Yet another Coronation Street male turns criminal with Ronnie swearing revenge
Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) is the latest man to fall into Coronation Street’s increasingly concerning trope of being a male and committing a crime in upcoming episodes.
At this point, we just want some nice things, don’t we?
We want characters who can simply be characters, without every new storyline having to uncover a dark secret or plunge them into criminality. Ronnie has been part of the Coronation Street landscape for a little while now, so the prospect of seeing him pulled into this pattern is all the more disappointing.
In recent years, there’s been Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), teen troublemakers Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) and Brody Michaelis (Ryan Mulbey), and Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) who have all caused drama in one way or another.
A few weeks ago, Tyrone Dobbs’ (Alan Halsall) biological father Ross Wilkes (Ian Burfield) arrived on the cobbles, and it took us no time at all to discover that he was a dark and manipulative individual who raped Cassie Plummer (Claire Sweeney) when she was 15.
Soaps need darkness, of course. They need villains, criminals and characters who make terrible decisions – that is part of what makes them so compelling. However, when it happens all of the time, and with barely any warmth and humour to contrast, the genuinely dramatic moments inevitably begin to lose some of their impact.
Next week, Ronnie eyes up Idris Nazir’s (Junade Khan) car and explains to Carl that he’s thinking about stealing it for Fiona as he owes her for the missing gun.
In the pub, Carl appears and hands Ronnie the keys to Idris’s car having stolen them from his jacket.
In the week, it appears Ronnie did go through with the plan, because Idris reports his car as stolen.
Idris quickly accuses Ronnie of stealing the vehicle and punches him to the floor.
Surprisingly, man of wisdom in this scenario is Carl, who implores Ronnie not to go looking for revenge, as Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) doesn’t need anymore stress.
Will Ronnie listen?
Judging by the way other storylines have played out with male residents recently, potentially not…
