S01.E03: Drive

[maraleia]

Carter wants to get revenge on Elizabeth by getting close to a bad boy.

[FAU]

 

Carter wants to get revenge on Elizabeth by getting close to a bad boy.

 

 

I really hope there's more to it than that.

[Cranberry]

I guess we'll have to watch and see, huh?

[FAU]

I guess we'll have to watch and see, huh?

I just hope it's not going to be a weekly thing.

[grandemocha]

I really really can't stand how the dad just let Carter trash Elizabeth in that convo they had at the farmer's market and never once stood up for his wife. 

 

So, yet again, Elizabeth has some common sense, knew a drug dealer and criminal is NOT a good person for Carter to be around, yet the shady dad gets to play the hero. 

 

I did think Elizabeth was harsh to long haired guy (can't remember his name) in the dinner scene.

 

Lori the kidnapper looked pissed as hell at the end scene when Carter was hugging shady dad.

[FAU]

I really really can't stand how the dad just let Carter trash Elizabeth in that convo they had at the farmer's market and never once stood up for his wife. 

 

So, yet again, Elizabeth has some common sense, knew a drug dealer and criminal is NOT a good person for Carter to be around, yet the shady dad gets to play the hero. 

 

I did think Elizabeth was harsh to long haired guy (can't remember his name) in the dinner scene.

 

Lori the kidnapper looked pissed as hell at the end scene when Carter was hugging shady dad.

 

The dad is pretty much unredeemable at this point and him playing the 'good guy' to Carter while going behind the family's back with the book only makes it worse.

[grandemocha]

 

The dad is pretty much unredeemable at this point and him playing the 'good guy' to Carter while going behind the family's back with the book only makes it worse.

One thing I hate is contrived drama. Would it have been so hard for the writers to put in a few scenes where the dad comes clean to the family, admits there are money issues, apologizes to Carter, but explains that he needs to write a sequel book to his original about her to keep the family afloat and that he probably doesn't have any other choice. Yeah, she'd probably still be pissed off, but at least it'd be in the open.

[FAU]

One thing I hate is contrived drama. Would it have been so hard for the writers to put in a few scenes where the dad comes clean to the family, admits there are money issues, apologizes to Carter, but explains that he needs to write a sequel book to his original about her to keep the family afloat and that he probably doesn't have any other choice. Yeah, she'd probably still be pissed off, but at least it'd be in the open.

 

That's what annoys me the most about this series, it's chock full of it and then having the characters be ott extremes only makes it worse and hard to sympathize with anyone.

[KaveDweller]

One thing I hate is contrived drama. Would it have been so hard for the writers to put in a few scenes where the dad comes clean to the family, admits there are money issues, apologizes to Carter, but explains that he needs to write a sequel book to his original about her to keep the family afloat and that he probably doesn't have any other choice. Yeah, she'd probably still be pissed off, but at least it'd be in the open.

 

And it's going to all come out anyway, so he has to tell them at some point.  If he thinks Carter can be mad now, just wait until she finds out he's been lying to her.

 

I want to see more interaction with Carter and her siblings.  That's much more interesting than her and those friends.  Who seem weirdly loyal to a girl they just met. I can see doing the mall prank since that was "funny" to them.  But all this work looking up her mom's aliases?

[FAU]

And it's going to all come out anyway, so he has to tell them at some point.  If he thinks Carter can be mad now, just wait until she finds out he's been lying to her.

 

I want to see more interaction with Carter and her siblings.  That's much more interesting than her and those friends.  Who seem weirdly loyal to a girl they just met. I can see doing the mall prank since that was "funny" to them.  But all this work looking up her mom's aliases?

 

Her friends are just weird and awkwardly inserted to be part of her mom's drama for some reason even though Carter could've done this all by herself.

[Brian Cronin]

 

really really can't stand how the dad just let Carter trash Elizabeth in that convo they had at the farmer's market and never once stood up for his wife.

He's trying to gain her trust so that he can get access to her kidnapper for his book. It's a jerk move, but I thought it fit his current characterization well (he's a total jerk).

