Over the past few months, as Kirsty and Tyrone's story unfolds and more layers are revealed, pretty much everyone has been unanimous in their praise for actors Alan Halsall, Natalie Gumede and Jennie McAlpine, with her addition to the storyline.
This week, Fiz and Tyrone fell back into love and there have been mutterings and more than one set of eyes rolling at the temerity of the writers to stick a romance into the middle of this. Crying "foul", those fans feel it isn't realistic. Some also feel that at some point, Tyrone would lash out in defence. How could you help not defending yourself?
Tyrone and Fiz have a long history, including one of romance. They've stayed good mates over the years through other relationships. With the discovery of what Tyrone is going through, Fiz's feelings have grown from concern for a friend to a renewal of love. When she admitted her feelings, Tyrone jerked back and was shocked to his core. "No!!", he cried. It seemed to be the last thing he wanted but that's because he was scared of what would happen if Kirsty found out. Sure, Tyrone does love Fiz. Is this romance realistic?
The way I see it, Tyrone does love Fiz. And I do think this scenario is realistic but it may not be "true" love in the traditional sense. I think Tyrone is drowning and Fiz is his rescuer. He's going down fast and every time he cowers, every new bruise he suffers, he sinks a little further. He can't go under because he needs to keep going for the baby's sake but he's more and more desperate every day. Fiz is his lifeline.
They certainly are playing with fire by having an affair under the violent Kirsty's nose and they're both going to pay for it in capital letters. Kirsty is very good at manipulation and can turn things and popular opinion to her side with skill.
Kirsty is not a likeable woman because we see her temper and her rage and we fear for Tyrone's safety and mental health. But man, oh man, is Natalie Gumede turning in a top notch performance? Is she ever! She runs hot and cold, soft as a kitten and hard as nails, turning on a dime. Her face is set in stone but her eyes flicker and you think Kirsty is often battling herself and her past. She and Alan Halsall are most definitely bringing the best out in each other and their scenes are stunning and riveting.
There are a lot more sides and layers yet to be told in this story. Corrie most definitely got it right when they hired Natalie and used these two to tell the story.
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