It was with a sudden jolt the other evening that I realised how much I currently hate Peter Barlow. Yes, before you say it, I know he's a fictitious character in a television drama and that it's meant to be an exaggerated version of real plodding life, but I can't help wishing he would just get out of my sight.I know Peter is just the latest in a long line of Weatherfield residents to commit adultery and I'm not going to go all holier than thou on that one. However, well, let's be honest, the man has only just married for the fifth time! The current infatuation with young enough to be his daughter Tina McIntyre seems to have sprung up from nowhere (as it were) and it is just totally seedy.
Of course the writers have it planned out that just as Peter cheats again, Carla is showing her human, fragile soft side as she cares and frets for poor Hayley. The contrast between these scenes the other evening was almost too much to bear. I cringed as Peter sat with the Croppers in the Rovers, showing a complete disinterest as he pined for Tina. What a creep!
It was good to see Liz warning him off in the Rovers' gents the other night, however I don't totally agree with her that's it's mostly Peter's fault. He may be twice Tina's age, but she hasn't really tried that hard to stay away from him has she? I know this is part of the grand plan for Tina so that she's alienated as many people as possible before she finally leaves in the summer. It's just all a bit much.
Tina the temptress has hardly had five minutes to get over Tommy's sudden departure and now she's snogging the face off both Peter and Rob. Who's next on her hit list, Norris? Before Tommy there was Graeme (thankfully not me) and David Platt and not that long ago she was fighting off an amorous Gary Windass. However I guess her one redeeming feature is that, unlike Peter Barlow, she hasn't married them all as well.
I do feel sorry for Carla as I think Hayley's death will really hit her hard. On top of that, any revelations about Peter and Tina may just push her too far. I'm loving Alison King's portrayal at the moment, she's a terrific actress and Carla is developing nicely mainly thanks to her blossoming friendship with the Croppers.Another character who will suffer as a result of this affair is poor little Simon. Has there ever been a worse upbringing for a Corrie child than the one Simon has had to endure? He is constantly stuck in the middle of Nick and Leanne and Peter and Carla. Not a pretty place to be. I do wonder when the writers are going to follow up on Simon's bullying storyline as that seemed to climax and then peter out (pardon the expression). Surely Peter would be concentrating on his son at this time and his new wife, rather than chasing Tina hither and thither.
However, what do I know? Illicit affairs and secrets are the foundation stone of the modern soap opera so this latest story just carries on a grand tradition. Is it really what you want to watch five times a week though? I'm not sure I do.
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24 comments:
Awful storyline.Thr juxtaposition of the Tina and Peter sex scenes and the Carla/Roy/Hayley scenes was insulting, disgusting and almost perverse.
Whatever you say about Peter Barlow and affairs, his love for Carla has been portrayed as quite deep and powerful and I just don't think it's realistic or what viewers want to see.
An excellent post.
The sleazy Tina/Peter affair makes me feel sick. I honestly can't stomach either of them anymore.
I want Carla to find out the truth and show Peter the door. I completely agree that Alison King is a terrific actress - she understands Carla so well and her scenes with Julie Hesmondhalgh this week made me cry. However, Tina and Peter having cheap sex in Carla's bed when she is breaking her heart at Hayley's bedside was just disgusting.
The thought of having to stomach Tina and Peter for another few months is just unbearable. They are ruining my enjoyment of Corrie.
The Peter/Tina thing is totally wrong and totally unbelievable, coupled with Carla and Hayley it was nauseatingly bad!
When it was announced that Tina was leaving It would have been more acceptable for her to go because she couldn't bear to see Joe/Jake growing up with his family. This story line has done nothing for Peter either, this once loveable rogue has been turned into a nasty sleaze ball.
I was going to say the Corrie people must be doing their job if the responses above are any indication. However, there have been so many bad story lines that I find so hard to swallow. If I let out a heavy sigh while watching Tina seducing another father figure or Kaylie getting hammered after being sucked in to David's manipulations; take a pill Nick; what happened with Faye, Grace and the police?; Brian's gone - good riddance - but why did Julie have to hang around?; my wife tells me, "if you don't like it, go do the dishes!"
My hands are raw!
I think I'll go jogging instead of watching Corrie but it's been -25 C. in Montreal.
