well i guess he thinks that one life isn't better than another. You can't just say 'i like this person less than the other one, so I'm going to let them die'. And if you look at it big picture- if kai kills jo you have a psychotic, evil guy as leader of a coven. That is a lot more dangerous than Bonnie being in limbo,…

I disagree. He compelled elena because she asked him to, not because he wanted something out of it. TVD treats compulsion normally, but it is actually incredibly screwed up. Damon removed Alaric's decision making abilities- he decided that he knew what was best instead of alaric and instead of trying to convince him…

I don't think stefan ever really killed anyone for FUN, not in the way damon or enzo did. He killed people primarily because he removed his switch or because he's kind of a psycho serial killer with an addiction. But remember they do say that even in his ripper hey-day he would feel so guilty he'd try and piece the…

I agree. I'm watching downtown abbey right now, and I'm reminded of how badly they mangled anna's rape. They made it all about bates instead of anna, they had anna feeling all kinds of shame, it didn't add anything to anna's character and she refused to tell bates because she was afraid that a) he'd kill the guy and…

i think you're definitely right in that the response was very catherine, and that we shouldn't suggest there's one way to handle it happening. I do think that is most circumstances saying 'don't let yourself be a victim' is a problematic thing to say to someone who has just been raped, but obviously, as I, and you,…

I think it's because murder is more… distant maybe? I think most women fear getting raped over getting murdered because I think a lot of people associate with murder with doing something wrong or being extremely unlucky. And rape is such a contentious issue and it has very problematic language associated with it.

Ok, i can't really respond because I have limited experience in this area and I really don't want to insult you, and if I have I am very sorry.

I don't like enzo because he pushes too hard to try and make it seem like stefan is just as horrible as he is because he… hurt caroline's feelings? ok.
Look, stefan is a mass murderer, is self righteous and is a dick. But he has something enzo clearly doesn't have, and that's remorse. He doesn't kill people because…

again i disagree about the sympathy. I'm incredibly sorry you see mellie's rape in this way, but I just don't. I don't think the creators were trying to simply engender sympathy with a villainous character. I think the avclub was much more eloquent in this regards than I can be- the review said 'this is a situation…

I disagree about mellie. I don't think they're using it to excuse bad behaviour at all. I think it informs on mellie's behaviour and character, and crystallises elements of her character we didn't previously know. But then I, and I suspect the writers never viewed mellie as an outright villain where I'm assuming you…

yeah i don't think there's a disconnect- she likes mary now so she cares more. it does remind me how catherine is pretty machiavellian though.
HAPPY NOW?

I forgot Catherine did that. I guess she only cares about rape when it's someone she likes?

I often don't like how rape is used in tv either. I don't mind it when it genuinely adds to the character or world- mellie's rape explained so much that we ALREADY knew about her character, and I'd argue that GOT uses it to enforce how brutal the world is and how unforgiving it is to those who they see as vulnerable.

yeah it's not fun to watch when it's all a blur. that's not the point of the salmon ladder!

can you explain why you're treating everyone who might have had issues with this with such disdain? The episode was called 'girl fight', so you can either be charitable and say they were playing on the idea of girl fights and the whole thing was making fun of it, or you can be cynical and say the title was a symptom…

yep. accusing a sitcom of mishandling assault is the same thing as being MILDLY annoyed that a female driven show chooses to indulge in male- female stereotypes instead of subverting them or having something intelligent to say.

well i disagree with points 1 and 2 and i also don't think that physical fighting is really a much needed catharsis

Exactly. It's all well and good for Barry to get on his high horse but unless he's planning on protecting both cities or has at least faced a threat on the same level maybe he should calm down.

It's always irritating when the naive young superhero complains that the experienced haggard one isn't a paragon of good. Barry try stopping not one but two attempts to destroy your whole city without the benefit of super speed and see how easy it is to remain happy go lucky.

Because they're frat guys. Have you never met a frat guy? They're supposed to be morons but who somehow also get a ridiculous amount of girls. It's not a show problem, it's a real life problem. Basically they're younger joeys