The romantic drama in Coronation Street has never been light, but Todd Grimshaw has really fallen into an emotional swamp this time when his new lover Theo Silverton gradually reveals his textbook manipulator nature.

The following episodes reveal layers of controlling behavior that make viewers squirm: “Todd, run away now!”.

From the beginning, Theo appears very kind – the sweet, helpful, and people-pleasing type.

But that kindness quickly turns into extremely arbitrary actions to “fix Todd’s life”.

First, it’s a small matter: Theo arbitrarily puts Todd’s shirt in the washing machine, ruins the material of the outfit Todd needs for a meeting, then turns around and blames… Todd for not taking care of his belongings. From a small mistake, Theo turns it into a reason to interfere more deeply in Todd’s life.

Soon after, Theo continued to criticize Todd’s diet: from Todd’s sandwich, coffee, to his sleeping habits. Todd initially thought it was out of concern, but Theo’s way of speaking made it sound like he was trying to teach, adjust, and control Todd down to the smallest details.

The climax of the manipulation was when Todd objected to Theo seeing Pete – someone Todd didn’t trust – but Theo still deliberately followed his own will and disregarded Todd’s boundaries. This is a red flag: someone who loves you won’t do something you’ve made clear makes you uncomfortable.

Although the audience has clearly seen the “toxic lover” motif, Todd doesn’t realize the severity. Partly because Todd has been through so much, Theo’s misguided concern makes him feel “loved.” Corrie uses this story to touch on the reality that: people who have been hurt often mistake control for deep affection.