a character study/In defense of Lori Grimes
MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE SPOILERS ALL THROUGHOUT THE WALKING DEAD THROUGH THE END OF SEASON 3.
I cannot even lie. I love The Walking Dead. I find myself incredibly engrossed with the storyline and characters, and think it’s honestly a really good story. I even enjoyed the more controversial second season.
This is not the surprise, though. No, the surprise is just who my favorite character is. I’m not sure why my favorites are often the most hated, especially considering this character became my favorite before I even knew the general populace/fandom’s preferences. Of course, characters like Rick, Michonne and Daryl are among my favorites. But as for my absolute favorite?
Well, that would be Lori.
Lori is undoubtedly one of the most hated characters from the show. Some fan polls rank her more hated than characters like Merle or the Governor. More than Andrea (I like Andrea okay, but damn.)
So why all the hate? Well, Lori hits a lot of people’s buttons. Fans complaints usually cover the fact that she’s not much of a combatant, she comes off as a nagging mother to her son, and she cheats on her husband with his best friend and then seems to “play them against each other”.
Huh. Well.
Early on in the series, the first scene, actually, while Rick and Shane are discussing women, Rick mentions Lori (though just as his wife) and that they, generally, have been having a number of issues lately. Flashbacks later in the series show that, from Lori’s perspective, Rick tends to come off as distant and never really seems to never put much effort into their relationship. While some fans are quick to call her a “bitch” for “not accepting Rick as he is” this is a very valid complaint in a number of relationships.
When you’re with someone for a long time (Rick and Lori seem to have been together since High School, and they’re probably in their early 30s) it’s very easy to become bored and passive. Children just complicate matters. It’s much easier to poor your efforts into everything else in life, like work, the child(ren), ect that one partner may easily take another for granted. So even before this terrible apocalyptic event occurs, this is a couple with some issues.
Rick is distant and comfortable in the life he lives. He gets up and goes to work, and he helps people. He is happy and comfortable doing so. He leaves his son’s upbringing to Lori, and allows her the comfort of being a stay at home mom. Now, Lori is pretty comfortable in her role too. Being able to have the main say over raising Carl, as well as not having to work, gives her control over the house hold, and thus allows each to contribute to their home and family.
But this doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. Like any normal couple, they have their issues, but they still love one another. When Rick is hospitalized due to being shot, Lori has to be the strong parent for Carl, and put on a brave face. When the hospital is overrun with the government workers and undead, Shane does his best to keep Rick alive, but leaves him in a situation he is sure will lead to Rick’s death. (Though it’s important to note, that was not Shane’s intention. He did truly try his best to save Rick, but I also really liked Shane, so his motivation is a different topic.)
Shane tells Lori that Rick is dead, and he promises to protect her and Carl in his friend’s stead. Over time, Lori eventually has an affair with Shane.
And this is where the fans really get irate.
So a lot of Lori’s detractors, and fans of The Walking Dead in general begin their hate here. The most common insult for Lori is “slut”, though “dumb slut” isn’t terribly uncommon either. What really gets me is that I don’t really think her behavior is terribly unfounded. For one, she thinks her husband is dead. Not only is he dead, but the rest of her family (parents, siblings, ect), and any friends she may have had (who could have influenced her in any number of ways) are also dead. She is literaly alone with the only person she knows she can rely on being Shane. Everyone else in the surviving camp is just the people who also happened to be on the same highway that she and Shane were.
So with this completely world changing event, Lori needed to find comfort somewhere. Let’s not forget that she was already mentally and emotionally stretched thin by Rick’s hospitalization. Up till this point she had been a wife and mother, and…that’s about it. Being a survivor and struggling agaisnt the hordes of the undead while the terrible realization that everyone you probably loved is dead or dying is…just awful.
So, no. I don’t think turning to Shane for comfort makes her a whore. I think her behavior, at this point, is perfectly understandable, if not justifiable. Not to mention, Shane quickly fell into a father-like role for Carl, which made things even easier. And, unlike Rick, Shane was attentive to her and would also challenge her. She mentions in a flashback where she’s speaking with a friend at Carl’s school that she wished Rick would say something, anything, to show that he actually cared. She didn’t want his agreement 24/7. She wanted him to challenge her on things so she felt like they were in it “together.”
Shane did these things as well.
So, when Rick shows up alive, Lori is shocked…but returns to her husband.
