Living dead! Fadzai and Sandile planeswalk the line between life, death, and several realities with Bonnie Bennett.

One of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries, Bonnie is the best friend of lead character, Elena Gilbert, and a budding witch with ties leading back to Salem and the founding of Mystic Falls. As she discovers more about her powers, and the existence of vampires and the greater supernatural lurking in her town and out in the world, Bonnie is at first hesitant to get involved, given the historical fate of witches in and beyond her family. By the end of the first season, though, she reaches a point of certainty that she wishes to be the town's protector from vampires and the harm they cause to its innocent people.

Beyond this point, however, Bonnie finds herself constantly having to compromise her principles given her friends' association with vampires - and some of her friends becoming vampires. From a narrative standpoint, this is largely a result of Bonnie's relegation as a character in the story, with focus placed on her usefulness as a witch in solving supernatural problems for the group. With several deaths, depowerings, and damn-near farcical tragedies under her belt, Bonnie's time in the show is mired by trauma and neglect - especially as the one black main character - and she is in retrospect someone in the show, and in the genre, who deserved so much better.

(This episode focuses on Bonnie in seasons 5 and 6.)

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of addiction, defeated mental state, familial abandonment, familial neglect, grooming, gratuitous violence, mental coercion and manipulation, physical abuse, racism, sexual abuse, assault and related victim blaming, slavery, and suicide and suicidal ideation.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

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Spin-off! Your hosts talk the acclaimed musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: S6E07 - "Once More, with Feeling". Also: General thoughts on Buffy Season 6 (which Sandile is still watching!), and comparing various musical episodes of TV over the ages.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

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All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

Spin-off! Your hosts talk the live-action God of War casting, the most recent incarnations of the Addams Family, and some chatter on Castlevania and Nocturne. Also: Talk to Me (2023) and skibidi teens, the career of Bianca Lawson, and the retelling of a truly insane episode of Touched by an Angel.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of racism.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

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(00:00:05) - Ethnicity and the live-action God of War casting

(00:01:50) - The 2020's Addams Family movies

(00:03:15) - Castlevania / Nocturne chatter

(00:05:55) - Twitches (2005) and apologies in the wrong direction

(00:06:55) - Talk to Me (2023) and kids messing with stuff they shouldn't

(00:09:06) - The Vampire Diaries vs Twilight

(00:11:45) - A truly insane storyline from Touched by an Angel

(00:16:00) - Bianca Lawson's illustrious career

(00:17:10) - Language, kinship, and ostracism

(00:18:44) - The truth of the "rainbow nation"

Happy Halloween! Fadzai and Sandile darken their hearts as they turn to the dark arts with Bonnie Bennett.

One of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries, Bonnie is the best friend of lead character, Elena Gilbert, and a budding witch with ties leading back to Salem and the founding of Mystic Falls. As she discovers more about her powers, and the existence of vampires and the greater supernatural lurking in her town and out in the world, Bonnie is at first hesitant to get involved, given the historical fate of witches in and beyond her family. By the end of the first season, though, she reaches a point of certainty that she wishes to be the town's protector from vampires and the harm they cause to its innocent people.

Beyond this point, however, Bonnie finds herself constantly having to compromise her principles given her friends' association with vampires - and some of her friends becoming vampires. From a narrative standpoint, this is largely a result of Bonnie's relegation as a character in the story, with focus placed on her usefulness as a witch in solving supernatural problems for the group. With several deaths, depowerings, and damn-near farcical tragedies under her belt, Bonnie's time in the show is mired by trauma and neglect - especially as the one black main character - and she is in retrospect someone in the show, and in the genre, who deserved so much better.

(This episode focuses on Bonnie in seasons 3 and 4.)

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of addiction, defeated mental state, familial abandonment, familial neglect, grooming, gratuitous violence, mental coercion and manipulation, racism, sexual abuse, assault and related victim blaming, slavery, and suicide and suicidal ideation.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

Fadzai and Sandile make magic and mayhem with the wonderful witch of the southeast, Bonnie Bennett.

