On The Originals, “You Hung the Moon,” Davina broke Hayley’s curse, but in exchange, Hayley had to do Davina’s dirty work. The first order of business? Murdering Kara, Davina’s witch nemesis.

The Bechdel, Russo, and Race Test

“You Hung the Moon” passed the Bechdel test but did not pass the Russo or race test.

Named women talked to each other twice in “You Hung the Moon,” and while in one of those conversations men were indirectly referenced (e.g., Hayley talked to Davina about her pack which has both men and women in it), in the other conversation, men weren’t mentioned (e.g., Hayley agreed to kill Kara for Davina) so the episode passed the Bechdel test. As to the Russo and race test, “You Hung the Moon” did not pass either of these tests.

In the case of the Russo test, “You Hung the Moon” did not pass this test because there were no LGBTI characters in the episode, and the episode did not pass the race test because while there were a couple of non-White people in the episode, there was never an instance where non-White individuals talked to each other.

*The Bechdel test entails three requirements:
1. It has to have at least two (named) women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

**The Vito Russo test entails three requirements:
1. The show contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and/or transgender
2. The character must not be solely or predominately defined by her sexual orientation, gender identity and/or as being intersex
3.The character must be tied into the plot in such a way that her removal would have a significant effect

***The race or people of color (POC) test has three requirements:
1. It has two people of color in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something other than a White person

****Just because a show passes the Bechdel, Russo and race test does not mean that it is not sexist, heterosexist, racist and/or cissexist, etc. The Bechdel, Russo and race test is only a bare minimum qualifier for the representation of LGBTI individuals, women and people of color in television. The failure to pass these tests also does not identify whether the central character was a woman, a person of color or a LGBTQI individual and it does not dictate the quality of the show.