Miranda and Viv have their own lives to live and if they weren't close with Neil then I don't see much reason for them to hang around. Maybe they helped Neil early on but then life got in the way.
Would be very contrived if they somehow didn't know Lynette died or somehow missed that her child survived.
But why would they know? Lynette's parents hate her son, why would they give a shit about her friends? They do not have a legal obligation to tell them anything.
It just seems like a very strange way to write to me. To different people, looking into the same room but being shocked by two different things and this shocking thing is a major cliffhanger and plot point.
Could there be a picture of Lynette in the room? Yes. Is that why the MC is shocked? No. After the emergency is taken care of I would imagine the MC and Bella visiting the room again after she's explained herself and then he sees the picture.
Otherwise you get to major bombs at once without time to fully digest the impact of either.
I agree with your theory on the rest of the room, it's mementos and memories from the past/a nursery.
I'd say they are more shocked of the room as a whole at first and then they focus more on the details which add to the shock. To MC the picture of his mother would overtake everything else while Maya would simply be shocked on general terms.
Why are you so certain that Bella and Lynette knew one another? I know it's a commonish theory I just haven't seen any good explanation for it.
Well there is no evidence of it as such, but there are quite a few points that would be foreshadowing for that revelation.
First there is Bella putting her foot in her mouth with the "Didn't your mother teach you..." Bella knowing Lynette would add a layer of irony to that moment especially if they were close enough that Bella might consider it her duty to teach him such things in Lynette's stead.
Second there is the picture of Maya, Derek and their friend Lynn (note the similarity of the name) (HINT! HINT!) which turned out to have been taken by Josy. Now there is a picture of Lynette, Miranda and Viv. Who will turn out to have taken that picture? Well one of our MGs is in that age group: Bella.
Third while hanging out with her after the double tennis match MC tells Bella about his mother's diary. Bella is very encouraging about him finding out about his mother and offers to listen to him if he needs to talk about it. None of the other four have made such an offer. If such a moment had come and Bella didn't recognise the handwriting or react to the name Lynette it would prove the theory false, but the only two characters who have actually read the diary apart from MC himself are Derek and Zoey. We have been hammered on the head with the "Jill lives in Lynette's old house" detail to the point of being frustrated that MC never looks at the two pictures at the same time and notices they have the same house, but the only MG on whose path the diary itself is even slightly significant is Bella.
Fourth we have the skiing trip. Miranda's and Bianca's likeness has everyone suspecting they are mother and daughter so on Jill's path it's yet another moment bringing MC closer to the "Jill's parents live in the house MC's mother used to live in" revelation. Bella joining the trip is not surprising on Jill's path. What is surprising is getting the event on Bella's path as well. Especially when Jill and Bella have a falling out on Bella's path that needs to be mended for it. And it is not optional. So on Bella's path we get a connection to Bianca who is connected to Miranda who is connected to Lynette. To cement the idea that this event is connected to Lynette MC decides to channel his mom and does a monkey pose in the picture they take.
Lastly while not foreshadowing as such we have the mystery of how Bella and Jill became friends in the first place. But suppose one day Bella felt nostalgic and decided to take a look at the places where she used to hang out with her friends including Lynette's old house. She didn't of course actually plan to enter the property, but she did run to Amelia and felt the need to explain that a friend of hers had once lived in the house. Amelia decided to invite her in and that's how Bella and Jill met. At B&R it became a habit for Jill to confide in Bella and here we are.
Lynette and Neil eloped, they didn't go into witness protection, she could've called or written to them and vice versa. Might be more likely Lyn had a falling out with her friends prior to, or due to eloping with Neil, that would at least explain the radio silence
What motive would her parents have for covering up her death? They disowned her but why would they lie about her being dead. Just to spite Neil who might not even have been close with them? To prevent them from being a part of MC's life, which they might not have been anyway?
Because it's a scandal and they are assholes in the same tier as Dawe, Tybalt, Vinny, Stephen, Caleb etc. etc. etc.
And Neil and Lynette never got married. Pretty sure it doesn't count as eloping unless you do. Nit picking I know, but sometimes these details are significant.
Well I feel like an idiot, I thought bella was like 5 years older lol
You are not the only one who was surprised by that revelation.
