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THIS WEEK IN SPOILERS
Coronation Street: Jason and Phil clean up the trashed community center and Todd remains convinced that Phil is behind the whole thing. Todd hopes the CCTV camera would reveal the culprit, but Phil says the camera was unplugged, only increasing Todd’s suspicions.
Todd and Jason go back to the house where Eileen informs them that Jason’s father Tony has died of a heart attack. Jason is devastated. Todd doesn’t buy it when Phil is sympathetic about Tony’s death. Todd then announces he’s moving back in to support Jason through this tough time. Phil isn’t happy about Todd’s return to the family fold. Phil later manipulates Eileen into letting him move in as well and the war is on.
Elsewhere, Billy has been getting phone calls from someone named Lee and he’s determined to hide them from Sean. His distraction however, has Billy snapping at his boyfriend. Billy apologizes though and puts his bad mood down to work. Later, Eva spots Billy giving money to Lee, but Billy claims the young man was just a stranger in need. But that proves to be a lie when the mysterious man shows up to see Billy again, demanding more money.
EastEnders: Ben publicly declares his relationship with Paul by kissing him at the Vic, with Phil watching. Phil storms out in a huff. Phil uses his upset as an excuse to fall off the wagon and he gets drunk. Paul’s grandmother Pam isn’t happy about the reunion either, upset that Paul gave Ben another chance.
Johnny meets cute paramedic Tom, who flirts with Johnny and gives him his number. But Johnny’s mind is elsewhere.
Emmerdale: Ross is not happy to hear that Charity is using an unsuspecting Finn to sell her stolen action figurines, but Charity assures him it’s a low risk gig. It goes bad of course and Finn is arrested for selling stolen goods. When James and Emma hear what’s happened and that Ross knew about it, they insist Ross get Finn out of it. Finn threatens to turn Charity and Ross in to keep his record clean, but he changes his mind and keeps them out of it. He does have a condition however.
Later, Finn decides to start a taxi business so he, Pete and Ross can work on something together. But Finn quickly learns that he might not be granted a license because of his criminal record. Finn is angry at Ross, leaving Ross with wondering how to fix the situation.
Hollyoaks: James moves forward with his scheme to seduce Harry, plying him with booze and a nice dinner. James lays it on the line and offers Harry money for sex. Giving his living situation, Harry is tempted. Later Harry feels guilty though and bickers with Ste.
Meanwhile, Ste is anxious to make his kids happy while they are visiting him and steals food from Cam’s to feed them. Cam finds out and calls the cops. Amy arrives at the police station and is furious, taking the kids away. Ste finds the money that James gave Harry.
Ms. St. Claire attempts to matchmake for John Paul and Scott by hiring Scott to help JP plan the school ball. Things don’t go well and the two end up arguing over the plans. However, they come to an agreement and begin to grow closer.
Elsewhere Marnie plants the idea in Scott’s head for him to burn down the Hutch for the insurance money. Of course, Scott decides to go through with the insane plan.
Neighbors: Aaron beging to get threatening texts, saying that they know what he did to Tom. Aaron takes comfort in Nate, who thinks they should wait for the stalker to make his next move. After another message, Nate and Aaron begin to suspect that Julie, Tom’s stepmother sent the text and come up with a plan to trap her. However, they discover they are wrong.
Later, when the stalker demands $10,000 for their silence, Nate kisses Aaron to make him feel better and they have sex. The boys wonder if they’re back together or not when the blackmailer leaves a message and a place for Aaron to leave the money. Aaron and Nate make the drop and are shocked to see who showed up to pick up the money.
People of the Valley: Determined to get over Tyler, Iolo joins the local dating site ‘Volcano’ where he connects with a guy named Tom, who claims that like Iolo, he’s looking for a relationship and not just sex. Iolo is excited about the date, but it goes badly when Tom turns out not to be a nice guy and attacks Iolo. Later, Tyler finds Iolo after the assault and Iolo begs Tyler to keep it a secret. But will he and is that a good idea?
Secret Lives: Tired of the drama that Kalle and Elias keep bringing to his life, Lari decides he wants a break from both of them. Apparently, Lari has forgotten all the drama he caused for his ex-boyfriends. Anyway, without Lari around, Elias and Kalle make peace and start spending time together, drinking wine and sharing their problems. When Lari sees them together, he wonders if there’s something between them and ultimately starts spying on his ex-lovers.
TEASERS FOR NEXT WEEK
EastEnders: Kyle has to face his mother for the first time since his operation to change his gender.
