The Vampire Diaries 2.09 "Katerina" Drive-by Thoughts
Quick Drive-by Comments on "Katerina"
Finally got a chance to see this episode. I watched it about twice before I really got into it. And, in a word, I'm relieved that we're having episodes like this. Really, I feel like sometimes we (viewers) have unrealistic expectations. We expected mind-boggling surprises, at least three per episode every week. I always knew that that sort of thing was unsustainable --- even though they did hold up for the first seven or so episodes this season. Just thinking back to "Plan B", I'm sure I was found sitting in front of my laptop, slack-mouthed and drooling from the shock of what was going on. But that kind of stuff can happen at the expense of organic narrative and coherence, and character development so I'm glad that things are tapering down slightly. There are flaws in the storytelling, the preponderance of exposition scenes; the overly-complex information and mythology dumps; the introduction of a spate of new characters in one jolly go --- but I think we're getting a chance to learn some interesting things, to delve deeper into certain characters and relationships, and all of this is thoroughly necessary and hopefully setting up for something big.
++ I really enjoy Nina Dobrev as Katherine/Katerina. Elena as a character often frustrates me. I think I already got talked off the ledge by Alta on that front with endless back-and-forth on exactly why Elena is such a singularly frustrating character so I'm not going to get into it now. Nina Dobrev is 100 times more expressive and nuanced as Kat than she is as Elena, to my mind. And I don't even dislike Elena -- there are times when I absolutely adore her, and this episode was one of those where I felt everything across the spectrum.
Despite the dubious, likely anachronistic birthing practices used in that opening scene, it was rather poignant and I like the sound of her voice in Bulgarian -- it's deeper, less breathy and whispery.
I love that Kat was so human even then --- she's never been a saint, and she doesn't pretend to be one. I've always thought that people who are cruel, who hurt others have been deeply hurt themselves, broken. That first scene was kind of the narrative of Kat's existence in one microcosmic moment: she has been hurt; people have taken from her, her own child was taken from her, her family and it's molded who she is as a person.
I love though, that she isn't entirely a victim. Even when she had her back against the wall, she took steps, she had agency, she grasped whatever power she could get even in that constrained space --- she learned to SURVIVE. It was interesting to see her and Elena in stark relief like that in the tomb, mirror images of each other. Elena has that same instinct, I think. When she's backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive (her coming to Kat was an example of it). She whines about it a whole lot more (head shake), and her "Woe is me! It's all my fault! It's all about me!" refrain can get tiresome but I like that she has that will to survive and I'm sure we'll see more of it, hopefully w/o the aforementioned hullabaloo (I suppose it's one of her more realistic human and 'teenager-y' traits too, so whatever).
"Better you die, than I." The repetition of that was kind of chilling. I keep wanting to write an Elena fic where she becomes the inevitable, where she becomes a creature who can utter those words so baldly. I'm sure it's been done but whatever.
+++I felt for Elena. I did. She can't blame anyone else anymore, she's right. It's kind of all on her doppelgangerness, at least the Originals part of thing, and that's not even her own damn fault. So it's not really on her, but you get what I mean. Her breakdown scene was SO important because I think she's been stretching, and stretching to the breaking point this entire season and it was painful to watch her on the porch; to see her fall apart in Stefan's arms.
At the same time, I'm irritated that it's now practically canon that the entire world revolves around her, you know? I have this sketch of an essay about how Elena renders meaning to everything and every character on this show, on a canon level, on a META level, on a mythos-universe level as the doppelganger, on every level. And how in some ways, Elena embodies so many characteristics and so many things all at once that she herself is rendered meaningless as a character. Whatever, it's bare bones and will never be written. The Elena Syndrome is a bothersome element of the show to me, especially when we have episodes like "Rose" where twenty characters will pop onto the screen and say: "It's Elena", "For Elena" like drones. I get it, that's the premise of the show, it was from the get-go, but I kind of wish it wasn't. And it sucks for her, poor bb. Just saying.
+++I'm glad she decided to go see Kat. She also lied to Stefan. Interesting. We already know what she's willing to do to survive, that she doesn't take things lying down. Caroline was adorable in her scenes. Her and Stefan are always fun and just heartwarming. There's something about Stefan genuinely smiling with someone that makes me happy. Hopefully, the show will continue to cultivate relationships and links between characters outside of Elena. Another thing I whined about with Alta is how the show has shoved that to the back-burner, particularly with Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie --- but I think that will come to the fore a bit more. I hope so.
