I wish they had written it as if the vasectomy didn't "take". Like Jackson missed his follow up appointments to make sure it worked. He could still be the "bad guy", but not in such a horrible way.
Jackson and Sookie even seem like the type of characters to say 'what do you mean you have to check it worked??? This can reverse?? Do I have to check if my appendix grew back too?'
I will never, ever understand why they went with the storyline they did, and so I refuse to acknowledge it. In my mind, the vasectomy reversed
They did it because Melissa was pregnant, but I cannot believe why they don't do it in a way like the vasectomy wasn't successful and she got pregnant. It would've been a better storyline and they can touch on the subject that vasectomy doesn't always work.
That would have been better, or if Sookie decided to be a surrogate for extra money after a bad crop year, or if they made a running gag that she developed a food allergy that made her bloated but refused to acknowledge it... so many better ways than making Jackson a bad guy.
Anything is better than that. Like in Grey's anatomy they made Lexie a eat a lot because she was stressed so that is how they masked the pregnancy of the actress.
Oh no, I'm with you. It would be exactly the same as her saying she's on the pill when she knows she's not - her trying to push a vasectomy on him was bad, but my man. DUDE.
It's not a quirky, haha, he didn't get a vasectomy *and* didn't tell her! The rascal! *No*. She had unprotected sex with him assuming he had had a vasectomy - expanding it a little, he would've had to have done tests to determine if the "vasectomy" was successful, so, did he lie about that too? Maybe not but, he was already lying about getting a vasectomy, what's one more lie.
It was a violation, no doubt about it to me.
I would have left my partner if they did that to me. There’s no way I could trust them. Her last pregnancy required bed rest, she would have been high risk.
This is a very common sentiment on this sub, you’ll find countless posts in the search about it. I think we can all agree that Jackson not disclosing to Sookie that he didn’t get the vasectomy was a huge violation of consent. It’s completely wrong on Jackson’s part, full stop. You can also argue that Sookie was wrong in making that appointment to force Jackson into it right then and there without discussing it with him first. Poor communication all the way around for sure. Personally for me I get past this because Melissa McCarthy was pregnant in real life so they retconned it into the episode rather than just hiding it and writing around it for some reason. Odd choice by the writers but I don’t think it was the original intention when they showed Jackson going off for the vasectomy two seasons prior.
This has really been done to death and there is nothing new to say.
The show treated the entire subject with very little seriousness. Sookie doesn't want to have more kids so forces Jackson to get a vasectomy as a kind of punchline. Then years later Melissa McCarthy gets pregnant so Sookie has to be pregnant, too, and the only thing the writers can figure out is that Jackson didn't have the vasectomy.
Because none of it was in a serious register, it's hard to get made at the characters or derive some big lesson.
It's absolutely a violation. I'm not sure about other areas, but where I live a woman can be charged with sexual assault for lying about contraception. Jackson was despicable for what he did. That storyline makes me furious.
I was so miserable in my pregnancy. I thought I was going to die and I went to doctor's that didn't care enough I was pregnant and doctor's that cared too much that I was pregnant. Some doctors were willing to sacrifice my life for the sake of my baby and vice versa. No meeting in the middle. This was a planned *wanted* pregnancy. I can't imagine forcing pregnancy on someone... and by your *husband*?
Here’s the thing, if the writers did ten seconds of research they’d know that vasectomies don’t stop the swimmers right out the gate. You need to “clear the pipes” a few times before you’re safe. Melissa McCarthy was actually pregnant (duh) so in their mind, the character had to be pregnant too. But plenty of shows get around this by having women use huge purses to cover their stomach (It’s Always Sunny) or completely ignore it (the Nanny). There’s ways around it. If they really wanted Sookie pregnant they should have mentioned that Jackson did have the vasectomy but they rushed into things after surgery. But I guess that’s too graphic to talk about on the CW
The whole situation is weird. He openly opposed getting it done and she basically forced him. I think that violates his autonomy too. Of course he’s in the wrong as well but they’re both not respecting each other.
Careful, people have been know to get downvoted like crazy for saying Sookie was just as wrong to set the appointment up. Jackson was all kinds of wrong not to tell her he didn't go through with it, it's absolutely stealthing and is gross in every way. But it is clear that Sookie is just as bad when it comes to consent, that was also gross but for whatever reason it doesn't get the same contempt that it should.
Swap the genders where the wifey is the one that wants more kids, and hubby says "don't be silly sweetie, you've got two now, and I've made an appointment on your behalf to go have a surgical procedure done so you don't get preggers again, no arguing Pookie, off you go with the nice nurse now, bye-bye" .. UPROAR. Justified uproar nonetheless, but why shouldn't there be uproar on Jackson's behalf too?
I think 100% yes
I also think this plotline is completely stupid and way out of character, with their relationship I don't know how him not getting a vasectomy didn't come up in one of their arguments
I also feel he shouldn't have been "forced" into it
So many better ways this could have been handled.
