Tonight’s shower thoughts:
First, I was back on the age-old question of what is the make and model of Ethan’s truck? There’s no entry in the TVDU wiki, and none of the screencaps there provide a clear identification (since they’re focused on the characters), though I feel like we got one or two shots in S3/S4 that did show enough of the truck. ( @unsiredtribrid, any chance I can impose upon you to add that to the list of things you’re already so graciously checking for me in your rewatch? 😂)
My gut is that it’s an old GMC or Chevy, like this 1986 GMC Sierra from Wikipedia (except not extended cab, obvs), or perhaps an even older one, late 70s pre-oil crisis?
Anyway, that musing led me to the fact that in 2x03, we see Sheriff Mac dropping Maya and Ethan off at school in her squad car…and then, oh god, the timeline! 😳
So in S3, Ethan’s driving the truck to school.
Also in S3, Maya has already dated Finch and it ended badly enough that Ethan doesn’t like Finch. The Machados are new to town, as Mac replaced Matt Donovan as Sheriff after he became Mayor sometime between 1x04 and 2x01. We don’t run into the Machados in 1x02 (the football game), 1x04 (“school exchange”) or 1x14 (Miss Mystic Falls…which seems like a Maya thing—but obviously the Machados weren’t even a glimmer in the writers’ minds yet in S1, much less cast).
But the Machados also seem well-established at school in S2…Ethan’s QB1, Maya’s a cheerleader…those tryouts are typically in the spring or sometimes summer, before the new school year begins. The election’s probably in November, with the winners taking office the following January (local elections can be weird; dunno what they’re like in Virginia). If the town wanted to have a new sheriff ready to go for January when Matt becomes mayor, then Machados have potentially been around most of S1, say between 1x04 (which takes place in the aftermath of the football game, which S2 establishes is in the fall) and 1x06 (the twins’ Sweet 16, which we know is March 15)…
But S2, S3, and S4 all take place within a single year, the latter two within a matter of months of the end of S2 (which is sometime, likely just, after the twins’ 17th birthday on the Ides of March)…
How old are Ethan and Maya? In S2+, are they sophomores? Juniors? Seniors? How long did Maya and Finch date? Why is Ethan suddenly driving in S3, a few months after his mom is dropping him off at school? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. 😭
The TVDU (and especially Legacies) timeline is a black hole 🕳️ Why?! Why must my brain ask these questions? 😱
