The second season of The Vampire Diaries lived up to the promise of the first season, and then some. Here are a few things about this year that I loved: Caroline as a vampire. Tyler as a werewolf. The introduction of Elijah, then Klaus. Katherine coming to Mystic Falls and wreaking havoc as Nina Dobrev tears into the role. Jeremy having a purpose, growing out of his emo stage and into his hot capable stage, and getting cozy with Bonnie. Matt and Jenna each learning about the supernatural world. The development of Bonnie’s witchy powers. More and more witches coming to Mystic Falls. Uncle Daddy John Gilbert being kind of a jackass, but still putting himself out there for Elena and Jeremy. The introduction of the sun and moon curse, only to reveal in the end that whooops, Elijah and Klaus made it all up! And last, but not least, Elena and Stefan continuing to have one of the healthiest, most mature, most mutually respectful relationships I’ve seen on TV.
I wondered how the writers would manage to top themselves in season three, but there’s already a ton of potential for great drama. Jeremy can see dead people (or at least dead ex-girlfriends). Klaus is now the vampire/werewolf hybrid he wanted to be for so long. Stefan has sacrificed himself to Klaus, and the return of a truly dark Stefan will be fascinating to watch. Elijah’s in a coffin with a dagger through his heart, but he’s not dead dead, and surely it’s only a matter of time before a character resurrects not only him, but his other Original brothers and sisters. Liz Forbes has overcome her vampire prejudice to embrace her daughter, but will she extend that understanding towards all vampires? Finally, after hearing all this talk about the original Petrova, we’re bound to meet her eventually, giving Nina Dobrev a third role to play.
This is an awesome, underrated show…but you’ll notice that it’s been two paragraphs and I have yet to mention Damon. Damon is a character that is almost completely ruined for me, and if the writers aren’t careful, they’re going to ruin Elena by extension.
Let me see if I can remember all the bad things that Damon has done over these two seasons. Without looking at episode guides to refresh my memory, here are just a few things: he abused Caroline and tried to kill her. He tried to kill Bonnie. He killed Lexie for no good reason. He turned Vicki into a vampire, which ended in her breakdown, death, and emotional trauma for Jeremy. He turned Elena’s birth mother/Alaric’s wife into a vampire. He snapped Jeremy’s neck because Elena didn’t love him, and Jeremy would have died if he hadn’t been wearing Uncle Daddy John’s magic ring. He force-fed Elena his blood even though she never, ever wanted to become a vampire and would rather die forever than come back that way. He compelled Jenna’s friend Andie, drank her blood, and made her into his walking sex toy.
And after all this, I had to watch an episode where the characters fall all over themselves to save his sorry ass.
I understand why Stefan forgives Damon over and over again. They’re brothers with over 150 years of history together and Stefan blames himself for turning Damon into a vampire in the first place. I fully believe that he would sacrifice himself, and innocent human lives, and even his relationship with Elena, to save Damon. (If the choice were between saving Damon’s life and Elena’s life, he would choose Elena, but of course he would save Damon over staying with Elena.)
But the rest of the characters? They stay mad at him for about five minutes, then shrug their shoulders and let him back into the fold, because…well, because Damon’s a lead character on the show and he’s not going anywhere. This is becoming problematic. And it’s especially problematic in relation to Elena.
The show has played with the idea of a Elena/Stefan/Damon love triangle from day one. Damon has amusingly referred to Elena as “our” girlfriend and Stefan hasn’t batted an eye. Elena shows that she has some feelings for him. Katherine even gave us the portentous anvil in this season finale: “It’s okay to love them both. I did.” And if Elena ever flat-out denied being attracted to Damon, I wouldn’t believe her.
But Elena loves Stefan. She’s always loved Stefan. She’s never been in doubt of loving him for a single minute. She wrestles with what that love means, and whether she should be with him, but her feelings for him are constant.
I’m looking into the future and I see Elena and Damon spending a lot more time together as they try to rescue Stefan from Klaus. I see Elena becoming more attracted to him now that Damon seems to be over his whiny phase and is finally accepting responsibility for his actions. I see Elena becoming more despondent about Stefan’s eventual deterioration into his dark phase. I see Elena falling for Damon and fulfilling Katherine’s words, loving both brothers.
