Lauren Cooper: She's Hiding Pills

[Cranberry]

From that Buzzfeed post-finale interview with Carter:

 

I’m also hoping we see more of Lauren (Bailey Buntain) next season, especially after she and Amy kind of found common ground in the season finale. Can she still be adversarial but also something of an ally?

 

CC: Very much so. She will be pulled into the world we’ve created more this next season. Our goal is to not have to have her be the antagonist in every plotline. She’s going to be more interwoven. I think we’ve evolved her relationship with Amy and with Shane. But Lauren’s someone who has a very hard time opening up to people. She has a very hard time being sentimental, letting her guard down, so she’s always going to have this prickly vibe to her. I think she wants to be part of the group, but it scares her. So we’re gonna make sure we keep a charge so that she doesn’t become warm and fuzzy. I like Lauren with claws. I don’t want them to go away.

 

In that way, she’s a lot like Sadie (Molly Tarlov) on Awkward, who mixes this hostility with vulnerability. It must be a conscious choice to kind of subvert the traditional bully archetype.

 

CC: Yeah. And her revelation about what the pills are for is going to, I think, change everyone’s opinion of her.

 

So you know what the pills are for?

 

CC: Oh, yeah. We’ve known since — I pitched it to the network when we got picked up, and we’ve been kind of laying little hints throughout the series that people will probably see in hindsight.

 

This all sounds good to me. Sadie is one of my favorite characters on Awkward, and I like how the writers on that show have handled her character so far (she's in the core group of friends, but she's more peripheral -- by choice, because she doesn't like every single one of those people).

[Hellfire]

Time to rewatch the season and look for hints guys. Off the top of my head, would the fact that she didn't give nudes to Tommy a hint she might be trans*? Also, I think on a highschool relationship timeline, when she broke up with Tommy would be about the time he would want sex, in which case she would be forced to tell him. Or maybe it's HIV?

Edit: Her ex friends commented how she has her period every two weeks and irregular/more frequent periods can be a symptom of HIV. Although that comment could have also been a figurative waybto say she gets bitchy all the time.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Hellfire

[Cranberry]

I've been thinking antidepressants, and I could see her being ashamed enough to hide that (she likes to present as tough and in control of everything, including her emotions, so I'd believe that she might consider herself weak for relying on pills). I don't see why Tommy would break up with her over that, though, because being on antidepressants is common and not shameful. So... no idea.

[Shan]

Antidepressants would seem most likely especially given what she said about being moved away from all her friends and the hard time she's been having. I do know that usually they're only taken once a day (sometimes twice) so you could do that in the privacy of your own home but it's not a big deal to fudge that sort of thing for plot purposes.

[Izeinwinter]

 Tommy dumping her over it makes a bunch of options less likely. She is.. very small if she is trans, but intersex and on hormones for it might well freak out even a pretty enlightened teen boy. HIV would also do it. . 

[Shan]

I wouldn't necessarily rule out depression, sometimes people can be really weird and uncomfortable about it. It would be a pity if Tommy did dump Lauren over it being that reason as up to now, he hadn't been too objectionable in things he'd done compared to ... well most of the rest of the characters up to now to be honest.

[Gareth3]

I think it's Turner Syndrome, where you're missing an X chromosome. The patients are very short women who usually have to take estrogen. Most high schoolers wouldn't really understand the details, and she could easily be embarrassed about it. Although I do expect her to claim that the pills are "supressing her ice powers" - two pop culture references at once.

[Schmolioot]

I can't imagine that Lauren's pill habit is related to anything so heavy as being trans or having HIV. This is till a silly comedy.

Something like Adderall might make sense. She does seem kind of OCD.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Schmolioot

[ybrik]

Thank you. I kept thinking her behavior was very Monk like but I forgot what he diagnosed with. Yeah I think it is OCD.

[Hellfire]

I can't imagine that Lauren's pill habit is related to anything so heavy as being trans or having HIV. This is till a silly comedy.

Something like Adderall might make sense. She does seem kind of OCD.

I was just throwing out ideas. Adderall wouldn't make sense because Tommy (probably) wanted sex and Lauren had to tell him about whatever it is because of that. Then Tommy breaks up with her. So maybe if we want to find out, we should go back through the season for hints with these things in mind.

[Shan]

For me, best line of the episode was Lauren's empathy remark. Everything from the cake and how she was trying to be supportive gives her most valuable player status. I was hoping she'd do something like this in the episode and I wasn't disappointed.

[superman1204]

As for the pills Lauren is taking, my guess is diet piles.  It makes sense for a teenage girl concerned with her appearance and social status.  Also she is tiny and in that scene with Amy, she had a piece of cake the size of a book.  Lastly it explains why her heavier minion was the one who knew about them, because Lauren might have offered her some pills to help her lose weight.  I don't know why Tommy would break up with her over diet pills, maybe she is taking too many, so he was concerned and she told him to fuck off.