Gideon Adlon Knows The Identity Of Becca's Baby's Father In The Society

The Society, out Netflix May 10, is a teen show teeming with unanswered questions. Where are the high-schoolers stranded, and can we also have access to a preppy pocket universe of our own? What’s the source of that mysterious smell? Is the name pronounced CassANdra or CassAHNdra?

We can speculate about all those questions — except one. In the show, a pregnant Becca (an utterly fantastic Gideon Adlon) refuses to reveal the identity of her baby’s father. “I don’t want you to ever ask me that question again,” Becca tearfully tells her best friend, Sam (Sean Berdy), after he asks.

When I asked Adlon about Becca’s baby’s father, she gave me a similar answer – minus the tears. “I don’t know how to answer your question,” she said over the phone, laughing. “I know who the father is, and that is why I’m like, don’t ask me.”

Don't worry: Adlon assures that future storylines will illuminate Becca’s past, should The Society be renewed for another season. “I think [the baby’s father] will be explored in future seasons. There’s constant drama,” Adlon said.

The role of Becca asked a lot of Adlon. For one, she had to learn ALS sign language, practicing between five to seven hours every day. “I took it really seriously — but it was difficult. I cried a lot because I’d get really frustrated with myself when I couldn’t spell a word fast enough. But I’m really proud of my work,” Adlon said.

Adlon also had to carry a young woman through each stage of pregnancy, from discovery all the way up to birth. When The Society begins, Becca’s grappling with the reality that she has to go through with an unplanned pregnancy — that she has no choice. “It’s a fucked up time for her,” Adlon said. “She finds out that she's pregnant when she's in the fucking black hole of an alternate universe."

The months roll by. Other kids have affairs, get in fights, indulge in supervised hedonism. Becca, meanwhile, is marooned in an experience none of her classmates have had. "In my head she’s a billion times more lost than anyone else," Adlon said.

Eventually, Becca gives birth to New Ham's first baby. For the finale's climactic hospital scene, Adlon worked with a birthing coach to make sure the labor pain sounded adequately wrenching. Adlon also did research by speaking to mothers on set – and browsing Instagram.

"I watched a lot of Empowered Birth Project," Adlon said, referring to an Instagram page that shows videos of home births. "It's very graphic for some people, but I think it’s beautiful."

Though Becca glows while holding baby Eden in the finale, Adlon is confident her character would've made a different choice were she still back home — back in her real home, that is.

"Becca would've definitely had an abortion," Adlon said. "When Becca tells Sam, 'I didn't even have a choice about being a mom or not,' that’s her literally saying, 'I would’ve had an abortion if I’d had the chance.'"

While the word "abortion" never comes up in The Society, Adlon hopes Becca's emotional journey prompts audiences to think about the battles for abortion rights being waged in the United States.

Becca may be trapped in an alternate universe, but her situation is not dissimilar to the many American women who live in regions where abortion clinics are few and restrictions are many. The day we spoke, the state of Georgia banned abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur as early as six weeks of pregnancy.

"There’s a lot of women who don’t want to have babies, but they have to because these abortion laws are starting to get really fucked up. Seeing a girl on a Netflix show that has no choice about her pregnancy — I'm excited to see what people are going to say about that," Adlon said.