Hurting

Two weeks of episodes, two scenes. Both make you ask, ‘WTF are you doing?’ Tuesday, Eccles is safe from Amy. Thursday, Tim, Andrea and Neil are not safe from Neil. Hurting and wanting to hurt.

Amy finally confesses that she set up Eccles because she felt ignored. She’s got reason to feel hurt. Her whole family, even her babysitters, have devoted all their attention to Simon. But her way of getting back was to endanger Eccles first by letting her off leash on the street and then by accusing her of biting. Amy is old enough to know that means a death sentence for a dog, and she heard her mother say it often enough. It didn’t seem to bother Amy at all.

The protective dognapping found out, Eccles came home and the whole family asked why. Ken asked Amy for the truth. She stuck to her lie. He asked again. Finally she said Eccles had not touched her. Simon was getting all the attention, she said, and she wanted some.

The Barlows need to do a lot of talking to sort this out. I was glad to see Amy go over and pet Eccles. Eccles will forgive her, as will Ken, Deirdre and Simon. But they should never take their eyes off Amy when she is within spitting distance of the dog.

Eyes on Neil too

Thursday, someone else who is hurting, but also needs watching. Neil has overheard Lloyd talking to Michelle about weddings, as in one for him and Andrea. Standing outside the Rovers, upset about what he heard, he sees Tim on Sally’s roof fixing the antennae. He also sees the long extension ladder and he gets an idea for a big, dramatic gesture. He takes the ladder and climbs to the roof of the Rovers and stays there.

Tim is stranded and Liz wants Neil down so won’t allow the ladder to be taken back to him. When Andrea arrives, she climbs up to reason with Neil. She stand on the top of the ladder. Of course, it falls and she is left hanging from the eavestrough and it soon starts coming loose.

A funny scene, I thought, especially with the ongoing discussion of what started it all: the tv signal out when Sally wanted to watch a new period drama that got 5 stars in the Gazette, with that girl in it, you know, the one who’s in everything, with all the hair.

Neil is losing his grip, mentally if not physically. And Amy bears watching in case of further sociopathy. Maybe they could get group rates at a good therapist before they hurt anyone else.