I’d buy it. That’s the only way I’d buy a Damon/Elena story. If they believe Stefan is irretrievable, or they become closer while working to save him, I can see it happening.
But what happens after Stefan recovers and Elena now loves Damon? Elena starts wringing her hands, pulling out her hair, and whining that she loves both brothers and doesn’t know which one to pick. And thus, Elena Gilbert becomes Bella Swan.
One of my favorite things about Elena is that she isn’t Bella Swan, that she has convictions and stays true to them. I can’t see this ending well. A legitimate triangle where she’s torn between the brothers can be a great story for Stefan and Damon, as they care about each other as much as they care about her, but I don’t know what it will mean for Elena.
Also, Elena? HE TRIED TO KILL YOUR BROTHER.
For Pete’s sake, I can believe Jeremy forgiving Damon for trying to kill Jeremy before I can believe Elena forgiving him. I always thought that Jeremy got over it because the attempted murder knocked him out of his whiny emo punk stage and kicked his ass into gear. Elena, though, should still be mad at him for it.
I think I could grow to love Damon again next season. A Damon who’s no longer whining about his pain is appealing to me, and the Damon who will do anything to save his little brother is my very favorite version of Damon. I just cringe for Elena and what this development means for her.
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Hey, I feel you, I really REALLY do. I was…not happy with how they handled Damon/Elena in this episode specifically, and with Damon all season.
At this point I have no idea what they want him to be, how do they figure they can play out the Caroline storyline, the Jeremy storyline, the Andie storyline, (conveniently keeping Elena ignorant of it), and then ice that nasty cake by having him turn her against her will, and have us enjoy or appreciate her forgiving him, EVERYTHING? Liking him, ‘just the way he is’, when her oft repeated entreaty has been CHANGE and *be better*.
I can only hope that the intent was for us NOT to enjoy it, right down to Ian looking righteously gross and barely awake for the kiss.
Even if I just whittle it down to a deathbed kindness borne of her own grief/loss, I’m still not sure they earned that through the writing. It was all TELL, when this show is so much better than that.
Seeing Elena emotionally responding to a dying Damon with a kiss, even though she’s still incredibly ANGRY with him, could have been beautiful. Having her tell us we have to forgive him because she said so is bullshit.
I hope they find a way to write Dalena that doesn’t ruin two really good characters, but this episode worried me.
I have always conceived that the triangle’s strongest points are Elena-Stefan-Damon, and Stefan-Damon-Elena, with Stefan-Elena-Damon being actually the least of it. And it’s that part of the finale I’m holding on to, that Stefan/Damon loved each other as brothers long before either loved Katherine/Elena.
Yeah, I mean, we all KNEW Damon/Elena was coming eventually. I dreaded it but it’s not like it was a surprise. I’m just hesitant because it seems like a very rare misstep for this show. I can kind of see where Elena’s coming from, given that she’s lost ALL of her parental figures at this point but it did feel rushed.
I think it MIGHT still be okay in the long run. Even if I don’t buy her forgiveness completely, it was a very important thing for him to realize that Katherine wasn’t just some vile temptress and he didn’t HAVE to bend to her will. Elena falling for a more mature Damon could work.
If I focus on the positive, though – at least we know that Stefan’s story next year is going to be AWESOME.
What?! Someone who likes Elena and Stefan’s relationship and doesn’t find it boring? I am thrilled. I love this show, but it’s morality has been a bit all over the place after Elena and/or Stefan prevented Damon’s death for the umpteenth time. Then I figured part of the show’s message was about love clouding judgment. I suddenly became more okay with Elena and Damon eventually getting together in the last two episodes, when Damon saved the day and for the first time in two seasons realized that he had made the wrong decisions not merely because Elena got angry but because people were hurt. I rationalize Elena’s warped acceptance of Damon by figuring that she’s okay dating a guy who killed an entire village. I doubt she knows this, but she knows for sure her boyfriend is a killer, even if he committed the crimes decades ago.
I love the character, his complexity, and his humor, but Damon’s relapses have been rather tedious. No one ever noticed or cared that he killed an innocent woman quite recently. (I attribute this to the insanity of everyone’s lives, but still.) Anyway, so glad to see someone who finds Damon about as romantic as I do. I thought the writers had kind of given up on Stefan recently with all the focus on his brother, so the season finale threw me for a loop. A good one, at that!
