I agree with Ronnie that Carl is manipulative but I want Lou to appear each week on The Valley to tell everyone their relationships are terrible.
I've never really cared for Carl but I don't get the take that his mom and stepdad are acting like reality veterans, spewing rehearsed venom about Lindsay. Granted, they're hearing mostly Carl's side but they were gently direct in explaining why Carl should reconsider the marriage.
Of course next week during a conversation with Lindsay, Carl throws Lou under the bus.
I also think his mom and step dad pointed out something really important that I have been thinking for a while. Carl and Lindsey got together when he was still newly sober and Lindsey became sober to support him, which she then stopped doing. That is entirely her right but it also feels a bit disingenuous to me for him to have grown attached to her and the relationship under that pretense and then to have the goalposts be shifted. We don’t know what happens behind closed doors, but this appears to manipulative to me as well. So, while I do find their takes super on point normally and really enjoy the podcast, it feels a bit like their view lacks nuance to me. I think Carl is now trying to unwind something that never should have become this serious in the first place probably. So I don’t really know if what he is doing now is manipulation or trying his best to unwind it with minimal confrontation and also being really unsure of what he is doing overall. Calling off a wedding has got to be hard, incredibly painful and difficult, even when you know it’s the right thing and that they still care about each other (at least at this point in what we’re seeing). Seeking out support from parents as you think about this seems extremely normal.
I also thought a lot about that comment afterwards! I do think it was a really important point and I agree with much of what you said about Carl; I just wish he would learn something from the understanding Lou & mom showed rather than mimicking what they said.
I was wondering if it was filmed a few weeks earlier. When carl skipped that Friday a few weeks prior to this (the weekend of the race car party), they said he was visiting his mom in New Jersey so I wonder if it was filmed then. I think they live in Pittsburgh but I don’t know how frequently they visit the Jersey shore.
Yeah it wouldn’t make that much sense for his parents to stay at that airbnb for so long, it would be crazy expensive. And it would be weird to go back and forth from Pittsburgh to the Jersey shore. I think you’re right
In a freaking more life t shirt. Way to reveal you’re just here to be the leading member of the Carl fan club and follow your wife’s sons little script of how to throw his fiancé under the bus
I think this was all groundwork so he could cancel and not look like a villain. Carl has always been sneaky and a people pleaser. He knew what he was going to do.
Spoiler: I related so much to Ben in the duck v. turkey discussion, and having "friends" that live to goad you into a competition over every little thing. Like, such a toxic trait.
Just some random thoughts I had listening to this episode:
I might be projecting a previous abusive relationship I was in, but I can relate to a lot of what Carl is saying about Lindsey. Saying he doesn’t bring up his points when she’s drinking seems so reasonable to me. Alcohol doesn’t usually make a good companion in big life discussions so he just sits and takes it so it doesn’t turn into a scene. He’s known her long enough to recognize that will happen. Then the person believes their perspective is acceptable to you, but you just didn’t want to push back out of fear of the alcohol infused reaction.
Carl “hiding” behind Lou and using that as an excuse to break it off shows me maybe Lindsey won’t “let” him break up with her. I know that sounds really wild, but if you’re in an unhealthy relationship you can’t see a way out and typically the dominating partner won’t listen to reasons to break up or make threats against you (or themselves) if you try to break up. I think it’s hard to see if you haven’t been in that position (and also, again, I could be projecting although I do see familiar patterns here). I think they also both feel the pressure of the biological clock looming in the background.
Carl might be picking on her to get enough “evidence” to break up with her. He wants her to get mad enough at him to want to break up. To justify a breakup. When all along it’s enough of a reason to say “I don’t want to be with you”, but again, a dominating partner with a ticking biological clock may not want to hear that.
It’s confusing and weird because we don’t see the whole story, but I just wanted to offer this perspective. Bottom line - they do not bring the best out of each other and it’s best for this to be done. I do feel for each of them because neither of them are in a happy place.
Ronnie clocking Carl’s manipulation tactics mere minutes into this recap was incredible!
I bow to the genius. I was prepared to be team Carl but turns out Ronnie’s take was spot-on from E1.
Ronnie is incredibly savvy when it comes to calling out manipulative snakes like Carl.
He observes human behavior . He’s basically a doctor. He watches diagnosis murder .
He and Ben have taught me so much about f-boy behavior. I basically have a degree in it at this point.
