TIME is ticking for Stephen Reid and his secrets are close to completely unravelling this week in the cobbles.
But while many have wondered who could trigger his downfall, three Coronation Street ladies may be the ones to finally bring him justice.
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After months of impunity and three murders, it appears walls are finally closing in on Stephen Reid (played by Todd Boyce) with Rufus Donahue's death being the biggest trigger of his downfall.
Coming up on ITV, Angelique breaks the news that she won’t be renewing the Nippersnapper contract but Stephen tells Carla Connor (Alison King), his niece Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) and Michael Bailey (Ryan Russell) a completely different story.
Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) warns Sarah that Stephen is a liar who claimed he was coercively controlled by his former wife Gabrielle Reid before trying to pass her off as a business consultant for the factory.
The cabbie's mother Elaine made the shock discovery herself before ending her engagement with Stephen and leaving the cobbles.
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Later on, Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) shows her daughter Gail Platt (Helen Worth) a statement from an equity release company and a phone call is made.
Audrey then shows the equity release letter to Sarah and wonders if it’s got anything to do with the visit she had from an estate agent which Stephen organised.
Sarah takes some action of her own in later scenes after overhearing Stephen on the phone talking to Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) about the Rovers deal.
Wrongly assuming he’s talking to Angelique about the Nippersnapper deal, Sarah follows him.
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Sarah finds him at the hotel and threatens to call the police believing he is about to pull a fast one on the deal.
But there's more – when Carla meets up with Rufus Donahue's widow Lou, she is shocked to hear about Rufus dabbling with LSD.
The symptoms described to her resonate with Carla and she soon tells Roy Cropper (David Neilson) her symptoms were identical as she suspects someone might have drugged her.
Not convinced and believing she is suffering from paranoia again, Roy tells Peter about his concerns – despite Carla being right.
In later scenes, Jenny returns to the Rovers with Stephen in tow and tells Daisy (Charlotte Jordan) that she signed on the dotted line and no longer owns the Rovers.
Stephen then finds Jenny in the Rovers back room and, telling her it’s time she started to put herself first, takes her in his arms and kisses her passionately.
Actor Todd Boyce recently spoke with Metro.co.uk and revealed that three characters will be contributing to his downfall after David Platts star Jack P. Shepherd teased his character could be involved.
"For now he still feels that he can talk his way out of all these situations but how is he going to explain the equity release letter, what is his mental health like now as he struggles with the inquiry into Rufus’ death?", Todd explained.
He then added: "There are all these women in particular, who he hasn’t necessarily harmed personally, but he has by association."
"Interesting that these are the people who are realising things. Sarah finds out about the equity release and she has always trusted him – but for how long will she now? And Carla is starting to twig on to the whole LSD link with Rufus and her 'psychoses'."
If Sarah and Carla aren't able to work out what Stephen is really up to, they could receive help from Jenny herself, despite the latter's budding romance with the criminal.
According to Todd, it's likely the Rovers landlady will see right through him as did Tim Metcalfe before her.
"She is the apple of his eye, he is insane about her and he can’t believe they have finally got together, this has been a dream of his since they first met", Todd continued.
"She’s funny, she’s sexy, he just wants her on his arm. He just thinks she’s the bee’s knees. She caught his eye way back and that was it. She’s a character. She’s fiery and she stands her ground."
"The thing is his love for intelligent and sassy women could be his downfall. Gabrielle got the measure of him and what is to say Jenny isn’t going to do that too?"
2. Love triangle in the cobbles
Cassandra Plummer (played by Claire Sweeney) was presumed dead by her son Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) for several years before eventually rocking up Weatherfield.
Upon her arrival, her mother Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) revealed she wouldn't be introducing her to Tyrone unless she got her act together.
Determined to finally bond with her son, Cassie agreed to leave the Street with Evelyn to get clean and the pair returned in recent scenes of the Manchester-based drama.
Tyrone was told the whole truth about his mother but this caused him to turn his back on Evelyn as she knew all along what was going on with Cassie and he welcomed his mother to live with him and his children.
Could he come to regret it?
Coming up, Cassie is in the Rovers when she talks Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) and Kirk Sutherland (Andy Whyment) into a game of gin rummy and she orders the owner of the Corner Shop to get the drinks in.
Later on, Tyrone returns to the pub to find Cassie three sheets to the wind and drags her home.
At No.9, Tyrone then hands Cassie a pint of water and tells her he’s proud of how well she’s doing with her recovery, but she mustn’t blow it.
Despite slightly slipping off the wagon, Cassie is given £20 by her son later on as he asks her to buy something for tea and she assures him she won’t blow the money on booze.
Speaking about her character to the Express, Claire Sweeney revealed that Cassie will be causing chaos throughout the cobbles.
"She’s going to cause havoc, she is a live wire", she warned – but could she do so by getting romantically involved with another woman's man?
During his years in the Street, Dev has proven he's quite the charmer and has most recently been romantically involved with Bernie Winter.
But with Bernie's son Paul struggling to cope with his motor neurone disease, could Dev find an escape from trouble in the form of Cassie Plummer?
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3. Abuse storyline for former villain
Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) recently shocked viewers by making a pass at café owner Roy Cropper when he offered her a place to stay.
While she'll presumably be pushed back from the spotlight this week, soap fans have been speculating she may be involved in a new storyline exploring her past.
One viewer took to Reddit to share their theory and, according to them, Lauren may soon reveal she was a victim of abuse while her father was involved with Griff Reynolds.
"So, I'm catching up on Corrie. And just watched last Monday's episode… where Lauren thought Roy was being kind to get his leg over. Which is the most uncomfortable scene I've seen in a while", they initially penned.
"Is this storyline going where I think it is? Where she was abused/groomed by her dad and/or Gryff and/or the other chaps? Poor girl."
Many Reddit users responded in agreement with one commenting: "some people have speculated that she’s one of the girls Nathan abused, which, with bethany coming back sort of makes sense. but she has definitely been abused in some form for her to speak like that."
Another added: "Griff used her as a pawn to groom Max into joining his gang. So, it's very likely that she was groomed too. Don't forget the part where she told Roy that nothing in life is free, especially when it involves men."
"I think there will be more to Lauren's story. It seemed to me she has worked as a sex worker before and had been groomed by her father. I think it could get darker", a third viewer concluded.
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Coronation Street airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm on ITV.
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