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I’m sorry, but I’ll have to disagree here… I never thought I’d say this but I think Elena and Damon should hook up and kick Stefan to the curb. I don’t think I would ever categorize Elena and Stefan’s relationship as mutually respectful; she’s too much of an emotional crutch for that to be possible. Without the help of a love interest, he’s doing some serious and interesting self reflection this season.
Well, I wrote this before season three, keep in mind. But you’ve got an interesting point that Elena is the one who is too much of a crutch for Stefan.
I struggle with how much Elena (and by extension the audience) should forgive the Salvatore brothers and any other vamps for their past killings because the Vampire Diaries universe is less clear to me than the Buffy universe in how much free will people have when turned to a vampire. On Buffy I could forgive Spike and Angel when they killed people because they didn’t have souls when it happened and therefore couldn’t have stopped themselves and even after the fact most of the characters never trusted or forgave them. Even Faith never really was forgiven and allowed back into the fold by most of the Scooby gang.
It seems like the VD diaries vamps are constantly fighting their nature and that the VD universe just expects the audience to forgive them when they slip up as long as they repent even though people in society would never be expected (and in my opinion shouldn’t be expected) to forgive human murderers who have “repented” or felt guilt though one could argue that human murderers are fighting the same nature and compulsions the vampires are.
Whoa, how did I miss this comment from a whole month ago?
Anyway, the grey morality of the vampires on TVD is exactly why I prefer their vampire mythology to the vampire mythology on Buffy. I think the writers giving souls to Spike and Angel gave them both easy outs for all the bad things they did as vampires – especially Angel, who I was supposed to view as a great hero when I think he’s deeply, deeply fucked-up and morally questionable AT BEST even when he does have a soul.
I’m the opposite from you in that, I don’t think Stefan and Damon and Caroline and the other vamps are given free “soul” passes for what they do. We can feel empathy for them and hope that they change, but I don’t think we’re supposed to think it’s okay for Stefan to go on a mass-murdering Ripper spree earlier in the season just because he basically has an addiction.
But I haven’t seen the last three episodes yet, so maybe some of that’s changed.
@Lauren I completely understand where you are coming from, but in the vampire diaries they have no feelings when they turn it of ( as stefan was compelled to) just like Angel and Spike had no souls.
Keep in mind, Stefan has no emotions at the moment and therefore the ‘real’ Stefan has no control over his actions, On the other hand Damon has emotions and still chooses to hurt people as he thinks its the ‘right thing’ to do.
I believe that something WILL happen between Damon and Elena but it could never be anything serious. Why ? Because when Stefan finally gets his ‘humanity’ back, he would never be able to look at Elena or Damon the same way ( if they did anything more than kiss, If you know what im talking about ? )
Im definitely team Stelena, as Damon has made way too many mistakes for me too fully forgive his actions.
BRING BACK STEFAN PLEASE <3
I’m all about Stefan/Elena too, but I don’t think there’s any way the show WON’T go there with Damon/Elena. The very fact that Katherine exists means, to me, that they’re going to go full circle with the love triangles and have Damon and Elena get together at some point. I think it will ultimately end with Stefan/Elena, but not before a serious Damon/Elena entanglement.
But again, I haven’t seen the last three episodes, so maybe they’re going somewhere else with this.
Hey? I just came across your blog and I know it was written way before season 4 but I just read it and all the comments and I just thought you totally got it right when you predicted that a damon-Elena thing was bound to happen, to be precise it is happening! I just wondered how you feel about the triangle now. I mean here we are, Elena is a vampire, Damon still loves her the same way he did when she was human and Stefan can’t love her as a vampire as well as he did when she was human. Then there is the sire bond! I’d love to hear your opinion on this one.
Thanks for commenting. I did actually write a post about how I feel about the new Damon/Elena relationship, here: http://funnyfeminist.com/2012/12/05/so-this-whole-damonelena-thing/. Short version, I don’t like it 🙂 I haven’t watched the show since Stefan and Elena broke up, actually, because I don’t like what the show is doing to Elena’s character, and I think the sire bond issue raises a lot of squicky consent issues.