Tropes/Bechdel

Because of Haven 's lack of recurring female characters and its gender imbalance in the characters of the week, not all episodes of the show pass the Bechdel Test. For more on Haven's treatment of women and other gender tropes, see Tropes/Women.
==Background==
The Bechdel Test is a litmus test for female presence in fictional media. The test is named for , creator of the comic strip , who made it known to the world with this strip.
In order to pass a film or television episode must fulfil the following three requirements:
#It includes at least two women who are named characters
#who have at least one conversation,
#about something other than a man or men.
==Overview==
26 out of 52 episodes of Haven pass Bechdel; Haven passes 50% of the time and a fifth of these pass by virtue of only one scene. Only 3 episodes pass without the presence of Audrey Parker. Haven does not fail the Reverse-Bechdel once, though it comes close in "Last Goodbyes", an episode that finds all but two characters in a coma.
Season 2 has the highest number of passing episodes at 10. Season 3 comes close to that number with 9 passing episodes. Having a female serial killer was crucial as many conversations revolved around her. Once the Skinwalker appeared in her true form, as Arla Cogan, she did not help the episodes she was in, as her focus was finding her husband and all of her conversations (with men and women) revolved around that. 
Only eleven episodes have more than 3 female characters and only nine episodes have 3 female characters sharing the same scene. No episode has had more than 3 female characters in one scene or more than 5 female characters in the episode.
Haven fails Bechdel for two reasons. The ratio for minor characters is 3:2 in favor of men, and the ratio for mentioned characters is even worse, 2:1. And while the numbers of recurring roles are closer to even, the male characters are in more episodes and have arcs that span greater lengths of time. There are also two regular male characters (Nathan Wuornos and Duke Crocker) to one female regular character (Audrey Parker). 
====Recurring characters by gender====
The ratio of recurring characters on Haven is 4:5 in favor of men: 12 female characters and 15 male characters. The bigger difference is in the length and prominence of the roles. The male recurring characters have not only more episodes but they also span longer periods of time.
The lack of screen time for female recurring characters is of particular importance, as recurring characters are responsible for the bulk of episodes that pass Bechdel. Almost 60% of that episodes that pass, pass because of a recurring character; only 11 pass due to minor characters (usually introduced as part of the Trouble-of-the-week). Seasons 1, 3 and 4 each have only one episode that passes due to a minor character. Season 2 however relies on minor characters for 70% of its passing episodes. Half of all episodes without a recurring female character (of which there are 10 in total) are in Season 2, and Evidence Ryan has almost no interaction with Parker and doesn't help a single episode pass.
Four recurring female characters have been present in multiple seasons. The real Audrey Parker showed up in the last minute of season 1 and continued when the scene picked up a season later. Vicki Dutton appeared in a season 1 episode before being brought back as a minor character in season 4. Laverne is the only recurring female character to appear in all four seasons of Haven, though she's only appeared as a voice. Jordan McKee is the only female character to have more than a full season's worth of episodes. McKee was a recurring character from the middle of season 3 to the middle of season 4, lasting just 14 episodes.
In contrast, eight recurring male characters have been in at least two seasons, and half of those have been in all four seasons. Five male recurring characters have more than a full seasons worth of episodes. Even counting the real Parker and Dutton, nine out of twelve female recurring roles spanned less than one season and two spanned less than half a season. (Jess Minnion and Julia Carr).
To see how death breaks down on gender lines, see Tropes: Death by gender.
 	Past 	Past 	Current 	Current 	Total 	Total
 	Female 	Male 	Female 	Male 	Female 	Male
Total: 	7 (4 dead)	8 (6 dead)	5 (1 voice)	7 	12 	15
Episodes:	Episodes: 	Episodes: 	Episodes: 	Episodes:	Episodes:	Episodes:
Mean 	7.14 	6.75 	6.8 	17.71 	7 	11.8
Median 	7 	7.5 	7 	19 	7 	8
Mode 	5.5 	8.5 	7 	5 	5 	9
Range: 	10 	6 	8 	29 	11 	31
Seasons: 	Seasons: 	Seasons: 	Seasons: 	Seasons: 	Seasons: 	Seasons:
Mean 	1.14 	2 	1.8 	2.57 	1.42 	2.26
Median 	1 	1.5 	1 	3 	1 	2
Mode 	1 	1 	1 	2.5 	1 	1
Range: 	1 	3 	3 	3 	3 	3
==Pass - 26 total==
===Season one - 3 episodes===
*"Sketchy""Sketchy" - Matt McGuinness - Audrey Parker speaks with Vicki Dutton, but the conversation is centered entirely around Van Richards. Parker's conversation with Eleanor Carr gets season one it's first pass.
