While Debbie tries to make Christmas the happiest day of her life, Carl Webster is sinking into a hole of his own making.

Carl appears as the new Coronation Street bad boy: rugged, reckless, always with an unpredictable half-smile.

But after a while, the audience realizes that behind that appearance is a mess: debt, involvement in shady car deals, and especially the fact that he quietly withdraws money from Debbie’s account to manage deals that only he knows about.

The scenes of Carl reviewing his account balance on his phone are small but powerful moments.

He thinks no one will notice, thinks that a few numbers will pass if everything goes well. But the camera captures the tense face, the slight shaking of his hands when he sees the money “evaporate”, and that’s when the audience understands: Carl is not just wrong, he is desperate. He knew that if Debbie found out, not only his money, but also his reputation, his love, and his relationship with the entire Street community could collapse in an instant.

Then came the turning point: in the midst of Christmas, Carl received a call that shook everything. He separated from the crowd, turned his back to the lights, only his face was swallowed by the darkness as the other end of the line told him the bad news. It was news related to his mother – who had passed away, but that death brought with it countless emotional wounds that Carl had never properly faced. The unexpected news pulled him straight back into the past, forcing him to face the feelings of guilt, abandonment, and helplessness that he had tried to bury deep.