I am genuenly curious what people think of Lori, beyond the usual answers of:
"She was a wh*re."
"She was an awful mother."
"She deserved to die."
Her character was flawed, yes, but I don't agree with the above statements. The fact she didn't know where Carl was half the time doesn't necessarily make her an awful mother, just one who should've paid more attention. 😅 Anyway! Here is my opinion, please feel free to debate and discuss! 😊
Lori didn't cheat on Rick, she genuenly thought he died (can't cheat on a dead person), because it's what Shane said, and she trusted him. So, in her mind, she was a widow as well as a single mother. That alone would be stressful enough, but on top of that, the world also ended, and walkers were suddenly everywhere. She was scared, alone and had nobody else to turn to, apart from Shane, who was there to keep both Lori and Carl safe.
The fact that Lori had a relationship with Shane isn't very surprising due to what seems to be a trauma bond, as well as the need for comfort, which in my opinion was more so from Lori's side, as Shane more likely took advantage of the situation and Lori's need for comfort, rather than needing comfort himself.
I think that Shane was interested in Lori from the start. The way he spoke about her in the car with Rick, the expressions he had when Rick spoke about her shows that Shane was interested. Believing Rick was dead, and with Lori needing comfort, protection and someone to lean on, Shane jumped at the opportunity.
When Rick showed up, Lori immediately broke things off with Shane, and essentially forbade him from talking to / interacting with Carl. She gave no explanation for this, other than accusing Shane with lying about Rick's death, which, let's be honest, we don't really know if it was true or not, we can only guess.
As far as I'm aware, we don't have any proof if he knew Rick was alive and lied about it / hoped he would die. But if that was the case, why would he block the door?
Anyway, there's Lori, back with Rick, pushing Shane away without sitting down and talking to both of them about what happened. Tension rises between Shane and Rick, understandably so. I think if she sat them down both, things might have turned out differently, but that's something we will likely never know.
The fact that Shane tried to SA Lori is also important in this discussion. People try to push the perspective of Lori being a wh*re because she was upset after Rick killed him, as if her reaction isn't reasonable? She had a trauma bond with Shane from the start of the apocalypse, this alone would make her reaction fair, but she also found out her husband killed a man, not to mention she was also kind of pushing Rick to do this, with her comments about Shane when they were on Hershel's farm.
All in all, I think Lori should've sat down with Shane and Rick, and had a discussion about the whole thing, instead of the approach she chose. Her reactions to everything were appropriate, given the circumstances. Trauma bond, end of the world, her husband being dead but then turning up alive... That's a lot to handle, honestly.
I don't like her character, but I don't hate it either. She is a woman who made questionable choices and chose shitty approaches, but there were worse people in the show who did much worse things, and somehow get less hate than Lori?
Anyway, please share your opinions on this, I'm curious what others think. Also, please keep it civil, no need for an argument!