Monday 30 July 2012

State of the Street - July 2012

Marcus and Sean's breakup was so painful to watch. It was very real, wasn't it? Tears, acceptance, pain and heartbreak. No screaming or throwing things or temper tantrums like everyone else has. Well, not at the end, anyway. Sean pushed Marcus to the brink when he confronted him at the hospital but later, when they both knew that it was over and they loved each other but wanted different things, it just broke my heart. Leaning on friends. In real life, of course, Marcus really would probably have left town but I'm glad he's staying around because I really like the character and the actor. Maria's crush really didn't come to much. Audrey pointed it out and it seems to have died off, as they do, I suppose. It would have been interesting to follow it up a bit more though. By the end of the month, Marcus might be seeing Aiden and Sean is still struggling.


Lloyd's back! I'm quite glad to see him. The story that brought him back was a bit silly but I don't care. Seeing Lloyd, Steve and Eileen in the cab office together was worth it! They had a rough start, though, which sunk to childish behaviour and pettiness and subterfuge. But really, though having three cabs sabotaged by Tracy costs a bomb to fix, did Lloyd really start up the company with only three cars? Lloyd and Steve ended up on top of each other on the school playing field after a full body tackle after Lloyd found out. When you hit bottom, there's only one way to go! And yes, they did repair the damage and merged the two companies. Hopefully they kept on the lady drivers and could supply them when asked for one.

Tracy still has hopes of getting Steve back and you'd think after all these years, she'd have figured it out. Steve is often quite nasty to Tracy but with her tenacity, he probably needs to be and yet it doesn't sink in. And Steve sold Number 13 back to Kevin in a matter of minutes. I really can't get over the real estate dealings on the Street. Kevin offered more money to move in straight away but there's procedures! Sometimes it's just so contrived, isn't it? Beth and Tracy have rights as tennants and Tracy's name is on the deed, she must have some say. But no. We have to play the unreality card. I do hope Tracy has a solicitor to ensure she gets her half of the proceeds as much as i hate her, she's legally entitled, I would think, if only as a future divorce settlement. She may not deserve it but they are legally married.

Peter hates Nick. That's a given. He's got good reason to. Over and above Nick having the affair with Leanne there's the stunt Nick pulled, encouraging Peter to drink while he was recovering from the tram crash injuries. That's pretty low. Now he's playing substitude daddy to Simon which *really* rubs Peter the wrong way and doesn't Nick love stirring it and pushing all Peter's buttons? Was it more about his dislike or more about jealousy that Leanne had someone new/old and the fear that Simon would like Nick better? Probably a bit of each. I pretty much love every storyline with these characters, there's so much chemistry and the acting is superb.

It was interesting to see Peter whine about making sacrifices for Simon and how Simon is the most important thing all the while causing more upheaval in the little boy's life. If he hadn't kicked off so much at Nick, Leanne wouldn't have decided to move away. It sent Peter back to the bottle yet again, it sent Carla the other way.

He's finally come around to realizing that Simon really should be the priority but it's too bad he didn't think of that when he was crawling up Carla's skirts. He railed against his father for abandoning him, he pushed Carla away, accusing her of being glad he could lose Simon forever, he even tried to "abduct" Simon himself. For all that Carla has been demonized as the other woman, she managed to persuade him to let Simon go in the end. I did wonder why he didn't tell Simon that he would write and phone him. Now Leanne and Nick can settle in but you notice, she still can't say she loves Nick?

Another couple I really like is Izzy and Gary. Her getting pregnant and his reactions to it were wonderful. The doctor says she should be ok but Owen of course hit the roof, even harder than when Katy got pregnant. This time around he's got even more reason to worry, though he always reacts in the worst way. What parent wouldn't be frantic when a child whose health is precarious wants to do something that could very well jeopardize that health? I think that if anyone is up to a challenge like that, Izzy is. Plenty of people with far more serious disabilities than hers raise children successfully. But sadly, the pregnancy failed. They're one of the better couples on the street so it's nice to see them in a good storyline even if it's a sad one.


A couple i don't like the thought of is Mary and Roy. Mary has clearly got a crush on Roy and is doing everything she can to try to impress him, between learning about things he likes, to hanging around him all the time, giggling. Roy is oblivious of course but Mary just makes me ill to watch. She's so long past her sell-by date that she's rotting. She's not funny anymore and should be got rid of. I don't know why she hasn't been run out of town already. Hayley, while it took awhile, twigged what was up.

The bullying story really didn't go in too deep. Faye was being picked on for being adopted which makes no sense considering how many kids in school have step-mums or dads. Not a lot of difference really. There would be far more reason to bully her if they found out her mother died of a drug overdose, I would have thought.