 

Really, while the dad is pretty much unredeemable at this point, I wouldn't mind it if that's actually how they play it - that's he's just a scumbag. I worry, though, that they will somehow redeem him anyways, just for the heck of it. 

 

One thing I really liked was the look on the kidnapper's face - the lady is cuh-ray-zee. 

 

EDITED BECAUSE OF ODD DOUBLE POST WITHIN A SINGLE POST.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Brian Cronin

[In2You]

I cannot stand the scumbag father. Carter is a fickle bitch at this point and I'm already tired of her guy drama and attitude towards her bio mom.

All this contrived drama reminds me of why I currently gave up soap operas. Someone needs to tell these writers/suits that a good drama can be written without going too melodramatic. Most of the characters on this show are too over exaggerated.

 

I really really can't stand how the dad just let Carter trash Elizabeth in that convo they had at the farmer's market and never once stood up for his wife. 

 

So, yet again, Elizabeth has some common sense, knew a drug dealer and criminal is NOT a good person for Carter to be around, yet the shady dad gets to play the hero. 

 

I did think Elizabeth was harsh to long haired guy (can't remember his name) in the dinner scene.

 

 

Yeah but she was only harsh to trick Carter.

Edited July 16, 2014 by In2You

[Aliasscape]

Elizabeth is so immature. "I don't want Carter with a bad boy, so I'm going to pretend to hate her good friend so she'll stand up to me to go back to him and thus I'm much more interested in using how much Carter hates me to control her than I am interested in having a relationship with her."

 

I wish they'd waited until like episode 5 for Carter to have new friends. And do Grant and Taylor not have any friends since they have no idea if they can have friends over? Also Elizabeth hasn't once considered that if Carter only JUST met Crash, then she had to have gotten drugs from her OTHER friends?

 

I don't think it's that surprising that Carter's father and mother aren't all that united when she was having an affair and planning to leave him. Even if he didn't know that, they must have been feeling pretty disconnected.

 

Carter saying "dad" came along really fast but true, Carter has no special attachment to the word so I guess it works.

 

Lori looked she wanted the guy dead. I wonder if she hates him specifically or just hates Carter bonding with her bio family period?

[GaT]

Sigh, I just can't like Elizabeth. I understand that she had a terrible thing happen to her & that changed her & is the cause of how she is now, but.....I just don't like her & if I was Carter, I would be nasty to her too.

[RachelKM]

Not sure how I feel about this episode.  I think I need more time with it.  But did anyone else notice how much Crash (Caleb Ruminer) and Max (Alex Saxon) look alike.  I was seriously distracted for Crash's first couple of scenes.  

 

I did like Carter when she was in the car with her dad after the stolen car incident with Crash.  For the first time she was acting like a normal person and she did seem at least partially on board with the cease-fire plan.  And I appreciated that she was genuinely not ok with a guy, however attractive and useful in torturing Elizabeth, teaching her little brother to roll a joint.   

 

And boy howdy did Lori look pissed in that last scene.  Count me among those who thing she was flipping out over Carter apparently bonding with her bio family.

Edited July 16, 2014 by RachelKM

[Jordan27]

I watched 10 minutes of this episode and I gave up.  I can't take any more of Carter's smug attitude.  Her mom does nothing.  Her dad is a conniving brown noser.  And her so-called drug and alcohol friends need to be gone.  There is no one to root for. 

 

Finding Carter, lol.  I'm going to find a better show.  It won't be hard.

[Spencer Hastings]

I still don't like Carter.  In fact, I like every single character more than I like Carter.  Even that weird Crash guy.  She's just too much for me.  I would be okay with her attitude if they showed us a softer side of her but as of now she just annoys me.

 

I really like Max.  His character isn't at all what I thought he would be in the first episode.  He's a sweet bad boy.  I also like Taylor and Grant.  I hope we get to see more of how they're being impacted by this whole situation.  We've heard some stuff about how they grew up without her but I'd like to see how they're adjusting to her terrible attitude towards their mother.  I'd watch an entire show based on those two.

 

The dad is just smarmy.  I can't take him seriously in any of his scenes with Carter because of this book thing.  I know they tried to redeem him by having him ask if he could turn it into a "fiction" book, but dude is still a jerk.