One thing I’ll mention is that, despite this being a mixed defense/opinon piece of the character, I will quickly establish that I am not going to find every action Lori takes as justifiable. The characters in this show are all flawed and human, and this is what makes them awesome. That being said, lets dig a little further.
One thing I like about Lori is that despite the fact that she is a character that is in many ways defined by her relationship with the men in her life (Rick, Shane, Carl) she actually has her own character arc and agency. Her priority, throughout the whole series, in protecting Carl. Not only does she want to protect him physically, but mentally. She’s aware how traumatizing the entire experience is, and thus she does her best to lessen the terror to the best of her ability. In many ways this leads her to be somewhat smothering, while also sometimes inconsistent with the people in her life as her thought is always on Carl.
She is a motherly figure, and as the series progresses she becomes something of a matriarch for the team. While Rick and Shane make the bones, and Dale the heart, Lori finds a place as the matron. Especially evident in Season One, where Carol cannot find the strength to stand on her own. Lori pretty much seems like the defacto female leader, often leading the women on trying to keep things “normal” within the camp.
Lori is obviously conflicted when Rick seemingly returns from the dead, but she makes it clear to Shane that she will be staying with her husband. Many fans see this as callous and bitchy. Well, she certainly isn’t friendly about it. In fact, Lori’s handling on Shane’s feelings is incredibly poor. Wait, are you surprised I’m saying that? Well, remember when I mentioned earlier that all the characters in the show have flaws? Well, here’s one of Lori’s. Lori is probably a little afraid something (like telling him she slept with his best friend) will send him away again. And while she could possibly find strength in Shane, again, she knows Carl needs his father. She also probably finds the luck that she has her family still alive (at least in the sense of the members of her household) while everyone else is pretty much alone as pretty amazing.
But even more so, having Rick back means that a semblance of normalcy can return to the group. Rick can “go to work” as it is, while she can be the “stay at home mom” and watch over Carl. At least, this is her hope. This desire is, again, completely understandable.
Of course, even with an arguably justiable reason for her actions, she comes to be very antagonistic to Shane, oftentimes shunning him when he is not being particularly aggressive or boundary crossing. Her focus remains Carl, but she starts to become worried about Rick when he begins leading expeditions out. Lori’s arc for the first season pretty much follows this trend: She focuses on trying to protect Carl, to the extent where sometimes her good intentions fall through, She tries to reconcile her feelings for Shane with her feelings for Rick (who is, notably, now doing all the things she wished he had before the apocalypse. He challenges her, is emotionally there for her, and shows his affection for her nearly constantly) , and she grows as a core member of the group as it’s numbers begin to dwindle.
There are two issues I take with fan’s reactions to the Rick/Lori/Shane triangle. The first is that she is a huge slut for sleeping with two men. Well…I kind of wonder how much an issue this would be, if she, herself, was a man. Even if it was a man sleeping with his (thought to be dead) wife’s friend, would it still garner so much loathing? I’m sure some people would vocally dislike the character, but the idea that a man who has sex is a stud, while a woman is a slut, seems to have some ground here. Few people decry Shane, who slept with his best friend’s wife.
Bro code, man.
The second issue is the strange belief that she “played them”. Well…first off, once Rick returns to the picture, Lori pretty much pushes Shane away to the best of her ability. She wants to retain this illusion of normalcy that Shane is not a part of. Rick represents the happiness of her past, while Shane represents the terrible present they all find themselves in. Yeah, honestly, she’s a bitch to Shane. At first quite unfounded too. She doesn’t allow him to have closure, probably because she’s unsure of how she would react herself. She’s ashamed of herself, and she wants to sweep it under the rug. Not the most noble traits, but the fact that she is so hard on herself makes the “she totally played them and loved it” a very unconvincing argument.
Lori does eventually try to open up with Shane. She actually apologizes for her actions to his face. She explains herself to the best of her ability, and admits she was an ass to him. Again, she faces the situation like an adult and accepts blame where it is due. Still not seeing the heartless manipulative bitch angle.
Keep in mind that she also never retreads the sexual boundary with Shane, when Rick has returned. Shane’s sexual assault/attempted rape in the CDC is also often glanced over as a “she had it coming” which is incredibly disturbing. This is after her apology to him, and their tentative agreement to be civil.
