one thing that has always tugged at my suspension of disbelief in the wilds is how gretchen plans/expects the girls to go back home, given everything that happened to them. Clearly some of their parents think the experiment is something else (e.g. leahs parents think it’s a wilderness retreat) and for all we know some of the parents could know the true nature of the experiment. but assuming none of them know, gretchen can’t let the girls leave and then risk telling their parents about a plane crash and becoming castaways bc they were getting “feedback” from gretchen the whole time about their kid’s progress. so i guess i want to know what your thought on this is, bc i sure as heck don’t even know where to begin
Hello Anon! Thanks for your message!
I do have a few thoughts on this, because it’s also something that’s been on my mind, though I don’t think, in this case, it warrants any suspension of disbelief - I think we deliberately haven’t been told yet what Gretchen plans to do with the families in the aftermath of the experiment. Which is normal: season 1 had already so much going on, they barely alluded to the after, and to the parents’ involvement - giving us just enough crumbs to have questions, not enough to answer them, basically. Here’s where I’m at:
An obvious element of Gretchen’s strategy is manipulation & coercion. She’s demonstrated that she doesn’t really give a fuck about ethics in general, and in season 1, we are given some hints of what that would entail: blackmailing the parents, gaslighting the girls. Faber says it explicitly, after making Leah break down and having her forcefully sedated (NO I’M NOT OVER IT THIS MAN IS EVIL): if the girls feel responsible, they are less likely to incriminate them.
So: Gretchen could try to manipulate the girls into not talking, and the parents into NOT believing the girls’ account, and/or into believing they are equally responsible, because they sent the girls willingly & without their consent. If she has an in with social services, that could especially be a threat: make the parents believe they’d lose custody if they went public, for example.
It all comes down to controlling information & knowledge. Gretchen has to make some of what happened public ; literally the whole purpose of an experiment is to be able to show some results, otherwise it’s useless. But she has to be able to control what is shared to the public, and by whom ; which means she has to control who knows what, and who can be silenced.
I think of it as a series of nested circles. At the center is Gretchen, and the further one is from her focal point, the less one knows and/or is able to speak up. The closest circle is that of her employees, the people she works closely with. Then her supporters and protectors and allies. Then the parents. Then the girls. But as the experiment progresses, obviously the girls are going to learn more and more, and will eventually reunite with their parents, who will also learn more. So Gretchen needs to have some structure in place to ~block the flow of information from getting out of these circles.
Is it all blackmail? Or have the parents signed some sort of ~contract (I don’t know how law works, fair warning), an agreement of non-disclosure, or a document that stipulates they can’t hold Gretchen accountable for any incidents during the retreat? I’m sure her inner circle of minions have similar clauses in their contracts. Maybe she makes the girls sign something - even if it’s not legally binding, what matters is that they believe it is, that they think they’d get in trouble for talking.
In the end, though, it’s about power. What kind of protection does Gretchen have access to? Who is she courting for money and political influence? Does she have enough powerful people on her side that she literally doesn’t have to worry about consequences?
Because it’s not unheard of, that an institution or a group trusted with the care of children end up abusing/hurting them, with absolutely no repercussions. Look at the real world.
But on the other hand, *Toni’s voice*: have you seen how many rich and/or white girls there are on this island? Society will never let them perish.
Like, some girls don’t have families, some have parents who may not have a lot of power, compared to Gretchen’s network. But other parents are well-off, presumably well-connected, and they could have the resources to take on Gretchen if they want to. So Gretchen must be absolutely certain that the balance of power is tipping in her favor. And I assume she’s made sure of it, via all that networking.
Anyway, that’s all I got! I’d love to hear what you, dear Anon, or anyone else, think about this!