*"As You Were""As You Were" - Jose Molina - Passes largely thanks to the introduction of Julia Carr. Julia and her mother Eleanor fight at length in this episode and Julia also confides in Parker. This is the first episode that can pass Bechdel without using Parker, something only three episodes can.
*"The Hand You're Dealt""The Hand You're Dealt" - Jim Dunn - Parker speaks with Vanessa Stanley, mostly about her memories of the day the Colorado Kid died and the details of her premonitions.
===Season two - 10 episodes===
*"A Tale of Two Audreys""A Tale of Two Audreys" - Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn - passes thanks to the real Audrey Parker
*"Fear & Loathing""Fear & Loathing" - Gabrielle Stanton - passes thanks to a short conversation that the two Parkers have and Parker's brief exchange with Jackie Clark.
*"Love Machine""Love Machine" - Matt McGuinness, Nora Zuckerman, & Lilla Zuckerman - passes thanks to the two Parkers conversations with each other.
*"Sparks and Recreation""Sparks and Recreation" - Jonathan Abrahams - Parker, Felicia Brody and Lori Fulcher share a scene. This is the first time in Season 2 that three named women have shared a scene together.
*"Roots""Roots" - Jim Dunn - Parker's has brief conversations with Beverly and Moira Keegan.
*"The Tides That Bind""The Tides That Bind" - Gabrielle Stanton - Parker speaks with Mary Collins about her son, but her conversations with Gwen Glendower pass Bechdel.
*"Lockdown""Lockdown" - Nora & Lilla Zukerman - Parker has a conversation with Nikki Coleman.
*"Who, What, Where, Wendigo?""Who, What, Where, Wendigo?" - Jonathan Abrahams - Passes with flying colours. Three sisters Frankie, Amelia and Sophia Benton mean that there are multiple conversations between multiple characters, passing Bechdel easily. Though there are four named female characters in this episode, there are no more than three in a scene sharing dialogue at any one time.
*"Business As Usual""Business As Usual" - Matt McGuinness & Gabrielle Stanton - Parker's conversation with the real Lucy Ripley ensures that the episode passes.
*"Silent Night""Silent Night" - Brian Millikin - Parker's conversation with Hadley Chambers helps the episode pass.
===Season three - 9 episodes===
*"Stay""Stay" - Matt McGuinness - The introduction of Claire Callahan gives Parker a recurring female character to share scenes with—the first recurring female to share scenes with Parker since early Season 2 when the real Audrey Parker left Haven.
*"The Farmer""The Farmer" - Jim Dunn & Sam Ernst - Parker and Callahan share two scenes.
*"Over My Head""Over My Head" - Gabrielle Stanton - Parker has a therapy session with Callahan.
*"Double Jeopardy""Double Jeopardy" - Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - Parker has a conversation with Lynette and one with Callahan.
*"Real Estate""Real Estate" - Brian Millikin - Parker, Callahan and McKee get trapped in the deadly Holloway House. This is the first time in Season 3 that three female characters share a scene together.
*"Magic Hour: Part 1""Magic Hour: Part 1" - Shernold Edwards - Parker speaks with June Cogan, but only about their son. However Moira and Noelle have multiple scenes together. Though there are five named women in this episode, no scene has more than two women in it.
*"Magic Hour: Part 2""Magic Hour: Part 2" - Jim Dunn & Sam Ernst - Parker, McKee and Moira share multiple scenes. Though there are four named women in this episode, no scene has more than three women (alive) at the same time.
*"Sarah""Sarah" - Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - Callahan and Parker share a couple scenes.
*"Burned""Burned" - Charles Ardai - Parker, Callahan, McKee and Ginger Danvers all share scenes.
===Season four - 4 episodes===
*"Bad Blood""Bad Blood" - Shernold Edwards - McKee and Mason exchange a couple lines about Duke—not a pass. But Rhonda and Lexie DeWitt share a very short scene in which DeWitt says goodbye to Rhonda.
*"Lay Me Down""Lay Me Down" - Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - The combo of a female Trouble-of-the-week and Parker being back on the job gives Season 4 it's first pass involving real people. Parker shares a few scenes with Carrie Benson, and a scene with Gloria Verrano, the new ME.