She keeps the secret from Rick (who we learn pretty much figured it out in the first camp, because he’s not an idiot) because she’s afraid to lose everything. She’s also probably still got some feelings for Shane, despite her actions, and is trying to refocus herself.
In Season Two, while Shane (and Rick, to an extent) begin sliding down the slippery slope into madness, Lori manages to be the one character who focuses on the humanity of the group as a whole. Dale is still very much the heart and soul of the group, and Lori’s big thing is that she doesn’t want the group to become just a bunch of vagrants whose struggle to survive make them closer to animals than humans. She insists that the daily chores be followed, meals be cooked, and lessons be taught to the children…well, child, once Sophia is tragically killed. Lori becomes worried about the entire group, and her focus kind of shifts so she’s more like the Team Mom.
This brings her into an argument with the much more proactive Andrea that fans like to mention. Andrea, who wants to go with the men and be a fighter, comes into friction with Lori, who thinks she should pull her weight and help the other women with the daily functions of camp. There’s a few sides to this argument, and it can quickly turn into an argument of feminist and “strong female characters”, but for the sake of this argument, I am not going to address Andrea’s side. Who is “right” is not what’s important, and also a debate in itself that the show does not answer. Lori’s side, however, is not that she thinks Andrea shouldn’t be like the “icky boys”, nor is her agenda to set feminism back to the 50s, it’s that she thinks Andrea is being lazy, since watching for walkers involves sitting on top of the RV for hours at time and resting. While we know Rick, Daryl and the others are busting their asses, we have to also believe that Lori, Carol and the others are also pulling a lot of weight around by doing all the laundry, cleaning and cooking. It sounds incredibly sexist, yes, but for those whom live alone and find doing those mundane chores a pain just for yourself, imagine doing it for a group of like, twelve! That’s a whole lot of work!
So this isn’t a feminism argument at all (Well, it might be from Andrea’s perspective), but Lori’s perspective is that it’s unfair that Andrea seek what she sees as an “easier” job while the other women are stuck doing the hard labor.
Again, whether you think Lori’s argument has merit or not, seeing her opinion shouldn’t be too hard. Just think about how you may feel at your job, when a coworker doesn’t seem to be pulling their weight at all. This is how Lori feels. It doesn’t make her a nagging bitch, it makes her just like everyone else.
The final big issue people take is with the pregnancy. Oh, boy, the pregnancy. The show doesn’t address who the father of the baby is, though there are more than enough hints (and the graphic novel dictates, for what it’s worth) that Shane is the father. Shane, himself, believes this, and this brings Lori back to treating him very harshly.
Yeah, honestly, again, Lori is unfair and a bitch to him. But to let him claim the baby goes in the fact of all of her fears and previous characterization. Her fear of losing her husband, and her fear of admitting to what she did (because despite what fans say, there are numerous instances where she shows regret over the affair, even though she thought Rick had died) are overwhelming. She makes some poor choices during this time, including not telling Rick about the baby.
Of course, she’s afraid how he’ll react. But there’s so much more as shown in the dialogue. She’s also afraid of how will the baby survive. There’s not exactly a lot of baby stores just lying around that she can stroll into like when she had Carl. And then she has to worry about the most obvious issue- what if the baby kills her during childbirth? She can’t go to the hospital, and the group’s closest thing to a doctor is the Hershel, who is a vet.
Letting Rick worry about those things would add more to the incredible amount of junk on his plate, and she can see he is toppling over with the insane amount of responsibility (and the difficulty of dealing with people like Shane and Andrea, who are quick to dissent). Lori has her own issues, but she worries about Rick nearly constantly, and tries to be the supportive wife to him at all times- even when it’s clear she disagrees with his opinions. Near the end of the second season, at times she is the only voice that agrees with him, and her words are hollow to him, but she is still attempting to affirm his belief as Shane’s opposite opinions begin to siphon through the group.
Some detractors want to know why she didn’t terminate the baby. Well…it’s ideological, but Lori sees the baby as a symbol of hope. Lori’s arc through the series is trying to maintain normalcy for the group, and maintain a sense of humanity. A sense that scavenging around and attempting to survive are not all that await them for the rest of their lives. A baby, though everything about it screams “BAD IDEA!”, is the ultimate figure of that ideal. Is it the smartest decision Lori makes? No. Surely not. As we know, she pays the ultimate price for this decision. But it is her decision to make (no pro-choice/pro-life debates here, please. Not the place for it) and she does.
