Backfire

You do something enormously stupid. So you come up with a plan that gets you out of it and, even better, makes it seem somebody else’s fault. You will look like a hero, maybe even a martyr, and somebody else will look like the schmuck. Somebody, say, like Chesney. Perfect. What could go wrong? Well, it might backfire on you.

Thursday Katy learns the art of covering your tracks. But she needs more practice to become successful at it. She is angry at Chesney because he is not thrilled about her working at the kebab shop, leaving him with baby Joseph. She’s become interested in Ryan because, well, he’s not Chesney. Her friends think Ryan’s hot so she’s looking at him with new eyes. He deejays, has fun and pays her compliments. Chesney works at a market stall and whines about lack of money. Katy is just a teenager, stuck with a baby, a stack of dirty dishes and a sister-in-law whining about her boyfriend banged up in jail. Yep, Ryan would look good.

After she and Ryan kiss in the back of the kebab shop, she realizes she has to get out of temptation’s way. Conveniently Dev walks in so she says she quits, that Ches doesn’t like her working. She’s angry at Ryan, at Ches and, most of all, at herself. So she stomps home and says I quit – are you happy now. She plays the martyr card, taking over feeding of the baby and saying I’ll bring your pipe and slippers as soon as I’m done here.

Katy overplays her hand

The lesson she’s about to learn is, in this situation, don’t overplay the martyr. She doesn’t know that Fiz and Tina have been telling Ches that he’s wrong to expect Katy not to work, that almost all couples must both work and share child-care just to make ends meet. So when she sits glowering about the injustice Ches has does her, she isn’t aware of how the wheels are turning over in his head.

On his way to get take-out, he stops by Dev’s and pleads for her job back. Dev finally agrees and comes back to the house with Ches. Both are very pleased with themselves. Dev is giving a flighty young girl a second chance. Ches is showing that he can change his thinking and isn’t still swimming in the primeval swamp of male chauvinism. Ta-da!

Fiz and Tina are witness to the entire thing – Ches complaining about not having a wife at home, Katy unwillingly giving in to his unreasonable expectations, then his change of heart. “Can’t say fairer than that, Katy,” says Fiz.

No indeed, Katy, you can’t. What you must learn in the art of shifting blame is don’t provide a way for the other person to remedy the situation that you have set up as their fault. Otherwise, it will backfire.

Had she tamped down her appearance of anger before she walked into her house, she may have achieved the outcome she wanted. Walk in saying, you’re right, I can’t bear to be away from Joseph. He’s only little once, we’ll get by on what you make, etc. She then provides Ches with no option other than to say thank you, are you sure, you can work if you want to. That is the “martyred saint” approach, safer than the “angered martyr” that she chose. But success in such deception, and deflection, takes time to learn. And she’s still very young.

Digital Spy has more on Katy and Ryan from Sol Heras, who plays Ryan.