Rob Vs Robert, who's the best match for Tracy Barlow?

Spoiler alert!

Rob Donovan will be back on our screens later this year, pulling strings and yanking chains from inside the prison walls. Not sure if it means he's getting out and will be a regular again or if it's a temporary return. In any case, I'm excited! I grew to really like the character. I thought he was probably the best match for Tracy ever and I thought his chemistry as Carla's brother really worked. There's no further news on exactly what his storyline is going to be other than he knows a big Connor secret and is going to be using it to his advantage.

But it's bound to throw Tracy into a confused hot mess, isn't it? She's just getting back together with her ex-husband Robert. She says Robert knows her better than anyone. I would argue that point. I think, for the woman she is now, that trophe goes to Rob Donovan. Robert knew her in her early 20s and the worst thing she ever did to him, that we know of, is cheat on him with his best friend and lealve him. Not a nice thing to do to someone but he would have taken her back. She must have been bored with him to do it, she certainly seemed so when she first returned to Weatherfield.

Since then, let's see what Tracy has done:

Affair with Dev, who had previously slept with her mother, though she didn't know it at the time. She then destroyed Dev's clothes when he ditched her.

Had a one night stand with Steve, got pregnant, pretended Roy Cropper was the father after making a bet that she could bed him. She drugged Roy, lied that they had sex and the very thought of it, plus the pregnancy presented to him, had Roy on the verge of suicide. Did Tracy care? Did she heck. She offered to sell Roy and Hayley her baby for cold hard cash. She did take Amy back after having a flicker of maternal instinct. We're still not altogether sure how strong that is!

She tried to sabotage Steve's second wedding to Karen. She was obsessed with Steve and that lasted nearly 10 years. She even finally managed to get him to marry her after he split from Becky but she miscarried twins and blamed Becky for it after she'd fallen down a staircase during an argument with Becky. Her lies were exposed on her wedding day and she lost Steve for good.

She pretended she was physically abused by Charlie Stubbs and then killed him in cold blood because he'd had an affair and was tiring of her. She lied in court, persuaded her mother to lie as a witness but got sent down anyway. She nearly was responsible for Gail getting convicted of Joe's murder by lying to the authorities that Gail had confessed. She only got released on a technicality.

She tried to steal her grandmother's boyfriend because she thought he was rich. He wasn't.


She accidentally caused a fire in Carla's flat when she nearly committed murder a second time. She put a candle down under a lampshade to pick up a weapon and she almost bashed Carla over the head but heard someone else in the flat first and she fled. The candle caught the lampshade and the flat on fire and though Carla and the other occupant, who turned out to be Tracy's daughter, got out safely in the end, Kal Nazir was killed as was Maddie Heath. She might not have done it on purpose but she was responsible.

The list goes on but those are the worst things she's done. Rob knew about a lot of them and he loved her and her sharp, nasty tongue anyway. He was a bit of a scallywag himself and I think he knew her, accepted her, and loved her though even she went a bit far for his taste now and then and he was always able to rein her back. He got on great with Amy and eventually, Deirdre. We have yet to see Robert interact much with Amy though Ken thinks the sun shines out of his backside in spite of the disappointment that he lied about being married. That's not an issue now because he and his wife are finished.

Robert may end up being Tracy's conscience about the fire but Rob still has her heart, I think. Robert came back while Tracy was in shock and grieving over her mother's death. I think he's about the past for her, someone to comfort her. He held a torch for her all these years but never had the gumption to come back and try to win her back. Now she's vulnerable so I think he took advantage of that, not in a manipulative way because I don't think he's that sort. I think he saw the opportunity and took it, unable to resist his heart on his sleeve. But I still think, between the two, that Rob is a better match for Tracy.

Having said that, Rob may have other ideas. Tracy was the one that dobbed him in to the police, mainly to save her own skin over the stolen goods though she said it was for Amy, too, and that might have factored into it a bit. He won't be so inclined to pine for her but who knows? Prison is lonely. He may have forgiven her and won't be very happy if he finds out about Robert.

If Marc Baylis isn't returning for the long term, it may all be a non-issue. If he doesn't get out of prison, which will be tricky since he did confess, then I suppose Tracy won't wait for him and stick with Robert but I think Robert would be better off with someone else.

Hey... Leanne's single.....

The latest wedding fail

Tracy and Rob's wedding was doomed from the night Rob took that crowbar in his hand and bashed Tina over the head. We've seen him looking shifty, guilty, and troubled ever since and it's all come out in the wash in true soap fashion, on the wedding day.

Carla started to be suspicious of Rob's over the top reaction to Peter being convicted, and little things chipped away at her sense of logic, like finding out Peter was in prison because he thought Carla killed Tina and was taking the blame. Tracy and Rob's stories for the night of the murder (also their engagement party) didn't match and she came to the conclusion that Tracy was the killer. After all, it's not the first time she's been heavy handed with a blunt object, is it?