Infidelity is the bread and butter of soaps, but it has to be portrayed realistically to be worth watching. I feel that the writers just regard the characters as puppets, rather than representations of real people. What is wrong with a slow build up to a romance, even an adulterous romance. I don't think tptb credit us with any intelligence, we are being treated like children who have to have everything straightaway. At the moment the story lines are secondary to the leaving dates of various actors, which must be wrong. Corrie is better than that.
The affair is truly awful but Peter is supposed to hated at the moment and no doubt will fall apart once Carla finds out. Although Simon has never liked Carla so I don't think he'll be upset if/when she and Peter split.
It's frustrating though that characters have been destroyed for this storyline, I used to like both Peter and Tina individually.
I have never warmed up to the character of Tina. I find her loud, obnoxious and promiscuous how many men on the street has she slept with? While the actress who portrays her is a very attractive young woman I really can't see her going very far in her career. To me she is already typecast the same as David is.
When you said that Tina had barely got over Tommy leaving, that was the motivation right there. Rebound. Happens all the time. And Peter's ego had been bashed time and again since he went bankrupt. He was ripe for it. That doesn't make it right or bearable, just explains it.
I feel for Simon, too. He, too, has the Barlow gene and seeing his father jumping from one woman to the next, is only giving him a prime example.
She's done quite a lot of rebounding in her time!
Quite unbelievable isn't it. I mean Peter and Carla hadn't even had a chance to go to bed on their wedding night and already he is cheating. I mean come on writers at least let 5 minutes go by before the affair starts.
What can we expect the next time there is a marriage ceremony on the street.............during the ceremony the bride, just before she says "I do", jumps the best man in front of the entire wedding party and guests and has a right old go at him. I mean really:(
Does anyone think about what the writers did to Molly? Same thing....actress leaving...so let's pair her with a man old enough to be her father and make her totally unlikeable before she is killed off.
I have to say I like Carla lately...except that she does not even hide her disdain for Simon now and everyone seems to find it all a big joke. I really wanted to laugh when Peter cheated on her - as we all knew he would...look how he broke Leanne's heart. Truthfully - I thought she was the love of his life....
Anyway....as the writers are showing Carla's soft underbelly now...I cannot wait for her to drag Tina out on the street by her hair....BUT
something tells me that we will see a strong woman reduced to binge drinking and being a public nuisance before it all ends. Why does Corrie do that? I hope they make a Gloria Gaynor "I Will Survive" example and have Carla stay strong and come out on top.
Carla has come a long way....please do not ruin it Corrie writers!
Re Tina's love life. You forgot Jason, who Tina was with in between David and Graeme, Nick, who Tina snogged while on a break from one of them (forget who) and Dr Matt Carter - the only real storyline he ever had.
The one time I had sympathy for Kirsty was when Tina used to stroll around Tyrone's house wrapped only in a towel. Poor Ty would've stood no chance had Tina set her sights on him.
On another note, as recently as a couple of days ago, the Wikipedia list of "cast changes" had Chris Gascoigne leaving for family reasons. But now that reference has been deleted. Is it possible that he is in fact staying put?
Writers did the same thing with Sunita when she was going to be killed off. Turned her into a major hose-bag who started banging her bosses husband. She went from a nice, caring person to a complete arsehole overnight and by the time it came for her to take the big dirt nap, I couldn't have cared less. Too bad there's too little originality when it comes to the writers on this team. Same old storylines with different actors.
This is just a ghastly storyline and wrong on so many levels. Peter is 48 for heaven's sake - could he for once be paired with someone who is less than a decade younger than him? He is closer in age to Eileen and Liz than he is to Tina, Leanne or Carla. What on earth would Tina see in him? A completely contrived pairing which is painful in the extreme to watch:(
I just want it to be over.
Loved Carla and Peter's story when it first began in 2010 - just before the tram crash. It was very easy to believe that they had this strong connection and I could understand why people were rooting for them to get together. The actors who play Carla and Peter have a dark, sexy chemistry and they absolutely sizzle. I seem to remember the storyline went on for a year (before they became an official couple) and it was subtle and well told. The current Tina affair they are forcing on viewers is a joke in comparison.