++Stefan was there, as always as a shoulder to cry on, I like that about them --- he understands her in so many ways, and even when he doesn't, he's so solid and strong when he needs to be. This might be 'boring' for some people but this relationship can be wonderful to watch just for sheer sanity. I did wonder about why he was so adamant about Katherine being a liar. Alta pointed out that he came off looking like he had serious unresolved issues, which he does. Ultimately, Stefan has always had two burning traits to me: i) his sometimes egregiously useless ability to read people, their motives, the truth behind their motives; ii) his idealism even in the face of everything he's been through and seen, he retains a sense of romanticism about things, a belief that he can conquer things through sheer force of will and love, and a firm desire to protect that and those around him from disillusionment. That's a hundred things I just pointed out, lol.
There's a look Elena gives him in that cave scene, when he's assuring her that everything will be all right and that she doesn't have to listen to a word Kat says that was really powerful. It was like, for a split second, she was the older one, she was the person who'd seen it all, aged beyond belief just from the revelations that her whole life was basically going to shit. He's the protector, that's his thing --- but in that instant it felt like he couldn't protect her from a damn thing and that he'd die trying, and she knew it, and it was kind of scary to me.
+++The end scene with the dubious Petrova history book (dodgy because of the remarkable printing) was humanizing for Katherine. The whole episode was really, because we can all understand the basic instinct to survive. We hide behind morals, ideologies, romantic illusions and emotions but at the end of the day it's what drives all of us, it's what makes us so terribly human.
+++One note though: that song at the end was wretched. So distracting. The musical director has made horrible choices like this before, namely, "Fool Mr Once", where the grief that Damon and Bonnie were feeling respectively for the century-old deception and Grams was obscured by the wailing voice of Leona Lewis. In this episode, the endless and painfully loud caterwauling made me want to pluck my eardrums out with a fork. Horrible.
++So I might be the only one in the world who thinks this but I loved Luka/Bonnie. Why? Really it comes down to one moment, literally four seconds of screen time when Luka does his salt-floating mojo because brief as that moment was, it was a direct reflection of Bonnie's revelation of her heritage to Elena way back in season one. Obviously it didn't have the same emotional impact or significance but there was something about the symmetry that struck me, and the hurried manner in which Luka revealed himself. We can't take Luka at face value. In fact, there's no doubt that he is there under false pretenses and has ulterior motives for being in Mystic Falls, just as his father is and does. So having an echo of that amazing feather scene (in my top five EVER on this show) ---- a moment of profound honesty between two friends, of complete and utter trust and a total lack of duplicity, of Bonnie being vulnerable with Elena and sharing a part of herself she hadn't shared with anyone but her grandmother and Elena accepting her ---- was ironic and a little ominous to me. This was a shadow of that moment, a dim reflection, lesser, diminished somehow --- and poetic because of that. Who knows if Luka will prove to be truly villainous, I have a feeling that he won't in the end.
Another reason I'm cool with it all is that Bonnie's fascination with Luka in that last scene was symptomatic of her loneliness. I can just imagine her grilling the guy about all things magical --- someone needs to fic that conversation one day. I didn't feel sorry for Jeremy, even though a good portion of the fandom is already baying for Bonnie's blood for putting that kicked-dog expression on his face (he looks like that 90% of the time though so...). Why? Because I empathize completely with her need to connect with someone who might - just might understand what it means to be a witch. She needs that and you can see how thirsty she is for that connection in her posture, her singular focus on the guy. Also, she doesn't owe Jeremy, her friend, anything at this stage so people should stop acting like they put a down payment on a house or something. They went to play pool, as friends, nothing more. Move on. Thanks.
+++Jeremy's good at pool and wears plaid. I like the easy joshing between him and Bonnie, there's an ease. I have no doubt that neither of them is sitting about writing love poetry, or thinking romantically about the other. It's too early for that. I said on a forum once that if and when they do fall for each other, it'll hit Jeremy by surprise. And it will knock Bonnie out cold. I'm willing to see how that unfolds. Also. I SHIP IT. OKAY. Did you see the preview???