When Dale dies, Lori shifts to become the moral center of the group. Even with the questionable nature of her decisions up to this point, the entire group bands together to keep her safe and prepare for the baby’s birth. Honestly, had Lori not become pregnant, it’s quite possible the team would have completely disbanded without Dale around. Yet, knowing this bundle of hope would be born into this world, the group was more ready to take care of each other more than ever.
Though, two people in particular are notably not so much touched by her act. The two people she wanted to keep closest begin to shun her. She and Rick barely talk, and Carl is content to ignore her. They are angry with her- about Shane, about the baby, about her poor decisions. She believes herself to be a terrible mother and wife. Many fans agreed. I do not. She made many mistakes, but her intentions were the safety of her family. She tried to be a good wife, and a good mother, but she could not overcome her situations, and was oftentimes powerless while the two alpha forces of the group (Rick and Shane) forced their power over her, over Carl, and over their collective fates. In many ways, Lori was powerless in the grand scheme of things.
Some see her as a ‘Helen of Troy’ or ‘Ophelia’, but in reality, Lori was a powerless woman in a crazy world. Her one choice for herself was to have the baby, and she had to accept the consequences. As many expected, the she would not live through childbirth. Though there was hope of she and Rick reconciling, they never were able to, and Lori died so that the baby could live.
Perhaps her final acts were noble- she died so the symbol of hope for the group could live, or perhaps they were her most selfish- she could know the baby lived, yet she could die and no longer have the face the cruelty of the world. She could remove herself from the equation.
No matter the reason, it was her choice. It was the one choice she made that no one had a say to. She was able to wish her child good bye, and then she was gone.
I don’t know if anyone will change their mind about Lori with this (incredibly long) article, but I do hope it made people think. Lori made mistakes, but she also did some wonderful things. She loved hard, and tried to be a center for the group, even when she made poor decisions. But isn’t that what this show, and more importantly life, is? Just a bunch of poor decisions that link together with the occasional happiness?
Lori may not be your favorite, and you may still detest some of her actions, but perhaps now you can take away some better appreciation for her, and maybe rest a bit of that hate. As for me, I was very sad to see her go, but her death was poignant and marked an incredible turning point for the series. If nothing else, her death will be felt throughout the entire series, as Rick and Carl will most certainly never be the same again.
I cannot even lie. I love The Walking Dead. I find myself incredibly engrossed with the storyline and characters, and think it’s honestly a really good story. I even enjoyed the more controversial second season.
This is not the surprise, though. No, the surprise is just who my favorite character is. I’m not sure why my favorites are often the most hated, especially considering this character became my favorite before I even knew the general populace/fandom’s preferences. Of course, characters like Rick, Michonne and Daryl are among my favorites. But as for my absolute favorite?
Well, that would be Lori.
Lori is undoubtedly one of the most hated characters from the show. Some fan polls rank her more hated than characters like Merle or the Governor. More than Andrea (I like Andrea okay, but damn.)
So why all the hate? Well, Lori hits a lot of people’s buttons. Fans complaints usually cover the fact that she’s not much of a combatant, she comes off as a nagging mother to her son, and she cheats on her husband with his best friend and then seems to “play them against each other”.
Huh. Well.
Early on in the series, the first scene, actually, while Rick and Shane are discussing women, Rick mentions Lori (though just as his wife) and that they, generally, have been having a number of issues lately. Flashbacks later in the series show that, from Lori’s perspective, Rick tends to come off as distant and never really seems to never put much effort into their relationship. While some fans are quick to call her a “bitch” for “not accepting Rick as he is” this is a very valid complaint in a number of relationships.
When you’re with someone for a long time (Rick and Lori seem to have been together since High School, and they’re probably in their early 30s) it’s very easy to become bored and passive. Children just complicate matters. It’s much easier to poor your efforts into everything else in life, like work, the child(ren), ect that one partner may easily take another for granted. So even before this terrible apocalyptic event occurs, this is a couple with some issues.
Rick is distant and comfortable in the life he lives. He gets up and goes to work, and he helps people. He is happy and comfortable doing so. He leaves his son’s upbringing to Lori, and allows her the comfort of being a stay at home mom. Now, Lori is pretty comfortable in her role too. Being able to have the main say over raising Carl, as well as not having to work, gives her control over the house hold, and thus allows each to contribute to their home and family.