[Ms Lark]

I'm just waiting for Dad to put the moves on Carter. Ew, I know, but here's this pretty young thing he hasn't seen in 13 or so years and, well, he really doesn't know her as a daughter. Things are strained between him and the mom, and they seem to be bonding, so I dunno. He's pretty smarmy. Maybe I've seen too many L&O:SVUs or something. We'll see.

 

Carter has a major case of Stockholm Syndrome. It will be interesting to see what action Lori takes next week. I still want to know her motivation behind kidnapping Carter in the first place.

 

I still don't like many of the main characters, including Carter. I feel badly for the mom since she got that way after her baby was taken, but she's pretty unlikeable. The twin, the younger brother, and Max are pretty much it for me. I'm not sure how long I'll continue watching, but I kinda want to see where they take this tale.

[FAU]

 

I still don't like many of the main characters, including Carter. I feel badly for the mom since she got that way after her baby was taken, but she's pretty unlikeable. The twin, the younger brother, and Max are pretty much it for me. I'm not sure how long I'll continue watching, but I kinda want to see where they take this tale.

 

That's pretty much my problem too, too many unlikable characters and forced drama shoved in.  Drama only work if you're invested in what happens to the characters and I just dgaf about the most of this cast.

 

I wanted to root for Carter but I just can't stand her rebel antics which are already old at this point or the rest of the insufferable characters.

 

 

I guess we'll have to watch and see, huh?

 

Turns out it was exactly just that unfortunately.

Edited July 16, 2014 by FAU

[Primetimer]

He's written and portrayed well -- and Grant Wilson also reminds Sarah of her own Grant.

Read the story

[gesundheit]

Nice write-up. I do find the little brother to be one thing that convinces me something smarter is at play here for the long-haul than what we're currently seeing.

Carter herself got WAY less sympathetic in this most recent episode. She was frustrating in the first two but I at least felt for how complicated it must be, but she's just mean and thoughtless.

[FAU]

Nice write-up. I do find the little brother to be one thing that convinces me something smarter is at play here for the long-haul than what we're currently seeing.

Carter herself got WAY less sympathetic in this most recent episode. She was frustrating in the first two but I at least felt for how complicated it must be, but she's just mean and thoughtless.

 

I want to believe that, unfortunately I'm more pessimistic than when this series started and it certainly doesn't help that he had less screentime in this episode.

[Cranberry]

I actually found Carter to be more sympathetic in this one. She noticed that Taylor liked Max and reassured her that she and Max are just friends now. She was unhappy with Crash teaching Grant how to roll a joint and was on board with Elizabeth kicking him out... until Elizabeth went and forbid her to ever see Crash again, loudly and in front of all her friends (stuff like that always makes a kid want to rebel). She bonded with her dad. She made Crash let her out of the stolen car, and she called home for help even though she thought that Elizabeth was home and would be furious. It's only the third episode. She's making strides.

[gesundheit]

I think for me the biggest issue is that Carter is rebelling against Elizabeth like a normal teenager would. She's not a normal teenager, these are not normal circumstances, and she literally just met her. They talk to each other as if they've had a contentious mother/daughter relationship for years, when actually they're strangers. People tread more lightly around strangers even in unusual circumstances like these.

I guess it just feels like we skipped a lot? I'm not sure what the time jump was between this episode and the previous one, but the first two episodes only spanned about two days and Carter was already being "comfortable, entitled, belligerent teen daughter" to Elizabeth. The day she "met" her. Where is the awkwardness, the discomfort? The curiosity?

[methodwriter85]

   I could've sworn the second episode, Carter's dad said something like "It's been a crazy month", which makes sense because Carter really didn't seem like a new kid finding her way around school. I think we are skipping some time here.

[FAU]

 

I guess it just feels like we skipped a lot? I'm not sure what the time jump was between this episode and the previous one, but the first two episodes only spanned about two days and Carter was already being "comfortable, entitled, belligerent teen daughter" to Elizabeth. The day she "met" her. Where is the awkwardness, the discomfort? The curiosity?

 

 

I could've sworn the second episode, Carter's dad said something like "It's been a crazy month", which makes sense because Carter really didn't seem like a new kid finding her way around school. I think we are skipping some time here.