++I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Rose and Damon as fuck-buddies. Their chemistry fell flat for me even though it was okay at the beginning of the episode. I love Rose just for threatening Damon and showing him who's who on the totem pole, he might have his daywalker ring but she could kick his ass every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Honestly, why does he do this every single time with female vampires who are smarter, more powerful, older than he is? It makes him look dafter than he is. And please, Ian, I love you but the crazy eyes of crazy need to stop. Alta pointed out that he was making mad eyes at the fire... normally, if one saw a person doing that in a room by themselves, you'd put them in an asylum. Just saying.
The episode was full of mirroring and there was a little of that with these two. Both of them love and care too much. Look where Rose's caring got her? Trevor was a douche, to be honest and whatever the nature of their relationship was, I was disgusted that he was willing to jeopardize her existence, to put her at the mercy of Santa Klaus because he was 'in love' with Katherine. Damon is apparently in danger of caring too much, and thinks that he can hide behind the switch to end his pain. But, there's the rub. He can't, at least not for long.The revelation of the 'vampire switch' certainly adds a new layer to things.
"Caring gets you dead."
It was only fitting that they got it on in the end but there was an emptiness to it. A necessary emptiness, I'd think, from the conversation they were having to begin with. It wasn't even two lonely people seeking solace in each other, it just... was. There's something sad about that to me, and also stultifying, and also numbing. They switched off their emotions, and it meant nothing. I guess that was the point.
+++What is it about Katherine anyways? She's a femme fatale of the highest order because everyone and their mother falls for her. Elena seems to have the same ability. I'm convinced it's secret doppelganger pheromones that draw people, men and women, human and supernatural to them; and often to their peril (sort of how Lana Lang was the catnip of all meteor freaks except this is much more bearable). There must be a reason beyond natural charm that makes it so nearly every person who crosses their path falls under a spell of infatuation or dangerous, hopelessly devoted, violent, unstable, unbearably selfish obsession love, or is instantly protective. Maybe I'm just cynical that way.
++The mythology of this universe is bizarre. Often downright stupid. dull and/or incomprehensible. And marginally interesting when I can blink myself awake in the interminable exposition scenes. I just. So the Aztecs/Mayans somehow, 600 years ago, cursed Petrova blood and created the doppelganger of the Petrova line in order to make and break the curse? Truly? You also need a wolf, a vamp, and a witch to break said curse. The Originals can compel other vampires. Santa is the head Original or the oldest of the lot, and he's mean as hell and needs a doppelganger so that vampires will be able to walk in the day (even though he probably can do that already and they could probably just commission a score of witches to make rings in a sweat shop or something) so they can... what? Take over the world? Laugh at the five werewolves that actually still exist? Make all humans vampires and lose all their food supply? Enact a plan like the Master's from Buffy with human blood factories across the globe? Make hell on earth (never seen the allure of that)? Just what is the point of it all, one wonders....I guess we'll learn his nefarious plot when he finally shows up along with seven other signs of the Apocalypse because he seems to be evil incarnate or something.
++Intrigued by Jonas and the nature of his relationship with Elijah. We've seen this play out before, witches in master-servant relationships with vampires. I've already discussed this elsewhere. Once again, I'm left wondering, along with the rest of the audience, if race should be a factor in my reading here, if the show is trying to say something. Anything. I'm not sure what to make of Elijah/Jonas though --- Jonas did question Elijah's decision to kill the cute vampire nerd but it's too early to determine the exact nature of their dynamic. Also, show has taken to killing off random male vampires, or random men in every episode this season --- tipping the scales of balance, I suppose. But I will never forgive them for Pearl. Or Lexi. Or Anna. Or Grams. So, yeah, it's not working :), sorry.
++I must say, please can people stop being so 'disturbed' by the fact that the witches to whom we've been introduced happen to be 'of color'. If all the witches we'd seen were white, rest assured, hardly anyone would complain. In fact, half the gang of complainers would be rejoicing that it was a new version of "Charmed" where pretty much all the witches were Caucasian. It's the nature of vampire-witch relations on the show that I find problematic and fascinating; and when I view them through the lens of race (and how can I NOT), and history, particularly US slavery/Civil War history which is such a key part of the MF Founding Family lore... it becomes even more questionable and eminently worthy of taking a second look. But at the end of the day, as much as it's exciting to see POCs having such impactful roles, having roles at all on a show on the damn CW --- I couldn't care less if the witches were bright green with pink eyes.