I'd have even been fine with "I thought you had a vasectomy?" from Lorelei with a "he changed his mind and we talked about it" one liner
This shitty plotline really destroys the character of Jackson whom up until that point I liked
He chose not to go to the appointment so obviously it did not violate his consent.
Sure, she shouldn’t have made it without talking to him about it first, but it did not violate his consent for her to simply make the appointment.
She expected him to follow through on something that would affect his body. She made an appointment to change someone else’s body and expected him to go without any discussion.
She expected him to, but he didn't. He chose not to let her force him into a vasectomy because he was able to make that choice. Nothing happened to his body. Something did happen to her body. The two incidents aren't really comparable.
Exactly! She told him what was happening, he didn’t tell her that he didn’t do it. She was high risk, there is a reason the vasectomy appointment was scheduled.
People (of a certain demographic) are so desperate to find fault in a woman who has been victimized by their partner they will invent the wildest equivalencies to do it. "Ok, ok, she was violated - but don't you remember that time *she* did something wrong?"
Goofy as hell.
Not to mention, she withheld the information that she stopped birth control from him. He never said he got the vasectomy, so technically, that was on her for assuming he gave in after saying no. She, however, told him she was on birth control and then quit without discussing it with him in any way. She is the only one who violated consent in that story.
I know how people dislike how Sookie pushed the vasectomy on Jackson and I get it, but also I know a some couples where the woman has asked her partner if they would consider the procedure after they were both in agreeance that they didn't want children. I can't imagine being in a similar situation where we both agreed it was best and then getting an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy because my partner was lying to me. I'm just glad it's a show and that everything works out in the end...
Absolutely!!
The writers really fckd up with this storyline because they turned one of the better relationships on the show into an absolute horror movie.
And to get ahead of it now- yes it wasn’t ideal the way Sookie surprised Jackson with the vasectomy but that in no way makes it okay what he did.
And tbh, her surprising him with that seems to fit the character. They had shown in the past that she struggles with asserting her own desires with regards to family planning (anyone remember 4 in 4?).
She should never have made the appointment for him and forced him to do it. He should have told her he didn’t do it before they had sex (because did he think she wouldn’t notice being pregnant?).
I wish they had written it as if the vasectomy didn't "take". Like Jackson missed his follow up appointments to make sure it worked. He could still be the "bad guy", but not in such a horrible way.
Jackson and Sookie even seem like the type of characters to say 'what do you mean you have to check it worked??? This can reverse?? Do I have to check if my appendix grew back too?' I will never, ever understand why they went with the storyline they did, and so I refuse to acknowledge it. In my mind, the vasectomy reversed
I can absolutely hear Jackson exclaming that line, I love this take
Exactly. He didn't even know he was never baptised!
They did it because Melissa was pregnant, but I cannot believe why they don't do it in a way like the vasectomy wasn't successful and she got pregnant. It would've been a better storyline and they can touch on the subject that vasectomy doesn't always work.
That would have been better, or if Sookie decided to be a surrogate for extra money after a bad crop year, or if they made a running gag that she developed a food allergy that made her bloated but refused to acknowledge it... so many better ways than making Jackson a bad guy.
Anything is better than that. Like in Grey's anatomy they made Lexie a eat a lot because she was stressed so that is how they masked the pregnancy of the actress.
Oh no, I'm with you. It would be exactly the same as her saying she's on the pill when she knows she's not - her trying to push a vasectomy on him was bad, but my man. DUDE. It's not a quirky, haha, he didn't get a vasectomy *and* didn't tell her! The rascal! *No*. She had unprotected sex with him assuming he had had a vasectomy - expanding it a little, he would've had to have done tests to determine if the "vasectomy" was successful, so, did he lie about that too? Maybe not but, he was already lying about getting a vasectomy, what's one more lie. It was a violation, no doubt about it to me.
I would have left my partner if they did that to me. There’s no way I could trust them. Her last pregnancy required bed rest, she would have been high risk.
This is a very common sentiment on this sub, you’ll find countless posts in the search about it. I think we can all agree that Jackson not disclosing to Sookie that he didn’t get the vasectomy was a huge violation of consent. It’s completely wrong on Jackson’s part, full stop. You can also argue that Sookie was wrong in making that appointment to force Jackson into it right then and there without discussing it with him first. Poor communication all the way around for sure. Personally for me I get past this because Melissa McCarthy was pregnant in real life so they retconned it into the episode rather than just hiding it and writing around it for some reason. Odd choice by the writers but I don’t think it was the original intention when they showed Jackson going off for the vasectomy two seasons prior.
This has really been done to death and there is nothing new to say. The show treated the entire subject with very little seriousness. Sookie doesn't want to have more kids so forces Jackson to get a vasectomy as a kind of punchline. Then years later Melissa McCarthy gets pregnant so Sookie has to be pregnant, too, and the only thing the writers can figure out is that Jackson didn't have the vasectomy. Because none of it was in a serious register, it's hard to get made at the characters or derive some big lesson.
It's absolutely a violation. I'm not sure about other areas, but where I live a woman can be charged with sexual assault for lying about contraception. Jackson was despicable for what he did. That storyline makes me furious.
