In the midseason finale of The Originals, “Savior,” Rebekah was rescued and all seemed to be well. Her and the other Mikaelsons’ happiness over their reunion, however, was short lived as they soon learned that Rebekah had been cursed and that if they did not find a way to cure her, then she would go mad and murder them all.

The Bechdel, Russo, and Race Test

“Savior” passed the Bechdel test but it did not pass the Russo or race test.

“Savior” passed the Bechdel test, and the episode passed this test because of the couple of times that named women talked to each other in “Savior,” there was one instance where men were not mentioned (e.g., Freya told Rebekah that she had been cursed). The episode did not, however, pass either the Russo or race test.

“Savior” did not pass the Russo 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 occasions where non-White individuals talked to each other, White people were always mentioned.

*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.