There were sinister scenes in tonight’s Coronation Street (11th November), as troubled teen Max Turner (Paddy Bever) found himself falling under the spell of far-right activist Griff (Michael Condron).
The ITV soap recently confirmed that Max would be targeted, with Griff currently being secretly watched by undercover police officer Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock). Spider is trying to keep the public safe while fooling Griff into believing he’s on his team, but he didn’t bank on vulnerable Max being used.
When Max befriended asylum seeker Daryan, trouble started when Max took offence at the young man taking his place at the local school. But the situation settled, and the two lads both began working with Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) at Speed Daal.
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But, through Griff, Max met Lauren and the pair struck up a romance. When Lauren visited Max at the restaurant, she lied to him that Daryan had made her feel uncomfortable. When Alya explained that she had witnessed their conversation and that nothing untoward had happened, Lauren made a racist remark about Muslims.
Max questioned his new girlfriend, and he was clearly uncomfortable over her words. But she dismissed his worries, and Max chose to believe that she hadn’t meant to be offensive. He continued to insist that Daryan had upset Lauren, and he walked out on his job.
Max visited Griff, who provided a listening ear and made racist remarks about certain people sticking together. Griff then showed Max a video to ‘enlighten’ him on his personal views. By the time Max had seen it, he was blown away and viewers could see the moment he had been manipulated – played brilliantly by award-winning star Bever.
Later, when Alya and Daryan tried to convince Max that Lauren was lying, Max parroted back Griff and Lauren’s words, and Alya was shocked. She tried to reason with him and get to the bottom of what was happening, but Max stormed off.
Alya spoke to Max’s step-dad David Platt (Jack P Shepherd), and he and wife Shona (Julia Goulding) were stunned. David talked to Max, who repeated more harmful slurs. As David visited Alya and despaired over his son’s behaviour, Max returned to Griff, who wanted to make Alya and Daryan pay.
Spider was seen throwing paint over the doorway of the restaurant, while Max looked set to spiral down a dangerous and dark path.
Can he be saved?
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