Disaster strikes on Coronation Street as poor Bertie Osbourne is left alone in a burning house. Number One Coronation Street isn't the only thing going up in smoke. Daniel Osbourne's life has been crashing and burning ever since all of Weatherfield discovered that his girlfriend Megan Walsh was only dating the troubled headmaster so she could secretly abuse an underage student, Will Driscoll.
Daniel's Downward Spiral
This horrific revelation affected his job. When Mean Girl Hope Stape wound him up by reciting a nasty poem about Megan at school, Daniel erupted in rage which resulted in his temporary suspension from Weatherfield High. Ever since then, the tortured Mister Osbourne has been hiding his disgrace from Bertie and his father Ken Barlow by pretending he's gone on holiday to the Lake District when in fact he's brooding at home, trying to escape his problems at the bottom of a bottle.
Not only that, but he's agreed to open his doors to the world's worst flatmate – Jodie Ramsey. After being slung out of the Platts on her ear for trying to seduce her sister's husband, the bunny-boiling baddie snuck into No.1 hoping to claim squatters rights. Daniel agreed to let Jodie stay in return for keeping the truth about his 'holiday to the lakes' from his family.
The unlikely pair bonded over their troubles, and Jodie was actually good for Daniel, leaving us fans wondering if we were witnessing the birth of #Dodie. However, when Bertie was due to move back in, Daniel finally started to pull himself together and decided it was time for Jodie to find somewhere else to live. Rather than come crawling back to Shona and David with her tail between her legs, Jodie had a better idea – keep Daniel fragile and unstable by creating a troll social media account to spread vicious gossip about his personal life.
Jodie's Devious Plan
Posting under the name 'Truthteller', Jodie set the Weatherfield rumour mill ablaze with a mine of misinformation suggesting that Daniel knew all along about Megan's abuse. This resulted in him being harassed in the street by masked youths, who filmed his reaction. The abuse was even impacting poor Bertie, who's getting bullied at school thanks to Daniel's troll.
Unfortunately, it's about to get a lot worse. In upcoming scenes of Coronation Street, Daniel uncovers the identity of his tormentor and it sends him off the deep end, leaving poor little Bertie in serious danger. After a day from hell at school, Daniel finds himself face to face with Megan in the precinct. Furious, he gets up in her face and screams at his predatory ex for ruining his life.
The next day, Daniel checks his laptop for further vile posts. But when Jodie makes a throwaway remark, he realises with horror the awful truth… Jodie is the troll. Daniel rounds on Jodie, fuming about how she's caused him sleepless nights, paranoia and depression whilst acting as his confidante. Jodie swears that this new troll account, Truthteller2, has nothing to do with her. But Daniel's had enough of her lies and throws her out.
Bertie in Danger
In the Rovers, Daniel announces that Jodie is his online stalker. Feigning tears, Jodie hurries out. Back home Bertie tells Daniel that he's starving. But his dad is too drunk to care as he falls asleep on the sofa, leaving poor Bertie to make his own tea. Sure enough, Bertie accidentally causes a crisis in the kitchen, resulting in smoke pouring from the kitchen and he dashes out leaving Daniel dead to the world.
This is particularly tragic, given how Daniel promised his wife Sinead, who died of cancer, that he would always look after their son no matter what. Actor Rob Mallard, who plays Daniel, recently reflected on how his character feels about breaking his promise to the most important woman in his life: 'It's like he's betrayed the only woman that was loyal to him, because he promised Sinead that he would put himself second and Bertie first always. And yet he's allowed recent events to push Bertie to second, third, fourth place in his mind. So basically the only woman that didn't betray him, he feels like he's let her down now posthumously.'
Has Daniel's negligence left Bertie and himself in danger? Viewers will have to watch to find out.
