Season three of Amazon’s Catastrophe, which debuted on Friday, April 28, opened and closed with two strong pro-abortion messages. Catastrophe is a British sitcom that covers the life of Rob (Rob Delaney) and Sharon (Sharon Horgan) who met while on a trip to London. Rob is American and Sharon is Irish, and the two found themselves facing an unplanned pregnancy after a week of “hooking up” in London in the first season.
In this latest season, Rob and Sharon are married with two children and living in London. In episode “3.1,” Rob finds a receipt for the morning after pill and is appalled that Sharon didn’t tell him about the purchase or that she used the pill.
He’s not angered that his child could have been aborted, though, as the morning after pill (also called Plan B), may prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb. After all, Sharon has used the pill many times before, and Rob has even purchased it for her. So, possibly ending the life of his child is no big deal to Rob. Been there done that. His anger stems instead from the fact that Sharon didn’t tell him about the pill this time, leading him to suspect she might have cheated on him.
Sharon tells Rob that she just forgot to tell him and that it wasn’t that important to her. She claimed that as she was strolling through the aisles of the pharmacy, she just happened to remember that he had put a “big load” in her while having sex in public recently. The excuse helps to alleviate some of Rob’s worry, since he did indeed “put a big load” in her (we’re reminded of this several times throughout the episode). But part of him is still concerned she may be lying to him.
As he discusses the issue with his friend Chris (Mark Bonnar), Chris sides with Sharon and tells Rob that he’s making too big of a deal over the whole situation, because purchasing the morning after pill is no different than buying a “tube of hemorrhoid cream,” and that he’d only understand if she’d done something as major as buying “a fucking speedboat without telling you.”
He says it's just a “wee morning after pill.” That makes it sound so much less harmful, doesn’t it? Let’s just ignore that a human being with complete DNA intact may be flushed out of the mother’s womb when she takes the pill. And never mind that the morning after pill is six times stronger than a regular birth control pill and thus may lead to death of both the mother and the child, not to mention the numerous risks associated with the use of the drug.
We learn that Sharon did indeed cheat with a band member at a club while drunk, but she couldn’t remember what happened. So, she decided to play it safe and take the morning after pill just in case. When Sharon finally admits to her drunken night of adultery, she blames Rob for her mistake, saying she was angry at him. But guess who else’s fault it is. President Trump’s, of course. “…it’s a tough time,” Sharon explains to Rob. “There’s a lot of…Brexit, you know, your new president.” He angrily replies, "Don't put that on me!"
So, it was Trump that made her “handle” a stranger’s penis and drink so much that she can’t even remember what happened? So much that she must rely on said stranger to tell her what happened that night and hope he’s being honest? Yes, that makes complete sense! I guess they should rename the lyrics to the song, “Blame It” from “blame it on the alcohol,” to “blame it on the president of a country you don’t even reside in.”
In the final episode, “3.6,” the show closes how it began…devaluing human life. Rob’s friend Dave (Daniel Lapaine), who found out his girlfriend Catherine (Amanda Hale) is pregnant much to his dismay, calls Rob to say that he “might have made a mistake.”
“I want the baby to be happy so I thought the best way to do that would be for it not to be born.” Seriously with this? That’s supposed to be funny? That line makes me cringe, not laugh.
But, hey, give the writers credit for consistency, I suppose.
The one saving grace in episode six is that it was the very last time Carrie Fisher got to show off her amazing acting skills, in the role of Rob’s mother Mia. In fact, Fisher was flying home from filming the scenes in this last episode when she underwent cardiac arrest, which eventually led to her passing.
It’s ironic that a show that experienced the tragic loss of one of its characters can’t see the value in all human life and appreciate how fragile it is. Spare yourself the anti-life garbage and just fast forward to the middle of episode six if you want to see Fisher shine.
