#notascientist

Lori isn’t a piece of shit and neither is Shane but neither of them could 100% move past what had happened between them.  Both of them tried, although it may have been somewhat easier for Lori with Rick back in the picture. Lori pushed Shane away immediately and felt betrayed for being lied to, even if Shane thought he was doing what was right.  Shane started to doubt Rick’s judgement almost from the beginning when he returned when Rick wanted to go back for Merle and the infamous bag o’ guns.  After losing so many people when the camp was attacked Shane never really forgave Rick, not completely.  I think he had too many emotions mixed with love that he was bottling up and suppressing inside.  Feelings for Lori mixed together with a new found mistrust in Rick’s judgement laying a foundation for what was to come.  That’s why he bubbled over and did what he did at CDC.  I am NOT excusing that behavior and incident at all, but suppressed emotions + alcohol = mistakes and also honesty.  That night was Shane being honest saying he didn’t want to sit on the sidelines and watch Lori and Rick together.  He wanted to be the one for her.

After the CDC Lori told Shane he should leave.  She wanted him gone then later she recanted.  Maybe a lot of it was saving Carl and being there for her.  Who’s to say it didn’t bring back memories.  How many nights did Shane sit with her by her side when Rick was in a coma?  How many conversations did they have and how close did they become?  How many meals did they share? How many hugs?  We don’t know but Lori was overwhelmed and distraught and Shane was probably there for her through all of that.  

When Lori told Shane he should stay it gave him hope.  Shane held on to that hope that maybe Lori would come around, maybe if Rick wasn’t in the picture they could be together again.  Shane was like a grenade at this point just sitting silent as so very slowly his trigger was being released. Ultimately I think it was Lori being pregnant that pushed Shane past his breaking point.  Seeing Rick unable to kill Randall meant he had to trust the life of his baby to a father he felt couldn’t protect his own.  It was a lot to swallow for Shane to not even have a say whether the baby was his.  In the end I think it was too much.  Maybe if Rick had killed Randall, maybe even if he had seen Rick kill the two guys in the bar,Tony and ?,  then Shane would understand that Rick had what it took and then he could protect them.  Shane just couldn’t chance it and he was driven by love/lust and an obsession and desire that Lori should be his and that this was his turn to be with her and start a family.  

I give Shane a lot of credit.  He was a man with a broken heart who let that cloud his judgement.  I think he always had a little bit of a bad boy streak.  I’d love to see how he would be now if he were still alive. But I wonder if he would still look out for others in his group or if it would ultimately be down to protecting Lori, Carl, and Judith.  And if he would be a good guy deep down or if everything would have turned him more and more into a governor type character driven by loss.  Dont’ get me wrong I think the writers did kill him off at a good time.  Ultimately it moved Rick’s story along to help shape him into what he was to become.  I just think it would be interesting to see how Shane turned out.  He had so much more potential for character development but in the end would it still end up being an explosion?  Would it be two separate groups?  One lead by Shane who was willing to do anything to protect everyone and one lead by Rick who would be forced to change to protect everyone?  That would have been interesting to see also.

So yeah I don’t think it’s so easy to say Lori was at fault or Shane was or Rick was.  They all played a part.  It is just always easier to sympathize with the main character esp when there was nothing he could do to prevent it not being there and being stuck in a coma.  As Shane said, “If I could take it all back I would”.  And yes I understand why people take Rick’s side but I still think it’s unfair to call Lori a bitch.  Maybe she pushed Rick away in that moment but she had been pushing Shane away since Rick returned.  I wonder if she felt like she was having deja vu after that day.  Constantly trying to make it up to Rick day after day only this time he wouldn’t look at her anymore or talk to her.  Like Shane, Rick had also come to his breaking point.  It was too much for him to not be supported in that moment.  For his wife to push him away when he told her his best friend tried to kill him.  In that moment he needed support and for the first time he saw from Lori that it was more than just seeking comfort when she thought Rick was dead, she really truly loved Shane.  Maybe that was just too much for Rick to take.