I will confess that I am not normally an avid fan of this show, but I heard about this storyline and made sure to catch up with it. My reaction is "Oh my God, these people have made me fell bad for DAVID FRIGGIN KAROFSKY!!" And they expect us to just see that Tank is now living in shame, but Bay deserves more sympathy and attention. Why?! What is supposed to make us care more about her then the guy who is now labeled a date rapist because of this mess.
1. They say that both sides made mistakes, but why are they acting like Bay was victimised? 2. How could people say that Tank deserves it in ANY way? Because he didn't feel bad afterwards? Because he remembered more?
The claim that they both made mistakes is reasonable since they got that level of drunk. However, I find myself being more angry at Bay than Tank. Not because of what she did, but what she did afterwards. I know she felt uncomfortable the "morning after", but she had no business letting the word RAPE fly around. And she had no business trying to blame Tank. Tank didn't drug, force, trick, or take advantage of her. His only mistake was getting the same level of intoxication as her, and this just because it's dangerous in general.
As far as the event it seems to have been this. 1. Bay got drunk 2. Tank got drunk 3. They somehow met and ended up in bed. This something they've done with adult characters from other shows and there are even real life situations of intoxicated people having consensual sex. "This will ruin my life. Do you think I deserve that?" he asked. "Did I deserve having something done to me when I was too drunk to give you permission?" she replied. "I didn't know it was without your permission!" Tank said. "Somewhere, in your mind, did some part of you know that what you were doing was wrong?" "I was drunk, too!" "But, did you have a feeling that you were doing something wrong?" "I don’t know! I don’t know…" Bay had no business trying to make Tank feel guilty or say he was to blame too. He was just as drunk as she was and he didn't even plan to see her that night. How was he suddenly responsible for her choices? How was he supposed to read her mind and tell what she wanted or not? especially since she was in that bar after a fight with her boyfriend. How was he supposed to magically be the first one to overcome his intoxication and rescue her from herself? If Bay had ended up driving and hurting someone, If she punched someone, If she killed someone while under the same level impairment, It would be on her only. This means that unless Tank hauled her over his shoulder, she was still responsible for her actions.
Like I said before, Bay let this turn into a scandal where there was none. She didn't have any evidence of an actual crime aside from her regret and uncertainty. Neither of these give someone the write to say they were victimized especially since there were at least a few people that saw them and think there was nothing bad going on. She should've just admitted that she made a mistake, told Emmett, taken her break up and tried to move on. If she was still uncertain, she should have tried to figure out what happened before making complaints. She should have also just said NO when people asked her if she was raped. If Tank had raped her, he wouldn't have told her and everyone else that they had sex.
To me this whole thing seems to be a case of two people that had a drunk hookup, the girl regretting it so much she wanted to shift the blame.
What I am hoping for is at least one more appearance from him in season 5. Since their basing this on the real life case, they can do an episode where he chooses to fight through legal means and Bay is forced to give testimony. It would make sense especially since his dad might decide to get involved. Another possibility would be his suicide since they showed him depressed.
Overall, I just would like the show to either give him a more absolute conclusion, not some fanfic fuel.
If you agree or disagree please reply.
PS If I have this in the wrong category, I apologize