One of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries, Bonnie is the best friend of lead character, Elena Gilbert, and a budding witch with ties leading back to Salem and the founding of Mystic Falls. As she discovers more about her powers, and the existence of vampires and the greater supernatural lurking in her town and out in the world, Bonnie is at first hesitant to get involved, given the historical fate of witches in and beyond her family. By the end of the first season, though, she reaches a point of certainty that she wishes to be the town's protector from vampires and the harm they cause to its innocent people.

Beyond this point, however, Bonnie finds herself constantly having to compromise her principles given her friends' association with vampires - and some of her friends becoming vampires. From a narrative standpoint, this is largely a result of Bonnie's relegation as a character in the story, with focus placed on her usefulness as a witch in solving supernatural problems for the group. With several deaths, depowerings, and damn-near farcical tragedies under her belt, Bonnie's time in the show is mired by trauma and neglect - especially as the one black main character - and she is in retrospect someone in the show, and in the genre, who deserved so much better.

(This episode focuses on Bonnie in seasons 1 and 2.)

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of familial abandonment, familial neglect, gratuitous violence, mental coercion and manipulation, racism, sexual abuse, assault and related victim blaming, slavery, and suicide and suicidal ideation.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

Spin-off! Your hosts talk the Harry Potter TV reboot money-grab, the cursed 2025 version of War of the Worlds, and the longest, gayest chat anyone's ever had about 13 Reasons Why. Also: The Umbrella Academy's Allison Hargreeves, the Winx reboot, and the least cursed lore from The Mortal Instruments books.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of attempted suicide, gratuitous violence, internalised homophobia, sexual abuse and assault, and regrettably, J.K. Rowling.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

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(00:00:05) - HBO's upcoming Harry Potter reboot

(00:04:06) - War of the Worlds (2025) and other, better screenlife films

(00:06:56) - 13 Reasons Why, queer characters, and queer dynamics

(00:17:49) - Introducing the "B-Team" in later seasons of a show

(00:19:52) - Allison Hargreeves of The Umbrella Academy

(00:21:06) - The many surnames of Jace from The Mortal Instruments

(00:23:15) - Feminine shaving products, I guess? Also the Winx reboot

(00:24:16) - Speculative fiction and future technology

Sandile and Fadzai cobble together a hero's journey for the final human, Matt Donovan.

One of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries, Matt is the best friend and ex-boyfriend of lead character, Elena Gilbert, and often paired with Tyler Lockwood or Jeremy Gilbert in the context of the Mystic Falls gang. Being the one who spends the longest unaware of the supernatural, his primary focus is typically his relationships, schooling and sports, and his work at the Mystic Grill to take care of his household - given the Donovan's lesser standing, and his absentee parents. Once he joins the fray, though, he becomes instrumental in supporting his supernatural friends, both physically and emotionally, and in being the one remaining human of the group by the end of the series.

(This episode focuses on Matt in seasons 5-8.)

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of addiction, emotional abuse, emotional or covert incest, mental coercion and manipulation, familial abandonment, familial neglect, poverty (relative), racism, sexual abuse, assault and related victim blaming, slavery, and suicide and suicidal ideation.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod

Sandile and Fadzai keep it chill and regular with emotional support human, Matt Donovan.

One of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries, Matt is the best friend and ex-boyfriend of lead character, Elena Gilbert, and often paired with Tyler Lockwood or Jeremy Gilbert in the context of the Mystic Falls gang. Being the one who spends the longest unaware of the supernatural, his primary focus is typically his relationships, schooling and sports, and his work at the Mystic Grill to take care of his household - given the Donovan's lesser standing, and his absentee parents. Once he joins the fray, though, he becomes instrumental in supporting his supernatural friends, both physically and emotionally, and in being the one remaining human of the group by the end of the series.

(This episode focuses on Matt in seasons 1-4.)

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of addiction, emotional abuse, emotional or covert incest, mental coercion and manipulation, familial abandonment, familial neglect, poverty (relative), racism, sexual abuse, assault and related victim blaming, and suicide and suicidal ideation.

Questions, queries, or just to say hi!

E-mail: animalattackpod@gmail.com

Refs and Links: IWAA S1

All our online stuff!

Podcast: It Was an Animal Attack

Twitter: @animattackpod

Instagram: @animalattackpod

Tiktok: @animalattackpod

YouTube: @animalattackpod