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I'm not quite sure where to start this week, so I'm just going
to jump right in and start where it feels right. It's Maxine's
hen night and she's dragged out to the pub, blindfolded, handcuffed
and still in her PJ's. Meanwhile, the stag party organised by
Fred has turned into a bit of a flop. He's hired a room at the
golf club but they can't have the jukebox on as there's a committee
meeting going on in the room next door; the beer's a whopping
£2.20 per pint; Fred bores them all with tales of sausages
and the steward won't let the cowgirl stripper in because she's
wearing denim (although she does offer to remove it). Anyway,
both hen and stag parties end up back at the Rovers (where else?)
but Sharon is there, knocking back the tequila like there's no
tomorrow. At the end of the night, everyone gets to hear her drunken
ramblings as she pours out her bile on Sally and Natalie for stealing
her men, and is dragged outside by Rita and Gail. And so, the
day of Maxine and Ashley's wedding starts with champagne at the
salon with Maxine's mum Doreen eyeing up young Tom. At Ashley's,
he tells Fred he'll always think of Maxine as an Elliott, no matter
what it says on their marriage certificate. Best man Gary Mallett
has his speech all prepared but it drops to the floor as he hugs
Judy while he's trying to get ready for the wedding.
After he
leaves for the church, Judy isn't feeling too well and Emily comes
round to sort out the twins, leaving Judy to put her feet up for
a while and rest. Meanwhile, over in the Kabin, in a wonderfully
composed shot, Sharon stands at the door of the Kabin and watches
bland Danny and Sally snog on the doorstep before he go into Sally's
house. It's too much for Sharon, she loses it completely and goes
berserk, throwing magazines off the shelves. At the church, Maxine
looks pretty in pink and Fred gives Ashley a few words of wonderful
pre-nuptial advice at the altar. "Never neglect the passion,
son, never neglect the passion". During the service, Maxine
stops the proceedings to have the word 'obey' included in her
vows. Ashley does what he's told to and lets her say obey, (oh
well, I suppose some women like that sort of thing), and the vicar
pronounces them husband and wife. The happy couple are beaming,
with Maxine declaring herself "proud as a Peacock".
Fred spies Kathleen hiding out in the church grounds and invites
her onto the wedding photographs, which pleases Ashley no end
to have "me mam and dad" there, although Beryl is less
than pleased, naturally. Spider and Toyah, of course, use environmentally
friendly confetti and the whole day is just perfect, simply perfect.
Upstairs in Sharon's flat, she's in bits as she throws back the
vodka and knocks back the pills. In a scene that had me wanting
to scream at the screen and yell "Don't humiliate yourself,
Sharon, don't do it", she sat, in utter and total despair,
looking through her wedding photos before calling ex-fiancée
Ian to tell him how low her life had sunk... before collapsing
on the sofa, the glass of vodka falling from her hand.
Back at
the Mallett's, Judy decides to get up off the sofa to hang out
the washing in the back yard. She's in a bit of pain but struggles
on, gasping for breath as she tries to peg out the nappies. And
then it happens, she tries to hang on to the washing line for
support, but it's no use, she collapses to the ground, clutching
her chest. And as this happens, in the most poignant scene I've
ever watched in Coronation Street - Gary's giving his best man's
speech, straight from the heart, and his words ring out, not once
but twice, telling Ashley the secret of a happy marriage is always
to 'be together and cherish each other' .(I can't believe this,
I'm crying again as I recall it all, having to write it down).
A scene made all the more moving without the strains of the oh-so
familiar theme music. (Believe me, get yourself someone to hug,
right about this point)
Right, so, anyway, Ashley and Maxine know nothing about what's
happened to Judy and off they jet on their honeymoon in ignorant
bliss. Ashley suffers turbulence and worries about the wings falling
off the plane, all this while he's in the departure lounge, but
realising how much Maxine loves him, finally manages to get himself
on the plane, telling her: "I could fly to the Caribbean
with you under me arm." It's left to Ken to break the news
to Gary and it's more than Gary can take - all he can do is sit
and sob and try to get his head around what's happened. Jim arrives
to help Gary, and the two men hug and Gary breaks down in floods
of tears in the arms of his friend. However, Jim decides to tell
Gary the truth about Vera's un-roadworthy car, and Gary, even
through his numbness over the death of his wife, starts putting
two and two together. Judy's death was caused by a pulmonary embolism
caused by the knock on her leg she received in the car crash with
Vera, and Gary wants someone to blame. Jim tells him Vera knew
nothing about the 'cut and shut' car, but of course, Terry did.
Sharon comes round in the flat the next morning and a very concerned
Rita lets herself into Sharon's flat with her own key to find
her wallowing in self-pity. The next day, when Ian turns up, Sharon
had forgotten all about her phone call to him, and he doesn't
seem best pleased that she is okay after all, having made a long
journey at breakneck speed up the motorway to find out if she
had committed suicide or not. He tells her he still thinks about
her (yeah, right) but Rita's cold stare at Ian said everything
that every viewer in the UK was thinking too. You know, a lot
more happened this week, lots of small things at the wedding and
the episode afterwards, but it was so very emotional that I couldn't,
didn't want to, write everything down. I just wanted to watch.
When you see this week's events wherever you are in the world,
you'll understand why.
Glenda
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