I can't find the link now, but I remember reading somewhere an interview with Glen Mazarra where he confirmed that Shane and Lori were nothing but friends before ZA. It's possible that Shane had a crush on Lori for a long time though.

 

I can guarantee you he liked her...I remember rick said he'd always go over to fix thigs for them. But he obviously went to see Lori. I think he said it in season 2

 

Or maybe he said it In The first episode with them in the police car talking

 

I don't think Shane and Lori were involved with each other before the apocalypse, but I definitely think there was some kind of attraction between them. No one simply falls into bed with another person so quickly if there wasn't some attraction that was there for awhile. Shane was Rick's best friend and partner so I think he was definitely welcomed over their house for the holidays or Carl's birthday parties. Shane was probably like extended family to them.

 

I do agree there could have been some attraction between them but it's always hard to tell when there is a apocalyptic type back drop. The need to feel something other than sadness and fear could push sexual relations with someone who they might not consider under normal circumstances. Hell, Lori could have been screwing for safety, besides Carl, Shane was the only thing that was left of her old world. Would she risk that by turning Shane down? Risk protection and familiarity? Admittedly, that's probably not the case, but it is fun to think about other options. I think Shane definitely had an attraction though. He definitely was a long time family friend, that coupled with Shane's attraction to Lori is probably the reason he went for them when it all started to go down. And no way Shane and Lori were together before hand.

 

In my opinion, I could not respect Lori or Shane for having that fling so soon after Rick's supposed death. They acted like high school teens on the rebound. If those wedding vows meant anything to Lori she would not have desecrated her husband's memory so quickly. I understand that feelings would probably be heightened in an apocalyptic situation, but that should not give anyone the incentive to start acting like horny fools. I mean how foolish were they to have unprotected sex? Stupid.

Carl supposedly had just lost his father, instead of Lori being more concerned about him she was more concerned about getting her alone time 5-minute quickie with Shane. I've always thought that Lori slept with Shane out of a need to fill some emotional void that Rick did not fill. It was real for Shane, but an emotional substitute for her. She was a pathetic person that ended up doing more damage than Rick and Shane put together.

 

Yeah, right there with you. I don't like Lori for a lot of reasons, that being a big one.

 

I don't believe Shane ever had any interest in Lori before the apocalypse. Shane was a womanizer since high school and enjoyed his lifestyle, despite a woman's inability to turn off the light switch.

The key is, after Shane took Lori and Carl under his wing, he found that he enjoyed the responsibilities of being a husband and father.

I also believe Lori was never attracted to Shane. Lori and Rick married young, and felt her life was unfulfilled, despite her love for her husband and son.

Lori was also weak and susceptible to Shane's manipulations, who became unstable after sacrificing Otis and seeing he was losing his new family to their real husband and father, Rick.

 

I guess I see it differently. I do think Lori probably had regrets, maybe things she wanted to do but never got a chance to do because she married young and soon had Carl after. I think she blamed Rick for many of her regrets and ambitions she never got to fulfill. She was the average house wife, while Rick was the breadwinner and that could be one of the reasons why she was unhappy. I think the wedge in their marriage was also from a lack of communication. It did not sound like they were communicating often or when they did it would always turn into an argument. Seems like Lori was also pissed at Rick for having a passive attitude. I think Lori would have filed for a divorce if the apocalypse hadn't happened because she seemed like the fed up one while Rick was trying to figure out why she was so pissed off at him all the time.

I don't agree that Shane manipulated Lori. I think Lori knew what she wanted and I think one of the reasons she clung on to Shane is because he was the complete opposite of Rick. She also clung on to him for her and Carl's sake, but I think she got satisfaction out of the fact that he could give her something Rick didn't give her. That scene where Shane comforts and hugs Lori after Atlanta is nuked said it all to me. That showed that she was comfortable with Shane and there were already feelings in the mix. Lori was weak and needed a man to provide for her physically and emotionally.


Maybe they didn't know the attraction existed until emotions were running high because the end of the world. Just because Lori was a married women does not mean she does not have eyes or Shane for that matter. C'mon Shane was probably around Rick and his family often.
I think it was real for Shane. He got a taste of family life and I think it gave him stability. For the first time he realized that he could be a family man. When Rick came back to reclaim his family a jealous seed was planted and it consumed Shane. As crazy and unstable as Shane was I think he did grow to love Lori and Carl like his own and he could not let that go.

