Dude, Where’s My Update? Wednesday, Sept. 30: Something Evil This Way Comes…

And then…

Tony is still considering Maria’s messages when Carla awakens. “You look shattered,” he tells her and convinces her to go back to bed and take a sleeping tablet, while he attends to his appointments. He also says he’ll pick Carla up a new moblie phone. She muses that she still wonders what happened to her old one.

The girls wait outside of the factory as Rosie comes across to open up. They then see Maria charging toward the factory. Fiz intercepts her, telling her Tony and Carla aren’t due back for another week. She offers to return home with Maria and make her some breakfast. Maria snaps back that she is neither mad, nor an invalid.

In the factory, the girls are having a good goss about Maria’s state of mind when Tony comes in. They are somewhat surprised that he is back from the honeymoon. He asks abruptly to see Rosie. Rosie is called on the carpet before Tony; she confesses she made a copy of the video and that Maria saw it at the wedding.

Sally enters the office and confesses she was the one that displayed the video. Sally explains that she wanted to give Maria some perspective on Liam as Maria was holding him up as some sort of saint. She says she was trying to “help”. How, I’m not sure.

After Rosie leaves, Sally goes on to tell Tony that Maria is in a bit of a state, the accusations she’s been flinging around, and that she might do something “stupid”

As the day wears on, the factory girls continue to gossip about Maria and are surprised that Sally and Rosie have not been sacked.

Some time later, Maria hears a knock at the back door –  it’s Tony. She tries to shut it, but he sticks his foot in the door and reminds her that is was she who wanted to talk. She is in her dressing gown and for the first time it seems to occur to her that her Scooby-Doo Run Amok bit might put her in some danger.

She tells Tony she is going upstairs to dress. While she is upstairs, Tony locks the back door, takes the key out with a hankie and puts it in his pocket. As he waits, he plays with one of Maria’s belts, holding it as if to strangle someone.

She returns. “You’ve known about Liam and Carla for months,” Maria begins. Tony says yes he knew, but contends it wasn’t a full-blown affair. And that he and Carla have worked things out.

Maria wants to know details. Tony says the liaison occurred after the Connors had lost the baby, and Carla was the only person Liam could turn to. By the time Tony found out, both couples had reconciled so he decided to just go forward.

Crying and angry, Maria blurts out that she doesn’t buy Tony’s story. Tony says he could have walked away, but Carla is everything he wants. Maria remembers the story he shared on their weekend away, about how he ruined the life of an employee who had betrayed him. She figures it was a warning to Liam and Carla about crossing him. She also says she knows Pat and Tony never fell out, so there are holes in the Liam best man story.

Maria continues that she’s been piecing together witness accounts. Tony arranging the strip club meant he had control over Liam’s whereabouts. And had even made Liam go back for the kitty and not Tom. Jason told her that the car never swerved, nor slowed down, but aimed straight at Liam.

Tony still maintains she’s got it wrong.

She puts Tony’s hand on her belly and asks Tony to swear on her unborn child’s life that he’s telling the truth. He withdraws his hand and cannot do it.

And then…

Steve, unshaven and smelling like both rat and cheese, tells his family he has apparently booked ‘General Custard’ and ‘Hia Lowa’ for Amy’s birthday party. Amy says she was hoping Father Christmas would come. At least, her paper-bag puppet mouth opens and words come out to that effect.

Michelle, in the Rovers, is asking Steve where to hide Ryan’s Christmas present, to ensure she doesn’t stumble upon her own gift. Steve tells her that won’t happen; he has no gift for her. He says he’s opting out of the commercialism of Christmas. Although he did buy a gift for Liz. He says he and Michelle needn’t exchange gifts because all they get is a big flipping credit card bill.

Michelle opens a bag of crisps to eat and Steve says if she keeps troughing her way through stuff like that, her Christmas gift will be a tent she can use as a dress.

Steve is pulling pints when, identifiable by his costume, “General Custard”  i.e. Jesse the Electrician, walks into the Rovers. He is very early for Amy’s party. He explains that the other half of the act, ‘Hia Lowa’, actually his wife, has run off with the drains inspector. She even texted him that their marriage is over. Steve lends a sympathetic ear, and tries to convince General Custard to do the party anyway.

And then….

That morning, Tyrone tries to approach Molly outside Dev’s shop. She won’t listen to him and says she’s worked out how to tell if Tyrone is lying…his lips move. He’s downcast as she slams the door; apparently it’s his birthday.

Pam finds Tyrone sitting alone in the Cafe. Ty mentions that as a child, he spent one birthday hiding in the loft so the social workers couldn’t find him after his mum got knicked for shoplifting Christmas presents. And that was better than this one, without Molly. Pam orders two teas, but Tyrone leaves.

Pam sees Molly in the street…she apologizes again and says not to take it out on Tyrone; nor throw it all away over a “little” tiff. Molly says it was not a little tiff and she can’t marry someone she can’t trust. Pam implores Molly to give Tyrone a break on his birthday.

And then…..

Hailey wants to open the Cafe for Christmas as a drop-in for the homeless, which they had done once before. She crafts a poster that says ‘We want your Christmas presence,’ Becky thinks it’s a tad too clever and that ‘Free Food and Drink’ might be more effective.

Liz pops into Roys during the planning of the Christmas Drop-In. She says that Steve is behaving like a total idiot. Becky seems concerned to hear that their ‘plan’ is hurting other people.

No more and then.