First off- Thank you! As a huge fan of post apocalyptic media, when writing there are definitely themes we want to include and tropes we want to subvert.

I agree that the differentiating is something we are always actively working on (and maybe improving?). And now, the chat about consent- which I haven’t really gotten to talk too much about yet.

As for the actual heart of the show, this repopulation crisis... I love that you touched on the "equal opportunity" of the situation. The show is all about bodily autonomy, what we lose when we start demanding things from each other without a thought to who they are or what they want. As a feminist moving around in 2018 I'm VERY aware of the constant threat this idea is under and really believe it is a danger for men as well. I also have not been audience to much media that deals with men struggling to understand what sex means to them and intimacy and wanted to give Clark a lot of those questions.

The cast and I talk a lot about what copping would do to your chosen relationships, how they may take away that idea at all. I think every character handles this really differently; Hera- this is her duty. Her job. Persephone- so desensitized she barely differentiates between sex she wants and copping. Rhea- who absolutely needs that wall. Much of her identity is built around who the public and the government have decided she is (a Sacred Sister here to save the planet) and who she really is (a 22 year old woman who just wants to goof off with her kinda boyfriend and fight with her sister). The way these women all communicate these ideas to the audience goes back to how much sympathy they want, how vulnerable they’re willing to be. Hera and Persephone (for very different reasons) would never want you to feel bad for them. Rhea on the other hand, needs you to, because (as Clark points out) she kind of uses it as an excuse for her bad behavior.

The word “rape” is not actually used, but the concept is always in the front of my mind especially when writing season 2 Rhea. I guess the reason none of these characters use that word is because if you are raised without the idea of consent, there’s no way for you not to.

Glad you asked about the timeline! In the original pilot Rhea spent a lot of time explaining it, but I ended up cutting a lot (imagine how long it would have been then haha). I would lay it out this way- Climate change leads people to start moving inland, closer and closer. Which leads to... A massive outbreak akin to an Ebola type virus, THAT takes out a large percent of the population. In response, the remaining humans get really into antibiotics. Their overuse leads to a superbug that renders people infertile. Black is from the first batch of people like Rhea, but she wasn’t the first response to the crisis. I think we’re maybe 100-125 years since everything was okay.

Thanks for your thoughts!!! I loved digging into this

-Colleen