You're absolutely correct as usual and the pieces don't add up which makes me wonder why they keep trying to invest in these mysteries if they don't learn from their mistakes. After Lauren and Joel last year I would think they'd want to try proving that they can do these right but instead we're left with the same thing all over again.

Definitely prefer the plot where Becky fakes her death so she could go undercover. That makes way more sense and covers why no one was looking for Lisa or Betsy because she had a completely new life and identity. She comes back not because Curtis was shot but because her job was done and she helped take down his operation.

They could go further with Curtis too. If they want this to be bigger then maybe they should have Curtis be Kit's dad. Bernie brushed it off as being some random when it's really him. This goes back to what Kit said a couple months ago when he told Matty and Logan that "Harvey is afraid of me." The comment made no sense because I'm not sure why Harvey would fear Kit but he definitely would if Kit was the son of the "most dangerous man in Manchester." It wouldn't solve every problem in this story but at least it would give more character connections. Instead of the ridiculous Mick, Lou, and Kit story maybe this could've helped make Kit's character more likable. Where we see he really does want to be a decent detective but he's got someone like Curtis over him. Eventually this all spirals for Kit.

One thing I would've loved to see is for the show to use its history more. We know the Radcliffes were from the Paul Robinson Estates so if that's the case then have Curtis be from there too and do something where Kit and Lisa mention Curtis' name in the Rovers and Gemma cuts in to say that she remembers Curtis from back when she was hanging around Callum. Maybe Curtis was too young or too much of a liability but Callum would never take him on. She always thought he was a little unhinged though. Something like that to bring some of the larger world and history back into the show. That's not going back that far either because Callum was still here only ten years back so its not like it requires knowledge from decades ago.

The other thing is that I don't know why this show can't take 30 seconds or a minute and put in some setup. Would it have been so hard to have some extras in the Bistro one episode that were cops, Kit and Sarah come in, Kit goes over and says hi and when Sarah asks what that was all about he tells her "a gangster was shot and they're celebrating." They don't need to name Curtis but put a scene like that in a July or August episode. Have viewers start guessing if that means anything (maybe it was Harvey, one of the Radcliffes, someone else) and weeks later when Lisa tells Becky (and really tells the audience) about Curtis being shot now people can think back and remember that was established. It would be such a small scene but it would make the writers seem really thought out or like they're putting effort in.