Joel Deering (Calum Lill) was a man on the edge in Monday’s (July 15) Coronation Street
as word got round Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) is actually alive. Last week, Lauren returned
to Weatherfield and made her way to the hospital to see Roy (David Neilson), who had experienced a heart attack.
Shortly after, Lauren was confronted by Joel. In some tense flashback scenes, we learnt more about their toxic relationship and what happened in the lead up to Lauren’s disappearance in February. Joel would often give Lauren money to buy food and electric, but would also manipulate her into having sex in return.
One day, when Lauren tried to stand up to Joel and told him that she wanted the situation to stop, he didn’t allow it. She then alluded to telling the police and once Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) was mentioned, Joel’s face dropped and he proceeded to attack Lauren with a chair leg.
In tonight’s episode of the ITV soap, Roy caused Nina (Mollie Gallagher) concern again when he mentioned Lauren visiting him.
Roy’s comments were then confirmed by a nurse, who told Nina and Dee-Dee that Roy’s other blonde niece had been paying him a visit too.
In the café, when Joel arrived with a scratch on his face from an ‘ex-client’, he was incredibly on edge when Dee-Dee and Bethany (Lucy Fallon) updated him about Lauren being alive.
Heading off, Joel was later seen in his car at the precinct.
Stressed out, Joel then received a knock on his window.
Behind the glass was Evelyn (Maureen Lipman). She wanted to see if Joel was okay because – in her words – he looked ‘ absolutely shocking’.
Joel covered by saying he had a migraine and was impacted by the client who had scratched his face. Evelyn advised he go home, take a few headache pills and ‘maybe think about having a different career’.
It’s only been a few days since Lauren’s return and already Joel is struggling to keep his mask on. Did this scene with Evelyn tease his downfall already?