*"Shot In The Dark""Shot in the Dark" - Nick Parker - Mason and Parker speak with each other for the first time. This is the seventh episode that Parker has been out of the Barn, and she's shared scenes with Mason in three episodes ("Lost and Found", "The New Girl" and "William"), but this is the first time the two speak.
*"The Lighthouse""The Lighthouse" - Matt McGuinness & Gabrielle Stanton - Passes due to a short, but powerful scene between Parker and Verrano where they discuss death, the afterlife and belief. While Parker and Mason do share multiple scenes, they don't talk to each other.
==Close, but not quite - 12 total==
These are episodes that don't actually pass Bechdel. If two named women speak only about men but have multiple scenes together or speak at length, we'll consider it close.
===Season one - 6 episodes===
*"Welcome to Haven""Welcome to Haven" - Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn - Parker speaks with Marion Caldwell at length, but the conversation is centered entirely around men: Jonas Lester, Ted Ford and Conrad Brauer.
*"Butterfly""Butterfly" - Ann Hamilton - Parker speaks with Hannah Driscoll at length, but the conversation is almost entirely centered around men: Reverend Driscoll, Otis and Bobby Mueller. Butterfly is one of three Season 1 episodes that has no recurring female character.
*"Consumed""Consumed" - Ann Hamilton - Parker and Megan McShaw speak for a few moments, but the conversation is centered on her husband Bill McShaw and his brother Jeff. Parker also speaks with Katarina Hall, but again, about Jeff.
*"Ball and Chain""Ball and Chain" - Nikki Toscano - has four named women in addition to Parker: Harbor Master Beatrice Mitchell, her nanny Abby, ME Eleanor Carr and Grey Gull bartender Nora. All of the conversation between the women does revolve around men (Helena's victims), but the procedural nature and the number of women who interact with each other helps excuse this.
*"Fur""Fur" - Jim Dunn - Parker speaks briefly with Jess Minnion and Piper Taylor, but the conversation is centered on men.
*"Resurfacing""Resurfacing" - Charles Ardai - Parker speaks with Tracy and Brooke Garrick, but the conversation is centered around men: her James, her Michael and her Jake. "Resurfacing" is one of three Season 1 episodes without a recurring female character.
===Season three - 4 episodes===
*"301""301" - Jonathan Abrahams - Parker has a conversation with the skinwalker while she is wearing Roslyn Toomey, but it's almost entirely about the Colorado Kid.
*"Last Goodbyes""Last Goodbyes" - Brian Millikin & Shernold Edwards - Parker and the Callahan-wearing-skinwalker share a few scenes, but they talk only about men: the Colorado Kid, Nathan Wuornos, Duke Crocker, and the Teagues brothers.
*"Reunion""Reunion" - Gabrielle Stanton - Parker shares a scene with the skinwalker as Claire Callahan and a scene with the skinwalker as Arla Cogan but they talk only about the Colorado Kid.
*"Thanks For The Memories""Thanks For The Memories" - Jim Dunn & Sam Ernst - Parker and Cogan share multiple scenes, but they only talk about the Colorado Kid.
===Season 4 - 2 episodes===
*"The New Girl""The New Girl" - Brian Millikin - Parker/DeWitt escaping The Barn almost gives Season 4 a pass, but it doesn't quite get there. Parker shares scenes with both Jennifer Mason and Jordan McKee but Parker and Mason only exchange a couple lines, and Parker and McKee don't actually speak with each other, but at and past each other. This episode is the first to have more than three named recurring female characters. 
*"When the Bough Breaks""When the Bough Breaks" - Shernold Edwards & Speed Weed - While Mason and Parker share a scene, and Parker shares multiple scenes with Verrano, the topics of conversation are men. Mason and Parker talk only about William. Parker and Verrano talk about her step-grandson Aaron Harker, her stepson Ben Harker, Jr., her first husband Ben Harker, Sr. and her current husband, Lincoln.
==Fail - 14 total==
===Season one - 4 episodes===
*"Harmony""Harmony" - Matt McGuinness - Parker and Lilly McBreen share scenes but do not share conversation. "Harmony" is one of three Season 1 episodes without a recurring female character.
*"Ain't No Sunshine""Ain't No Sunshine" - Sam Ernst - Parker exchanges only a couple lines with minor women.