 

They've skipped over the most interesting parts where we actually see her adjusting to life.

 

 

It's only the third episode. She's making strides.

 

It seems to be a pattern of her getting into trouble, getting back at Elizabeth, finding her mom, and then seemingly learn from her mistake only to do the same thing over and over again for each episode.  She learned nothing after being hospitalized, if there were strides being made, this show wouldn't have to rely on the constant Carter vs Elizabeth fights.

[Cranberry]

She learned not to take Molly again!

[FAU]

She learned not to take Molly again!

 

We don't see her learn anything except trying to go after a bad boy and having that almost backfire on her had she not bailed in time.  It's just 1 trouble after another.

[Cranberry]

At least if you're disliking the show this much after three episodes, you can walk away without feeling like you wasted too much time!

[bluebonnet]

I'm just waiting for Dad to put the moves on Carter. Ew, I know, but here's this pretty young thing he hasn't seen in 13 or so years and, well, he really doesn't know her as a daughter. Things are strained between him and the mom, and they seem to be bonding, so I dunno. He's pretty smarmy. Maybe I've seen too many L&O:SVUs or something. We'll see.

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking this.  They've made her dad incredibly smarmy and disgusting for a reason and I'm starting to wonder if this is something that goes pretty far back.  He screamed creeper from the first episode and now all of his behavior with Carter is straight out of a pedo groomer's manual.  I won't really have much sympathy for the kidnapping mother apart from the typical sympathy one has for another human.  But I am leaning towards them connecting the reason kidnap mama kidnapped with the creeper daddy stuff.  

[In2You]

Apparently the kidnapper is supposed to be seen as the perfect mother. Nothing spoilerish here just some hightlights from the TCA panel

http://www.tvequals.com/2014/07/11/mtv-presents-finding-carter-happyland-tca-2014/

[bluebonnet]

It says "seem" not "seen".  There's a decided lack of drama and conflict of interest for a show on mtv if her kidnapper was terrible to her.  It's a way to superficially give cause for Carter to be so torn and angry about being placed with this stranger bio family.  For a teenager, Lori was the perfect mother.  She acted as more of a bestie than a mother which is cool for a teenager, but not actually so great in terms of parenting a child to become a suitable adult.  The woman was lenient to the point that Carter thought it was nothing to fret about when she was arrested.  So yeah, this whole "seem like a perfect mother" is just that.  The superficial look makes her seem perfect, but she wasn't actually a very good parent at all (leaving aside the whole kidnapping thing).  

Edited July 17, 2014 by bluebonnet

[In2You]

No one was saying the kidnapper had to be terrible to her but they are showing her as perfect while making out the bio mother to be cold hearted bitch and that isn't right. Mostly because we aren't seeing Carter display the conflicted feelings she should be feeling. It doesn't phase her at all that this woman stole her from her real family and lied to her for years. Hopefully we start to see a better balance of both and soon because 3 episodes have already passed but I'm not sure with the writer saying that Carter and Lori's relationship is based off the one between her and her daughter. Because they really shouldn't be portraying this woman in a better light than the real mother at all. They don't need to make the kidnapper seem sympathetic. This woman stole someone else's child there's no justification for that.

Edited July 17, 2014 by In2You

[Cranberry]

I agree that there's no justification for stealing someone's kid. However, if Lori were nothing but a cardboard villain while Elizabeth was the perfect mom, we'd all be complaining about that, because that's boring and amateurish writing.

[GaT]

No one was saying the kidnapper had to be terrible to her but they are showing her as perfect while making out the bio mother to be cold hearted bitch and that isn't right. Mostly because we aren't seeing Carter display the conflicted feelings she should be feeling. It doesn't phase her at all that this woman stole her from her real family and lied to her for years. 

I think that's because in her heart, she still doesn't believe it's true.

[FAU]

I agree that there's no justification for stealing someone's kid. However, if Lori were nothing but a cardboard villain while Elizabeth was the perfect mom, we'd all be complaining about that, because that's boring and amateurish writing.

 

Except the opposite is true and that still boring and amateurish.  Making the kidnapper the most 'perfect' mom ever isn't good writing.

