Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Friday 25 June 2010

The Good Listener: Thu Jun 24, 2010 Corrie Episode Review

June-24-2010

Written by Mark Wadlow and directed by Duncan Foster

Graeme wakes up in the morning to a very UNfamiliar setting: in bed with Tina, after a little late-night rumpy-pumpy.  I’m sure he’s fully expecting Tina to wakeJune-24-2010-norris-hug up with a look of horror on her face, but that’s not what he gets.  Despite what he thinks, Tina slept with him because she likes him.  Graeme tries to tell Tina that the two of them together would be impossible and that it’s doomed, but she doesn’t care about anything but herself as usual.  Tina and Graeme agree: she tells Jason, while he tells David.  Somehow, I feel like Graeme got the short end of the stick.  Graeme might be scared to tell David, but that doesn’t stop him from thanking god and picking Norris up in a bear hug after he leaves Tina.

June-24-2010-Ashley-Graeme Ashley notices that Graeme’s in a good mood at work and figures he must be on drugs, to which Graeme assures him he’s not.  David comes in and notices Graeme’s chipper mood as well and asks if he got lucky at the speed dating.  Both Ashley and David think that Graeme got lucky, since he never came home.  Graeme gets really tense when his mates hassle him and tells David to get out if he’s not buying anything.  When David leaves, Graeme tells Ashley about who he spend the night with.  Ashley thinks this is all very entertaining, as do I.  Graeme leaves the butchers immediately, as he’s got an idea.  Uh oh.

At Gail’s, Graeme is waiting behind the stairs with a blanket and as David walks near, he throws the blanket over David’sJune-24-2010-radiator-boy head and screams.  Why he screams, I have no idea.  Who knew that chenille could be so threatening.  Graeme handcuffs David to the radiator and takes the blanket off his head.  Maybe this is what Jack P. Shepherd’s girlfriend should have done?  David wants to know what’s going on and Graeme says that he needed him to be restrained when he tells him who he’s seeing.  When Graeme tells him that he’s been seeing Tina, David goes crazy-face and Graeme screams like a school girl!  Graeme wants David to accept them, and move on.  David is frothing at the mouth however.  Prisoner David calms down and tries to crack a deal with his captor: dump her, and free me, and there’ll be no more said about it.  David says that Tina has destroyed them just like she destroys everything she comes into contact with.  Graeme just gets up and leaves David chained to the radiator.  

June-24-2010-graeme-scream He arrives at Tina’s flat and asks if she spoke to Jason.  Tina tells him that Jason wasn’t in, so she was going to go back around later.  Graeme tells her about David, but makes it sound a lot rosier than it is.  Meanwhile, you could hear the dragging of a radiator against cobbles outside the flat like some kind of horror movie.  David finds a rock and throws it up at the flat window breaking the window pane.  They look outside to see David with the radiator chained to his arm screaming “traitor! whore!” at them from the street.  They come outside and David tries his best (it’s pathetic) to throw the radiator at them but only ends up crushing himself.  Jason comes out of the corner shop with a load of cans and asks why David’s handcuffed to a radiator.  David, of course, tells Jason why.  Jason can hardly believe it, and as Tina stammers that she tried to tell him, but Jason’s mad.  Jason is hack-sawing David’s cuffs off, and David thinks that they’d been having their affair for a long time and in Jason’s bed.  Jason wants to beat the crap out of Graeme but David’s got a better idea. 

Trouble in paradise for Graeme and Tina as Jason accuses her of making a fool of him then says that it’s time he looked out for number one. They get to the flat and realize that Jason changed the locks on it.  She freaks out that Jason can’t just evict her.  Erm, he couldn’t if you were a tenant paying RENT, which you aren’t.  Try squatter’s rights instead, honey.  Graeme doubts that “radiator boy” will welcome him back with open arms either.  What will this new, newly homeless couple do now? 

John tells Fiz not to be so worried after seeing the look on her face in the morning.  When HASN’T she had that worried face on every since she met this idiot?June-24-2010-Chesney   Fiz isn’t happy with either of the men in her life at the moment.  She’s still not positive about Chesney quitting school in favour or working at the market.  Rightfully so, heaven forbid his life turn out as disastrous as her is at this very moment.  Chesney tries to tell Fiz about the good parts of his job, but can feel that she thinks he’s throwing his life away.  Fiz figures that if Chesney’s making more money than her, it’s only fair that he start paying rent.  Oh, the old rent threat, that got me out of the house at 18!  Chesney agrees to pay the bills, but he thinks that Fiz is only doing it to get back at him.  Fiz says she wants a hundred quid a week and Chesney thinks that’s a lot.  Fiz also tells Chesney that he can do all his own shopping, ironing and cleaning.  Welcome to the real world.  It sucks, don’t it? 

