Ben and Lauren Happily Ever After - Discussion - *Sleuthing - Spoilers*

Mozart wrote:Thanks for the update!  I do hope that their love endures and that they are ready to get married.  I believe that Lauren is more than ready, and would like to get pregnant and have a baby as soon as possible.    JMO.

Lauren has pretty much implied a few times that the babies can wait.

nannymargie wrote:

Mozart wrote:I'm a big fan of Ben and Lauren, and I thoroughly enjoy the show, even though I realize that it must be heavily scripted - for Reality TV - in order to insert some "drama" into the narration.

I must apologize that, for the first time, I am behind in my reading of your posts, so if what I say has already been discussed, again I apologize.

I think that Ben's calling off the wedding - and the insertion of a therapist - were scripted.  I believe that in reality, the wedding was not cancelled, and we will be seeing it on TV sometime soon after the series ends - or this spring.  

Adding that darling elderly couple who have been married for 70 years must have been scripted too.
I really enjoyed their participation and their words of wisdom at the end of this episode.

At the conclusion of the two-hour episode, we are greeted to - upon Ben's and Lauren's return to their Denver house - a complete makeover of the house, arranged by Ben for his friends to do the job while the couple was away.
That is impossible in real life.
Ben's friends are not experienced interior decorators.  
All this could not have been done while Ben and Lauren were away.
It is a beautiful decorating job.

I believe that we will hear news of an upcoming TV wedding by the end of the series.    JMO.

I think this show is more scripted and edited than I thought it would be.  After the therapy session they just happen to meet up with this old couple where the old couple said that he was getting cold feet but he was glad that he went thru with it. That seem to me that was put in so that Ben changes his mind before the end and they will still have the TV wedding. (Hope that's the case) Why  else would they put that in there?  Also Ben said he had his friends do the makeover while they were gone but I thought I read somewhere or it could have been and interview they did showing off the place that Joss and Main were the ones that did the makeover.

Yes, the furniture was sponsored by Joss and Main, and Lauren was at home snapping, when they delivered the furniture.

Yes Lauren had said she picked out all the furniture herself from the company's website.

Lennoxcolinrolland wrote:^ That preview did its job for a while! Ratings went up from 298k, but once the "issue" was resolved, went right back down. The highest so far was Chad's epsiode with how many viewers?

Here's the breakdown so far.

umngirl wrote:That's the lowest one yet.

Week 1: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-11-2016.html

Week 2: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-18-2016.html

Week 3: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-10-25-2016.html

Week 4: http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-11-1-2016.html

Week 5 (episode 5 & 6): http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-tuesday-cable-originals-network-finals-11-15-2016.html

Sorry if this has all been talked about, haven't read all of the posts.

This was the second show of this series I watched, and will be the last. I expected it to be scripted, and I think a large majority of it was. To go to a therapist who says a road trip will cure it all, and, viola! a new car. Then to meet an elderly couple in their 90s giving them advice, to the "surprise" new furniture. As it was happening, it seemed like Ben was more excited about the car and furniture than anything else. Like he was trying to make up for disappointing her by buying her. I get the impression with Ben, and in the nicest of ways, it's his way or the highway. I really didn't like how he would answer questions that "they" weren't ready to get married. It wasn't "they", it was him, and he needed to own it. If I was Lauren, I would be worried. If my fiance didn't want to marry me or didn't think he knew me well enough after a year of knowing each other, I would be bothered. If I was Lauren, I would give it a little more time before I said adios. Lauren has made all the sacrifices and Ben is the one calling all the shots.

this girl is so NOT right for him. ***IMO*** She is an entitled pretty girl, not a soul mate. She wants this and that for them, she gave up her job, she moved to Denver...not even noticing her future husband needs her to slow down and let them breathe and get to know each other.  She is probably used to being spoiled by men (knows nothing about him then tells him she knows him better than he knows himself!) how sad for Ben to have such a self oriented girl he's in love with caught up in the dream of marriage and self-entitlement without being his true best friend and partner. she doesn't know what real sacrifice is in love, all she knows is what she wants. *** IMO***

Eeeek. I just saw another clip on IG from last night.

