Married At First Sight Season 17: Is Orion To Blame For Crumbling Marriage To Lauren?

Lauren and Orion’s marriage issues on Married at First Sight season 17 may be mainly caused by Orion. Viewers watched Lauren and Orion become smitten with one another when they met for the first time at the altar. Lauren was intrigued by Orion’s Native American heritage, and Orion was equally curious to know more about the importance of Black culture in Lauren’s life. They had cute moments together on their wedding night and the morning after before taking off on their honeymoon. However, they have had a lot of turmoil in their new marriage since then.

Lauren made an insensitive “joke” about the term “red skin” that got Orion “heated.” They talked through it and seemed to come to an understanding, but the incident has since spiraled and caused a lot of issues. Moreover, Lauren made Orion uncomfortable when she offered that she had sex two months before getting married. It had been a year and a half for Orion, who let Lauren know sex was “off the table” for him after her recent sexual history reveal. However, there were ways in which Orion could have handled each negative situation that would have brought different reactions and outcomes.

Orion Can’t Let Lauren’s Insensitive Joke Go

Lauren’s insensitive joke and the aftermath (via Lifetime) were deeply negative experiences for both Lauren and Orion. Orion had every right to feel offended and take space to feel what he needed to feel. However, Orion admitted during the latest episode that he couldn’t let what Lauren said go and that the whole incident impacted him on a deeply offensive cultural level. Orion is not giving the unfortunate situation a rest, which is, in turn, inciting Lauren to feel hurt. Lauren has been the instigator in each negative situation, but how Orion has chosen to respond in those moments is damaging.

Orion is taking his issue with the racial remark very far and appears to have blinders on the situation. Giving Lauren the “grace” she is asking for regarding the remark would go a long way in helping them overcome and move past the problem. Orion wants to die on the hill of shaming Lauren and making what she said an enormous deal to the detriment of his marriage. He needs to let it go and reconcile his feelings if he wants to move forward with Lauren.

Orion Is Being Contradictory

Orion has not been clear about his viewpoints and has been contradictory, which has not boded well for him and Lauren. When he got upset about Lauren having sex two months prior, he made it seem like that was the reason why he said that took sex off the table. However, when Lauren approached him about that stance being overly judgemental and negative, Orion backtracked and said he didn’t mean to make it seem like that’s why he didn’t want to have sex with her. That contradiction confused Lauren and made Orion look like he frowned on his wife’s past even though she was entitled to do what she wanted before marriage.

Whether Orion conceded and changed his tune to appease Lauren or whether he truly felt okay with Lauren having had sex recently is still unknown. It seems like he’s harboring resentment from that incident and bringing that despondency into the other situations. With the racial remark, Orion told Lauren he was moving past it but then did a 180 and doubled down on the joke, not being okay at all and actually something he couldn’t get past.

Orion Has Shut Down

What wasn’t filmed was a fight about the racial remark where Orion told Lauren he changed his mind and still had an issue. In the blindside, Lauren said she wanted a divorce, although she regretted saying something that big. The following day, when they were attempting to do damage control with Married at First Sight season 17 expert Pastor Cal, Orion seemed like he had had enough of his new bride and the toll their confrontations had taken on him.

Orion appears to be completely shutting down from the experience and is standing firm on his unwillingness to get past Lauren’s regretful joke. If Orion isn’t willing to open himself back up to positive dialogue, his relationship with Lauren is doomed. Orion initially had a lot of hope and ambitions for what he wanted his marriage to be, and he’s letting these few negative interactions sour the whole relationship. He needs to realize that it is still very early on in the process and that shutting down is not the right move because he could be losing a very compatible partner in Lauren.

Do Lauren & Orion Have A Chance At Coming Back From The Honeymoon?

Orion needs to take a look at how his contradictory behavior is affecting his marriage. Not only is it confusing Lauren, but it’s also causing mounting problems. Lauren has laid out her feelings and feels like she is being overly punished for what she said and that there’s nothing more she can do. The pair needs to work closely with the experts to find out if they are really at an impasse or if they can find a way to move forward without resentment. The experts should mentor them into forgiving one another and give them tools to ensure these kinds of major setbacks don’t continue.

The potential for them to reconcile relies heavily on what Orion decides to do. There is a lot of hurt there, but it seems like it’s more internal for Orion and a personal struggle he’s having with his culture. While Lauren’s comment was reprehensible, Orion is settling into the negative aspects far more than he should if he wants to continue in this marriage.

Lauren and Orion were matched by the Married at First Sight expert panel because they are very compatible on paper. It’s the real-world situations and intricacies that are getting them in this bad spot. If they come back to the reasons why they were matched and forgive each other for the series of unfortunate events, then they’ll have a chance. Many episodes are left this season, and they still need to move in together, so there is a lot of time for them to figure things out.