Analyzing Peter Barlow

Peter Barlow is a bit of a hound dog when it comes to women, just like his father. He's not quite as excitable as Ken, though. Ken Barlow had a much higher relationship count by the time he was Peter's age, mid to late 40s, but he never married two women at the same time, either.

Peter, like Ken, finds it hard to resist when a woman starts batting her mascara at him. No, I shouldn't say that. Blinky Gail has been doing that for years and it's never moved Peter to flirt with her though at least, she's a little closer to being a similar age than Peter's latest object of lust, Tina McIntyre, who, by the way, is Gail's erstwhile step-daughter.

Tina is young enough to be Peter's daughter, a fact that's been mentioned on the show by Tina herself. It's not stopped her obvious interest. The last time something like this happened was between Kevin and Molly and the nation cringed. Partly, that was because Kevin had teenage daughters not that much younger than Molly herself. It certainly added an element of squickiness for sure.

Tina's on the rebound from Tommy. Peter's had a massive kick to his ego and self esteem in recent months. He loves Carla but she's a force to be reckoned with and while Peter may like that in a woman, he must also take the down side of that, her love of being the one to wear the pants in the family. After he went bankrupt (ouch!) she bailed him out and then hired him at the factory, making him a minority partner, not equals. (ouch!) She bought her own engagement ring because the one she wanted was far more than he could afford and she's paying for a posh wedding for the same reason. (ouch!)

She isn't very maternal so with all the problems Simon has had dealing with an injured and angry Nick and with the bullying he's gone through, she's not really been a lot of help. In fact, Peter sees her as being unsympathetic and cold, being more focussed on the wedding and angry at him for letting her do all the work to put it together.  Simon is his priority and far more important to him now than flowers and napkins. Why Carla didn't hire a posh wedding planner in the first place is beyond me.

Poor Peter! I kind of anticipated this might send him back to the bottle but this time, he's looking for a different sort of vice to iron out the kinks. So to speak. 

Enter Tina, someone to help out with Simon, someone for Simon to take a real shine to, unlike his feelings for Carla which live in the general realm of resentment and contempt most of the time. She does like Simon but she doesn't know how to relate to a child. Tina is a mate, and understands what it's like to be a troubled kid. Tina shows affection freely. Tina is stunningly beautiful, probably the only one on the Street that can rival Carla aside from maybe Eva who's equally lovely but a bit dim. Tina is razor sharp.

The age difference? Yep, it's wide enough for concern even if there were no Carla involved but there's a vast difference between Kevin Webster and Peter Barlow, both of a similar age to each other. Kevin Webster is no poster boy, and Peter? Peter is downright gorgeous! (in my opinion!) When Peter smiles, those brown eyes and dimples are captivating.  With Kevin and Molly, it was a case of a mild flirt on his part which sparked Molly into chasing him into the ground shamelessly. Peter and Tina are coming to it on equal terms. There's interest on both sides but at the moment, neither one is really pushing it though Peter may become the instigator. I guess that's the male instinct oozing out.

Peter's hormones are perking up. His genes are kicking in. Ken would probably be proud and disappointed in equal measures though he wouldn't admit to the pride bit. "Oh, Peter!" he'd sigh. And if Tracy gets wind of it, you know everyone else is going to hear about it. She hates Tina already and she's got history. She's the one that knew he was a bigamist and she's the one that outed Leanne's affair to Nick to Peter. She won't sit still if it means she gets to cause trouble even if it ends up breaking Carla's heart and causing Rob to rake her over the coals for it.

 

 As it is, Liz can already see the train wreck about to happen. She won't be quite so indiscreet as Tracy would be but it looks like all her warnings will be ignored and she'll end up mopping up Tina's tears more than once. 

It's all going to end in heartbreak but this pairing, at least, isn't making me cringe. I think the actors involved are far better than the Molvin disaster although, admittedly, seeing Sally throw Kevin out and seeing Tyrone knocking Kevin into Molly's grave were supremely satisfying.

Fact: Carla stole Peter from Leanne.

Carla should probably remember the old saying "If he runs *with* you, he'll probably run *on* you".