For Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney), having a son like Carl Webster is akin to walking around Coronation Street with a loaded gun. Unfortunately, Carl is about to take that literally. Not many people in Weatherfield have endured a worse year than Debbie. She is not only grappling with a dementia diagnosis, but her scumbag son has brought chaos into her life at every turn. His greatest hits include having an affair with his uncle Kevin Webster's (Michael Le Vell) wife, causing a hit and run that put Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) in a wheelchair, and arguably worst of all, drunkenly causing a multi-car pile-up that kills the local vicar, then gaslighting his mother into going to prison for the crime.
When Debbie was released from prison, she was not the same. Her time inside had stripped away her routine, her loved ones, and her beloved husband Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan). Due to the stress and drama Carl brought to her door, Debbie's dementia accelerated so much that she actually forgot Ronnie's name. This, coupled with her son's attempt to extort Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) out of her dead adoptive father's life insurance, was the last straw. With tears in her eyes, Debbie paid Carl two grand in an envelope to leave her life forever. Unfortunately, Kev stole the money back as a final middle finger to Carl, which only incensed the Worst Webster. Hellbent on revenge, he snuck into the garage at night and tampered with one of the cars Kevin was working on. Unbeknownst to Carl, Tyrone was also in the garage recording his sabotage on his phone, but he accidentally knocked the car jack… and karma finally hit Carl when the car came crashing down.
Since the accident, Carl has seemingly had no memory of that fateful night and is trying to turn over a new leaf, while Debbie is focused on enjoying life with her friends despite her dementia. However, that is about to be upended in upcoming episodes of Coronation Street, with Carl's dalliance with the dark side leading him into dangerous territory, which severely impacts Debbie's condition. Tonight's episode sees Carl fail to get a reference from Kevin so he can work in another garage. As luck would have it, Carl receives a call from dodgy car dealer Fiona Morley (Sara Poyzer), who he previously worked for unloading stolen motors through Kevin's garage.
Fiona is back to lead Carl further into temptation, offering him some more dodgy work. The Worst Webster's week gets off to a bad start when Kevin is furious to discover Tyrone's video of Carl sabotaging the brakes on his car. A blazing row starts between uncle and nephew that soon turns physical, and as Tyrone and Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) rush to intervene… Carl pulls out the package he picked up from Fiona to reveal a gun! Convinced the gun is a fake, Kevin picks it up and aims it at Carl. But while Ronnie and Tyrone try to wrestle it from his grip, the gun fires. Did the bullet find its target? Whatever happened, Fiona is none too pleased. She tells Carl that he has a week to do what she says or his life won't be worth living… and guess who overhears? Debbie.
The next day, Debbie wakes from a horrible nightmare, reliving the nightmare with the gun at the garage and stressing that it is now missing. Later, when a flower order gets mixed up, Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) blames Debbie's dementia for the confusion. Her stress building, Debbie lets slip to the parents of the gender reveal party the hotel is hosting that the baby is a boy as she read it on the balloon order. As Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) apologises… the balloon suddenly pops. With the gunfire fresh in her mind, Debbie is convinced it was another shooting and freaks out. Looks like Carl's days of making Debbie's life hell are not over just yet.