Neighbours: Will the truth about the explosion be revealed after Tom is arrested?
People of the Valley: In the wake of his attack, Iolo’s OCD begins to spin out of control.
That’s it for this edition of Gays of Our Lives. I love to hear from readers so please share your comments on the thoughts and opinions expressed in this week’s column below. You can also tweet me @adlangford or email me at adlangford@sosourcemedia.com
What have you read about Danny Miller, I’m curious! :p
It’s my understanding that the two actors playing Tam and Nancy made the decision to quit EE (last summer), so whether there’s a strategy on the show’s part to thin that age group or not would be questionable. In fact, one might guess that Nancy leaving may have played into their decision to recast Johnny and bring his character back to fill the Carter ranks. Anyway, on the LGBT front, it sounds like Kyle’s (lesbian) pal Soph is returning to have a fling with Tina, then attempt to reconnect with Kyle as well.
Also, I wouldn’t mind if they played some history by having Ronnie hire Duncan Willis (Steven France) to manage the gym for her. He was the presumably gay, but closeted, boxer whom Ben was kissing around the same time he was crushing on Christian (ca. 2011). This was all happening the first time Ben came out (when Pascoe was in the role). Duncan could prove to be a lingering object of desire for Ben and perhaps be more open to taking things further himself, if his boxing career is now over.
On Corrie, it isn’t “Phil” that Todd is hounding. It’s that slimeball Pat Phelan. Why they brought him back is beyond me. I fast-forward through his scenes whether they have Todd in them or not.
I am speeding through the Aaron/Robert/Liv nonsense on Emmerdale as well. Knowing now what a reprehensible d-bag Danny Miller is in his real life, I simply don’t care in the slightest about him personally or his portrayal of what amounts to an increasingly offensive and exploitative “gay” character.
I have never liked the Paul character on Eastenders. So good riddance and take wall-eyed Grampa Les with you. And that mouth-breather Sonia. And this Linzi/Star or whoever the 14 year-old psycho is. Plus I have always said for all of Ben’s issues with dear old Phil, he most likely would be seeking to compensate for a lack of nurturing paternal attention with a more mature gay sex lover. They somewhat hinted at it in the character’s previous incarnation when he was getting sweet on that muscle daddy Christian around the gym. So no, I don’t want him and Johnny together.
I hope Lindsay and Silas come back and cull the Hollyoaks cast. Including Ste and Harry and Scott and the Nightingales (except Alfie) and Frankie and Sienna and Freddie and Overbite McQueen. But with Warren Fox returning yet again, Brendan can’t be far behind.
The Iolo and Tyler stuff got irritating quick. Now Iolo is being needy. And Tyler is a lame playa. Yawn.
Helsinki is a rather large place. Sure, cold sometimes – but filled with vibrant, attractive men. Why is it that Lari, has trouble attracting men? Elias and Kalle find men with open abandon – and Lari is the one being cheated on? Lari should be one Grindr ding away from a million reasons to forget Kalle’s hideous wallpaper, or Elias (in total). The show certainly places high value on his attractiveness – selling his pecs for air time, despite his shallow depth of acting at times. Let the fury fly – bring in some new, fresh blood. He deserves someone/something good – and certainly something better than his past. Or, will he fish tail back into the lake of disappointment once more?
Despite the past hickup, does it not seem like the show is hoping to make a paring of JP and Scott long term? Yes, I despise it with unholy resolve – but, the show sure is trying…
It would be rather modern, and du-jour, but I cannot trust that the writing, plot and cast can commit to what should be a very intense set of performances needed to make it work. If pursued, the matter should lead to a trial. Those, it seems, are only really reserved for the heavier hitters.
If they do it though, I hope they do it well.
…and for a taken, Mr. Ben Mitchell, no less…
In such a genre, where drama and intrigue are the only guarantors of screen time – would a romantic and non-dramatic, or non-scheming relationship be worthy of the screen time? We have only seen Aaron and Robert – due to their relations to the plot. Surely, the plot has called for well developed, ‘normal’, romantic relationships – but blown them to smithereens when plot dictated.