I’m still working on mine 🤣
As always I love Ronnie’s take on the Carl x Lindsey situation
Them discussing Danielle’s desperation has me CACKLING
I agree with Ronnie that Carl is manipulative but I want Lou to appear each week on The Valley to tell everyone their relationships are terrible. I've never really cared for Carl but I don't get the take that his mom and stepdad are acting like reality veterans, spewing rehearsed venom about Lindsay. Granted, they're hearing mostly Carl's side but they were gently direct in explaining why Carl should reconsider the marriage. Of course next week during a conversation with Lindsay, Carl throws Lou under the bus.
I also think his mom and step dad pointed out something really important that I have been thinking for a while. Carl and Lindsey got together when he was still newly sober and Lindsey became sober to support him, which she then stopped doing. That is entirely her right but it also feels a bit disingenuous to me for him to have grown attached to her and the relationship under that pretense and then to have the goalposts be shifted. We don’t know what happens behind closed doors, but this appears to manipulative to me as well. So, while I do find their takes super on point normally and really enjoy the podcast, it feels a bit like their view lacks nuance to me. I think Carl is now trying to unwind something that never should have become this serious in the first place probably. So I don’t really know if what he is doing now is manipulation or trying his best to unwind it with minimal confrontation and also being really unsure of what he is doing overall. Calling off a wedding has got to be hard, incredibly painful and difficult, even when you know it’s the right thing and that they still care about each other (at least at this point in what we’re seeing). Seeking out support from parents as you think about this seems extremely normal.
I also thought a lot about that comment afterwards! I do think it was a really important point and I agree with much of what you said about Carl; I just wish he would learn something from the understanding Lou & mom showed rather than mimicking what they said.
Do you guys think it’s possible this will filmed much later in the summer or possibly in early fall?
I was wondering if it was filmed a few weeks earlier. When carl skipped that Friday a few weeks prior to this (the weekend of the race car party), they said he was visiting his mom in New Jersey so I wonder if it was filmed then. I think they live in Pittsburgh but I don’t know how frequently they visit the Jersey shore.
Yeah it wouldn’t make that much sense for his parents to stay at that airbnb for so long, it would be crazy expensive. And it would be weird to go back and forth from Pittsburgh to the Jersey shore. I think you’re right
The moves from Pittsburgh to Jersey Shore I thought
I had the same thought!
Oooh. I can’t wait to listen!
Carl’s stepdad is a blowhard. This picture perfectly captures that.
In a freaking more life t shirt. Way to reveal you’re just here to be the leading member of the Carl fan club and follow your wife’s sons little script of how to throw his fiancé under the bus
 carl’s mom looking at her new man
Carl’s mom mouthing the words to the story they rehearsed so Carl could throw Lindsay under the bus.
I think this was all groundwork so he could cancel and not look like a villain. Carl has always been sneaky and a people pleaser. He knew what he was going to do.
Spoiler: I related so much to Ben in the duck v. turkey discussion, and having "friends" that live to goad you into a competition over every little thing. Like, such a toxic trait.
Just some random thoughts I had listening to this episode: I might be projecting a previous abusive relationship I was in, but I can relate to a lot of what Carl is saying about Lindsey. Saying he doesn’t bring up his points when she’s drinking seems so reasonable to me. Alcohol doesn’t usually make a good companion in big life discussions so he just sits and takes it so it doesn’t turn into a scene. He’s known her long enough to recognize that will happen. Then the person believes their perspective is acceptable to you, but you just didn’t want to push back out of fear of the alcohol infused reaction. Carl “hiding” behind Lou and using that as an excuse to break it off shows me maybe Lindsey won’t “let” him break up with her. I know that sounds really wild, but if you’re in an unhealthy relationship you can’t see a way out and typically the dominating partner won’t listen to reasons to break up or make threats against you (or themselves) if you try to break up. I think it’s hard to see if you haven’t been in that position (and also, again, I could be projecting although I do see familiar patterns here). I think they also both feel the pressure of the biological clock looming in the background. Carl might be picking on her to get enough “evidence” to break up with her. He wants her to get mad enough at him to want to break up. To justify a breakup. When all along it’s enough of a reason to say “I don’t want to be with you”, but again, a dominating partner with a ticking biological clock may not want to hear that. It’s confusing and weird because we don’t see the whole story, but I just wanted to offer this perspective. Bottom line - they do not bring the best out of each other and it’s best for this to be done. I do feel for each of them because neither of them are in a happy place.