Cosy crimes and gritty sagas by Corrie Blog editor Glenda, published by Headline. Click pic below!

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Carla, the black widow of Weatherfield

As has been mentioned by our commenters and in previous storylines, it does look like Carla is becoming the Black Widow of Weatherfield. Death seems to follow in her wake. Nearly every man she's been involved with in her sojourn on the cobbles has died.

Husband Paul packed call girl Leanne in his boot and rushed off to prove to Carla that he didn't in fact actually have sex with *this* particular prostitute. The car crashed and Paul died.

Carla persued her brother-in-law Liam, the man that she admitted to having feelings for since they were young. But she married his brother instead. She tried, but he married Maria instead but it wasn't long before Liam succumbed to those old feelings himself and they began a steamy affair just as she was about to marry Tony Gordon. Tony found out and had Liam killed in a road accident on Tony's stag night.


Tony? Well his nefarious deeds were discovered. Carla ran off to L.A. but returned when she found out that Tony was romancing the widow of the man he had killed, Maria. She decided to put a stop to it but Tony set his henchman on Carla who fought back. Tony pretended she'd killed him and off she ran again but Tony turned himself in after an aborted attempt to kill Roy Cropper. Tony later escaped prison, intent on revenge. He held Hayley Cropper and Carla captive in the factory. Persuaded to release Hayley, he was determined to blow he and Carla up in the factory but she barely managed to escape. He decided he'd rather die in the disaster than be taken by the police again.
Frank Foster has turned out to be another bad choice for Carla. Even though she knew he had already tried it on roughly with Maria, she decided Maria had overreacted and took Frank on as a business partner. Later, in a case of "If you can't have the one you love, love the one you're with" (a common pattern with Carla), she took Frank on as a lover and agreed to marry him when the one she loved, Peter Barlow, insisted he loved his wife. She couldn't go through with the wedding and dumped him the day before the nuptials whereupon he had his way with her on the floor of the flat. He had a good solicitor and barrister and managed to get off with a not guilty verdict. Soap law dictates that he must pay and as we are aware, he's going to be found dead shortly.

Ah, but you say there has been two other men that have not met their deaths. Think about it. Peter Barlow, the latest love of Carla's life, has resisted Carla's temptations, mostly. He insisted he loved his then-fiance, Leanne.

He didn't know that Leanne was having a pre-marital affair with her ex-husband, Nasty Nick but Carla knew and she pushed and manipulated and just when it looked as if she persuaded Nick to spill the beans, a tram came careening off the viaduct. Peter Barlow nearly did meet his maker and it was only the heroics of Ashley Peacock and a very good surgeon that saved his life.

A year later, and Peter has finally walked into the fire and is with Carla. This can't end well. Peter, You'd better get out while you can, lad!
Lastly, there was Trevor the binman. Sweet Trevor. He made it out alive. But he made it out with Janice Battersby. Some might say that's a fate worse than death!

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG I have been saying this for two weeks now including what you said about Trevor.

Too Funny

Lorraine from Ottawa Ontario Canada

Rosie said...

There's a formula. With two variables. Dating Carla is one, and investing in Underworld.

Paul, Liam, Tony, Nick, Luke and Frank all invested.

Paul, Liam, Tony, Trev, Frank and Peter all dated Carla.

Only the men that have done both have found themselves dead.

So Carla is the Black Widow and Underworld is her lair. Together they are deadly.

JAM said...

Rosie, you are a genius. Loved it.

Batty Man said...

Very good blog. Although Alison King is a good actress that portrays Carla very well, I have never warmed to Carla and feel absolutely no emphathy with her whatsoever, in fact I relish in her downfalls! Hard faced and emotionless with a robotic monotone voice, she always reminds me of the wicked witch in Snow White.

Glenda Young said...

excellent! ;-)

Dolly Tubb said...

Great blog! I am afraid that TPTB are making the character of Carla Connor into a pastiche; there is no empathy for here at all, and her shenanigans are just pure tedium. If I was Alison King I'd be well fed up.

There was a real opportunity to make Carla a role model; girl from nowhere makes good in a non-stratospheric sort of way. S'pose that sort of story might take a bit more effort in the writing.......

Dilly Daydream said...

Aw, I really miss Tony Gordon, he was one of the best villains ever. Pity he didn't do for Carla on his way out, I can't stand her.

Anonymous said...

Rosie, that is brilliant! Well worked out!

Anonymous said...

let's hope peter doesn't invest in underworld! lol

Anonymous said...

Paul - Philanthropist
Liam - Wet Blanket
Tony - Psychopath
Trev - Stupid
Frank - Another psychopath
Peter - Weak

She has serious issues with her taste in men.

Tvor said...

She certainly does have dubious taste in men!

Rosie, very good point!!

Defrost Indoors said...

Um, did you mean Paul was a philanderer? :) Can't see how "philanthropist" would be bad. I loved the Paul Connor character and was sad that he was killed off.

Humpty Dumpty said...

The problem with Carla (and Frank, too) is we have no back-story. It doesn't help that Alison King plays her with a dreary, monotonous voice which I can only imagine she uses in order to keep the accent, resulting in absolutely zero personality. Why does Carla have to pinch other women's blokes? Was Paul Connor engaged when she met him and, if so, is that why Mrs Connor hated her? Was Carla an 'ugly duckling' as a child and over-compensates in adult life? Does she think any unattached man who fancies her can't be worth having? Why doesn't Michelle, who's known her years, bring any of this up? Has Frank been married? What's his problem with his father? Oh, I could go on ... This isn't psychobabble; this is character development as discussed in another post. Peter, by contrast, has been (not so much now) a fascinating character because we know of his problems with his father, etc. No wonder people don't feel involved with Carla; we don't know what makes her tick.

Tvor said...

You've seen Mammy Connor. Nobody would be good enough for her boys. Carla came from a rough background and I expect that's why she never liked her. And she's brittle as well, social climbing and ambitious. We have picked up bits and pieces about her childhood and family, with a brother in and out of jail and a mother she's kept at arms' length. I would expect she never had much of a father figure in her life and nobody to show her what decent men can be like. She's gravitated to Peter out of need, fellow alcoholics and someone who's also got a lot of baggage. Baggage that will drag both of them down.

GRITTY SAGAS BY CORRIE BLOG EDITOR GLENDA YOUNG, PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE. CLICK PIC BELOW!

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