Coronation Street Blog: Are Peter and Carla worth saving?

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Guest blog post from @carlasbarlow

Once again Carla and Peter have found themselves at an exhaustingly repetitive crossroads and, as a massive fan of the pairing, quite frankly I’m more exhausted than the two of them put together.

Peter’s alcoholism has been portrayed beautifully since the very beginning, one of Coronation Street’s biggest achievements in terms of continuity, but this never ending merry-go-round of Carla and Peter constantly having to make a decision based on whether or not they should remain a couple is becoming incredibly tiresome, especially with the introduction of Lucas, a mere plot device to add an element of unnecessary threat, as if Peter’s deteriorating health isn’t enough.

It’s not that highlighting the struggles of being the partner of an addict is an issue for me, in fact I encourage it and I’m glad to see Corrie explore it in the form of Carla having her own doubts and seeking solace from someone who understands. What doesn’t sit right with me is the lack of continuity, the contradicting nature of Carla and Peter’s relationship and yet another third party unnecessarily being thrown into the mix and further complicating issues, fuelling the already highly toxic behaviour from both characters in the relationship.

Back in September 2020, Carla was offended and extremely hurt when Peter chose to confide in Abi regarding his struggles. Although Abi, a fellow recovering addict, completely understood and had a lot of empathy for Peter, Carla also understood in a way that Abi probably wouldn’t having been there numerous times herself in the past. She stood by and supported Peter throughout multiple relapses and put his recovery first every time, she understands him as an addict as and as person and so of course she was going to be hurt when he not only thought someone else was more approachable than his own partner, but that she herself hadn’t noticed the signs of his struggle and stepped in to help him sooner. She made a point of goading him about hanging around with Abi simply to get attention from somebody he knew fancied him but when Abi made a move Peter turned her down, told her exactly where they stood and ended up cutting almost all contact with her for Carla’s sake. Peter’s defence was that he didn’t want to put her under any more pressure or cause her any setbacks to which she reiterated that they needed to be honest with each other and keep talking, otherwise the relationship was doomed.

Back to the present and similarly Carla is having struggles of her own throughout Peter’s battle with liver failure and he, unsurprisingly, has been kept in the dark regarding this. It was very briefly touched upon that he had doubts about Lucas being on the scene (which is fair given that Carla had packed her bags and was set to spend a weekend with him) but Carla has reassured him that he’s not a threat and there is nothing going on. However she has lied and kept secrets from Peter because she doesn’t want to cause him further stress which is understandable given Peter’s current situation and having said himself he couldn’t cope with news of anything bad happening but he has always cared about her well-being, he would want to know just how deeply things are affecting her too. During the aftermath of her breakdown he protected her and made sure her recovery came first so surely if she was struggling and possibly on the verge of her own relapse he should be made aware of it? Disregarding her own struggles with the notion of “What can I say? I love a challenge” is exactly the attitude she held during the build up to her breakdown and, in my opinion, the idea of her seeking professional help and advice, possibly inserting herself into a support group and building a network to fall back on during the worst of Peter’s health would be a much more interesting route to take rather than yet another love interest and threat to their already diminishing relationship.

While it’s been made clear that Lucas understands what it’s like to be the partner of an addict, nobody knows what it’s like to be the long suffering partner of Peter Barlow better than the man himself; if Carla was finding things difficult and/or having doubts about being the trigger to his desire to drink, why not discuss it with Peter? Even though her intentions are pure she’s causing him more harm by keeping things from him and being dishonest, when it was her to suggest that they be open and keep talking to each other in the first place. When Peter was later up front about pouring away his whisky measures she was pretty shocked although appreciative of his honesty because that’s exactly what they had agreed upon; being honest. Weeks later she has now tangled herself within a web of lies and still, even with his well-being a priority, continues to lie to him and hide the truth about Simon’s current situation. Peter, as his father, deserves to know the truth, no matter how painful and stress inducing it might be.

With Lucas, Carla herself stated it wasn’t a good idea for her to confide in him and, despite being rejected by her, he continues to push his advice and experience upon her, encourages her to join him somewhere a bit more ‘relaxing’ than work, and completely disregards what should be no more than a professional business relationship by offering her a new life with him. Understandably he has no loyalty to Peter, he doesn’t know the ins and outs of what has gone on in their decade long relationship but, when face to face with a woman struggling to support her dying alcoholic boyfriend, it just seems completely absurd to me that his way of helping her to unwind from all of that responsibility is by joining her in getting drunk on multiple occasions, further adding to her guilt and feelings of inadequacy as Peter’s main support.

There are so many inconsistencies with Lucas’ character, despite us knowing very little about him. He claims to know the real Carla, he’s offering her a new life and, I’m assuming, is committed to being loyal to her and put her first in a way that Peter never could yet also states that he regrets wasting his time on his addict ex girlfriend and that he couldn’t save someone who chooses to be broken. Carla herself is no stranger to addiction and, especially given the fragility of her mental health, there is no guarantee that, even with the idyllic stress free environment that Lucas is offering (complete with a German shepherd), she will remain on an even keel. Will he turn his back on her if she were to relapse?

Peter sought help and support from Abi when he was struggling and while Carla is appearing to do the same with Lucas she is ultimately entertaining the thought of a new life with him, before Peter has even taken his last breath. I would much prefer, if the relationship were to come to an end, for Carla to be alone and focus on herself rather than jump straight into a new relationship with somebody she barely knows, giving up everything just because he understands a certain aspect of her life. What I don’t understand is, only a matter of months after Carla cheated and slept with her own boyfriend’s nephew, Corrie are now throwing yet another obstacle into her path in the form of a love interest; a desperately needy and unnecessary one at that.

Iain MacLeod has previously hailed this as the “ultimately love story” for Carla and Peter but I am yet to see any evidence of love between the pair other than a few comments to other characters about how well suited they are. I know I’m probably speaking too soon and there is still a lot of content to come with things potentially working out perfectly in the end but fueling the most toxic aspects of their relationship and calling it the ultimate love story has left me questioning whether, as a couple, they are worth saving at all?

Glenda Young

Author of gritty, family saga novels with Headline