June-24-2010-Ciaran Looks like Speed Dating Night really paid off for the Rovers bottom-line, as Liz wants Ciaran to organize some more theme nights to bring in the same kind of business.  Ciaran tells this to Michelle who couldn’t give two, since she’s mad at him for kissing some woman at the event night.  She calls his events tacky and that all they consist of is him, slappers and booze to which he says “bring it on!”  Ciaran can’t let Michelle’s moody little attitude towards him alone, so he tells her he was only trying to inject a little fun into things.  Michelle doesn’t know the meaning of fun, someone should have sent him the memo.  Michelle confronts him about having his tongue down some lass’s throat and he finally figures she’s jealous.  Ciaran says he’d change his shameful ways in a second if she’d go on a date with him (no, he wouldn’t), but she won’t.  Wow, doesn’t his charm work wonders?  Wouldn’t have worked on me.  Maybe. 

Lewis stops by the bookies, saying he’s not usually a betting man (b*tch, please) and that he’d be lured in.  Deirdre asks after Audrey and Lewis notes the June-24-2010-Audrey-Lewis hostility in her voice.  Deirdre points out the fact that Audrey isn’t too happy with the Barlows after what Tracy did.  Oh, Lewis something tells me Lewis isn’t a man who takes sides.  Deirdre pours her heart out to Lewis about Tracy, similar to how Audrey did about Gail early in their “relationship.”  Lewis tells Deirdre that he’s an exceptionally good listener.  Sheesh, no wonder Lewis gets paid for this, who would want to listen to Deirdre (or even Audrey for that matter) just witter on about their same old problems?  Isn’t this what girlfriends are for?  Or, empty bottles? 

June-24-2010-Lewis-Deirdre-Romantic Speaking of empty bottles, Deirdre bumps into Lewis in the Rovers later as they’re both waiting for their significant others to show up.  Deirdre offers to buy Lewis a drink after drowning him in her life story earlier that day.  Deirdre is still curious as to what Lewis’s last job was that required him to be a good listener.  Ken shows up after he left the library because a compulsive cougher stopped him from concentrating.  Yeah, that compulsive cougher?  That was me, I just wanted your chair.  Audrey shows up with her stiff upper lip in tow, and Lewis tries to play peacemaker.  Ken offers to invite Audrey and Lewis around for dinner to clear the air.  Is he hoping that Deirdre’s cheese straws will do the trick?  I dunno, he better get Eddie to bake a cake instead.  Audrey and Ken both leave the Rovers, as they have more interesting things to do, and Lewis and Deirdre stay behind: how convenient.  Deirdre grills Lewis for what he used to do for a living.  He tells her he was a male escort, and that’s how he and Audrey met.  Deirdre can hardly believe it, but then remembers the little show they had put on in the Rovers a while back.  Deirdre says it’s a pity that he threw in the towel, since it’s her birthday soon and she could have booked him.  Audrey wants to know all about his male escorting career. 

HIGHLIGHTS

- Chesney telling John, “You’re Fired!” a la Donald Trump when he tries to support Ches’ market selling.  If only it were that easy.

- Ciaran to Michelle: “Liz wants me to come up with some more ideas for theme nights.” Michelle: “’Cept they’ll all be based around the same theme of you, slappers and booze.” Ciaran: “Bring it on!”  Haha.  What’s Michelle so angry about, she’ll fit right in on those theme nights!  

- Graeme picking Norris up in a bear hug in joy after he leaves Tina’s. 

- Ashley’s maniacal laugh when Graeme tells him who he spent the night with.  Ha-ha…ha-ha…hahahahaha.

- Graeme’s school-girl scream after he tells David that he’s been with Tina and David goes crazy!

- David for telling it like it is about Tina: “She destroyed us, like she destroys everything she comes into contact with.”  It almost does seem like she’s only trying to make David mad sometimes.  Look who she chooses: Jason (his ex-brother-in-law), Nick (his brother), and now Graeme (his best friend).  Are she and Gail going to enter into a lesbian relationship next?  

- I laughed so hard at how David couldn’t lift the radiator and almost crushed himself with it.  Haha. 

LOWLIGHTS

- Tina not really caring about Graeme’s concerns for his personal safety once David and Jason get wind of it.  Remember this, Graeme.  She probably hogs the blanket too. 

- I know that Graeme never gets girls and all, but he really shouldn’t have gone after his best friend’s ex-girl.  Isn’t that in a guy-code somewhere?  I know it’s girl-code.  If Graeme’d only left the night before as a “one off” everyone would have been the better for it.  I don’t feel SORRY for David, in any way, but still, Graeme should have stayed away from it. 

- Tina freaking out that Jason can’t just evict her.  Erm, he couldn’t if you were a tenant paying RENT, which you aren’t.  Try squatter’s rights instead, honey. 

- That caddish, caddish Lewis!  I really hope Audrey isn’t falling for his charm anymore!

13 comments:

abbyk said...

Ah, the return of Me-Me-Me-chelle. 2 minutes of sour notes in an otherwise excellent episode.

