Coronation Street fans were left reeling after the long-running abduction story came to a dramatic conclusion.
Months after it was revealed villain Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) had been keeping Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth) prisoner in his basement, his captive met a tragic end.
ANDY! 😱
Whatever you do, don't give Phelan the gun! #Corrie pic.twitter.com/GrCXq9ImEr
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) October 27, 2017
In a violent and shocking showdown, Phelan forced Carver to shoot fellow captive Vinny Ashford (Ian Kelsey) in a deserted mill before Phelan turned the gun on Carver, as viewers compared the soap to a horror film.
He then dumped their bodies in a lake.
Andy! 😱#Phelan #Corrie pic.twitter.com/6BpKL29hPb
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) October 27, 2017
Scores of viewers compared the scenes to those in the Saw series of horror movies.
One wrote: “Who needs Saw when you’ve got Pat Phelan on #corrie” as another said: “Jigsaw Phelan’s watched too many Saw movies. ”
Another wrote: “Am I watching Corrie or ‘Saw’?” as one more said: “This is like Saw with the 2 guys stuck in the grotty bathroom and Phelan is Jigsaw!”
Am I watching #Corrie or 'Saw'? 😂😂😂😂😂😂
— ʎǝsǝʌıן ʎuoɥʇuɐ (@bullseyeant) October 27, 2017
This is like Saw with the 2 guys stuck in the grotty bathroom and Phelan is Jigsaw! 😂 @connor9mcintyre #corrie
— Karen 🐝 (@KarenPVFC) October 27, 2017
Another fan wrote: “Corrie is more like a horror movie tonight” as another hailed Phelan as “Corrie’s number 1 villain”.
Corrie is more like a horror movie tonight 🔫 #Corrie #Phelan @connor9mcintyre playing a blinder.
— Craig Moir (@CraigDons32) October 27, 2017
I can’t believe what is happening! It’s official.. Phelan is #Corrie’s number 1 villain @connor9mcintyre
— SoapSpoilers&Gossip (@Soap_loverxx) October 27, 2017
However, celebrity fan Fern Britton branded it “too grim and just not right”.
Oh #Corrie, this is too grim and just not right.
— FernBritton (@Fern_Britton) October 27, 2017
Others expressed frustration that the long storyline had ended this way.
One fan wrote: “ARE U SERIOUS?!?!? WE’VE WAITED ALL THIS TIME AND ANDY GETS SHOT?!? R U SERIOUS?!?”
Another said: “What a waste of time. All these months of waiting! So annoyed!!”
ARE U SERIOUS?!?!? WE’VE WAITED ALL THIS TIME AND ANDY GETS SHOT?!? R U SERIOUS?!? #Corrie
— Izzie 🍂 (@IzziesLife_) October 27, 2017
What a waste of time. All these months of waiting! So annoyed!! #Corrie
— Louise Clarke (@Loobylou65) October 27, 2017
Another viewer tweeted: “3 months and he just kills him. Just wasted 3 months of my life,” as another wrote: “Such a massive build up for weeks on end, for it to end like that! Pfft I’m not impressed.”
Such a massive build up for weeks on end, for it to end like that! Pfft I’m not impressed @itvcorrie #Corrie
— ✪☆♥️ᒍᕮᗰᗰᗩ♥️☆✪ (@Jlm_86) October 27, 2017
In the first instalment of the two-episode showdown, Phelan was confronted by daughter Nicola Rubenstein (Nicola Thorp) after she learned he had raped her mother.
McIntyre said Phelan has now crossed the rubicon by killing someone, saying: “Phelan has been promising the world to Andy but he is two, three steps ahead. The Vinny problem has evaporated and it was in that moment that Phelan realised how easy it is to solve a problem.
How will #Phelan react when his lies catch up with him?
You do not want to miss Part Two at 8.30pm! #Corrie #Nicola pic.twitter.com/J6jpm7seOJ
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) October 27, 2017
“As soon as he got the gun off Andy, he registered, ‘two birds, one stone’. He saw that opportunity and he is the architect of his own downfall.
“And now Nicola’s gone, that was a catalyst as well, he’s really at a dangerous moment.”
McIntyre said Phelan didn’t always plan to kill Carver, saying: “Phelan bullied and cajoled Andy into killing him but in that moment Phelan saw an opportunity to solve a problem.
Join Connor McIntyre, Oliver Farnworth & Ian Kelsey behind the scenes of the darkest chapter in #Phelan's story yet… #Corrie #Andy #Vinny pic.twitter.com/qx8lyYhtWT
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) October 27, 2017
“Andy said, “I know you Pat, you’re not a murderer” but Phelan said, “you don’t know me” and he speaks for all of us. No, we don’t know you!”
He added that now he has become a killer, it is the beginning of the end for his character, describing it as “the pebble that starts the avalanche”.
Asked if the soap Gods will get justice, he said: “It must be so and we have just woken them up out of their slumber – ‘hey, this needs sorting out’.
“But while we run up to that, whenever that is, Pat Phelan is now a very dangerous person. Now he’s crossed the rubicon whereas before he would go to great lengths, for example the cellar, complicating things.
“The journey towards his comeuppance will be very lively I’m sure, because now he has a direct root to solving problems.”
Coronation Street continues on Monday at 7.30pm.