Finally got a chance to see this episode. I watched it about twice before I really got into it. And, in a word, I'm relieved that we're having episodes like this. Really, I feel like sometimes we (viewers) have unrealistic expectations. We expected mind-boggling surprises, at least three per episode every week. I always knew that that sort of thing was unsustainable --- even though they did hold up for the first seven or so episodes this season. Just thinking back to "Plan B", I'm sure I was found sitting in front of my laptop, slack-mouthed and drooling from the shock of what was going on. But that kind of stuff can happen at the expense of organic narrative and coherence, and character development so I'm glad that things are tapering down slightly. There are flaws in the storytelling, the preponderance of exposition scenes; the overly-complex information and mythology dumps; the introduction of a spate of new characters in one jolly go --- but I think we're getting a chance to learn some interesting things, to delve deeper into certain characters and relationships, and all of this is thoroughly necessary and hopefully setting up for something big.
++ I really enjoy Nina Dobrev as Katherine/Katerina. Elena as a character often frustrates me. I think I already got talked off the ledge by Alta on that front with endless back-and-forth on exactly why Elena is such a singularly frustrating character so I'm not going to get into it now. Nina Dobrev is 100 times more expressive and nuanced as Kat than she is as Elena, to my mind. And I don't even dislike Elena -- there are times when I absolutely adore her, and this episode was one of those where I felt everything across the spectrum.
Despite the dubious, likely anachronistic birthing practices used in that opening scene, it was rather poignant and I like the sound of her voice in Bulgarian -- it's deeper, less breathy and whispery.
I love that Kat was so human even then --- she's never been a saint, and she doesn't pretend to be one. I've always thought that people who are cruel, who hurt others have been deeply hurt themselves, broken. That first scene was kind of the narrative of Kat's existence in one microcosmic moment: she has been hurt; people have taken from her, her own child was taken from her, her family and it's molded who she is as a person.
I love though, that she isn't entirely a victim. Even when she had her back against the wall, she took steps, she had agency, she grasped whatever power she could get even in that constrained space --- she learned to SURVIVE. It was interesting to see her and Elena in stark relief like that in the tomb, mirror images of each other. Elena has that same instinct, I think. When she's backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive (her coming to Kat was an example of it). She whines about it a whole lot more (head shake), and her "Woe is me! It's all my fault! It's all about me!" refrain can get tiresome but I like that she has that will to survive and I'm sure we'll see more of it, hopefully w/o the aforementioned hullabaloo (I suppose it's one of her more realistic human and 'teenager-y' traits too, so whatever).
"Better you die, than I." The repetition of that was kind of chilling. I keep wanting to write an Elena fic where she becomes the inevitable, where she becomes a creature who can utter those words so baldly. I'm sure it's been done but whatever.
+++I felt for Elena. I did. She can't blame anyone else anymore, she's right. It's kind of all on her doppelgangerness, at least the Originals part of thing, and that's not even her own damn fault. So it's not really on her, but you get what I mean. Her breakdown scene was SO important because I think she's been stretching, and stretching to the breaking point this entire season and it was painful to watch her on the porch; to see her fall apart in Stefan's arms.
At the same time, I'm irritated that it's now practically canon that the entire world revolves around her, you know? I have this sketch of an essay about how Elena renders meaning to everything and every character on this show, on a canon level, on a META level, on a mythos-universe level as the doppelganger, on every level. And how in some ways, Elena embodies so many characteristics and so many things all at once that she herself is rendered meaningless as a character. Whatever, it's bare bones and will never be written. The Elena Syndrome is a bothersome element of the show to me, especially when we have episodes like "Rose" where twenty characters will pop onto the screen and say: "It's Elena", "For Elena" like drones. I get it, that's the premise of the show, it was from the get-go, but I kind of wish it wasn't. And it sucks for her, poor bb. Just saying.
+++I'm glad she decided to go see Kat. She also lied to Stefan. Interesting. We already know what she's willing to do to survive, that she doesn't take things lying down. Caroline was adorable in her scenes. Her and Stefan are always fun and just heartwarming. There's something about Stefan genuinely smiling with someone that makes me happy. Hopefully, the show will continue to cultivate relationships and links between characters outside of Elena. Another thing I whined about with Alta is how the show has shoved that to the back-burner, particularly with Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie --- but I think that will come to the fore a bit more. I hope so.
