Review: Ctrl Alt Delete Is An Emmy-Nominated Pro-Choice Comedy Web Series

Mission Abortion

By Ghia Vitale

Ctrl Alt Delete is a pro-choice comedy web series. This series takes a serious topic like abortion and spins it into an entertaining, quirky perspective. New episodes are being released this month (May). Both seasons of the series are totally worth checking out.

Ctrl Alt Delete bills itself as a pro-choice web series. Roni Geva and Margaret Katch created, wrote, and directed this series. Geva and Katch both have extensive experience with acting, directing, and writing, a fact that this series reflects well. The behind-the-scenes crew who worked on this series was made up entirely of women. Season 1 is completely available to watch, but the episodes in season 2 are still being released. The first 2 episodes of season 2 were released on May 8, 2019. On May 15, May 22, and May 29 in 2019, 2 more episodes from season 2 will be released.

Creating media related to abortion isn’t an easy task. Abortion is a subject that stirs up controversy and strong feelings in many people. Ctrl Alt Delete handles the subject wonderfully. They don’t make jokes at the expense of the women getting the abortions. The jokes don’t minimize, stereotype, or ridicule the women. As you might guess, this series is also sex positive. I’m glad to say the creators exhibited some degree of sensitivity when executing the humor in this series. This series has serious moments, but other moments are peppered with humor and wit.

A lot of scenes in this series take place in an abortion clinic. Unlike Shrill, there are no scenes portraying an actual abortion. However, the scenes follow how the characters cope before and after their abortions. Overall, I think this web series does a good job of portraying how many different kinds of individuals get abortions and a plethora of reasons why they do it.

The characters in this web series are interesting and entertaining. For instance, Ed Begley Jr. plays Dr. Rosenblatt, a doctor who cracks jokes to his patience before he performs their procedures. Alice Lee plays Jess, a paranoid clinic worker. However, my favorite character in this web series is Lorna. Naomi Grossman plays Lorna. You might recognize Grossman from her roles as Pepper and Samantha Crowe in American Horror Story. Lorna is, by her own admission, someone who comes to the abortion clinic often. Her offbeat comments and humor make me glad she’s a recurring character. In fact, Grossman was nominated for an Emmy Award because of this role.

Still, I would enjoy seeing a better look at Lorna’s life in upcoming episodes. I’d love to know more about her life.

Kate Duffy plays Ellen, a woman who supports the Zero Population Growth movement. If you don’t know what that is, I don’t blame you. I just found out about it when I watched this web series. The ZPG movement supports environmentalism and reproductive rights. According to the ZPG movement, overpopulation is a threat to the environment. People in the ZPG movement fear overpopulation because they think the world doesn’t have enough resources to accommodate this population growth. Many think overpopulation will result in more resource scarcity and perhaps even global destruction.

Here's what HowStuffWorks says about the movement: “The central tenet of the zero population growth movement is not that humans should stop having babies. Rather, we should stop having more babies than we want. When women have control over their fertility – through education, contraception and improved women's rights – birth rates inevitably go down.”

Honestly, this series sheds a light on abortion you won’t find elsewhere.

What are you waiting for? Watch Ctrl Alt Delete, including the new episodes that are coming out. For more information, visit Ctrl Alt Delete’s official page. For more updates, follow the series on Twitter and Instagram.

Remember: Your body is your business. You deserve body autonomy and reproductive rights.