Station19 - Would Carina Deluca have put off wanting a child if Maya Bishop was still Captain?
Ok so my issue with Carina's fear with Maya and her Captaincy is that the following.
If I am being honest Maya has a lot of things going against her in getting her Captaincy back, Carina can not be one also. I am going to say this with all my love for Carina as a character she needs to back Maya's quest for Captaincy without any caveats! No one at all in that firehouse has come out to support Maya. No one has said "damn why is Beckett Captain? Maya Bishop you were great. Sorry we gave you a hard time when you started."
Even a flash between Andy & Maya where Andy acknowledges how hard she made things for Maya to start out with or Maya talking her through the way to affect 23. Just anything point out that Maya was respected as a Captain. I do know Jack tells Maya in 502 that she was still responsible and Maya is shown to require leads in calls but thr is not any acknowledgement from the team (Vic/Travis/Ben) towards Maya. Sullivan gaslights her in 508 & then once again in 509.
- Baby Making Process
So I' am all for a Marina baby "now." I on some level need that fictional emotional support baby.
Having said that would Carina have put off wanting a child if Maya was still Captain? No right.... she would have still pushed for the conversation to happen. Then why is it that if Maya does get reinstated (looks tough coz of the blatant misogyny within the writing and storytelling) does Carina have a fear the baby may not happen? The more I feel about it I understand the irrational fears she has due to her traumatic childhood and abandonment issues as well.
Maya needs to use her words more. Balance stuff out. We as an audience understand Maya's silences/looks/jaw clenches because she has been consistent and and that we have seen her vulnerability and strength at every level. Good times and bad. So now I'd like her to articulate how she sees this baby making process fitting into her go after the Captaincy. If she doesn't that's also a conversation that Carina must be hospitable having. It puts a lot of the onus on Carina but honestly if Maya gives up on trying to get the Captaincy back for this hypothetical baby then she is going to find yourself resenting her family on some level. If Maya doesn't show up for this baby making process she goes to finish up missing out on such a lot of joy and intimate moments with her wife Carina during this process. Which is fair to neither of them.
Now almost every career oriented woman faces these issues that Maya is facing. Though the way the story is being told from a sexist & misogynistic gaze is very frustrating and oh so basic for such complex characters like Maya & Carina.
Side Note: The sperm donor conversation is a very important conversation for same sex couples. Please writers don't reduce it to using Jacks sperm. FFS you may have forgotten that Maya CHEATED on Carina with Jack and made her heart broken into a million pieces. But we the audience have not. So Jack even joking about giving them his sperm is the most ridiculous and inappropriate thing I have heard and watched .
