum has had on her family. Sarah's had a breakdown. Bethany has been bullied and hasn't be coping well trying to keep it to herself. She's now living in the annex where they stashed Callum's body and seemingly feeling unsettled. Even little Max seems to be out of sorts though he said he wasn't bothered that Callum had died. Guilt, upon guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders.

I don't think she's going to commit suicide. She wouldn't leave her family on purpose again. One idea I had was that she might turn to drugs and accidentally overdose, drugs she could get from Macca but that doesn't quite ring true either.

I think this is what will happen. I think Macca and his brother will threaten Gemma in some way,  or possibly David, because Gemma still suspects he was the one that killed Callum. That actually makes more sense because there really doesn't seem to be a reason they would be out to kill Gemma at this point.  There will be weapons or violence involved and Kylie will get in the middle of it, defending David and get killed by one of them. Possibly it could be one of the men attempting to run David down with a vehicle and Kylie pushing him out of the way.  It is possible that last scenario could happen without the intervention of the "Chuckle Brothers" and Kylie could be pushing David out of the way of a generic car or bus but the interviews and media are saying it's something we've never seen on a soap before.

I'm skeptical about that, and even Kylie dying while defending or saving David isn't really new but it's the only scenario that really works considering the introduction of the two scallys.

We have two more days to wait!



Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

How Will Kylie Die?

Now that the spoilers have hit the media about Paula Lane's exit and the death of Kylie Platt, the speculation begins. I'm kind of ticked off that ITV decided to spoil this one. I really did think she'd end up having to go to jail but I suppose if the actress was not planning to return, they couldn't have her away for life. Her crime wasn't killing Callum, that was self defence, but the treatment of the body afterwards, that's the biggie.

Logically, you couldn't see Kylie leaving David and her kids again, not permanently and since we haven't been told that Jack P. Shepherd was leaving, it was also a given that it would be only her leaving the show. Death is probably the only possibility, then. But I still wish ITV had kept that as a surprise.

Duncan Lindsay at the Metro.co.uk has put forth 15 theories as to how Kylie might die.  Some are a bit silly and some are a pretty good guess. Odds might favour the car crash. Publicity and interviews from Lane herself say it's going to be something we've never seen before. While I have a hard time believing that since pretty much everything has been done, I'd be interested to see what that is. We've seen car crashes. Revenge at the hands of Callum's mates might also be a possibility though again, nothing new there.

My imaginative guess: There have been rumours for months that Callum really isn't dead in spite of all the statements from ITV and the actor himself to the contrary. But maybe Callum really is alive. Maybe Callum lurches around a corner just as Kylie and David and family are loading up into the cab that's going to take them to their new start in Barbados, points a gun at her and kills her. I don't think we've seen that before, a supposed dead character return to kill someone. Returning from the dead has been done but not quite like this.

My absolutely stupid guess: Ok, just for fun, here's another one that's really stretching credibility. Nick has another psychotic episode and strangles Kylie. Since he has brain damage, no real motive is needed and he isn't responsible for his actions. He will only spend some time sectioned in a hospital in the room next to Sarah with Gail drifting woefully between the rooms of her two children.

What's your theory?


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

The Body under the Grannex - Day 5's revelations

While this was also the final exit of Carla Connor, most of the episode focussed on the discovery of the body of Callum Logan.

The stench from that dead body is already permeating the room. I thought David was going to hurl into the hole.

Carla is getting out of Dodge, probably to Devon but where will she live? Not in the restaurant she was buying with Nick, that's for sure. She's way more upset about Roy cutting her off than she is about Nick at this point. But it looks like Cathy isn't dead, at least.

David's telling Sarah and Kylie the bad news.

Oh don't make it about you, Michelle. Nobody gets you like Carla does? Not even your husband? Oh, she annoys me. Carla's determined to leave and it's not as if Michelle can't go visit and Skype her all the time. Understandably, Carla really thinks she's burned all her bridges and at this point, she probably has.

