S01.E11: The Calm

[bluebonnet]

Yeah, which is why birth control would be fairly vital.  Fewer people means fewer demands on limited medical supplies.  The idea of progestin being impossible to create on the Ark seems implausible considering the technology already exists and there are master chemists on board and being able to produce it is pretty vital to the survival of the Ark population considering they thought they were the only humans left.  There is still the idea of copper IUD's, with material harvested from defunct parts and supplies throughout the ship.  I think if a viewer struggles with the idea of the sort of safe and effective birth control that was introduced in the 20th century or the sort of bc found in a lot of futuristic/sci-fi media, they are free to turn to the other many forms of birth control that has been used for thousands of years to explain how a technologically advanced population managed to control family size without resorting to absolute control that would limit the ability to have sex outside of the one and only time they are allowed to reproduce.  Family planning is nothing new.  Forms of condoms and diaphragms, spermicide, herbal abortifacients, coitus interruptus, and the rhythymn method are just a sampling of age old ways humans have limited family size.  Of course, none of these ways would be so effective to create a 99.9% effective One Child Policy.  Still, while these methods may help limit the number of pregnancies the Arkteens experience, at least it would offer viewers who desire it the pleasure of watching The 100:Daycare. 

[SonofaBiscuit]

Regarding Lincoln,

I just saw the actor (Ricky Whittle) in an advertisement for Mistresses Season 2. I'm not sure what this means about his future involvement in The 100 since plenty of actors have multiple projects going at the same time. I hope that he's coming back, though.

[Tara Ariano]

Here's Alex's post on the episode!

[Jack Kerouac]

 

Otherwise she might've infected other cellmates with Measles or Under-Floor-Board-Herpes or something!

 

A friend of mine had Under-Floor-Board Herpes. Brutal stuff. Send money.

[FineWashables]

Ok, the analyses on here about birth control for this group of kids are far, far more intelligent than the actual plotlines of this show.  If the writers want to write in a baby on the show, then they will, and they'll ignore the holes this creates in the plot -- may not even throw in a gratuitious line or two about how it could happen.  If they don't want a baby, then they won't put one in.  Again: they might have some dialog about it, or they may not.  Either way, they don't seem that hung up on credibility.  My guess is that if they want to go that route then an Ark girl, probably Olivia, will get pregnant by a Grounder so there can be controversy.  IMHO, adding a baby to a show is always the hallmark of jumping the shark.

[DrLar]

I shouldn't have opened the pregnancy/birth control can of worms!

 

I'm deeply sorry for what I started! (it was me wasn't it?)

 

Well when someone gets preggers, maybe season 2 we'll see

[edra]

I shouldn't have opened the pregnancy/birth control can of worms!

 

I'm deeply sorry for what I started! (it was me wasn't it?)

 

Well when someone gets preggers, maybe season 2 we'll see

No apologies needed. Reading the snarky retorts has me laughing out loud to myself.

Frankly, my money is also on Raven with a Bellamy or Finn - who is the daddy conundrum.

[tricksterson]

Here's a possibility.  What if the Authorities had them de-birth controlled without their knowledge before sending them down because propagating the species and all.  How long have they been down, do we know?

[Dorne]

I hope not. I really hate babies on TV. (Not really crazy about them in real life either, heh. Lucky for me my husband already had two twin boys from a previous relationship and doesn't want anymore kids or we just wouldn't have worked out). I always joke that if I was the last fertile woman on earth and the human race depended on me to survive we would be extinct.
 
Which brings me to the ethics of such a policy of removing the birth control of the kids sent to Earth (without their consent?). Dystopian stories about denying birth control to women so we'd pop out as many kids as possible always creep me out. I mean I get that for most people having kids is part of living a fulfilling life, which is why forced sterilization is also horrible, but a repopulating program in which birth control is denied I think would be reducing woman to reproduction machines.(Though showing the effects of such a policy on women would make for interesting TV and ethical debates, I suppose). Besides, in dangerous environment like Earth on dystopian stories usually are, the lack of medical supplies and such would make giving birth very dangerous to women and protecting and feeding a lot of kids would make life even harder for the community.
 
To be honest the idea of ensuring at all costs that the species survives eludes me. I mean, I'm a humanist and I care about the people that exist now and their suffering. I agree with protecting the environment to protect the future of the kids who live now and the future generations that are going to exist anyway, because that means preventing future human suffering, (as well as the other forms of life on the planet), but that idea of sacrificing so that more humans be produced to assure there are always humans walking on earth I do not get - as opposed to sacrificing yourself to save people who already exist - which I find heroic and altruistic.