*"The Trial of Audrey Parker""The Trial of Audrey Parker" - Jose Molina & Sam Ernst, story by Charles Ardai - Julia Carr does make a minor appearance in this episode, but she is only one scene with Parker and they do not speak.
*"Spiral""Spiral" - Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn - Parker speaks very briefly with Julia Carr but only about Max Hansen.
===Season two - 3 episodes===
*"Audrey Parker's Day Off""Audrey Parker's Day Off" - Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - Parker speaks very briefly with Berta and Jeanie Shumway, but the conversation is entirely about Anson Shumway. "Audrey Parker's Day Off" is the only Season 2 episode before Evidence Ryan's death without a recurring female character.
*"Friend or Faux""Friend or Faux" - Sam Ernst - While Evidence Ryan is in this episode, she has almost no interaction with Parker.
*"Sins of the Fathers""Sins of the Fathers" - Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn - Parker is the only named woman in the episode.
===Season four - 7 episodes===
*"Fallout""Fallout" - Gabrielle Stanton - introduces Jennifer Mason and also has McKee, but they share only one scene together and do not exchange lines. Lexie DeWitt exchanges a few lines with Rhonda but they are entirely about the male customers.
*"Survivors""Survivors" - Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - McKee and Mason exchange two lines about Duke Crocker, not enough to pass.
*"Lost and Found""Lost and Found" - Speed Weed - McKee and Mason share only one scene and do not speak to each other. When DeWitt emerges from the Barn, she doesn't speak to either woman. This is however, the first episode of Season 4 to have three women in the same scene.
*"Countdown""Countdown" - Matt McGuinness - Parker and McKee do share a scene but they don't exactly speak with each other. McKee shouts desperately at the room and Parker mostly ignores McKee. "Countdown" does introduce Gloria Verrano and brings back Vickie Dutto but they don't have any lines with other women.
*"Crush""Crush" - Speed Weed - Parker shares a brief scene with Verrano but they only speak about a male victim.
*"William""William" - Shernold Williams - Parker exchanges a few lines with Verrano but they only speak about a male victim. Parker and Mason share multiple scenes but do not speak with each other.
*"The Trouble With Troubles""The Trouble With Troubles" - Nora Zuckerman, Lilla Zuckerman and Brian Millikin - The first episode of season 4 to not have a recurring female character, this episode fails. There is only one named female characters with lines of dialogue in this episode and she only has one line.
==By writer==
When there's a gender imbalance in a work, most people point to the fact that Most Writers Are Male. And while that's true (men are responsible for almost 56% of Haven episodes) Haven has its fair share of female writers. The writers have been broken down into gender groups to discuss this trope. Please remember that Bechdel is not necessarily indicative of how feminist a piece of writing or a writer is. Bechdel evaluates only numbers.
Men: 9 writers - 36 episodes - Bechdel pass rate of 47% 
*Jim Dunn - 50% Pass - Introduced Eleanor Carr, Jess Minnion, the real Audrey Parker, and Evidence Ryan.
*Sam Ernst - 30% Pass - Ernst and Dunn co-write many episodes. Ernst is also responsible for introducing Carr, Parker 2 and Ryan.
*Jonathan Abrahams - 66% Pass - Wrote both Season 2 episodes with three women scenes. "Who, What, Where, Wendigo?" is also the first sisterhood story in Haven and one of only three episodes that can pass Bechdel without Parker.
*Brian Millikin - 50% Pass - Wrote "Real Estate" and "The New Girl", two episodes with three woman scenes.
*Jose Molina - 50% Pass - Introduced Julia Carr in "As You Were". "As You Were" also has scenes with three women and is one of only three episodes that can pass Bechdel without Parker.
*Charles Ardai - 33% Pass - Wrote "Burned", an episode with four named female characters and three females sharing a scene.
*Matt McGuinness - 71% Pass - Introduced Laverne, Vicki Dutton, Claire Callahan, and Gloria Verrano. McGuiness also brought Dutton—previously a one-off character—back, re-introducing her as a recurring character in "Countdown".
*Speed Weed - 0% Pass 
*Nick Parker - 100% Pass - Wrote "Shot In The Dark", the first episode with Mason/Parker dialogue exchanges.
