David’s Friends and Family Aren’t His and Lauren’s Downfall in ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 8

As Heather Gay once vibrantly said, “Receipts, proof, timeline, screenshots.” When it comes to the drama surrounding Lauren O’Brien and this mysterious guy she may or may not have been seeing prior to them participating in Love Is Blind, we just want the answers. During the second dump of episodes, drama filled the relationship between Lauren and David Bettenburg. With three episodes filled with vagueness, as outsiders, the situation is near impossible to grasp as we are not privy to the full story.

So, because of the close-knit community of the Twin Cities, a gentleman Lauren had seen prior to the show happened to be close friends with Dave’s good pals. And maybe he has a mutual connection to his sister, who, too, has yet to appear, is still not on board with this experiment. So, rather than a warm reception for the newly engaged couple, they have been forced to sift through the he said-she said narratives of a very unclear situationship.

David seems to want an exit ramp out and is trying to use this situation as an excuse. But it’s showcasing a terrible side of him. The situation is being dragged out on screen. For David and Lauren, they know exactly what’s happening as they are living it. For us, we’re in the dark. And the more vague comments without anyone from David’s camp backing it up make us think it’s all a ploy. We don’t know the full story YET, but I think it’s safe to say: Lauren: You should have left earlier.

Semantics Are Causing Drama on ‘Love Is Blind’

Now, we don’t know everything that happens inside the pod, but aside from trauma dumping and emotional connections, it’s safe to say the prospective couples might not detail everything about their dating history in the pods. It makes sense that they waited until they were on a boat in the stunning waters of Honduras to spill the tea. Which included David knowing Lauren’s exes. Or boyfriends.

Or partners. Semantics. Which really is a sticking point. Anyway, David and Lauren both have their baggage and ideals of what a perfect future looks like, but Dave here is starting to think that his future bride might as well have been a princess locked in a tower before she ever laid eyes on him.

Dave should not be shocked about Lauren dating in the past, but he does have some right to take pause about the timeline of her most recent relationship. Certainly he wants to marry someone who’s all in, but his deep desire to have her be as relationship-free as long as he’s been is simply unfair. And Dave, flirting the weekend before you head to the experiment is on the same level as an alleged hook-up. And that level is level zero. It doesn’t matter.

Anyway, in the second drop of episodes, this looming situationship between Lauren and this mystery man is becoming more of a dealbreaker for David, and it’s hard for us to fathom as to why. The biggest bombshell of the scandal was that this guy lived in the same building that they were moving into. So, coincidence or TV hungry? You decide. With Lauren’s friends being the only sources shown on camera thus far, we only hear that it was never a thing as they were allegedly with her days before leaving. But according to David’s pals, who Lauren has still yet to meet, this guy believed it was something deeper than two months of casual hookups.

David Is a Pick-Me Girl

Dave refuses to listen to his FUTURE WIFE’s explanation, allowing his buddies to infiltrate his head. Lauren is in a horrible position of being unable to defend herself as he continues to run away to “think,” all while preventing her from meeting his friends. If my partner, who I was weeks away from marrying, still refused to allow me to meet his friends, I’d be worried. We’ve seen other engagements explode due to friendships before on Love Is Blind. But that’s usually after face-to-face interactions!

David is the epitome of a pick-me girl. He can’t fathom how Lauren could possibly have been with anyone and then go immediately with him simply because that’s not how his dating life has been. Not everyone will experience the same ways of love, but instilling his mindset in Lauren exposes the type of man he’ll be in their marriage. Domineering and misogynistic? Count me out! He claims he loves her and wants to marry her, but by preventing her from meeting his friends to try to get on the same page, he stonewalls her. He even leaves her to go see the friends, who continue to talk poorly about her. For someone who says he doesn’t want to have to choose between Lauren and his friends, he’s doing a poor job at it! He’s becoming manipulative, gaslighitng her into thinking she’s in the wrong. It’s clear he doesn’t want to be the one to call it quits. David may have seemed like the villain from the start with his bad age joke, but his true side is showing. HE is the villain of the pod squad.

Lauren Speaks On Mr. Mystery’s Motives

So, should you take a break from the dating pool before seeking out a soulmate on Love Is Blind? The discourse has varied. But this is not about that. This is about the past destroying the present. Much of the discussion surrounding Lauren’s past fling has been that perhaps this guy was just seeking his own fifteen minutes of fame. Speaking to Vulture, Lauren had much to say about the situation that has finally brought the drama to Season 8. Lauren fully believed this nameless suitor just wanted to be on camera.

She said, “Me and him had never once talked about anything beyond a friends-with-benefits situation. We never had serious conversations about that — or much in general. When we got back, and I was hearing his version of things, it felt like a 180 compared to any conversation we ever had. I was so confused where it came from.” Her story continued when she said, “He also reached out and asked to talk. I texted him back, and he was like, “But do you wanna talk in person?” And my first reaction was, ‘Oh, do you want to get a camera op? Is that where this is coming from?‘ Those are the things that are jumping out to me.”

While they did text when the pod portion was over, it began with the coincidence of living in the same apartment building in Minneapolis. But Lauren knew there was more the motives. Lauren is adamant that this person not only knew she was going to explore the experiment of Love Is Blind, he was supportive of it. She said, “He had no problem with it. He was excited for me. He was like, ‘That’s a cool, once-in-a-lifetime thing to do.’ It’s easy to look back and think that maybe I could have said things differently, but based on the information I had at the time, I didn’t think I needed to say anything else to him.”

Like Madison Errichiello not wanting anyone to have Mason Horacek, it seems that this person doesn’t want anyone to play with this toys. So, he’s using the tools he has at his disposal to get to Dave. The mutual friends are going full tilt into believing this man, and in turn, forcing Dave to agree with the story. As hardcore Dave goes into silencing Lauren, the more it should give her pause to leave him. How can she be with a man whose friends won’t even give her the time of day? There’s so much we’re missing, but we, the viewers, are fully aware that this is a disaster waiting to happen. Lauren’s only power move at this point is to continue to prevent this man from coming on screen. Don’t let another man have power over her.