Coronation Street fans were left fearing for Carla Conner after she caused a freak accident after being drugged by cobbles villain Stephen Reid in the episode.
The scenes aired on Friday night, bringing to a close a dramatic week which saw the factory boss become the latest target of the killer after she warned him against crossing her in any business disputes.
The latest scenes saw Carla confused after Stephen had played around with her diary, removing a meeting she had been certain was pencilled in.
Then Stephen handed Carla a mug of tea laced with LSD while the pair were in the factory and he convinced her that she cancelled the meeting with Dick Haversham – only for him to call wondering where she was.
Having been drugged, a flustered Carla left the factory to meet Dick in a tizzy, while elsewhere Peter offered Paul a spin on his new motorbike.
Carla then called the garage to collect her car, but Abi refused to hand over her keys.
The scenes ended in dramatic fashion, when Carla spotted the Underworld van and started the engine – only to career down the street.
The factory boss then crashed into Paul astride Peter's bike, leaving him thrown to the ground and wincing in pain.
The scenes left Carla visibly devastated, with many ITV viewers at home concerned it could plunge the character into another health battle with her psychosis.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "She feels such a deep level of guilt every time she hurts someone (mainly because the whole street also turns on her).
"This LCD could actually end up triggering her so badly that she does relapse. makes what Stephen's doing even bloody sicker."
A second echoed: "Stephen is trying to mess with Carla's mind and make things worse taking advantage of her psychosis."
A third question: "Why do I have an awful feeling they are going to drag the Stephen convinces everyone Carla has psychosis story out until Britain's Got Talent semi-finals in May."
Stephen nabbed the LSD earlier in the week, when Rufus collapsed in the hotel room, leaving a vial of drug which Stephen has cruelly spiked Carla with.
Stephen actor Todd Boyse previously explained: “Sarah brought [Carla’s psychosis] up in the pub and it drops like a bombshell as far as he is concerned and because of the way she has humiliated him he knows that he can use it for his own gain.
“He comes back from the hotel having got the signature and securing the deal and she tells him that she is making him office manager. That is the moment that he has had enough.
“He knows there are 50 centres with shares in the company and he just needs to mobilise them and make them think she is not capable of doing the job.
“It’s pretty ingenious and she has annoyed him so much that he doesn’t actually care what it is going to do to her.
“It is a relatively short-term plan to start with just to sow the seed of doubt with everyone. He plans to do it over a period of time so it looks like she is having real problems.”
With Stephen determined to knock Carla off her Underworld throne, just how far will he end up going?
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
Got any theories or thoughts on the storyline? Let us know in the comments section below.