But this doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. Like any normal couple, they have their issues, but they still love one another. When Rick is hospitalized due to being shot, Lori has to be the strong parent for Carl, and put on a brave face. When the hospital is overrun with the government workers and undead, Shane does his best to keep Rick alive, but leaves him in a situation he is sure will lead to Rick’s death. (Though it’s important to note, that was not Shane’s intention. He did truly try his best to save Rick, but I also really liked Shane, so his motivation is a different topic.)
Shane tells Lori that Rick is dead, and he promises to protect her and Carl in his friend’s stead. Over time, Lori eventually has an affair with Shane.
And this is where the fans really get irate.
So a lot of Lori’s detractors, and fans of The Walking Dead in general begin their hate here. The most common insult for Lori is “slut”, though “dumb slut” isn’t terribly uncommon either. What really gets me is that I don’t really think her behavior is terribly unfounded. For one, she thinks her husband is dead. Not only is he dead, but the rest of her family (parents, siblings, ect), and any friends she may have had (who could have influenced her in any number of ways) are also dead. She is literaly alone with the only person she knows she can rely on being Shane. Everyone else in the surviving camp is just the people who also happened to be on the same highway that she and Shane were.
So with this completely world changing event, Lori needed to find comfort somewhere. Let’s not forget that she was already mentally and emotionally stretched thin by Rick’s hospitalization. Up till this point she had been a wife and mother, and…that’s about it. Being a survivor and struggling agaisnt the hordes of the undead while the terrible realization that everyone you probably loved is dead or dying is…just awful.
So, no. I don’t think turning to Shane for comfort makes her a whore. I think her behavior, at this point, is perfectly understandable, if not justifiable. Not to mention, Shane quickly fell into a father-like role for Carl, which made things even easier. And, unlike Rick, Shane was attentive to her and would also challenge her. She mentions in a flashback where she’s speaking with a friend at Carl’s school that she wished Rick would say something, anything, to show that he actually cared. She didn’t want his agreement 24/7. She wanted him to challenge her on things so she felt like they were in it “together.”
Shane did these things as well.
So, when Rick shows up alive, Lori is shocked…but returns to her husband.
One thing I’ll mention is that, despite this being a mixed defense/opinon piece of the character, I will quickly establish that I am not going to find every action Lori takes as justifiable. The characters in this show are all flawed and human, and this is what makes them awesome. That being said, lets dig a little further.
One thing I like about Lori is that despite the fact that she is a character that is in many ways defined by her relationship with the men in her life (Rick, Shane, Carl) she actually has her own character arc and agency. Her priority, throughout the whole series, in protecting Carl. Not only does she want to protect him physically, but mentally. She’s aware how traumatizing the entire experience is, and thus she does her best to lessen the terror to the best of her ability. In many ways this leads her to be somewhat smothering, while also sometimes inconsistent with the people in her life as her thought is always on Carl.
She is a motherly figure, and as the series progresses she becomes something of a matriarch for the team. While Rick and Shane make the bones, and Dale the heart, Lori finds a place as the matron. Especially evident in Season One, where Carol cannot find the strength to stand on her own. Lori pretty much seems like the defacto female leader, often leading the women on trying to keep things “normal” within the camp.
Lori is obviously conflicted when Rick seemingly returns from the dead, but she makes it clear to Shane that she will be staying with her husband. Many fans see this as callous and bitchy. Well, she certainly isn’t friendly about it. In fact, Lori’s handling on Shane’s feelings is incredibly poor. Wait, are you surprised I’m saying that? Well, remember when I mentioned earlier that all the characters in the show have flaws? Well, here’s one of Lori’s. Lori is probably a little afraid something (like telling him she slept with his best friend) will send him away again. And while she could possibly find strength in Shane, again, she knows Carl needs his father. She also probably finds the luck that she has her family still alive (at least in the sense of the members of her household) while everyone else is pretty much alone as pretty amazing.
But even more so, having Rick back means that a semblance of normalcy can return to the group. Rick can “go to work” as it is, while she can be the “stay at home mom” and watch over Carl. At least, this is her hope. This desire is, again, completely understandable.