 

If they didn't have feelings for each other before the ZA, then they damn sure happened real quick afterwards. Just saying

 

Kingston your right on target as usual, I like the actress who played Lori but disliked the character Lori for the same reasons in your post, Shane would still be alive if Lori hadn't given him the mixed signals she gave him, for instance at Hershel's farm at the windmill which sent Shane over the edge causing him to murder Randall and eventually trying to take out Rick so he could be with Lori and assume the role as Carl's father.

 

Pretty sure she just wanted to clear the air, once she was calm. I mean she treated Shane really badly once Rick got back from Season 1 until the last conversation she had with Shane in Season 2. (Although after that attempted rape scene in CDC. I feel he deserved it.) She basically just wanted to thank him, for what he did for her and Carl when Rick wasn't around.

 

I've always had a serious issue with the timing. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if Rick had been dead (supposedly) for a year or so, but it was just too soon after he was gone. BTW, does anyone know how long Rick was in a comma for? I mean, after the hospital fell, wouldn't Rick have died if he had gone ages without having the IV bags changed. Wouldn't he have basically starved to death? I always assumed that he was presumed dead for maybe 10 days at most before he found Lori and Carl, which means the affair started almost right away (which is kind of gross).

 

Couldn't have been more than a month. Probably not even that long. Lori was a b*tch and a whore to find comfort in another man's arms that quickly. Did she even mourn Rick before moving on to his best friend? Probably not.

 

Don't blame this all on Lori she shares just as much blame as Shane. She even told Rick she felt lost after she thought he died. She just needed someone to cling too. That doesn't make her a whore. I mean look at Shane wtf, he makes the moves on his best friend's wife after assuming he died. Where is the bro code? I mean Lori wanted to try and redeem herself. She instantly pulled away from Shane once Rick came back, and she even regretted what she had done. I don't see how she was manipulating both men, her feelings just weren't the most stable. If she really wanted she could of kept the affair going. She wanted to be a good wife, she just had shortcomings.

 

I feel Lori gets a lot of bad press. Ok she's not my FAVORITE character and some of the things she did were questionable. But come on, her husband was lying in a coma, the world was pretty much going to sh*t, she had to leave her home and face raising her son in a scary a** world with dead people everywhere. When presented with a situation like that, is it any wonder that when the dust settled that she was eager to embrace the affections of another considering he was her husbands friend and partner? To have some sense of normalcy in all the craziness? Maybe it was a little fast but its not like it was a normal situation. Just because someone is a wife and mother doesn't mean they're perfect and don't make mistakes. I have no doubt she loved Rick. When he came back into the picture, reality set in for her and she called things off between her and Shane. She was not perfect and never pretended she was, hell she even admitted to it. But like the saying goes, it is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not. If nothing else she was who she was and didn't pretend to be otherwise. And,kudos to her for it.

 

Just to clarify I don't think Lori was a whore and I definitely don't like the double standards there. Shane is just as much to blame for the affair as well. Rick was his best friend and he could have shown Rick some respect in the wake of his supposed death. So there was fault on both ends.

 

I think Shane was jealous of Rick's life with Lori before the world turned. He and Rick obviously went way back, probably lived next to each other as young boys and were best buds. Rick was the shy guy who could hardly talk to a girl while Shane was (in his mind, especially) God's gift to all women. Lori likely was of the group of girls that were cheerleaders, homecoming queens, class favorites, etc and she fell for the cute shy guy instead of the stud. Shane watched as she and Rick made a life together and started their family while he was probably running out of women that would give him the time of day because women do tend to compare notes after awhile. He was loyal to Rick and when things went south he did his best to take care of Rick's family. As time went by Shane tried to fill in the void left by Rick and in his mind became Lori's husband; this was the only way he would ever have a family. And then Rick came back. Really messed up Shane's game plan. He told Lori that Rick "wasn't made for this world" but in the end, it was Shane that couldn't handle it.

 

I was under the impression they had something going on before the ZA. The way Rick described her actions in the first episode, total characteristics of a spouse having an affair.