 

How is this any better?

 

 

It says "seem" not "seen".  There's a decided lack of drama and conflict of interest for a show on mtv if her kidnapper was terrible to her.  It's a way to superficially give cause for Carter to be so torn and angry about being placed with this stranger bio family.  For a teenager, Lori was the perfect mother.  She acted as more of a bestie than a mother which is cool for a teenager, but not actually so great in terms of parenting a child to become a suitable adult.  The woman was lenient to the point that Carter thought it was nothing to fret about when she was arrested.  So yeah, this whole "seem like a perfect mother" is just that.  The superficial look makes her seem perfect, but she wasn't actually a very good parent at all (leaving aside the whole kidnapping thing).

 

Still, no one has to be perfect, there's plenty of good drama/conflict in this situation that they could use instead of this cliched nonsense.

 

 

At least if you're disliking the show this much after three episodes, you can walk away without feeling like you wasted too much time!

 

That's what hate watching is for.  ;).

 

The same could apply to Carter, if she hates Elizabeth so much, she could always run away instead of trying to get back at her in each episode.  :).

[Gwen-Stacys]

No one was saying the kidnapper had to be terrible to her but they are showing her as perfect while making out the bio mother to be cold hearted bitch and that isn't right. Mostly because we aren't seeing Carter display the conflicted feelings she should be feeling. It doesn't phase her at all that this woman stole her from her real family and lied to her for years. Hopefully we start to see a better balance of both and soon because 3 episodes have already passed but I'm not sure with the writer saying that Carter and Lori's relationship is based off the one between her and her daughter. Because they really shouldn't be portraying this woman in a better light than the real mother at all. They don't need to make the kidnapper seem sympathetic. This woman stole someone else's child there's no justification for that.

 

I think you're looking at it from an outsider's perspective though and not from Carter's. She lived 90% of her life with this woman who clothed her, fed her, put a roof over her head, spent time with her (she was going to ditch her friends in the first episode to keep hanging out with her mom...as a teen), and loved her. I would take her years and years before she could ever wrap her head around the horrible thing that Lori did. Because while it was horrible for her bio family, it wasn't for her. And to add salt to the wound, Elizabeth is actively trying to hunt this woman down and not being subtle at all about it even after Carter told her how she felt. So no, I think Carter is behaving how a 16-year-old would in that situation.

[FAU]

I think you're looking at it from an outsider's perspective though and not from Carter's. She lived 90% of her life with this woman who clothed her, fed her, put a roof over her head, spent time with her (she was going to ditch her friends in the first episode to keep hanging out with her mom...as a teen), and loved her. I would take her years and years before she could ever wrap her head around the horrible thing that Lori did. Because while it was horrible for her bio family, it wasn't for her. And to add salt to the wound, Elizabeth is actively trying to hunt this woman down and not being subtle at all about it even after Carter told her how she felt. So no, I think Carter is behaving how a 16-year-old would in that situation.

 

It's also a problem with the show, we're not getting much out of Carter's persepective, all we get is her saying she's wants to be with her and her doing stupid stuff/antics against Elizabeth, but we don't get to see her actually adjusting to her new life or how it actually affects her.

[gesundheit]

I think a 16-year-old is typically developed enough for this to throw her for a loop, but instead she hasn't skipped a beat. So Lori is actually a kidnapper and lied to her her entire life and everything she knew was a lie? No matter! Lori was still cooler. So her birth mom is just the WORST!

I just don't buy that, unless they're suggesting that Carter's got some sort of serious psychological disorder resulting from all this. She has no sense of empathy and no curiosity. This should be a major paradigm shift, and they're just treating it like it's a new place to live. It's unreal to me that she's not even curious enough to ask questions. Or read her father's book! She just shrugs it all off.

Stockholm Syndrome can of course be very real, but even with that, there are questions. She has none. It's not as if she was hidden from society -- she has enough of a moral compass to know what a serious crime and act of cruelty it is to kidnap someone's child. But she's just shrugged it off and literally can't fathom why Elizabeth wants to send Lori to prison. She doesn't have to like it -- but she seems to not even comprehend it.