++Stefan was there, as always as a shoulder to cry on, I like that about them --- he understands her in so many ways, and even when he doesn't, he's so solid and strong when he needs to be. This might be 'boring' for some people but this relationship can be wonderful to watch just for sheer sanity. I did wonder about why he was so adamant about Katherine being a liar. Alta pointed out that he came off looking like he had serious unresolved issues, which he does. Ultimately, Stefan has always had two burning traits to me: i) his sometimes egregiously useless ability to read people, their motives, the truth behind their motives; ii) his idealism even in the face of everything he's been through and seen, he retains a sense of romanticism about things, a belief that he can conquer things through sheer force of will and love, and a firm desire to protect that and those around him from disillusionment. That's a hundred things I just pointed out, lol.
There's a look Elena gives him in that cave scene, when he's assuring her that everything will be all right and that she doesn't have to listen to a word Kat says that was really powerful. It was like, for a split second, she was the older one, she was the person who'd seen it all, aged beyond belief just from the revelations that her whole life was basically going to shit. He's the protector, that's his thing --- but in that instant it felt like he couldn't protect her from a damn thing and that he'd die trying, and she knew it, and it was kind of scary to me.
+++The end scene with the dubious Petrova history book (dodgy because of the remarkable printing) was humanizing for Katherine. The whole episode was really, because we can all understand the basic instinct to survive. We hide behind morals, ideologies, romantic illusions and emotions but at the end of the day it's what drives all of us, it's what makes us so terribly human.
+++One note though: that song at the end was wretched. So distracting. The musical director has made horrible choices like this before, namely, "Fool Mr Once", where the grief that Damon and Bonnie were feeling respectively for the century-old deception and Grams was obscured by the wailing voice of Leona Lewis. In this episode, the endless and painfully loud caterwauling made me want to pluck my eardrums out with a fork. Horrible.
++So I might be the only one in the world who thinks this but I loved Luka/Bonnie. Why? Really it comes down to one moment, literally four seconds of screen time when Luka does his salt-floating mojo because brief as that moment was, it was a direct reflection of Bonnie's revelation of her heritage to Elena way back in season one. Obviously it didn't have the same emotional impact or significance but there was something about the symmetry that struck me, and the hurried manner in which Luka revealed himself. We can't take Luka at face value. In fact, there's no doubt that he is there under false pretenses and has ulterior motives for being in Mystic Falls, just as his father is and does. So having an echo of that amazing feather scene (in my top five EVER on this show) ---- a moment of profound honesty between two friends, of complete and utter trust and a total lack of duplicity, of Bonnie being vulnerable with Elena and sharing a part of herself she hadn't shared with anyone but her grandmother and Elena accepting her ---- was ironic and a little ominous to me. This was a shadow of that moment, a dim reflection, lesser, diminished somehow --- and poetic because of that. Who knows if Luka will prove to be truly villainous, I have a feeling that he won't in the end.
Another reason I'm cool with it all is that Bonnie's fascination with Luka in that last scene was symptomatic of her loneliness. I can just imagine her grilling the guy about all things magical --- someone needs to fic that conversation one day. I didn't feel sorry for Jeremy, even though a good portion of the fandom is already baying for Bonnie's blood for putting that kicked-dog expression on his face (he looks like that 90% of the time though so...). Why? Because I empathize completely with her need to connect with someone who might - just might understand what it means to be a witch. She needs that and you can see how thirsty she is for that connection in her posture, her singular focus on the guy. Also, she doesn't owe Jeremy, her friend, anything at this stage so people should stop acting like they put a down payment on a house or something. They went to play pool, as friends, nothing more. Move on. Thanks.
+++Jeremy's good at pool and wears plaid. I like the easy joshing between him and Bonnie, there's an ease. I have no doubt that neither of them is sitting about writing love poetry, or thinking romantically about the other. It's too early for that. I said on a forum once that if and when they do fall for each other, it'll hit Jeremy by surprise. And it will knock Bonnie out cold. I'm willing to see how that unfolds. Also. I SHIP IT. OKAY. Did you see the preview???
