Coronation Street's Liam leaves out crucial detail in bullying revelations
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Note: This story discusses topics including suicidal ideation/thoughts and bullying.
Coronation Street's Liam Connor finally shared the extent of his bullying ordeal in Friday's episode (February 16) – although he omitted a crucial detail which could spark the next chapter of the storyline.
Liam's emotional plot reached a major turning point in the show's latest edition, as his mum Maria Connor and stepdad Gary Windass discovered that he'd been researching ways to end his own life.
The schoolboy has been tormented by new villain Mason Radcliffe and former friend Dylan Wilson since October last year.
When Maria and Gary tried to better understand the 14-year-old's suicidal thoughts, he recalled many of the upsetting incidents that he'd faced at school recently.
Liam finally confirmed that Mason set him up for stealing Dylan's trainers, and recalled the day that the bully teamed up with cronies to throw bin rubbish at him.
He also spoke about Mason smashing up the marionette puppet he'd been working hard on, as well as bombarding him with up to 50 abusive messages per day.
Liam also spoke about Mason filming his reactions, including securing footage of him crying.
However, fans who've watched the storyline unfold may remember that there was more to the story which Liam didn't share.
When the bullies threw bin rubbish at Liam in November, the incident culminated in Mason threatening Liam with a knife.
Liam told his stepbrother Jake about the incident at the time, but didn't confide in Maria or Gary. Jake tried to tip off the police about Mason carrying a knife, but the schemer had already handed it over to Dylan to stash at the Grimshaw house.
Digital Spy understands that the knife element of the storyline hasn't been forgotten and this will be mentioned again in the coming weeks.
Antony Cotton, who plays Dylan's dad Sean, recently confirmed that he'd been filming scenes which reference the 'zombie knife'.
He said: "I've seen coverage on the news about zombie knives and about getting new sentences. So obviously we didn't know that was going to happen when this was storylined six months ago, but that's where we're at.
"I've just filmed a scene talking specifically about zombie knives. We already thought it was relevant when we were filming it in the storyline – which will have been plotted six months ago or even longer – but we're specifically talking about zombie knives, isn't that weird?"
Corrie bosses have already confirmed that a second chapter of the Mason saga will focus more squarely on Dylan, who still has the knife hidden away at home.
Next week's episodes see Sean discover that Dylan has been involved in bullying Liam, forcing him to realise that Maria and Gary have been right all along.
Antony added: "Sean's discovery is the beginning of this part of the story – which will lead to a longer runner."
Liam McCheyne, who plays Dylan, also exclusively told Digital Spy: "It was in December that I had a meeting with [Coronation Street producer] Iain MacLeod and we spoke about where we were going to go with this afterwards. It's nice that it carries on. It's going to be gritty and something for me to get my teeth into."
Could this mean that Dylan's friendship with Mason will have even bigger consequences? Only time will tell.
One thing's for certain: Friday's Corrie was the most emotional episode we've seen for several months. Young actor Charlie Wrenshall, who's been with the soap since he was 3 years old, delivered another hugely impactful performance as Liam.
Samia Longchambon and Mikey North also did excellent work as Maria and Gary, with perfectly-pitched scenes mixing their characters' shock, heartbreak and anger over Liam's ordeal.
Even without an explicit mention, Maria's fears for Liam's life were a haunting reminder of the day that she lost Aidan Connor to suicide in 2018.
After an episode that was raw, suspenseful, emotional and powerful, the cast and writers should be proud of this peak in the storyline.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Coronation Street has been working on Liam's storyline with support from the National Bullying Helpline (0300 323 0169 between 9am-5pm on weekdays, and 10am-12 midday on Saturdays, or email help@nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk).
Further organisations which can offer help include Samaritans on 116 123 or Mind on 0300 123 3393. Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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