The worst thing Ben said last night has to be when he essentially said when Lauren walks down the aisle, he wants to know that she's his girl or something along the lines of that. Good Lord Ben, how many times are you going to say you don't really know Lauren?!

Ash2214 wrote:Eeeek. I just saw another clip on IG from last night.

The worst thing Ben said last night has to be when he essentially said when Lauren walks down the aisle, he wants to know that she's his girl or something along the lines of that. Good Lord Ben, how many times are you going to say you don't really know Lauren?!

You should actually watch the episode before you get too critical. Everything Ben did was harsh, no doubt. And I feel greatly for Lauren. But the entire episode, in everything Ben said to Lauren in context, there was the tone that Ben loved and cared for Lauren greatly. That's the impression I was left with.

@Mustang19 great post! ITA.

@lynnb I think Lauren is misunderstood. I don't think she is selfish at all. Like AT ALL. She was devastated to have the rug pulled from under her, but she understood. Was calm, rational, patient with Ben. She said she wants to wait until he is ready, not force anything. From my vantage point she's done most of the sacrificing. If anyone is selfish and me-centric in this relationship, it's Ben. I think he's used to being coddled, to getting his way.  He demands constant reassurance, moreso than most people, and even told Lauren so this last episode.

@Ash2214 Probably as many times as he told both of his final two he loved them. When Ben messes up he goes big.

@sosleepy I'm sure there were sweet moments and tones of love, but some of the things I've heard him say were quite harsh and not necessary.

It seems like "he doesn't really know her" is something he continuously says. Essentially saying they've accomplished nothing in their relationship along with essentially saying if she walked down the aisle towards him he wouldn't really know who she was fully is just crazy to me. No need for those blows one right after the other. No matter how sweet and loving he is to her I would be critical of that. JMO

Ash2214 wrote:Eeeek. I just saw another clip on IG from last night.

The worst thing Ben said last night has to be when he essentially said when Lauren walks down the aisle, he wants to know that she's his girl or something along the lines of that. Good Lord Ben, how many times are you going to say you don't really know Lauren?!

I agree with what SoSleepy said in response to your comment, but even without having not actually watched the show, you're spot on IMO. Ben was just drilling "his" priorities, issues, etc. into her. It was sad IMO.

I finally watched. I sort of get where Ben's coming from. They don't seem to have the best communication and I think with his insecurities he's scared of really expressing himself to her in case she doesn't take it so well. It's like he thinks that once they truly get to know each other inside and out, she won't love him anymore and that's why he wants to slow things down. That's the impression I got during the therapy discussion. I think he needs someone who pretty much thinks the sun shines out of his behind in order to feel secure and loved, and Lauren does not act like it. She's often a bit dismissive of him, rolling her eyes at him, acting like she's embarrassed of him, which I can't really blame her for, since he's a dorky man baby, but then again I'm not the one who's supposedly in love with him. What I mean is that Lauren doesn't exactly act like his "biggest fan", which is what he said he wanted. She also doesn't strike me as the easiest person to talk to, since she seems to shut down pretty easily. That's not to say she doesn't love him, she just doesn't stroke Ben's ego the way he might want her to.

Ben, on the other hand, isn't the most empathetic of people, I'm sorry to say. He talks a good talk, but I don't think he fully means what he's saying a lot of the time. He's such an overthinker he can make up these grand speeches in his head, but are his words really 100% genuine or is he just saying what he thinks sounds good? He was acting so relieved and even smiley after telling Lauren the wedding's off, even though she was clearly really upset. Even if it was something he needed to get off his chest, you'd think he'd act more sombre and concerned about Lauren's feelings rather than just happy to get out of something he didn't want to do. He's so wrapped up in his own feelings that he has trouble putting himself in other people's shoes. I also didn't like the fact that he seemed to be trying to bribe Lauren into not being upset with the car and the new furniture, but I doubt he paid for any of it himself anyway, so it was probably all scripted. Then again, if his only attempts to make Lauren happy didn't even come from him, then what does that say?

JMOAA.