Two new faces on the cobbles this month, a new brother for Carla, renamed from the fore-mentioned Darren unless there's another brother in the woodpile somewhere and a new face for Ryan Connor. I think i like Rob, though he doesn't seem to be everyone's cup of tea judging from various fan reaction. I like the actor as well though I do think he needs a better haircut. Still, he's been in prison, so you have to cut him slack for that.

NuRyan is being played by a very competent actor as well but the character? He's an obnoxious arrogant oik and seems set to be the new bad boy on the Street to replace David Platt. Why do we need one? Why do we have to have drugs on our Street? It's all too Eastenders if you ask me. I don't like him but then he's not meant to be likeable but I like even less his storyline so far.

Sunita and Dev hit the wall. She manipulated it so that Stella caught her and Karl in a "compromising position", shall we say. Beds changed hands, Karl is living in Number 7 mainly because he's got nowhere else to go. I really think if he did, he'd be elsewhere but she's living in a dream world. Again, yet another couple doesn't really put their kids first yet Sunita gets teary that she's torn their world apart. Well if she'd thought of that first, she wouldn't have done it. I was dreading that scene where Dev would get drunk and pathetic and sad because I really don't rate Jimmi Harkishin's acting but to tell you the truth, he was very good and not cringeworthy at all! One scene out of many, though, doesn't make an Oscar performance.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Faye was being picked on for being adopted which makes no sense considering how many kids in school have step-mums or dads. Not a lot of difference really.
Sad to say, this really rang true for me. My little sister is adopted and her classmates knew and used it against her all the time - they used to taunt her cruelly, telling her that her mother hated her and gave her away, etc. Like Faye, her mother's death was drug-related (and years after she'd lost custody) - that kind of detail isn't an alternative reason to taunt, merely an additional reason to taunt. Kids can be very cruel and will seize upon any perceived difference, any perceived vulnerability. Faye's insecurity, as an adopted child, is a vulnerability, so the school bullies used it against her. That's very realistic.

Tvor said...

True, kids can find any little thing to bully someone else.

Anonymous said...

Eugh I can't stand Leanne anymore. Who the hell does she think she is?! Her self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude is beyond irritating now. She's using Nick and frankly, she had no right to stop Peter from seeing HIS son or threaten to take Simon away! And what the hell happened to Simon's routine? Peter let Simon live with Leanne to make his little boy happy and sadly, that was his mistake! Leanne was clearly being driven by her bitterness. Her spiteful rants reflect how insanely jealous she is of Carla and I only hope that when Carla returns she will have regained some of that self confidence that she lost when Frank raped her and will put Leanne in her place! Someone needs to!
Peter begged Leanne to let him see Simon, so he could apologise and tell his little boy that he loved him but Saint Leanne smugly refused, going on about how "it would disrupt his routine" and slimy Nick had to join in of course! But now that Peter has gone, almost every scene with Leanne has been about who Simon is going to stay with. Grandma Gail, Grandma Stella, uncle Nick... So much for Simon's routine! Leanne's hypocrisy is unbelievable.
Yes, Peter has behaved badly but Leanne was having it off with Nick not so long ago and at least Peter and Carla love each other and want to be together, Leanne doesn't really want Nick and the day she got back with him, she'd just told her sister that 'he wasn't worth it'. What a sly, hypocritical cow!

Still, I suppose we're supposed to see Peter as the bad guy even though Leanne is ten times worse.


Tvor said...

good points about Simon's routine but then even before any of this happened, he'd be shuffled off to grandma and Grandpa or off to the neighbours. I agreet that Leanne doesn't really love Nick and he's going to get hurt again.

Anonymous said...

Anon and Tvor very well said! I agree 100% with your comments! I don't like Leanne, never have she is a very bitter, nasty piece of work and has such a sense of entitlement! She has very little education, no class and was a former prositute. It is obvious she is still a Battersby through and through! Would love to see the back of her!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous - I entirely agree. Leanne does believe she is entitled to everything. None of them (Leanne, Nick, Peter, Carla) are innocent but Leanne's spiteful behaviour during the custody battle was terrible. Peter's behaviour was erratic and then when he saw sense, Leanne just did exactly what Peter had done. Only worse in the end. Surprisingly Carla really was the only person who was able to put Simon first.

I find it strange that Simon wasn't seen during the summer holidays but now that he's back in school, he's back on screen too.

Also, he doesn't seem to give a damn about Peter. I know kids are resilient but Simon supposedly loves his father and yet you'd never know it.

Tvor said...

Ah but don't forget that the show is filmed 5 - 6 weeks ahead so Alex Bain would be filming during school holidays with scenes that would air when school resumes.

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