++I was thoroughly underwhelmed by Rose and Damon as fuck-buddies. Their chemistry fell flat for me even though it was okay at the beginning of the episode. I love Rose just for threatening Damon and showing him who's who on the totem pole, he might have his daywalker ring but she could kick his ass every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Honestly, why does he do this every single time with female vampires who are smarter, more powerful, older than he is? It makes him look dafter than he is. And please, Ian, I love you but the crazy eyes of crazy need to stop. Alta pointed out that he was making mad eyes at the fire... normally, if one saw a person doing that in a room by themselves, you'd put them in an asylum. Just saying.
The episode was full of mirroring and there was a little of that with these two. Both of them love and care too much. Look where Rose's caring got her? Trevor was a douche, to be honest and whatever the nature of their relationship was, I was disgusted that he was willing to jeopardize her existence, to put her at the mercy of Santa Klaus because he was 'in love' with Katherine. Damon is apparently in danger of caring too much, and thinks that he can hide behind the switch to end his pain. But, there's the rub. He can't, at least not for long.The revelation of the 'vampire switch' certainly adds a new layer to things.
"Caring gets you dead."
It was only fitting that they got it on in the end but there was an emptiness to it. A necessary emptiness, I'd think, from the conversation they were having to begin with. It wasn't even two lonely people seeking solace in each other, it just... was. There's something sad about that to me, and also stultifying, and also numbing. They switched off their emotions, and it meant nothing. I guess that was the point.
+++What is it about Katherine anyways? She's a femme fatale of the highest order because everyone and their mother falls for her. Elena seems to have the same ability. I'm convinced it's secret doppelganger pheromones that draw people, men and women, human and supernatural to them; and often to their peril (sort of how Lana Lang was the catnip of all meteor freaks except this is much more bearable). There must be a reason beyond natural charm that makes it so nearly every person who crosses their path falls under a spell of infatuation or dangerous, hopelessly devoted, violent, unstable, unbearably selfish obsession love, or is instantly protective. Maybe I'm just cynical that way.
++The mythology of this universe is bizarre. Often downright stupid. dull and/or incomprehensible. And marginally interesting when I can blink myself awake in the interminable exposition scenes. I just. So the Aztecs/Mayans somehow, 600 years ago, cursed Petrova blood and created the doppelganger of the Petrova line in order to make and break the curse? Truly? You also need a wolf, a vamp, and a witch to break said curse. The Originals can compel other vampires. Santa is the head Original or the oldest of the lot, and he's mean as hell and needs a doppelganger so that vampires will be able to walk in the day (even though he probably can do that already and they could probably just commission a score of witches to make rings in a sweat shop or something) so they can... what? Take over the world? Laugh at the five werewolves that actually still exist? Make all humans vampires and lose all their food supply? Enact a plan like the Master's from Buffy with human blood factories across the globe? Make hell on earth (never seen the allure of that)? Just what is the point of it all, one wonders....I guess we'll learn his nefarious plot when he finally shows up along with seven other signs of the Apocalypse because he seems to be evil incarnate or something.
++Intrigued by Jonas and the nature of his relationship with Elijah. We've seen this play out before, witches in master-servant relationships with vampires. I've already discussed this elsewhere. Once again, I'm left wondering, along with the rest of the audience, if race should be a factor in my reading here, if the show is trying to say something. Anything. I'm not sure what to make of Elijah/Jonas though --- Jonas did question Elijah's decision to kill the cute vampire nerd but it's too early to determine the exact nature of their dynamic. Also, show has taken to killing off random male vampires, or random men in every episode this season --- tipping the scales of balance, I suppose. But I will never forgive them for Pearl. Or Lexi. Or Anna. Or Grams. So, yeah, it's not working :), sorry.
++I must say, please can people stop being so 'disturbed' by the fact that the witches to whom we've been introduced happen to be 'of color'. If all the witches we'd seen were white, rest assured, hardly anyone would complain. In fact, half the gang of complainers would be rejoicing that it was a new version of "Charmed" where pretty much all the witches were Caucasian. It's the nature of vampire-witch relations on the show that I find problematic and fascinating; and when I view them through the lens of race (and how can I NOT), and history, particularly US slavery/Civil War history which is such a key part of the MF Founding Family lore... it becomes even more questionable and eminently worthy of taking a second look. But at the end of the day, as much as it's exciting to see POCs having such impactful roles, having roles at all on a show on the damn CW --- I couldn't care less if the witches were bright green with pink eyes.