Season 1 of Finding Carter was intense, people. We had multiple abductions, a robbery, a near-death shooting, and enough lies and deception to keep a family in therapy for literally generations. As the Season 2 premiere of Finding Carter approaches, one question looms large in the heads of fans: Why in the hell did Lori, Carter’s abductor mom (is that a thing?) kidnap Carter anyway? What makes an adult pluck a child from her own front yard in the hopes of moving somewhere else and becoming one big, happy, illegitimate family? There are plenty of theories out there. In the beginning of the season, everyone just seemed to believe that Lori was simply a crazy person who decided she wanted a daughter and picked one up like you pick up a slice of pizza after work, but as Season 1 progressed, I felt the mirror of blame slowly being turned to reflect David, as theories about him having an affair with Lori became more prevalent.
Carter’s dad is an author who made a crap-ton of money for the family after writing a book about her disappearance. Elizabeth (played by a brilliant Cynthia Watros, by the way), Carter’s real mom, is a detective, but she must literally be the worst detective ever because even she can’t uncover all of her husband’s secrets. There are all of these insinuations that Lori and David had a relationship prior to Carter’s snatching, and I believe David had something to do with the kidnapping.
When Carter and Lori first met up at the beginning of Season 1, Lori obviously asked Carter to leave the Wilsons and be a fugitive with her (because that sounds so appealing). When Carter turned to David to help her get rid of Lori once and for all, David was super shady about talking to Lori. At first, he didn't even tell Elizabeth that he and Lori spoke. Um, suspicious? Why wouldn’t you let your wife know that you told off your daughter’s kidnapper, David? What are you hiding?
So here’s my theory: Lori took Carter because she and David were having a relationship. David was overwhelmed at the stress of having two twin daughters, as well as the fact that he couldn’t write a damn book to save his own life. In the present day, David constantly feels emasculated and insecure by the fact that Elizabeth is the breadwinner in the family, so who is to say that these feelings couldn’t have started over a decade before? Losing Linden is the only book he wrote that was a success, and that came obviously after Carter was abducted. With all of these feelings inside, David and Lori began an affair. Let’s not pretend like David wouldn’t cheat on Elizabeth — they have quite a screwed up relationship, and she’s cheated on him, too.
After some time of being with Lori, David decides to work on his marriage and ends their relationship. Lori, who is clearly unstable, sees the girls as David’s anchors and vows to take them away from him, punishing both David and Elizabeth in the process. Plus, having his children is like having a little piece of David, right? Lori set out to kidnap both Taylor and Carter (you know, she had one job…), but could only manage to snatch Carter before being discovered. Basically, if David had just kept it in his pants, Carter would still be Linden and no one would have to deal with Lori or any of this nonsense.
Spoilers for Season 2 indicate that we'll learn more about David, but will he be implicated in Carter’s kidnapping? We’ll just have to tune in to find out.
Images: MTV; Giphy (2)
