I loved Rob being wrong footed by Helen today, she swept away all his protests and just headed off to the shop, where she had a lovely time sorting things out. (Shocked at how useless Tina seems to be.)
I think the story line will now go one of two ways, either Helen will remember that she likes running the shop, Rob is perfectly capable of doing some of the domestic chores himself and Henry is more than happy to have the odd takeaway and Rob will have to learn to live with it. Or Rob will take steps to put Helen very firmly back in the gilded cage he's constructed. I fear the latter. And, given Helen's new found independence, I wonder whether Rob will have to drop the pretence that it is all about him looking after Helen.
One thing that I do find rather curious is that as far as I can see he is a reasonably good father figure to Henry. Despite his nastiness to Jess when he spoke to her on the phone, he instantly switched into "Now there's my favourite boy!" mode when Henry came out of nursery. Lizzie also remarked on how well Henry and Rob got on when she saw them together without Helen. Perhaps it is designed to make it hard for Helen to break free, as she might feel that Rob's qualities as a father figure for Henry outweigh his controlling behaviour with her.
I suspect that there will be a few interesting episodes ahead.
Out of interest, who do we feel are the best parents in Ambridge? Recent episodes have made me feel that Jennifer and Hayley are good mothers and Eddie a good father.