The ark policies are extreme, but wasting resources mean hurting (and risking the life of) fellow residents, real people, so I could rationalize the one child policy and the harsh punishments. The people who sacrificed themselves in the culling did so for their loved ones and fellow residents. I can understand Jaha sacrificing himself for those people he was responsible for, so more of them survive, but not for the abstract concept of making sure the race is not extinct. Nor would I understand denying birth control to those who wanted not to reproduce because babies must be produced.
 
Also, were we to be extinct, wouldn't it be better for most other species anyway? Our capacity for destruction is tremendous (pollution, weapons of mass destruction, resources scarcity etc) and in this fictional world we actually almost did destroy the world. I mean, I'm no misanthrope Rusty Cohle or anything that thinks that the human race is bad and should have extinction as a goal or whatever. I wouldn't want to stop anyone from reproducing and saving the species, but I also wouldn't be sacrificing myself or risking my like or being ok with enforcing reproduction. I would care more about the people who were alive then and their well being.
(Ps: English is not my native language so ignore any grammatical errors, please).

Edited May 31, 2014 by Dorne

[shapeshifter]

...but a repopulating program in which birth control is denied I think would be reducing woman to reproduction machines.(Though showing the effects of such a policy on women would make for interesting TV and ethical debates, I suppose)....

...(Ps: English is not my native language so ignore any grammatical errors, please).

Battlestar Galactica had at least one episode that addressed this.

Your English is flawless as far as I can tell, and much better than many who only speak English.

Your whole post shows much more thoughtfulness on the subject than anything we've yet seen on the show.

Hopefully the writers will soon resolve this, perhaps with each of the teens having a 'fertility patch' that they can choose to peel off at any time, but doing so on the Ark could result in airlocking if you do it more than once. The reveal that Octavia and her mother were punished for the violation of the one child policy implies that they did not have a forced sterilization policy, which makes sense if they were hoping to one day go back to the earth's surface and procreate. Also, if a disease wiped out most of the Ark dwellers, they'd want to have the procreation option.

Someone on the Continuum board said there was a brief mention on that show that 60 years in the future women only carried a baby for 9 weeks of the pregnancy. In contrast, likely anything on this show is going to be pretty primitive.

[Dorne]

Your English is flawless as far as I can tell, and much better than many who only speak English.

Your whole post shows much more thoughtfulness on the subject than anything we've yet seen on the show.

 

Aww, thank you so much.

[Izeinwinter]

The most commonly used birth control on earth today is the copper inter uterine device. This is a very small T shape made of medical grade plastic or silver, and wound in copper wire. A smith in ancient greece could mass produce them given one to copy. All it takes is knowing that it works, the training to insert it safely - with proper sterile procedure and the most rudimentary of metal craft. It is almost certainly what the ark uses, because producing hormonal birth control is much, much harder. Heck, good condoms are harder to make. It does make most womens periods somewhat more uncomfortable, but given that the alternative is abstaining or floating.. It would not be nessesary - or wise - for the ark authorities to remove these. If the 100 end up in a situation where they feel comfortable procreating.. Well, removing one is a lot easier than half the things we have already seen Clarke do in the way of medicine. 

 

The scarification counts on the grounders imply very strongly that the 100 are just cursed. Because armies do not rack up killcounts like that, most especially not raw recruits, in skirmishes and straight up battles. If your squire has a handful of deaths to her name, you are making a habit of massacre. That can't be normal, or there would be noone left alive on earth at all, so the hundred must have landed on top of some of the most evil fucks on earth. 

 

The only relationship I care about in any of the love triangles is Raven/Clarke. As long as they dont fall out I am happy. 

Edited May 31, 2014 by Izeinwinter

[patchwork]

The problem for me with something like an IUD is that it makes accidental pregnancies and successful ones very unlikely so women wanting a second child would have to go to someone to get it removed. I can understand finding yourself pregnant and being unable to go through with a termination but making the deliberate choice of a second child despite knowing what a crappy life that child is going to have strikes me as the height of selfishness.   

 

But maybe Mother Blake was that selfish.

[shapeshifter]

Or, @patchwork, the IUD failed to prevent pregnancy and she didn't want to abort?

[Izeinwinter]

Assuming they followed best practice in designing the thing, someone on the ark would get unintentionally pregnant (1250 women, subtract kids, women actively trying to get pregnant and the old.) .. every 2-4th year or so? So that works. 

[tricksterson]

Yeah, myself I think it would have been better if the scars showed how many battles you'd been in rather than how many kills you'd racked up.  It would say "warrior race" without saying psycho killer tribe".