Coronation Street Catch Up: the Altovalent Level 5 edition

 your one stop update on what happened last week on Canada's Coronation Street...

First, the big news. Are you ready? 

Leanne has been promoted to (wait for it) Level 5! She's rapidly rising to the top at Altovalent. 

Before you know it, she'll be getting the key to the executive washroom, her own parking space and unlimited uploading (with Willow, Altovalent CEO).

But, of course, things are not so rosy for sister Toyah. Altovalent's goons have been spying on Toyah and snapped a pic of her in a lip lock with Nick. Rowan now has even more leverage to use against Toyah and she finally (and reluctantly) signs Rowan's Non Disclosure Agreement and agrees to cease her crusade against Altovalent. All this in the hope that Leanne doesn't find out about her ill-advised legover with Nick.

On the plus side, the police have ended their investigation into the death of Toyah's baby and won't take the matter any further.

Over at the Barlow's, Cassie is now Ken's care giver, much to the chagrin of Steve who doesn't get along with her. On the other hand, Ken (after a rocky start) is warming up to Cassie and they seem to get along. Amy thinks that there are sparks between Cassie and Steve but Steve denies it.

Meanwhile, at the garage, Kev is acting even more Kevin-ish than usual.  He borrows Bethany's employee pass (at the magazine where she now works and is owned by media mogul Stefan Brent). Kev then uses the pass to sneak into Stefan's office and steal his phone. Of course, Sherlock Kev doesn't realize that the theft is caught on CCTV. 

No matter. 

Kev makes a deal with Stefan (who really wants his phone back... and one wonders why). Kev will return the phone if Stefan pays to have Abi's deep fake videos removed from the internet. Stefan agrees until he finds out how much it will cost and then he cancels the deal. As one might expect, Kev punches Stefan (adding assault to his list of ill-advised moves).  

Meanwhile Abi is unaware of Kev's ham-handed attempts to deal with Stefan. The premise for these attacks on Stefan (whom, as we know, is Corey Brent's Dad) is that both Kev and Abi believe Stefan is responsible for the deep fake videos of Abi circulating on the net. 

The cash-flow (or lack thereof) problems of Gemma and Ches continue to pile up (hey, how about getting some dosh from Linda, Joseph's cash-enabled grandma?). After the hot water boiler breaks, the hapless family berate the landlord for taking so long to fix the problem and are then served with an eviction notice. 

Joseph seems ashamed to bring his rich pals from Oakhill School (Rosie Webster's illustrious alma mater) over to the house as his parents can barely scrape together enough cash for an after-school tea (no seeds please). And the icing on the cake is Gemma stealing a pair of shoes (which she later returns) for one of the quads. Where will it all end?

Somehow, Ed and Dee Dee think it's a good idea to invite Joel's hoity toity parents to a secret lunch so they can make nice nice and spring the announcement of Dee Dee's engagement on them (without Joel). It doesn't go well and anyway Joel seems to be busy trying to groom his next potential victim: Sabrina. Hopefully Sabrina has enough street smarts to stay away from Joel's evil clutches.

And now for a few lines from the week that was:

Dee Dee doesn't tell Joel about her planned dinner with his parents:
"We're allowed to have our secrets aren't we?"

(he certainly has his)

Steve is not happy about the commemoration of a famous Weatherfield footballer:
"Tommy's having his bust unveiled"

(really? that's better than just putting up a crummy statue!)

Steve bemoans his bachelor situation to Adi and Amy:
"Lame is me middle name" 
(So, Steve Lame Macdonald?)

Steve to Tim re: plans for his 50th birthday:
"I'm too old for debauchery"

(you're never too old for debauchery) 

 Joel's Mom is shocked by news of her son's impending nuptials:
"You're engaged!"

(surprise!)

Nick tells Leanne that one legover is enough:
"We can't do it again though, can we?"
(not if the Altovalent spies are taking photos)

The name of the magazine that Bethany is working for: 
"Seriously?"
(seriously?)

Steve to Ken re: falafel salad:

"I know how you love those chick pea balls of loveliness"

(Steady on, Steve. We're only talking about legumes)

Rowan to Leanne:
"I'm proud to announce that Leanne has recently been approved for promotion to level five"

(Darn! I was hoping for Level Six) 

***

Well, fellow Level Five Fans, so ends another week. Boy, that Kevin really knows how to get himself into a heap of trouble and all this without actually knowing for sure if Stefan is responsible for those deep fake videos of Abi. 

And what's to become of Ches and Gemma and the kids? Can they get the eviction notice reversed? How will they ever find another place to live based on their marginal income? Will it be Grandma Linda to the rescue? I guess we'll find out next week.

In the meantime, thanks so much for the pleasure of your company here at the Hip and have a great week!