Of course, even with an arguably justiable reason for her actions, she comes to be very antagonistic to Shane, oftentimes shunning him when he is not being particularly aggressive or boundary crossing. Her focus remains Carl, but she starts to become worried about Rick when he begins leading expeditions out. Lori’s arc for the first season pretty much follows this trend: She focuses on trying to protect Carl, to the extent where sometimes her good intentions fall through, She tries to reconcile her feelings for Shane with her feelings for Rick (who is, notably, now doing all the things she wished he had before the apocalypse. He challenges her, is emotionally there for her, and shows his affection for her nearly constantly) , and she grows as a core member of the group as it’s numbers begin to dwindle.
There are two issues I take with fan’s reactions to the Rick/Lori/Shane triangle. The first is that she is a huge slut for sleeping with two men. Well…I kind of wonder how much an issue this would be, if she, herself, was a man. Even if it was a man sleeping with his (thought to be dead) wife’s friend, would it still garner so much loathing? I’m sure some people would vocally dislike the character, but the idea that a man who has sex is a stud, while a woman is a slut, seems to have some ground here. Few people decry Shane, who slept with his best friend’s wife.
Bro code, man.
The second issue is the strange belief that she “played them”. Well…first off, once Rick returns to the picture, Lori pretty much pushes Shane away to the best of her ability. She wants to retain this illusion of normalcy that Shane is not a part of. Rick represents the happiness of her past, while Shane represents the terrible present they all find themselves in. Yeah, honestly, she’s a bitch to Shane. At first quite unfounded too. She doesn’t allow him to have closure, probably because she’s unsure of how she would react herself. She’s ashamed of herself, and she wants to sweep it under the rug. Not the most noble traits, but the fact that she is so hard on herself makes the “she totally played them and loved it” a very unconvincing argument.
Lori does eventually try to open up with Shane. She actually apologizes for her actions to his face. She explains herself to the best of her ability, and admits she was an ass to him. Again, she faces the situation like an adult and accepts blame where it is due. Still not seeing the heartless manipulative bitch angle.
Keep in mind that she also never retreads the sexual boundary with Shane, when Rick has returned. Shane’s sexual assault/attempted rape in the CDC is also often glanced over as a “she had it coming” which is incredibly disturbing. This is after her apology to him, and their tentative agreement to be civil.
She keeps the secret from Rick (who we learn pretty much figured it out in the first camp, because he’s not an idiot) because she’s afraid to lose everything. She’s also probably still got some feelings for Shane, despite her actions, and is trying to refocus herself.
In Season Two, while Shane (and Rick, to an extent) begin sliding down the slippery slope into madness, Lori manages to be the one character who focuses on the humanity of the group as a whole. Dale is still very much the heart and soul of the group, and Lori’s big thing is that she doesn’t want the group to become just a bunch of vagrants whose struggle to survive make them closer to animals than humans. She insists that the daily chores be followed, meals be cooked, and lessons be taught to the children…well, child, once Sophia is tragically killed. Lori becomes worried about the entire group, and her focus kind of shifts so she’s more like the Team Mom.
This brings her into an argument with the much more proactive Andrea that fans like to mention. Andrea, who wants to go with the men and be a fighter, comes into friction with Lori, who thinks she should pull her weight and help the other women with the daily functions of camp. There’s a few sides to this argument, and it can quickly turn into an argument of feminist and “strong female characters”, but for the sake of this argument, I am not going to address Andrea’s side. Who is “right” is not what’s important, and also a debate in itself that the show does not answer. Lori’s side, however, is not that she thinks Andrea shouldn’t be like the “icky boys”, nor is her agenda to set feminism back to the 50s, it’s that she thinks Andrea is being lazy, since watching for walkers involves sitting on top of the RV for hours at time and resting. While we know Rick, Daryl and the others are busting their asses, we have to also believe that Lori, Carol and the others are also pulling a lot of weight around by doing all the laundry, cleaning and cooking. It sounds incredibly sexist, yes, but for those whom live alone and find doing those mundane chores a pain just for yourself, imagine doing it for a group of like, twelve! That’s a whole lot of work!
So this isn’t a feminism argument at all (Well, it might be from Andrea’s perspective), but Lori’s perspective is that it’s unfair that Andrea seek what she sees as an “easier” job while the other women are stuck doing the hard labor.
Again, whether you think Lori’s argument has merit or not, seeing her opinion shouldn’t be too hard. Just think about how you may feel at your job, when a coworker doesn’t seem to be pulling their weight at all. This is how Lori feels. It doesn’t make her a nagging bitch, it makes her just like everyone else.
