From her dismissal of David as heartless compared with loveable naif Grahame, to her sowing the seeds of doubt between Leanne and Peter, to twisting the knife in with Nick and his work colleagues, Natasha became the kind of bitch goddess we have all wanted her to be. No more cringing and cowering; her evil side was finally released and she tore into every enemy she saw with cold, brilliant precision.
Of course, her greatest cruelties were saved for Gail. Even if La Potter-Tilsley-Platt-Hillman-Platt-McIntyre hadn't hacked into Natasha's records, she still would have been top of her hit list. As it was, Natasha got to wrench her away from her smug middle-class high horse and deposit her back in the gutter. Watching her wreak havoc was blissful; having Betty as a silent, but none the less reactive, witness to the whole thing was the icing on the cake.
Natasha's long been one of those characters who have filled in the gaps in Corrie's cast (think Poppy, or Minnie) but unlike them, she's been a firebrand when she's got a plot. The whole pregnancy storyline has been tragic and disturbing, effectively showing her unravelling sense of reality and her desperation to keep the one person she loves. Rachel Leskovac has been superb throughout. Having her turn her back on all the false promises at the end is a real high point for the character, and leaves her return gloriously open. What if she got pregnant in her last few days with Nick after all? Wouldn't that be a twist..?
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