Coronation Street fans say they have spotted a ‘problem’ with the Lauren Bolton storyline.
Lauren has finally gone to the police over what Joel Deering did to her, when he attacked her and left her for dead. However, he was unaware that she was pregnant with his baby, and he desperately tried to keep his involvement a secret.
On the Cobbles, he tried to stay close to Dee-Dee, knowing his secret would eventually come out. And this week, it has all been revealed – but Joel has managed to convince people Lauren is to blame, and not him.
However, fans have spotted one problem with the storyline and took to social media to share their thoughts. Taking to Reddit, one fan wrote: “There’s too many new characters.. Joel, Swain, Bobby, Betsy, Lauren and Dee Dee (love her but she is fairly new) are all relatively new characters. It feels like I’m watching a different show sometimes.”
Is the game up for Joel? (
ITV)
Another agreed, adding: “Felt the same. Would mention Bobby, Mason, and Kit, too. They’re not all brand new, but it’s been probably the ‘main’ plot of the show this year, and aside from the Roy subplot it’s hardly really included classic (as in, been there >three years) characters. Even the Roy subplot included Griff and various new minor-ish characters like Roscoe.
“Linking to that, it feels like they’re introducing lots of new characters in a pretty short time, partly for this plot. It feels weird watching Mason and Betsy talk about a situation involving Joel, which started because Betsy met Joel through Sabrina, who was introduced via Gav, who was himself only introduced in the last couple of years. Too many new characters, and also too much focus on them.”
Actor Calum Lill – who plays villain Joel – recently revealed why Joel targets young women and why Dee-Dee means so much to him.
Asked why Joel is the way he is, Calum explained of his character: “He is very messed up, he sees women in two ways. He has these women he adores and puts on a pedestal like Dee-Dee and then there are the other women, the young girls that he sees as lesser in some way in his eyes and takes his hatred for women out on them.
“When he sees these vulnerable young women probably from broken homes, with criminal records and no one looking out for them he is like a shark he hones in on them, coercively controls them and emotionally manipulates them using his power and money. If you were to sit down and try and ask him why he did it he would justify it as just helping them.”
He added: “When no one else would. It is a repetitive pattern of behaviour, he engages with these young girls and afterwards there is the element of guilt so he tries to be a good person and be better towards Dee-Dee. Then the guilt wears off and he needs another ‘fix’, he has a euphoria/guilt cycle. It is a pattern of destructive behaviour. And we will see in the coming weeks that he is still doing it.”