Tracy is definitely making it all about her. Locked up. Nearly killed. Poor thing. Amy! You rock. yes, get your violin. Fiddle while Tracy's life goes up in flames. Johnny's not going to admit holding her in the storage room and everyone else will lie to back him up!

Platts en masse look at the damage in the light of day. David runs away to get teas and coffees. Now David thinks Nick should leave as well, even if just to escape the pity party. Go on your honeymoon alone. No dice, He's going to stay around and take the pity, I guess.

Now. Robert has had enough. He admits making a mistake but Tracy took it and ran with it. He already knew that but let himself be talked into going back with her when he dumped her a few weeks ago. Maybe this time will stick. I certainly hope so. Never liked them together. Even Amy's jumping ship, doesn't want to be with her mother. At least that's one thing that can make Michelle smile today. Amy really told Tracy a hard truth. She knows exactly what her mother's faults are and she's not having it anymore. Yep, the ship is sinking all right. Will Ken throw her out? It wouldn't be the first time.

Still no body discovered. But the breakdown truck is finally extracted and the workmen found a body under the truck. Poor Tyrone probably thinks he ran over it! He did say last night he thought he bumped over something. It wasn't of course, but he did say. Meanwhile, Kylie and Sarah are bricking it!

Oh look, Cathy's awake. She's more concerned about the failed marriage proposition and Roy's ignoring the subject. Carla.... probably shouldn't have come but I think Cathy won't be too hard on her. Roy isn't going to be so forgiving. Cathy's trying to make peace. He's saying things that make it seem like he might forgive though he's still angry, it's clear. I don't think he realizes she's not just leaving the hospital, though.

And there we have it. There's a body under the breakdown truck and Gail's going to have nightmares about that body under her bed. Tyrone is relieved it wasn't him that ran over the body, at least. Eileen cracked a joke about it being one of Gail's husbands which was pretty funny but under the circumstances, probably not the best thing to say. Tyrone is relieved he didn't kill anyone and David, he came back and ran off again. What's he up to?

Jenny has given up the "hard to get" method, it seems. It's full out flirting between both sides.

Maybe Roy does realize Carla's going for good and there's Cathy knowing he'll regret it if he doesn't see her off. He is angry enough to have had a gut full of her crises. Still, I'd be surprised if he doesn't show up at the last minute.

Meanwhile, it looks like Carla might just get out of town momentarily. At least her family cares and they're seeing her off. Nick just ran past. I feel the worst for Johnny. He's just been able to acknowledge his daughter and he's losing her. And that's the first time she's called him Dad. Michelle didn't stick around after that, off in a flood of tears instead of seeing her BFF off. I understand what it feels like when your best friend moves away, I really do, and you do feel like you're being abandoned, but you keep that to yourself and wish her the best, promise to come, cry just a little and wallow afterwards. It's difficult enough for the person leaving.

David took the tickets to Paris off Nick and thinks they can escape. What, and leave Sarah behind? Yes, that's what he was going to do but Kylie thinks they should all confess. David still wants to go, Kylie wants to stay and face the music. Sarah thinks she's been through the worst and can be ok as long as they all stick together. Somehow I doubt that.

Oh but there's still one more person to confront. Maybe Tracy did want to be Carla. She's won in the end as far as her quest to get rid of Carla, but it looks like a very hollow victory.

Ohhh. Roy got home on the bus in time!

And here come the police. They found a credit card and they are pretty sure it's Callum. Kylie's reaction was good. Could even seem like genuine surprise.

Roy seems to accept Carla after all. The moment that got to me, though, was him suggesting she should try to love herself as much as "we all" do. That's really what it comes down to. He's right. And she can go away knowing he doesn't hate her.

I do think it's kind of sad that the great Carla Connor left with her tail between her legs, totally defeated. I suppose one woman can only take so much and knowing her habit of self destruction has been the ruination of her life not just this time, but a series of times, did her in. I also question her retreat to Devon where she was going to start a new life with Nick. Isn't it going to feel like rubbing that sea salt in the wound?

In any case, that's the last we'll see of Carla. Good luck, luv.

Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

The year of the Platts

2013 was definitely the Year of the Platts on Coronation Street. What began on Christmas Day, 2012 had repercussions that are still having an impact today, early in 2014. I, for one, have enjoyed the ride!

We began with Kylie and David "on a break" and Nick jilting Leanne at the altar, having discovered that she'd ran after Peter earlier that day. She could possibly be forgiven, as Peter, thinking Carla had left him, made a beeline for the other woman he knew he could charm. Carla came back, Leanne was a distant memory but she didn't know it until she went to Peter to offer to call off her own wedding and saw Carla behind Peter. What to do? Marry Nick anyway and hope he never found out. Fail.

Nick and Kylie had a one night stand to soothe their pain and it all kicked off from there. Nick and Leanne made up and so did Kylie and David but, this is Soap land, and one of the prime Soap Opera Plot Devices states that if you have sex with the wrong person, you will get pregnant. Yep. And ironically, the main reason Kylie and David had temporarily split is because he wanted a baby and she didn't. Now she's up the duff and doesn't know who the daddy is.

Thing is, she'd confessed all to her mother-in-law, which was probably not such a good idea and was then persuaded not to give up the baby like she planned. It might be Nick's but it might be David's. Kylie began walking the tightrope.

David found out and went right off the rails, but since he couldn't face losing Kylie, who should carry equal blame for the fiasco, he directed his rage against Nick, the older brother he'd always resented anyway. He tried to ruin Nick, both in business and in his marraige to Leanne (which had taken place a few weeks after the jilting), all the while playing up to Nick's sympathies and pretending to be the concerned brother. That culminated in a near-fatal car crash when Nick finally figured out David was behind all the tricks and confronted him. David tried to take control of the steering wheel to stop Nick from telling all to the family. They came to a stop in the middle of an intersection and a large truck (lorry) was unable to stop and smashed into them on Nick's side of the car.

I still don't believe that David tried to kill Nick even though everyone else has accused him of that (once the truth finally came out because it always does). But even so, his actions did result in the crash so he was still responsible for Nick's injuries.  Nick survived but is suffering from brain damage which has caused him to have uncontrolled rages and is breaking down his marraige as Leanne struggles to cope.

While Nick recovered, he insisted that David do a paternity test on the little baby girl that Kylie produced. The test was sloppily done, in my opinion with only a sample from David and the baby sent away. Why not one from Kylie and Nick as well? Nick would have been happy to contribute and he could have managed a few strands of Kylie's hair from a hairbrush. Never mind. It turned out that David was the father, much to Nick's disappointment.

When Kylie found out about the test she went ballistic, realizing finally that David had known all along about the paternity issues and that he was behind the hate campaign and accident.  She outed David in front of the family at baby Lily's christening in classic soap style.

The whole family turned against David. The only reluctant friend he had was Tina but even that friendship caused her own relationship to blow up so she pushed David back out again. Rather than see him homeless, Audrey took him in at Gail's request even though Gail wasn't ready to forgive him. Maternal instincts are strong!

Inch by inch, David has been working his way back into his family and job at the salon. He's very, very contrite and remorseful but Nick was having none of it and insisted on the family taking sides. You can't blame him, he feels David has ruined his life. Kylie was angrier and angrier and when she saw that the family was beginning to warm up to David again, albeit reluctantly, it was her turn to go off the rails.

Kylie never had any self confidence. She never thought she was worth having a good life because she was brought up to believe she was less than nothing. She thought having a family of her own, a home, a job, all of that was too good to be true and now she's been made to pay for it. She spiralled downwards into a bottle until she hit bottom. Finally, David and Kylie were able to be honest with each other. Kylie took her share of responsibility for her fling with Nick and she and David have reconciled, much to Nick's dismay.