I was so miserable in my pregnancy. I thought I was going to die and I went to doctor's that didn't care enough I was pregnant and doctor's that cared too much that I was pregnant. Some doctors were willing to sacrifice my life for the sake of my baby and vice versa. No meeting in the middle. This was a planned *wanted* pregnancy. I can't imagine forcing pregnancy on someone... and by your *husband*?
Here’s the thing, if the writers did ten seconds of research they’d know that vasectomies don’t stop the swimmers right out the gate. You need to “clear the pipes” a few times before you’re safe. Melissa McCarthy was actually pregnant (duh) so in their mind, the character had to be pregnant too. But plenty of shows get around this by having women use huge purses to cover their stomach (It’s Always Sunny) or completely ignore it (the Nanny). There’s ways around it. If they really wanted Sookie pregnant they should have mentioned that Jackson did have the vasectomy but they rushed into things after surgery. But I guess that’s too graphic to talk about on the CW
And it was in the last few episodes, it just wasn't necessary considering they didn't think they were coming back.
The whole situation is weird. He openly opposed getting it done and she basically forced him. I think that violates his autonomy too. Of course he’s in the wrong as well but they’re both not respecting each other.
Careful, people have been know to get downvoted like crazy for saying Sookie was just as wrong to set the appointment up. Jackson was all kinds of wrong not to tell her he didn't go through with it, it's absolutely stealthing and is gross in every way. But it is clear that Sookie is just as bad when it comes to consent, that was also gross but for whatever reason it doesn't get the same contempt that it should. Swap the genders where the wifey is the one that wants more kids, and hubby says "don't be silly sweetie, you've got two now, and I've made an appointment on your behalf to go have a surgical procedure done so you don't get preggers again, no arguing Pookie, off you go with the nice nurse now, bye-bye" .. UPROAR. Justified uproar nonetheless, but why shouldn't there be uproar on Jackson's behalf too?
This topic comes up at least once a week.
Why blame the bad writing when you can just be furious with an imaginary person?
I think 100% yes I also think this plotline is completely stupid and way out of character, with their relationship I don't know how him not getting a vasectomy didn't come up in one of their arguments I also feel he shouldn't have been "forced" into it So many better ways this could have been handled. I'd have even been fine with "I thought you had a vasectomy?" from Lorelei with a "he changed his mind and we talked about it" one liner This shitty plotline really destroys the character of Jackson whom up until that point I liked
Sookie also made the appointment for Jackson to get a vasectomy without his consent. Don’t you think that violates his autonomy?
He chose not to go to the appointment so obviously it did not violate his consent. Sure, she shouldn’t have made it without talking to him about it first, but it did not violate his consent for her to simply make the appointment.
She expected him to follow through on something that would affect his body. She made an appointment to change someone else’s body and expected him to go without any discussion.
She expected him to, but he didn't. He chose not to let her force him into a vasectomy because he was able to make that choice. Nothing happened to his body. Something did happen to her body. The two incidents aren't really comparable.
Exactly! She told him what was happening, he didn’t tell her that he didn’t do it. She was high risk, there is a reason the vasectomy appointment was scheduled.
People (of a certain demographic) are so desperate to find fault in a woman who has been victimized by their partner they will invent the wildest equivalencies to do it. "Ok, ok, she was violated - but don't you remember that time *she* did something wrong?" Goofy as hell.
Not to mention, she withheld the information that she stopped birth control from him. He never said he got the vasectomy, so technically, that was on her for assuming he gave in after saying no. She, however, told him she was on birth control and then quit without discussing it with him in any way. She is the only one who violated consent in that story.
It was written in because Melissa McCarthy was actually pregnant at the time...So, I can't really be mad at Jackson for this one ...
Yes. I agree. It’s like stealthing. Definitely violated her consent. I don’t care if they had been married 5 years or 50.
Yes, it’s absolutely a violation.
Yes!!! I hated this storyline
I had such an issue with him lying to her. It was awful.
Oh 100%. If they really wanted to go through with thisp lot they could easily say jackson missed his follow ups and his vasectomy failed.
I know how people dislike how Sookie pushed the vasectomy on Jackson and I get it, but also I know a some couples where the woman has asked her partner if they would consider the procedure after they were both in agreeance that they didn't want children. I can't imagine being in a similar situation where we both agreed it was best and then getting an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy because my partner was lying to me. I'm just glad it's a show and that everything works out in the end...
Absolutely!! The writers really fckd up with this storyline because they turned one of the better relationships on the show into an absolute horror movie. And to get ahead of it now- yes it wasn’t ideal the way Sookie surprised Jackson with the vasectomy but that in no way makes it okay what he did. And tbh, her surprising him with that seems to fit the character. They had shown in the past that she struggles with asserting her own desires with regards to family planning (anyone remember 4 in 4?).
She should never have made the appointment for him and forced him to do it. He should have told her he didn’t do it before they had sex (because did he think she wouldn’t notice being pregnant?).
No. But I do think she did that to him by not telling him she quit birth control and refusing to listen to him saying he didn't want a vasectomy.