This article contains spoilers for tonight’s Coronation Street, which has not yet aired on TV but is available to watch now on ITVX.
Today’s instalment of Coronation Street was a special episode with Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) and Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) at the centre.
The whole episode was filmed through different cameras, including dashcams, police bodycams and CCTV, giving us a heartbreaking insight into what Todd has been going through behind closed doors.
Viewers will know that Todd’s boyfriend Theo has subjected him to some horrific abuse over the past few months of their relationship.
It started as gaslighting and cruel comments on Todd’s appearance, but has grown more physical in recent weeks.
In tonight’s episode, things reached a harrowing turning point as Todd fought back against his abuser with devastating consequences.
It began when Todd returned home from a shopping trip and Theo deemed that he hadn’t been quick enough.
When Theo criticised him for spending eight minutes in Victoria Gardens, Todd realised that Theo had been tracking him on the fitness watch he’d bought.
This was the final straw for Todd, who let out his frustrations by throwing the watch and screaming that Theo was suffocating him.
We didn’t find out what happened next until later in the episode during a series of flashbacks, after Todd was taken into police custody.
Worried about the commotion they could hear upstairs, Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) and Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) had called the police.
As Todd was questioned at the station by DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts), we discovered that Theo had ended up in hospital as a result of their row.
It transpired that Todd had asked Theo to leave, attempting to break up with him. However, Theo refused.
Instead, he goaded Todd into fighting him, and when Todd shoved him, he fell into the coffee table and was rendered unconscious.
In a cruel turn of events, Todd was painted to be the villain, with the police and the couple’s neighbours assuming the Todd was the aggressor.
Theo was subtle as he played into the role of victim, refusing to incriminate Todd but allowing people to come to their own conclusions.
When Todd was finally released from the police station, Theo was there to meet him, and it was clear that Todd was still on edge.
At home, they continued their row in a much more mellow tone, with Theo once again twisting the situation to suit his narrative.
As Todd apologised for his actions, Theo insisted that he didn’t recognise him anymore, and when Todd suggested that he felt the same way about Theo, things got nasty again.
Amid his rant, Theo picked up one of the photos Todd had framed and tried to show him how happy they’d been – but he was distracted by the discovery of a camera hidden in the frame.
After a particularly brutal incident that saw Theo smash Todd’s face into a mirror, Todd had set up hidden cameras to catch Theo in the act.
However, with Theo having found one of the cameras, will the footage ever see the light of day? And how will Theo react to his discovery?
Is Todd in even more danger now that his plan has been unravelled?
