if you've ever been in a relationship [you don't even have to be married or divorced to get it] then you can probably understand why cooper is still calling barb his wife. barb is the only woman he's ever married, the only woman he's ever had children with, and the only wife he's ever had. for two hundred years, divorced or not. cooper loved barb. now i don't know how he'd act if he saw her alive in the flesh right in front of him but he has searched for his family for two hundred years through sheer hope and love. distance and time make the heart grow fonder, he might be dreaming about her every night crying himself to sleep for all we know. cooper's life was good and stable when he was married to barb. cooper wants to find his ex wife because his child is with her and wants to know they're alright. people might start probing and even figure who he is if he went around saying "ex wife". people knowing too much could very well cause problems for him and them tbh despite them being in cryogenic stasis and most people who would know them being d ead. just hank knowing what he does about cooper put cooper in a position where he feels like he must surrender a whole other person to hank. or else. a lot of people don't know cooper is alive and ghoulified on purpose. alimony or spousal support is usually only initiated with marital separation and/or divorce. i'll never dispute if cooper still cares about barb [whether solely and/or because of janey] but it's undisputed the marriage is over. like i've seen people talk about he never really got closure for things in his life before the bo mbs fell and that makes so much sense. people have to get use to saying stuff, too. he spent years saying "my wife". none of any of this negates the divorce. i know entertainment can be tricky and confusing sometimes and media literacy is harder to grasp these days but the divorce was episode one season one and some of the first scenes. cooper and barb are legally separated. cooper is looking for his [ex] wife and child, his family. the divorce is a technicality, they are still his family. but that man is single and was delighted to rub somebody else's back as they threw up! goodbye lfhlfgl
