Lisa’s choice of dessert, Betsy’s bunny, and Carla’s childhood memories.
Hostage week felt like a long time coming in our world, having been teased by ITV in a trailer at the end of February. Whilst only one episode focused on the hostage situation itself, the week was full of drama, with Lisa blaming Carla for Betsy’s shooting, and an emotional reunion that we will never be getting over. Nope.
Here’s six things we learned this week.
Lisa doesn’t have a favourite pudding.
Sorry, but the only reason I can come up with for Lisa not having a favourite pudding is that she had a gun in her face, momentarily making her forget. There’s no other explanation, as everyone has a favourite pudding, don’t they?
Thinking back to the scene in The Bistro on 18th of September, where Betsy runs off after finding out baby Frankie could die, Lisa calls after her, saying they haven’t even had pudding yet. So she must like pudding. I’m going to take a guess and say she’s either a crème brûlée girl, or loves a cheesecake. Maybe they’ll serve her favourite when they get married?
Betsy’s stuffed bunny actually belongs to Sydney
Actress Sydney Martin, who plays Betsy in the soap, was on a TikTok live a few weeks back with fellow Corrie star Cait Fitton who plays Lauren. They share a dressing room at the studios, and often appear on social media together. During the live broadcast, she mentioned that she’d snuck her JellyCat bunny onto set with her for an upcoming scene. There was a lot of discussion on X around where and why the bunny would appear, with some viewers guessing correctly that it would be involved in a hospital scene.
Surprised the bunny wasn’t credited in the episode to be honest. Cracking little actress.
We’re still unsure how much Lisa knows about Carla’s past
During the hostage scenes, we saw Carla try to reason with Rob, telling him they were both survivors. They used to beg their neighbours for food while their mum, Sharon Donovan, disappeared for days or weeks on end. They used to hide her drugs too, which led Carla to explain to Rob that they had many opportunities to die before they were even teenagers. But they didn’t, they survived.
It made me think, we’ve had so much happen to Carla and Lisa in the first few months of their relationship, that we haven’t got to see any real conversations around their pasts or their families. I know the storylines being thrown at them are being done so for a reason, to build a strong foundation for a long term relationship, but it leaves us having to fill the gaps ourselves. Did Lisa know the extent of Carla’s childhood trauma, or was she hearing it for the first time while being held hostage by her brother-in-law?
Betsy’s full name is Elizabeth
Something the Swarla fans had speculated on for a while was Betsy’s name. It’s not often you come across Betsy’s who are just that, it’s often short for the name Elizabeth. We had never her be referred to as anything other than her nickname, so it was great to see the reveal on the hospital wall.
Carla cares about Lisa’s wellbeing more than her own
In Friday’s episode when Lisa arrived at the flat, she told Carla she’d been unable to sleep in the hotel she went to. Carla felt bad, and offered to move out of her own home if it would benefit Lisa and give her the space she needed.
We all know what epic line of dialogue followed there, but what a selfless thing to do. They say true love changes you, and I can’t remember Carla ever being so soft, loving, and emotional in a relationship. She truly has found her person in Lisa Swain.
Lisa does a fantastic impression of the ‘Go To Jail’ Monopoly man
The image above says it all, to be honest. Thanks Ash in the Swarla Community Discord for pointing this out!
Images copyright of ITV