Coronation Street on fire... again

please note this post makes reference to the April 2 episode on CBC

As a loyal Coronation Street fan, you'd think I'd be happy. After all, the last few episodes have combined male nudity (semi), arson, dramatic scenes of a raging fire, heroic rescues and Norris interrupting the Full Monty (well four out of fire isn't bad - ed). But, as the victims of the Rovers fire recover in the Coronation Street Wing of the Weatherfield General Hospital (slogan; a full recovery guaranteed for every customer except John Stape), I can't help but wonder about a few things:

1) Why is Karl standing over Dev's shoulder like a demented house elf as Sunita lies unconscious?

2) Karl Munro himself. A few episodes ago, he was just an ultra-skiver who did the dirty on Stella and had it off with Sunita. Then, suddenly he becomes obsessed with getting back together with Stella at any price. Even though, while with Stella, he was a serial philanderer with a string of dalliances with women in pubs up and down the British coastline. Then, he suddenly becomes evil incarnate, setting fire to the Rovers and leaving Sunita in the basement, pausing to say "sorry" as he leaves.  What kind of nutter is that? (a polite one? - ed).  Karl Munro may be a waste of space and a sub-standard stripper, but he is certainly no Tony Gordon or even John Stape.

3) Toni with an "I".  It's too bad that a potentially interesting character is introduced for a few episodes only to become a peripheral story line casualty (by contrast the tram crash was truly dramatic because the deaths included characters we really knew well).

I have to admit I get the nagging feeling that big disasters like this fire could potentially become a substitute for good stories on the street. I hope that doesn't happen. I know it's a lot easier to have a big fire than develop a riveting story line but, after the tram crash and now the Rovers fire, I think the residents have had enough destruction for a while. And, who knows, maybe Martha's barge is back on the canal. Just saying...