Craig Gazey is a gem; put Graeme with anyone, even Norris, and you'll get a brilliant scene. The whole 'what should we do about David' was the funniest thing I've seen in ages.

And I disagree with the reviewer. Lewis may be a cad, but I liked his banter with Dierdre. Yeah, we love Audrey and we know he's going to break her heart eventually, but he's engaging in a mature way (as opposed to cringe-inducing characters like Mary and Theresa.) I wish there were something he could do jobwise so he'd stick around. Ken needs a theatre buddy now that Ted's MIA.

Llifon said...

Wouldn't it be funny if Lewis charmed Emily and Gail as well? Then he'd have all the stalwarts on his list. Loved Graeme and David's scene.

David: Why Tina? MY Tina?
Graeme: She's my Tina now. Technically.

Ouch!

F. Orex said...

The post is really Hilarius. No talking about the post every one has to read it by themselves and then they will know about the post.

Danny-K said...

Graham: After leaving Tina's flat after his night of passion - That walk along the street, great stuff! LOL! Very entertaining.

Strangely I couldn't help being reminded of that famous Gene Kelly scene from Singing in the Rain - wish it had been raining then Graham could have done a Gene Kelly number: "I'm singing in the rain..." etc., maybe finishing with handing the umbrella to Norris - after the hug of course! Great bit of light humour, and a very, VERY, entertaining scene.

Ashley laughing in recognition of the task ahead of Graham in tackling David was funny too. Graham just seemed to melt down the counter in angst.

Wardrobe alert: Props malfunction -
Did you see the size of the handcuffs on David's wrists? Were they off the set of The Incredible Hulk or something? He had a struggle to stop them sliding off completely LOL! Handcuffs? He could have slid an arm and shoulder through it! Wonder if anyone from the production staff noticed before it was aired?

Having David instantly brew up straight into anger on hearing from Graham about his relationship with Tina was unrealistic - I'd have thought, first confusion and questioning, along the lines of 'there must be some mistake?' then feelings of betrayal, leading only then, to anger and recrimination before (some episodes away) acceptance of the situation. Although David walking away in triumph at the changed locks, showed acceptance, as once Graham was outside, the instant violent anger had disappeared just as fast as it had arrived to be replaced by now, devious and fiendish plotting from David.

However, as it's a soap it's acceptable for David to erupt into instant anger, but it's hardly credible, nor is it award winning empathy in character study (if Corrie are chasing awards that is).

And yes, Lewis is far too interesting a character to be allowed to desert the street. They should tempt Nigel Havers with another contract. After all it's work; no matter how high-faluting the aspirations of the actor.

Rebecca said...

I think Chesney was imitating Alan Sugar, actually, with "You're fired!". Off the Apprentice, I think, and they had just been talking about how Alan Sugar started as a market trader...

Yoork said...

@ Rebecca, yes, true, but Donald coined the phrase...so I figured I'd give him the credits

Christine said...

I don't know a lot about radiators, but wouldn't it have been full of water when David took it off the wall? How would he have had the tools to get it off too? If he is strong enough to break off a radiator, he should be strong enough to break out of the handcuffs!

David Cameroon said...

Exactly Christine, there would have been water pouring into the house. Thought the scene was a little OTT and over acted but I presume it was supposed to be side splittingly hilarious. Tina is a leech. As for Lewis, its very unbelievable he would be hanging around a back street bookies and telling Dreary she is interesting to talk to??? All rather contrived and farcial and Audrey will be doing those great lemon sucking faces again.

Sea Penguin said...

I don't like the Tina/Graeme relationship. But, I did enjoy the radiator scene - OTT but very funny! I used to so loathe David Platt, and now I really enjoy his scenes.

gadgee said...

Great episode. Graeme is sublime. I really hope he and David can be friends again eventually, as they're such a funny double-act, and also I think them making up could be good, touching scenes to see. David is lashing out now, but he has changed lately, and I think it'd be a shame if the writers just ignored all of that character development and David reverted back to his old ways for good.

"he really shouldn’t have gone after his best friend’s ex-girl"

He didn't really do that though, did he? That's what's been so good about this story. With Rosie and Natasha, Graeme was trying far too hard, whereas he was just being a good friend to Tina, and the kiss and the night spent together came as a complete surprise to him.

If Chesney gets sick of Fiz and John (who wouldn't?) and doesn't want to pay rent etc. to Fiz, maybe he could go and live with Kirk in the salon flat.

Clare said...

I've said it before and i'll say it again...i love Graeme.

Anonymous said...

Poor Jase... he may be dim, but he's sweet.. and Tina really didn't treat him very well, did she?
Rebecca in TO

Anonymous said...

Graeme might be nice, but of course thoroughly dopey like most of Corrie's males, but his character is great and I really enjoy him. However Graeme and Tina getting it on ....just imagining it makes me kind of wince.

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