Kevin and Sally - reunited or divided?

Corrie has gone a bit quiet these last few weeks, has it not? There’ve been a number of minor plotlines pootling along still, but most of the current major storylines seem to have either reached their conclusion or slid into the backseat for a time, allowing the cast members involved some much needed time off while others take their place on centre stage. As this week plays out, however, it looks as if the divided Webster clan are going to be stepping back into the limelight once more, as warring couple Kevin and Sally are brought back into one another’s orbit and forced to reopen lines of communication following Sophie’s accident.

Reading about this has got me thinking about the effect Kevin and Sally’s split has had on them as individuals. I don’t know what long-term plans the showrunners have for them, but I’m very interested to find out, as their fortunes have differed so enormously since their separation…with Sally faring considerably better than her embattled husband. It’s all about connections, and Sally has them in spades whereas Kevin, quite simply, doesn’t. Sally lives on the street. She also works on the street – and, more importantly, works in a bustling factory, which gives her a lot of individuals to interact with. She connects to Eileen’s household via Rosie’s relationship with Jason. She has her friendship with Gail, finally resurrected now that the writers have remembered it. She also has surrogate mother-figure Rita in the background, although they’ve not had many scenes together lately. And on top of all that, she has a shiny new boyfriend in tow. All in all, Sally has blossomed since her separation from Kevin, as her character has so many alternative angles to play on and so many other characters to interact with.

Kevin, in stark contrast, has become an increasingly isolated figure since the breakdown of his marriage. He no longer lives on the street – and his childcare provision for Jack is elsewhere, as well. He doesn't seem to have much contact with his daughters now that he no longer lives with them, especially after Rosie’s disastrous attempt at babysitting. He works on the street, but in a very small, two-man business, just Kevin and Tyrone…once the best of friends but now sworn enemies who seem to work in pointed silence, for the most part. In fact, since doing the dirty on Tyrone, it has become increasingly obvious that Kevin really doesn’t have any friends at all, does he? He falls into the same age bracket as Dev, Peter and Lloyd, but has never formed part of their little circle of friends, which also includes Steve, Ciaran when he’s around and Ashley when he was alive – you can take almost any combination of that group of characters and think of scenes where they’ve been seen hanging out together as mates. But Kevin? Nope. Zip, zilch, nada – he really is Billy No Mates, and the aftermath of his affair with Molly has seen him universally vilified as a home-wrecker on two counts. Even his dad doesn’t seem to have much to do with him anymore. Only Rita, bless her, seems willing to give him so much as the time of day. And the problem of having no one to interact with is that it really doesn't leave the character all that much to do, other than scowl.

The point of all this musing? I’m not sure. I’m just very interested to see what long-term plans the show has for Kevin and Sally, because as things stand it seems that while Sally’s future without Kevin looks bright, Kevin’s future without Sally doesn’t look nearly so rosy.


Cross-posted to The Coronation Street Blog on 8 March 2011