She pushed and she cajoled and finally Rob admitted he killed Tina. Then it was down to Carla. Would she turn him in or not? Would she be able to live with the fact that the man that hurt her so badly was in prison for something he didn't do? In there for life? Would she let Rob marry Tracy knowing what he had done?

The day of the wedding dawns clear and sunny. Tracy is oblivious to the storm that's going to rain down on her horse drawn parade. She's self centered, obnoxious, unbearably rude to Emily and happy as a pig in much. The happier she became, the more compliments thrown her way (mainly from her father), the more you knew her crash was truly going to be spectacular and we all waited in anticipation for Karma to kick her lace-covered backside. (Ok, it was a lovely dress, I'll give her that)

It looked as if Carla really didn't know what to do but both Carla and Rob had a chance to level a knowing glance at the memorial outside the builder's yard. I think Carla's conversation with Ken outside the wedding venue probably turned the corner for her decision. She turned Rob in for the sake of Ken, Deirdre and Simon's sake. She did the right thing. She might not be able to forgive Peter for what he'd done to her, but she couldn't see him spending most of the rest of his life being punished for something her brother did.

Problem is, she confronted Rob, as if to tell him what she'd done and it gave Rob a chance to make a run for it. She should have stayed outside until the police came. I'm sure he'll get caught and it will happen sooner than later. Tracy got jilted and her life turned upside down. Viewers all over stood up and punched the air with glee.

Tracy, of course, blames Carla rather than the murderer she almost married and she's collapsed, mascara streaked cheeks, into her father's arms. Ken did a impressive job of not saying "I told you so", considering he never liked Rob from the start. The police definitely blame Carla for tipping off Rob. Carla must have been pretty convincing on the phone for them to take it so seriously rather than having her come in, make a statement and questioning Rob later.

In the end, just to add insult to injury, with the added cliche of rubbing salt in the wound, the bride was arrested for perverting the course of justice (false alibi or possibly, they think, covering for Rob). Couldn't have happened to a nicer gal!

Fashions:
As I said, her wedding dress was quite nice though when anyone wears one that tight I always wonder how comfortable it could possibly be. I'd have gone with an updo for my hair, mind you, showing off her long neck with that lacy deep V-Neckline. Amy looked like a little princess in her fluffy dress. Too bad Tracy barely gave her a nod most of the time except when she kicked off about her flowers.

I loved Emily's and Rita's hats! Mary's fascinator was much more subdued than usual. Did you notice that Tim and Sally coordinated, with her dress containing the same shade of pink he wore for a tie? Beth wore a particularly lovely shade of pink but the earrings were definitely less than classy and really mismatched with the necklace and it was all Totally Beth!

Carla wore a suit that was her version of a tux but much more stylish and chic which is Carla all over. She looked great! Ken, of course, as father of the bride, looked very natty and Rob looked smart in his tailed tux as well!

A few side comments:
Michelle might have been the wedding planner but when did one of those get to direct the photographer in which photos and portraits to take? Shut up, woman. Tracy made Michelle run after the carraige to retrieve Amy's flowers. Well, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it!

Oh, and the manor house is well outside of Manchester city centre. Did those poor horses have to drag that carriage all that way on the motorways and through traffic?

I did think it was a bit strange that Gail, who'd popped over to borrow Ken's kimono (and let's not go into how wrong that was!), was all chirpy and cheerful and full of best wishes for the woman that conspired to keep her in prison on a murder charge. She hates Tracy! The Gail we all know and love might have wished her good luck but it would have been with a snarky remark about Rob needing all the luck he could get.

I can't blame Peter for being afraid to hope. He probably does think it's Carla's word against Rob's and what if the canal has washed all the evidence clean off the murder weapon? And now that it was Carla that threw him a lifeline, he's going to  think she'll have him back if he does get released. Ain't gonna happen, dude.

Time after time, Tracy is rude to Emily yet she continues to be nothing but kind to her. That's what Emily is all about but you'd think she'd get tired of it after all these years. I did think it was odd she delivered the wedding card to Tracy in the pub at her hen party rather than give it to her with the cameo on the wedding day. Sometimes, a set up for the sake of a writer's whim or a more dramatic or funnier scene just feels very contrived and it doesn't work. At all. That was one of those times.

Laughed at Beth trying to set up Sean with the waiter but Kirk getting it all wrong and the waiter thought Kirk was chatting him up! Loved Mary being so sweet with Amy. Tracy was annoying but then she always is.  Still wonder how Tracy found enough people to put all those bums on seats. Tim, Sally and Kevin are  hanging out together like the Three Amigos more and more and Sally is getting annoyed that Kevin and Tim are getting to be mates. 

There you have it. Weddings on Coronation Street rarely run smoothly.  I enjoyed the three episodes. Our next one up to the altar will be Beth and Kirk and I think I heard her mention something about Christmas. I canNOT wait to see that one!