Monday’s (July 22) episode started a major new storyline for the character,

who was sentenced to a youth offender facility earlier this year for threatening Liam Connor with a knife.

The soap foreshadowed Mason’s return earlier this month when Maria

Connor found out that the bully was being released following two months in custody.

In the latest episode, Mason’s former partner-in-crime Dylan Wilson was nervous about seeing him again after he turned against Mason to help bring him to justice.

Elsewhere in Weatherfield, Stu Carpenter was horrified to find a bloodied and beaten Mason near the police precinct.

stu carpenter, mason, coronation street

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Stu had no idea about Mason’s identity, so he invited him to the restaurant to clean himself up. The two had a heart-to-heart conversation where Mason admitted his abusive brother had beaten him.

The whole situation grew tense when Sean and Dylan turned up at Speed Daal, only to find Mason being helped by Stu and Yasmeen.

Once Sean told Yasmeen and Stu that Mason was the school bully who’d tormented Liam and Dylan, they were understandably less willing to help him.

Mason tried to plead his case, promising that he’d changed for the better following his time in custody.

“I’m not totally evil, you know,” Mason assured Stu and Yasmeen. “It all got totally out of hand with Liam. I didn’t want it to go so far, but these other boys were pushing me.”

Yasmeen and Stu pointed out that he was “the ringleader” and “the one with the knife”, though Mason insisted he’d never planned to use the weapon.

“I was just trying to act hard,” Mason confessed.

shelley king as yasmeen in coronation street

ITV
Mason admitted he felt bad about putting Liam into such a dark place, but insisted he’d paid the price.

“If I could go back and change it, I would,” he swore. “But I can’t so I’ve got to live with it too, what I did.”

Stu and Yasmeen were conflicted, though they ultimately decided he’d have to leave the restaurant. Mason apologised for causing the couple “any aggro” before leaving.

Coronation Street star Luca Toolan recently hinted that changes to Mason’s character will be nuanced following his imprisonment.

luca toolan as mason, coronation street

ITV
“Corrie haven’t been unrealistic – they’ve not turned him into an angel overnight. They’re more highlighting and playing the story of why Mason is the way he is,” he told Digital Spy and other media.

“We’re witnessing Mason trying to fight against that – and fight against the instincts that he’s had. It’s been really interesting to play and it’s stretched me as an actor as well.

“You’re playing a three-dimensional character, not just a bully. Hopefully it should be interesting.”