Lori is obviously one of the most hated characters on Finding Carter (besides Carter's dad, David, the walking turd), and it's pretty much for good reason. She kidnapped Carter when she was three, lying to her throughout her entire life. Then, to make matters worse, Lori kidnapped Carter again after she was returned to her actual family and then tried to take Carter's twin along for the ride, too. Lori just doesn't know when to hold ‘em, fold 'em, or walk away. All of last season, we wondered why Lori kidnapped Carter. Was she just crazy? Was her snatching a random occurrence? We learned in the Season 2 premiere that Lori is actually Taylor and Carter's biological mom, by way of egg donation.
Taylor and Carter were just as shocked as the audience to hear this news. After an epic fight between the two moms, Lori was arrested and while she was in the police station told Elizabeth, Carter's other mom (this is confusing, I know), that David "did a number on her, too" and to ask him about it. Elizabeth does, of course, and the episode ended with David's face looking like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Frankly, I am so tired of the "crazy woman" trope that pervades today's entertainment culture. Is it effective? I mean, in terms of easy plot devices, sure. Is it lazy? Oh hell yes. Even in real-life situations where a man calls the women he knows "crazy," the common denominator in that situation is — guess who — the dude! If you are calling everyone crazy, you are probably the one that sucks.
Finding Carter is a show that wants better for us, and that is why I think that they are developing David, not Lori, to be the real villain here. Lori and her impending mental breakdown are just collateral damage.
Now that we know that Lori is actually the girls' biological mother, her behavior is easier to understand. While it still doesn't give her any rights to Carter and Taylor (and certainly doesn't make the kidnapping OK) and I agree that she needs to cool it with the demands, this at least gives Lori a way to explain her damaging actions. I think Lori is the woman scorned in this situation, and what she did makes a little more sense when you consider the bigger picture.
Theories abound that Lori and David had some sort of an affair, and as the plot of Finding Carter moves forward, it's very obvious that they had to be involved together somehow. Elizabeth and David's relationship was always fraught with peril (and Elizabeth has strayed from the marriage more than once), so it's not unlikely that David had an affair too. The fact that Lori has a photo of him sleeping is pretty damning.
Let's say for a minute that, prior to the twins' birth, Lori and David were in love. David promised that they would run away together — he is really good at making promises he doesn’t keep — and Lori believes him. Why wouldn't she? They love each other! Somehow, he gets her to donate an egg to Elizabeth, and tells Lori that after the babies are born, he'll divorce Elizabeth and sue for custody. Elizabeth would have to pay alimony and child support, and since her parents are loaded, that would net David some pretty nice cash. They’ll have the girls and all be one big happy family. Yay!
While this is a plan that would never work, David is dumb enough to think that it would, and, in Lori's defense, I've done equally stupid things when I was in love, like pretend to like the New York Mets or a guy's mom's cooking.
Anyway, I think that when David had his daughters he decided to bail on the Lori portion of this plan, making Lori very upset. Wouldn’t you be? While I don’t condone kidnapping or drugging or pistol-whipping, the only common denominator of crazy here is David, and I hope as all is revealed on Finding Carter, he gets what he deserves.
Images: MTV; Giphy (5)