[FAU]

 

I just don't buy that, unless they're suggesting that Carter's got some sort of serious psychological disorder resulting from all this. She has no sense of empathy and no curiosity. This should be a major paradigm shift, and they're just treating it like it's a new place to live. It's unreal to me that she's not even curious enough to ask questions. Or read her father's book! She just shrugs it all off.

 

Exactly, we're not actually seeing her try to find out/learn about what happened.

[Gwen-Stacys]

It's also a problem with the show, we're not getting much out of Carter's persepective, all we get is her saying she's wants to be with her and her doing stupid stuff/antics against Elizabeth, but we don't get to see her actually adjusting to her new life or how it actually affects her.

We have though. She's explained how she felt numerous times. "I feel like I'm an elephant but everyone's telling me uh no, you're actually a giraffe" (paraphrasing). She's actively looking for her mother to, I'm guessing, run away with her. It's why she has that bookbag packed and hidden in her closet. I think she's already decided that she doesn't want to stay with them, so why try? She's going to be leaving soon any way. And this episode just fed into that delusion for her: Lori's planning on comming to get her again.

[In2You]

We have though. She's explained how she felt numerous times. "I feel like I'm an elephant but everyone's telling me uh no, you're actually a giraffe" (paraphrasing). She's actively looking for her mother to, I'm guessing, run away with her. It's why she has that bookbag packed and hidden in her closet. I think she's already decided that she doesn't want to stay with them, so why try? She's going to be leaving soon any way. And this episode just fed into that delusion for her: Lori's planning on comming to get her again.

That's the only perspective we're getting when it should be a little more complicated than that. Why is she not questioning her "mother's" motives for kidnapping her or even a little hurt that she was lied to for years. You're not understanding what the problem is. This wasn't an adoption that got reversed. She was stolen from her family! Like someone said why isn't Carter curious enough to skim through her father's book or even ask some questions about that day.

[FAU]

We have though. She's explained how she felt numerous times. "I feel like I'm an elephant but everyone's telling me uh no, you're actually a giraffe" (paraphrasing). She's actively looking for her mother to, I'm guessing, run away with her. It's why she has that bookbag packed and hidden in her closet. I think she's already decided that she doesn't want to stay with them, so why try? She's going to be leaving soon any way. And this episode just fed into that delusion for her: Lori's planning on comming to get her again.

 

Except we're not getting her perspective on her own kidnapping, in fact, she ends up having a 1 track mind instead of actually dealing with the issues that it presents.  She treats it like a minor inconvenience like she's stuck in some summer camp and wants to go home when it's much more complicated than that.

 

She has packed, but she hasn't tried to leave yet at all, instead she just whines and then constantly tries to get back at Elizabeth.

[RachelKM]

That's the only perspective we're getting when it should be a little more complicated than that. Why is she not questioning her "mother's" motives for kidnapping her or even a little hurt that she was lied to for years. You're not understanding what the problem is. This wasn't an adoption that got reversed. She was stolen from her family! Like someone said why isn't Carter curious enough to skim through her father's book or even ask some questions about that day.

I also find it odd that Carter has not expressed to anyone, even Max whom she would likely view as safer on the subject, any doubts about Lori's actions or upset that she lied to her all her life.  Hell, she even told Elizabeth that her "mom never lied to [her]" without having any sort of followup realization or Elizabeth pointing out that is is empirically untrue.

[bluebonnet]

No one was saying the kidnapper had to be terrible to her but they are showing her as perfect while making out the bio mother to be cold hearted bitch and that isn't right. Mostly because we aren't seeing Carter display the conflicted feelings she should be feeling. It doesn't phase her at all that this woman stole her from her real family and lied to her for years. Hopefully we start to see a better balance of both and soon because 3 episodes have already passed but I'm not sure with the writer saying that Carter and Lori's relationship is based off the one between her and her daughter. Because they really shouldn't be portraying this woman in a better light than the real mother at all. They don't need to make the kidnapper seem sympathetic. This woman stole someone else's child there's no justification for that.