Women: 6 writers - 23 episodes - Bechdel pass rate of 52% Pass 
*Nora & Lilla Zuckerman - 62.5% Pass - "Lay Me Down" contained the second matrilineal Trouble story, and the first matrilineal Trouble not to be matrilineal by default. "Audrey Parker's Day Off" had Berta Shumway, one of only four mothers to not die on or abandon their child. The Zuckerman sisters also introduced Rebecca Rafferty.
*Gabrielle Stanton - 71% Pass - Introduced Rhonda.
*Ann Hamilton - 0% Pass - Hamilton's "Butterfly" has Hannah Driscoll one of only four mothers who doesn't die or abandon her child.
*Nikki Toscano - 0% Pass - While "Ball and Chain" doesn't technically pass Bechdel because the women only talk about the male victims, this is the first episode to have three women share a scene and the first to have five women in an episode (there are only three). This is also the first matrilineal trouble. Most Troubles follow a patrilineal bloodline. There is not another direct matrilineal bloodline until season 4's "Lay Me Down."
*Shernold Edwards - 40% Pass - Wrote "Magic Hour: Part 1", one of only three episodes to pass Bechdel without needing to use Audrey Parker and one of only six episodes with five named women. "Magic Hour: Part 1" was also a sisterhood story (one of only two), and had June Cogan, one of only four mothers not to die on or abandon her child.
==By character==
*Eleanor Carr helps two episodes pass Bechdel and Julia Carr helps one.
*The real Audrey Parker helps three out of her four episodes pass.
*Evidence Ryan does not help a single episode pass, largely because she does not interact with Parker.
*Claire Callahan helps seven episodes pass, and Jordan McKee helps three of her episodes pass.
*Jennifer Mason helps two of her episodes pass, something that reflects her position as one of "Duke's people." While she appears in at least one scene with McKee or Parker per episode, she doesn't help any of those episodes pass until the eleventh episodes of the season, "Shot in the Dark".
*Gloria Verrano helps only two of her episodes pass, something that reflects the high number of male minor and mentioned characters.
*Moira is the only character to help all of her episodes pass; she was in 2 episodes.
==Other notable numbers==
===High number of women===
Eleven episodes have more than three named women:
 	Episodes 	Writer 	# of female characters 	Pass
1.05	"Ball and Chain" 	Nikki Toscano 	5 - Audrey Parker, Beatrice Mitchell/Helena, Abby, Eleanor Carr, Nora	√
3.06	"Real Estate" 	Brian Millikin 	4 - Parker, Claire Callahan, McKee, Tina Teagarden 	√
3.07	"Magic Hour: Part 1"	Shernold Edwards 	5 - Parker, Jordan McKee, Moira, Noelle, June Cogan 	√
3.08	"Magic Hour: Part 2"	Jim Dunn & Sam Ernst 	4 - Parker, McKee, Moira, Noelle 	√
3.10	"Burned" 	Charles Ardai 	4 - Parker, Callahan, McKee, Ginger Danvers" 	√
4.01	"Fallout" 	Gabrielle Stanton 	4 - DeWitt, Rhonda, McKee, Jennifer Mason - didn't pass 	×
4.03	"Bad Blood" 	Shernold Edwards 	4 - DeWitt, McKee, Mason, Rhonda 	√
4.04	"Lost and Found" 	Speed Weed 	5 - DeWitt, McKee, Mason, and sisters Valerie and Carmen Brock - 	√
4.05	"The New Girl" 	Brian Millikin 	5 - Parker, McKee, Mason, Rebecca Rafferty, Katie 	×
4.06	"Countdown" 	Matt McGuinness 	5 - Parker, McKee, Gloria Verrano, Vicki Dutton, Rafferty 	×
4.07	"Lay Me Down" 	Nora & Lilla Zuckerman	5 - Parker, Mason, Verrano, Dutton and Carrie Benson 	√
===Three women share a scene===
Haven has nine episodes where three named women share a scene:
Season 1:
*"Ball and Chain" by Nikki Toscano
*"As You Were" by Jose Molina
Season 2:
*"Sparks and Recreation" by Jonathan Abrahams
*"Who, What, Where, Wendigo?" by Jonathan Abrahams
Season 3:
*"Real Estate" by Brian Millikin
*"Magic Hour: Part 2" by Jim Dunn & Sam Ernst
*"Burned" by Charles Ardai
Season 4:
*"Lost and Found" by Speed Weed - (didn't pass, the women share a scene but not dialogue)
*"The New Girl" by Brian Millikin - (didn't pass, the women shared scenes but not enough dialogue)
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Tropes