Dear Lauren O'Brien. Hi. You don't know me. But I've been watching you on Season 8 of Love Is Blind. First off, congratulations on your engagement! We love love in this house, so we love to champion when someone finds the love of their life. But after watching your wildly quick romance with David Bettenburg, I really hate to be the one to tell you this: Dave does not want you.
Season 8 has been called boring and bland, but what it's not short of is shocking moments and questionable decisions on the part of Lauren and David. From the jump, we saw that Dave may be the dastardly one of the Pod Squad when he mocked his date's age. Now, looking back, that it was his future bride that he was mocked for being old, it all makes sense. During their time in the pods, they seemed like they could defy the odds, but once the couple received their phones and the outside world was let in, it all changed. Lauren, I hate to break it to you: he's just not into you.
Dave Is Looking For Someone Who Is Not Lauren
During the pod portion of the season, Lauren and Dave weren't the focal couple. Much of the time seemed to be spent on the doomed quartet, Brittany Dodson's powerful conversation, and Christmas. But what was presented between Lauren and Dave was a special relationship built on an emotional side we didn't expect out of Dave. While he was quite blunt, that's just the facade he holds so as not to expose himself. Perhaps his baggage includes opening up and getting hurt. But, from an outsider's perspective, it might seem hard to make a perfect connection that will lead to marriage. There was an initial intensity that needed to be molded. And Lauren seemed willing to chip away. Lauren knew that Dave was also seeing Molly Mullaney, who truly believed that she was his number one. Meanwhile, he didn't want to deal with the girl drama. If she only knew then. While there was a moment where we thought Dave would go with Molly, he ultimately went with Lauren, and the rest is history.
What we learned about Dave is he has preconceived notions. Whether it's his feelings about teachers, dancers, or how other people should date, Dave lived strong in his convictions. If someone doesn't fulfill his wishes and desires, he villainizes them. So, once Dave and Lauren realized that the Twin Cities were a bit smaller than they knew, their relationship was doomed. Dave was hoping to find a damsel in distress who's been waiting for their Prince Charming. Whether she dated a guy that was six degrees of separation away from her or was a completely unknown entity, it wouldn't have made a difference. Lauren, on paper, was not perfect for him. She did not align as the perfect soon-to-be wife. Her dating history became the biggest excuse as to why they have tension. And we're still trying to figure out why.
Dave Is Shallow
David is a terrible communicator. It's been proven throughout this experiment. Dave has been incredibly pressed about the timeline of when exactly Lauren had a situationship with another Minneapolis man, who just so happened to live in the same building as them. He was mortified to realize that perhaps she had been with anyone when he had had a long single streak. The hilarity of his hypocrisy is he's upset about what happened the weekend before filming. What he forgets is he was literally dating someone in the pods. Same as her. They are literally on equal footing! There has to be more to the story. Now, here's the kicker. In the first episode, Dave revealed that part of the world he worked in includes Botox, so faces is part of his universe. Perhaps a joke from his perspective, Dave made a comment to Lauren along the lines that he was shallow, but he was trying to break free from that. Has this all been a ploy that he didn't like what he saw and couldn't be the one to break things off?
At the end of the day, Dave's ideals of what he wants is going to be the downfall of their relationship. The way he has treated her since the pods is truly upsetting. Lauren has given Dave a mile while he's given her nothing. She's provided proof via her friends. He refuses to let her even meet his friends so she can defend herself. Lauren, this is just a sample of how he would treat you. He will be domineering. He will be controlling. He will gaslight you. He will make you feel terrible. Lauren, there are plenty of fish in the sea. David Bettenburg is not the one. Take the power back and dump him!