 

No, they showed her to seem perfect which is not the same thing as showing her to be perfect.  Leaving aside the fact that the audience is aware going in that this woman actually kidnapped Carter, we know two minutes in that the perfect mom thing is just a facade.  It's not real.  She was actually a bestie rather than a parent which is evidenced by how nonchalant Carter is about breaking and entering and then getting arrested while her friends are understandably concerned about all this because, presumably, their parents actually parent rather than try to be only a friend.  Still, this isn't about making Lori sympathetic as a kidnapping mother to the audience, but showing why Lori continues to be sympathetic to Carter.  

 

I agree with you that there are problematic pacing issues.  They set this thing up really fast with the first 30 minutes of the pilot having Carter go from eating gummy bears with Lori to suddenly living with her bio family only to stomp on the brakes g by having almost zero character and plot development.  I presume there will be some significant advancement with things in coming episodes.  Right now, Carter is really unsympathetic to the audience and that's primarily because she's continuing to operate as though she's still the daughter of Lori, who she sees as the 'true' parents.  Now that she's getting closer to her smarmy father and has agreed on a cease fire with her mother, I suspect that she will take a pause and start questioning things.  It will also help that someone from her old life (Max?) has spent time with her bio family and has already pushed Carter to see things in a different light.  The more sympathetic Carter becomes towards her bio mom, the less her kidnapper will seem like the perfect mom to Carter.  

 

Still, no one has to be perfect, there's plenty of good drama/conflict in this situation that they could use instead of this cliched nonsense.

But the kidnapper is not perfect.  Ignoring the fact that she kidnapped this girl, she merely seemed perfect, especially to Carter.  I'm assuming soon, Carter's understanding of Lori will eventually match up with the audience's understanding.  

[FAU]

No, they showed her to seem perfect which is not the same thing as showing her to be perfect.  Leaving aside the fact that the audience is aware going in that this woman actually kidnapped Carter, we know two minutes in that the perfect mom thing is just a facade.  It's not real.  She was actually a bestie rather than a parent which is evidenced by how nonchalant Carter is about breaking and entering and then getting arrested while her friends are understandably concerned about all this because, presumably, their parents actually parent rather than try to be only a friend.  Still, this isn't about making Lori sympathetic as a kidnapping mother to the audience, but showing why Lori continues to be sympathetic to Carter.  

 

I agree with you that there are problematic pacing issues.  They set this thing up really fast with the first 30 minutes of the pilot having Carter go from eating gummy bears with Lori to suddenly living with her bio family only to stomp on the brakes g by having almost zero character and plot development.  I presume there will be some significant advancement with things in coming episodes.  Right now, Carter is really unsympathetic to the audience and that's primarily because she's continuing to operate as though she's still the daughter of Lori, who she sees as the 'true' parents.  Now that she's getting closer to her smarmy father and has agreed on a cease fire with her mother, I suspect that she will take a pause and start questioning things.  It will also help that someone from her old life (Max?) has spent time with her bio family and has already pushed Carter to see things in a different light.  The more sympathetic Carter becomes towards her bio mom, the less her kidnapper will seem like the perfect mom to Carter.  

 

But the kidnapper is not perfect.  Ignoring the fact that she kidnapped this girl, she merely seemed perfect, especially to Carter.  I'm assuming soon, Carter's understanding of Lori will eventually match up with the audience's understanding.  

 

Except it matters when it's hard to relate or even care at all about a seemingly perfect character.  The writers barely fleshed that out and it doesn't help when Carter herself barely seems fazed by her own kidnapping, it doesn't seem to affect her at all.  There's nothing to care about or sympathize, especially about Carter wanting to be with her mom or vise versa, throwing her into the drama only made things worse.

 

Carter's understanding has to be believeable and unfortunately it's not written that way, she's not questioning anything, this whole situation barely seems to affect her, and all that's left is rebel teen antics vs. cop mom bs in each episode.

[bluebonnet]

Except it matters when it's hard to relate or even care at all about a seemingly perfect character.  The writers barely fleshed that out and it doesn't help when Carter herself barely seems fazed by her own kidnapping, it doesn't seem to affect her at all.  There's nothing to care about or sympathize, especially about Carter wanting to be with her mom or vise versa, throwing her into the drama only made things worse.