The final big issue people take is with the pregnancy. Oh, boy, the pregnancy. The show doesn’t address who the father of the baby is, though there are more than enough hints (and the graphic novel dictates, for what it’s worth) that Shane is the father. Shane, himself, believes this, and this brings Lori back to treating him very harshly.
Yeah, honestly, again, Lori is unfair and a bitch to him. But to let him claim the baby goes in the fact of all of her fears and previous characterization. Her fear of losing her husband, and her fear of admitting to what she did (because despite what fans say, there are numerous instances where she shows regret over the affair, even though she thought Rick had died) are overwhelming. She makes some poor choices during this time, including not telling Rick about the baby.
Of course, she’s afraid how he’ll react. But there’s so much more as shown in the dialogue. She’s also afraid of how will the baby survive. There’s not exactly a lot of baby stores just lying around that she can stroll into like when she had Carl. And then she has to worry about the most obvious issue- what if the baby kills her during childbirth? She can’t go to the hospital, and the group’s closest thing to a doctor is the Hershel, who is a vet.
Letting Rick worry about those things would add more to the incredible amount of junk on his plate, and she can see he is toppling over with the insane amount of responsibility (and the difficulty of dealing with people like Shane and Andrea, who are quick to dissent). Lori has her own issues, but she worries about Rick nearly constantly, and tries to be the supportive wife to him at all times- even when it’s clear she disagrees with his opinions. Near the end of the second season, at times she is the only voice that agrees with him, and her words are hollow to him, but she is still attempting to affirm his belief as Shane’s opposite opinions begin to siphon through the group.
Some detractors want to know why she didn’t terminate the baby. Well…it’s ideological, but Lori sees the baby as a symbol of hope. Lori’s arc through the series is trying to maintain normalcy for the group, and maintain a sense of humanity. A sense that scavenging around and attempting to survive are not all that await them for the rest of their lives. A baby, though everything about it screams “BAD IDEA!”, is the ultimate figure of that ideal. Is it the smartest decision Lori makes? No. Surely not. As we know, she pays the ultimate price for this decision. But it is her decision to make (no pro-choice/pro-life debates here, please. Not the place for it) and she does.
When Dale dies, Lori shifts to become the moral center of the group. Even with the questionable nature of her decisions up to this point, the entire group bands together to keep her safe and prepare for the baby’s birth. Honestly, had Lori not become pregnant, it’s quite possible the team would have completely disbanded without Dale around. Yet, knowing this bundle of hope would be born into this world, the group was more ready to take care of each other more than ever.
Though, two people in particular are notably not so much touched by her act. The two people she wanted to keep closest begin to shun her. She and Rick barely talk, and Carl is content to ignore her. They are angry with her- about Shane, about the baby, about her poor decisions. She believes herself to be a terrible mother and wife. Many fans agreed. I do not. She made many mistakes, but her intentions were the safety of her family. She tried to be a good wife, and a good mother, but she could not overcome her situations, and was oftentimes powerless while the two alpha forces of the group (Rick and Shane) forced their power over her, over Carl, and over their collective fates. In many ways, Lori was powerless in the grand scheme of things.
Some see her as a ‘Helen of Troy’ or ‘Ophelia’, but in reality, Lori was a powerless woman in a crazy world. Her one choice for herself was to have the baby, and she had to accept the consequences. As many expected, the she would not live through childbirth. Though there was hope of she and Rick reconciling, they never were able to, and Lori died so that the baby could live.
Perhaps her final acts were noble- she died so the symbol of hope for the group could live, or perhaps they were her most selfish- she could know the baby lived, yet she could die and no longer have the face the cruelty of the world. She could remove herself from the equation.
No matter the reason, it was her choice. It was the one choice she made that no one had a say to. She was able to wish her child good bye, and then she was gone.
I don’t know if anyone will change their mind about Lori with this (incredibly long) article, but I do hope it made people think. Lori made mistakes, but she also did some wonderful things. She loved hard, and tried to be a center for the group, even when she made poor decisions. But isn’t that what this show, and more importantly life, is? Just a bunch of poor decisions that link together with the occasional happiness?
Lori may not be your favorite, and you may still detest some of her actions, but perhaps now you can take away some better appreciation for her, and maybe rest a bit of that hate. As for me, I was very sad to see her go, but her death was poignant and marked an incredible turning point for the series. If nothing else, her death will be felt throughout the entire series, as Rick and Carl will most certainly never be the same again.