It's not quite over. Nick is still struggling and he's pushing his beloved Leanne away because he fears he'll hurt her after lashing out and slapping her on Christmas Day. She's just as determined to stand by her man but it looks very much like things will get worse before they get better. I'm glad they're not having Nick experience a miraculous recovery. It's far more realistic and it's continuing to have twists and turns. I have been speculating for the past few weeks that Leanne will have a fling herself, probably with Kal, Nick's new trainer. After many months of worry, stress and anxiety, and add Nick's rejection of her at the moment, and she's ripe for it.

Will Nick and Leanne manage to come out of it happy? It's hard to say. Nick has loved Leanne all his life and surely would want nothing more. If she has a fling, he'd be devastated but would probably blame himself for pushing her to it. We'll get more huffing and puffing from Gail who would certainly believe that Leanne is no better than Gail ever thought she was for hurting her baby boy yet again.

I have enjoyed the storyline, long though it was. All the actors involved were excellent and I felt that even Kylie's weeks of self destruction was completely understandable and far better than just one or two drunken nights with epic hangovers.  I realized that on top of the storyline covering Hayley's terminal illness, Corrie has been rather grim overall of late, but with performances like these, in both storylines, it's Corrie at its best.

Gail's Conundrum

Gail now knows that Nick may be the father of Kylie's baby so she's the baby's grannie no matter which way it goes. Part of her must think that all of her Christmases and birthdays have come at once! Imagine! She could blow the lid off both marraiges and get rid of both of her detested daughters-in-law! But there's a very good chance she'd also lose both of her darling boys.

What's a monster-in-law to do?

She's got ammunition to hold over Kylie's head for the rest of her married life. It's too bad someone didn't remind her that she had an affair once and Sarah Lou's paternity was in doubt. That was a full blown affair, too, not just a drunken one night stand. Hypocrite, thy name is Gail (add  last name of choice here).

While Gail is thoroughly dislikeable these days, I am really enjoying this storyline. And, trying to look at it from her point of view, she's lost a lot. She's been humiliated and financially wiped out and has found someone that significantly contributed to that. You'd want revenge if it was you, would you not? You'd want the person to pay. If Kylie had done it out of spite or a cut of the cash, Gail would be well within her rights to go to the police but Kylie got herself into this mess due to her own bad judgement and was blackmailed into getting Gail's bank details. It doesn't make it right but the circumstances are a bit more sympathetic.

I know you're all saying, "But Gail got herself into this mess". You'd be right, of course. She made a huge error in judgement when she connived to break up Lewis and Audrey. By jumping to the wrong conclusion, she jumped right off a cliff. With her lousy track record in the romance department, of course she was wide open for a con no matter that she knew his history so well she used it against her own mother. Gail just isn't that bright and is too desperate for a flattering word.  She, like most of us, wants to be swept off her feet and Lewis swept all her doubts out from  under her. The tarnished knight pulled her up onto that big, white, horse and it's a long fall down from there.

 Now Gail has to decide whether to break up both of her sons' marraiges or suck it up. If she keeps quiet, how on earth is she going to be able to keep it in for long? We all know these things come out and always at the worst time. Now that Sally knows, too, there are even more leaks in the dyke.

It might have been easier for Kylie to tell David she'd had a one night stand if it hadn't been Nick who stood with her. David and Nick are at loggerheads a lot and David, though he does love his brother, resents him and is probably jealous down deep that Nick is mummy's first born and the apple of her eye, in his mind at least. Gail has a firm grip on the apron strings on all three children though Sarah has managed to loosen them considerably.

I have no idea how this is going to come out. Will Kylie reveal her secret to David before Gail can? Will she be able to find out the paternity of the baby first? If it's David's, then the secret might die. But if it isn't, and in soap world where you need to keep the conflict going, there's a very good chance it will be Nick's baby. Now that Sally knows, there's more holes spurting water to be plugged but I have a feeling Sophie's going to overhear a conversation and we all know how righteous Sophie can be. She may well end up spilling the beans. Also, according to the way soaps usually work, David and Kylie break up, there's an outside chance that Nick and Kylie could end up together with Leanne glaring and David snarling at them from across the cobbles. I hope not, though. I do like David and Kylie together. It'll be interesting to see this unfold.

Time will tell.