I do not find Robert and Aaron to be a good pairing (their delectable sexual chemistry aside). You may find support for Robert, however considering how much Aaron has had to suffer, at the hands of that man. Certain things should be unforgivable. From a psychological perspective (seeing that Aaron’s character has been to enough therapy, and been through enough to well deserve the help) – how is it that he can develop enough to overcome his father’s abuse yet not realize Robert’s? Is it not only a matter of time? Despite the lack of casting, and the lack of character integrity by the plot dictations – this show has done worse before. This, though, would have been a pivotal time to either have Aaron do it alone (and have the ‘Single Dad’ thing work – dating, working and dealing with a troublesome kid – doing some rehashing, and learning of his own. Who else would be able to spot the signs of a kid going off of of the tracks?) or bring in a fresh face. Have that person be a guide, or a new light for Aaron to go by. Hell, throw in a love triangle with Robert (or, an attempt at one) in a few months down the road for good measure (as Robert finalizes his divorce, and gets back into the groove of being a single man again). The writers ultimately gave fans what they demanded – a pairing of Robert and Aaron. They just put Aaron through so much, at the hands of Robert – that now it is incredulous.
Case in point – how does Chas ever think of Katie? How does Aaron? For that matter, how does Robert? It’s not as if she is an avoidable topic on the family tree…
I’d love it if Lockie came back and he and JP got together. They were pretty hot and JP needs some loving. But I suspect the news about Lockie won’t be good.
As for Hollyoaks, I also hear they’re FINALLY going to reveal Lockie’s fate. .. Oh gosh how I really wish Lockie was still going to be around for John Paul. .. Loved those two together. .. However, I’m guessing the other Campbell brother ain’t long for the show either, so not too optimistic.
Johnny turning down Tom Pepper is non-sensical. He’s fit, obviously educated, and has a career where he’s helping people – something that university Johnny seems to aspire toward. So right off the bat, they’d seem more compatible .. even if it’s just a fling or friends with benefits to get over Gianluca.
On EE – Jay may not have had sex with Linzi, but he does have sexting photos of her on his phone. So instead of a story about statutory rape, it opens up a whole different can of worms about underage teenagers sexting and things like this being interpreted as a form of child pornography in some jurisdictions. If that’s where they’re going with this, then it’s kind of a unique storyline and one that I don’t think has gotten soap treatment previously.
My take on the Johnny/Ben exchange was that Johnny was seeing Ben for the first time since he returned and was surprised not just to see him but to see him hanging out with another guy (not knowing who Paul is yet). Ben’s smirk was just because he can’t help being an a-hole to someone who’s being nice to him.
The introduction of Liv has put me off Emmerdale for now. This whole arc has required too much revision of history for my liking, and now there is a bratty teenager involved. I’ve been a fan of Aaron’s storylines, but I don’t understand what’s so special about him that guys put up with his shit. Once he gets his divorce settlement, would a guy like Robert hang around pining for Aaron? Even if he did hang around the village, he would head out looking for someone less complicated, more mature and without the overbearing mother that Aaron has.
It’s been a while since I saw People of the Valley because I don’t know where to catch it anymore. As for Iolo, though, it’s not too unrealistic that he would latch on to Tyler since he doesn’t have a big circle of potential mates. He could be so starved for affection that he will work to get any crumbs from Tyler as he could – but then I don’t like him being that pathetic either. Iolo seems like a catch and it would be a nice turn to have someone pursuing him for a change.
This whole Johnny-Ben things in not making any sense to me, because first of all Johnny completely turned down Ben before he left (and for good reason) and second of all, I don’t see how any sane person would ever fall for a Mitchell. About that look Johnny gave Ben, I thought it was more like a look of disdain or even disgust because after his break-up with Gianluca, Johnny just hates couples or love and that when Tom asks him out Johnny has his mind on his ex boyfriend whom he stayed with for over a year and not a murderous mechanic with anger issues who almost hit him before. I mean who in their right mind would turn down hunky drama-free Tom? Not me.
As for Roboring I’m just not bothered anymore, Aaron and Robert are very sexual and maybe they can’t be with the trial and everything but why not just let us see them being a proper couple before dropping an angst-y sassy teenager on them? And I’m guessing things would just get worse after they made her friends with Ashley and Bernice’s devil spawn Gabby :/
Oh and Finn has a story of his own for once?! Oh wait no, he’s used again as a plot device for one of his brothers’ stories. Would it be so wrong to give him something involving a possible boyfriend? Now that Waaron has to change his sister’s diapers and chaperon her, why not give Finn a thrilling affair? Cuz let’s face it Robron fans are bored and I’m sure most of them would not mind jumping ship to a Finn romance.
Love James, guess I always like an evil gay, it changes from the usual stereotypes like the comic relief Scott , the dumb blonde Harry or the walking train wreck Ste.