 

Carter's understanding has to be believeable and unfortunately it's not written that way, she's not questioning anything, this whole situation barely seems to affect her, and all that's left is rebel teen antics vs. cop mom bs in each episode.

I agree with you that the writing isn't very strong or realistic.  While there's nothing realistic about the way she was reunited with her bio family, what I do find the most realistic, however, is Carter's reaction to this all.  If the show were following something like the Kubler-Ross model, Carter's behavior would be defined as firmly rooted in denial.  A night of fun turned into a complete nightmare of the sort she could have never imagined and her way of coping is to deny that it's even happening, that everything will return to normal once her "mom" figures out a plan.  She's still in that place where this terrible thing couldn't possibly be true, which is how I would expect the average person to react when having their identity ripped from them so abruptly.  

[In2You]

Italicizing the words seem and be doesn't change how the show is written. The characterization is lazy and they actually aren't showing us why Carter is sympathetic because its really not even showing sympathy. She just straight up doesn't see that she did anything wrong to show sympathy. Letting her run wild and do whatever the hell she wants is not justification for Carter not questioning her Lori's motives or acknowledging the fact that this woman took her from her family. 

[bluebonnet]

Italicizing the words seem and be doesn't change how the show is written. The characterization is lazy and they actually aren't showing us why Carter is sympathetic because its really not even showing sympathy. She just straight up doesn't see that she did anything wrong to show sympathy. Letting her run wild and do whatever the hell she wants is not justification for Carter not questioning her Lori's motives or acknowledging the fact that this woman took her from her family. 

Um, italicizing words is merely to stress the importance I'm placing on these words as I felt the need to do so, first to highlight that the article you linked doesn't say what you thought it said and also to stress the reasons why I disagreed with your opinion which had to do with words that have different definitions.  You have written that Lori is seen as the perfect mother, which is not at all what the article in the link you provided said.  You have also stated that Lori is written as the perfect mother, which I also disagreed with and explained my reason.  She's portrayed as the perfect mother for Carter not for the audience.  I haven't once suggested the writing is great.  In fact, in response to you and another poster, I explicitly stated that things like pacing, plot and character development and other general writing isn't strong at all.  

 

Carter's continued connection with her kidnapping mother is what helps make her so unsympathetic.  I've also explicitly noted that she's very unsympathetic to the audience.  What I have said is that I suspect that when they finally have Carter questioning the kidnapper, Carter will begin to become sympathetic.  Right now Carter is in this space where she's sort of the sidekick to the one known supervillain.  Carter is a victim here, yes, so there's already some mild sympathy to be had for her character.  Yet, while she's still in this denial stage, she's also (unintentionally) victimizing her bio family just as her "mother" victimized them for over a decade.  Of course, the show could continue to keep Carter as the supervillain sidekick and wholly unsympathetic though it's seems very unlikely considering they've had her slowly warming to certain members of her bio family.  

[GaT]

That's the only perspective we're getting when it should be a little more complicated than that. Why is she not questioning her "mother's" motives for kidnapping her or even a little hurt that she was lied to for years. You're not understanding what the problem is. This wasn't an adoption that got reversed. She was stolen from her family! Like someone said why isn't Carter curious enough to skim through her father's book or even ask some questions about that day.

 

 

Except we're not getting her perspective on her own kidnapping, in fact, she ends up having a 1 track mind instead of actually dealing with the issues that it presents.  She treats it like a minor inconvenience like she's stuck in some summer camp and wants to go home when it's much more complicated than that.

 

She has packed, but she hasn't tried to leave yet at all, instead she just whines and then constantly tries to get back at Elizabeth.

 

 

I also find it odd that Carter has not expressed to anyone, even Max whom she would likely view as safer on the subject, any doubts about Lori's actions or upset that she lied to her all her life.  Hell, she even told Elizabeth that her "mom never lied to [her]" without having any sort of followup realization or Elizabeth pointing out that is is empirically untrue.

I still say that the reason Carter is acting this way is because she really doesn't believe it's true. IMO, there is still a part of her brain that thinks somebody made a big mistake, & Lori really is her mother. That's why she treats it all like an inconvenience, she doesn't think it's real.