Aside from its terribly misguided portrayal of emergency contraception, this Jodie Foster-directed episode delves into a mother-daughter relationship with the sensibilities of a dark Gilmore Girls plot.
In "Arkangel," single mother Marie uses a sketchy app that installs a chip inside her daughter Sara's brain. The app allows Marie to see everything that her daughter sees, filter out graphic images, and monitor various chemical levels. The mother avoids the app for a while but starts spying on her daughter again after worrying about her whereabouts one night. Overwhelmed with paranoia, Marie begins abusing the app and even terminates Sara's pregnancy.
This episode reveals the nefariousness of controlling a young woman's experiences. Showing the dangers of helicopter parenting, it also portrays a flawed, dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, a connection that is rosy and warm in conventional portrayals. Last but not least, it offers a lead female character a sense of agency, though in a rather dark way — by the end of the episode, Sara flees from home after brutally hurting her mother.
