Coronation Street Review: "Dirty Dancing & Parent Troubles"

We've been in a little bit of a Kate/Rana drought on Coronation Street of late with other storylines obviously taking precedence, but there's really no better way to start an episode than with them. It was only a short scene with them coming out of the cafe, but it doesn't matter. They're on screen and that's what we're here for.

They're not the only ones making a return of sorts. Abi, Tracey and Beth are back from a boozy night, with Beth extremely unhappy that Abi is muscling in on Tracey. Josh also regained consciousness and was a bit freaked out by his new surroundings. The Rovers was also in the process of getting new owners with Gemma extremely excited at the prospects of taking over, but hitting a snag with Henry going AWOL.

He does eventually turn up at the pub where Bryan, Cath and Chesney force him into the toilet and demand an explanation for his shifty behaviour. Gemma may be willing to excuse it because love is blind, but thankfully those around her are more in tune. Peter then reveals that Henry has put the sale on hold and in the poshest access Coronation Street can rock up, Henry promises he can explain everything. He's going to need to have a pretty damn good explanation to stop himself getting thrown out the Rovers head first. With everyone in the Rovers watching on, Henry is forced to admit he's been cut off from his parents for leaving his fiance to be with Gemma.

Rana paid Imran a visit at the lawyer's office where she unfortunately interrupted a row between him and Adam. He's obviously got some frustration with Adam basically prepared to swan off for his happy ever after with Eva, without any thought or concern for the business. Rana being the beauty that she is mocks her brother in the best possible way, before they're both brought crashing down to earth by a visit from their father Hassan.

He's still very much refusing to acknowledge Rana's existence, so despite Imran telling her to stay, she makes a sharp exit out the door and Hassan reveals the reason for his visit; his 60th birthday is coming up and Imran's invited to the party. Being extremely loyal to his sister, Imran doesn't want to attend if Rana isn't but Hassan is completely convinced Imran will attend because people will talk otherwise. They might not be regulars on the show or have much information known about them storywise, but honestly? In the few scenes her parents have had? You can easily build up a solid picture of how things work with them.

Of course when Rana is upset, her first port and call is Kate. She rocks up at the Bistro bemoaning her parents refusal to mend bridges with her, and thinks she's being a little selfish in the process unloading on Kate when she's had a brother die. Kate though completely gets Rana's POV, whether you like it or not your parents are your parents and it's only natural for Rana to hope they can rebuild things even if those hopes are in vain. We get another soft little hug in the process from the two cutest beans on Coronation Street before they go their separate ways.

It's probably not a deliberate parallel on the writers parts, but it is interesting to see that Henry has to pull out of buying the Rovers because his parents have cut him off due to rekindling his relationship with Gemma, someone they consider to be lower class and unworthy compared to them, and Rana's parents pretending she doesn't exist due to her rekindling her relationship with Kate, something they consider a huge embarrassment and disgrace to their name.

With Josh now awake and conscious he's suffering from a spate of blindness as a result of the injury he recently suffered, and Billy is of course on hand for support and to tell Josh he knows exactly what he did to David. Without his eyesight Josh is slightly less cocky, but still insistent he never did anything to David which doesn't fly with Billy. He eventually leaves the hospital, and Josh all on his own and sightless.

Her jealousy very much getting the better of her, Beth starts to act out a little bit. She and Tracey fell into a friendship a long time ago, and whenever someone new rocks up? You are going to feel insecure. Tracey obviously just sees Abi as another woman that she can have a laugh with, and Abi's just trying to be friendly with everyone to show she's changed. Beth though can't help feeling Abi is trying to steal Tracey away from her and ends up causing a huge scene much to Tracey's amusement.

Because Corrie really was delivering everything tonight we got Leanne being the good person that she is and refuses to leave the Rovers and Peter/Toyah to probably tear each others heads off. He's extremely annoyed the sale has fallen through and he looks to be stuck with Toyah a while longer. Toyah attempts to be the diplomat and see the best in the situation, but Peter really wasn't interested in that and you can't really blame him. Henry isn't giving up all hope though, as he believes he'll be able to get a loan from the bank to buy the Rovers. I am completely here for Johnny, Jenny, Rita, Cath and Chesney once again being gathered in the Rovers to mock Henry for being so posh he has no idea how banks work, and still being insistent that he can buy the Rovers for Gemma. She continues to be blinded by love and wanting the Rovers to be hers, turning on Chesney as he tries to be a bit more realistic. It's kind of hard to feel bad for Gemma when she's ranting and raving at Henry for promising her the Rovers, and basically refusing to be with him if he can't deliver the pub to her. In Henry's eyes it seems as though Gemma has only been interested in him for his wealth instead of because she actually likes him, and he walks away from her seemingly for good.

Continuing to be the absolute best person this soap has ever seen, Rana catches up with Imran after Hassan's been and gone. She wants Imran to attend their father's party, knowing the damage that will be done if he doesn't. Kate not trying to go for Rana's Nobel peace Prize nomination is struggling extremely hard to be as level headed as Rana. She rightly thinks her parents are the ones in the wrong, the ones beyond help and they shouldn't be given them further time of day. But Rana always wants to believe the best in everyone, even when they've said to her face he wishes she'd never been born. She always puts everyone else before herself, and is still hopeful that one day her parents will accept her how she is, with Kate.

Trying to be the savior of the hour, Johnny puts in an offer for the Rover's which is massively under what Peter actually wants. Johnny though is convinced given a bit of time Peter will accept. Given the Rover's is such a landmark of Coronation Street and recent news, it seems far more likely to end up in the hands of a Connor than posh Henry and his Gemma. Yes, Henry & Gemma's breakup lasted a whole 5 minutes. She apologized for being an idiot and pointed out he had lied again, and he promised everything would be different this time and he would get her the pub.

Two of the best moments the hour gave us; Mary and Tracey dancing to Dirty Dancing which we were unfortunately cut off before Tracey did the signature move, and Jenny's complete & utter horror at Johnny proposing they sell the flat to buy the Rover's. 'YOU WANT ME TO LIVE IN THIS DUMP' has to go down as an iconic line, along with how offended Steve was by her remark and Peter accepting she wasn't wrong.

After Steve previously made disparaging remarks about Abi, she gets her own back by telling Tracey that Amy's concert was cancelled, Steve himself went out and the ring she's wearing used to belong to Karen. Whilst Steve is dragged into dancing rehearsals and buying a far more expensive ring, Abi pointedly tells Steve that he can judge her parenting but she's a damn good mate. He's well and truly put his foot in it and Liz is feeling awful for the fact Abi got that info from her talking with Eileen. Steve though is more concerned about the fact Liz was willing to run away with Johnny, and questions what will happen if Johnny does buy the pub and Liz is forced to working with him every day. Considering this is a soap? The rules dictate that Jenny must at some point find out about Johnny's indiscretion and loss of mind for the sake of plot.

To finish the night Toyah was extremely annoyed with Peter for refusing to accept Johnny's offer, and proclaimed to Leanne she would be taking control of the situation. Because that always works sooooo well!