One gets the impression when viewing the episodes that the story lines are unbelievable sorry but what planet are the writers on? Tina and Peter having an affair only a few days after Peter marries Carla? Shame on you Peter you are showing your sailor background after anything with a skirt and a pulse (well that's whats coming over the air waves). Carla is so way out of your league she is amazing character and I have warmed to her at first I thought she was too brass to harsh but the humanity she is showing for Hayley and roy has shown she is a valuable character and looking forward to seeing more of her in upcoming episodes. Tina miss ginger shin has become a real madam - getting all jealous over Peter and Carla - my goodness grow up look around you you aren't that important. I for one can't wait for her to leave the street - lets see more story lines from the older generation i miss the tat a tate from Emily norris Rita and co - they are an important piece of the jigsaw of the street but we are being hit over the head with the yonger ones that are all me me me orientated.
Have a thought for the writers, all of whom, thanks to the wonderful Jonathan Harvey, have honed their skills massively in recent years. Ponder this - they turn up their regular meeting to hear A and B want to quit, the producer wants rid of C and D, whole E and F have been interviewed by the police and G has featured in a dodgy video. Bang go all their story lines and suddenly they have to sort a real mess into their fiction! I hate Peter Barlow largely fir sporting the most tasteless tattoos ever seen on a human body - though he's not a bad actor. We know where the Peter/Tina storyline us heading, and at least there is a story, unlike Stella and Gloria who are just wilting until they collect their black bin bags and Gail a taxi.
My predictions for 2014. Tina returns to announce she is pregnant (bound to happen - first rule of soap is that one-night stands always result in pregnancy).
The person that murders Tina will be Feilan (sp?) - you know, the dodgy business man that Anna's bloke, whatever his name is, is about to go into partnership with.
Since we know none of the main characters, except Marcus, are due to leave, it is bound to be him. Doubtless Tina will see something incriminating in the builders yard office, and get bumped off as a result.
LOL at the attempt to explain the Peter/Tina affair. Here's mine: Tina has been struck with a mystery virus that means she has forgotten that she is hot and thinks she has to go after any man who smiles at her.
Peter has caught Nick's disease, can't remember he pledges of love to Carla and now has the morals of a tom cat.
Of course, the real explanation is that the writers needed an explosive Christmas storyline. Shame is the dampest of damp squibs.
Awful, unbelievable, hurried, unreal, convenient to some writer's agenda, or that of an actor.
The character of Tina was interesting in the beginning, way back, and she had some good stories with David and Joe McIntyre and Gail.
Tina's a character that could have realistically moved on ages ago, long before viewers got bored with her.
Peter, I'm not at all interested in your lust for Tina, it's just not 'you'; I'm embarrassed for you.
The worst thing about this whole storyline is that I think we're supposed to be rooting for them. I'll be surprised if anyone is.
I read a comment on another messageboard that if Peter had to have an affair, Eva would have been the better choice (since she's always around him at work anyway). Tina and Peter give off more of a father/daughter vibe than anything else so it really is skeevy seeing them in bed after the act.
And yes I'm glad someone else hates Peter. I didn't want to but after last night's episode, I don't think I have much of a choice now.
That's the thing; Peter wasn't particularly a 'hateful' character. He had some rough times and turned his life around, found a not-too-shabby a partner- who loves him to bits, and now this sleazy, unbelievable, behaviour on both character's parts.
He's a pawn of the writers, not true to character, so's Tina, I simply don't like the portrayal.
It would have been more believable if she'd started an affair with David Platt. However, I'm thinking that CG demanded more time or he was walking so the producers had to come up with something quick and the sordid affair is it, followed by Tina's murder and his subsequent arrest. Of course, Peter will have been off on a bender at the time and won't be able to remember anything.
I hated when Peter cheated on Leanne, but at least that started off slowly and took time to really burn. Tina was on the rebound, really? Tommy left during the surrogacy and was barely back. Peter felt emasculated at work? True, but it didn't smolder long enough. This burning romance popped up at a speed I'd expect for 14 year olds, not a 20 something and a nearly 50.
There could have been a good story of the consequences of Jake paralleling Simon living with Leanne. 2 adults coming together over difficult parental separation issues. That would be believable but it wasn't there. I think you're pretty, you're soooo hot, I can't keep my hands off you, squirrel, hmmm, not believable. Boooooo!
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