Vampire Diaries: character arcs (spoilers through 2x15)

[butterfly]

crowandfog did an informal work-up of central characters in TVD. Something that was noticed is that while Stefan had a lot of heavy PoV episodes early in S1, they tapered off after a while. And Damon's started to rise. And we've been seeing a lot of Damon PoV in S2, because his character arc - his struggle for/against his humanity - is so strong.

Something that I started noticing recently is that Stefan... doesn't really have a character arc this season. Last season, he had the 'hook up with Elena' story for the early episodes and then the 'reconciliation with Damon' plotline for the later ones. He also got a 'fighting his own demons' plotline that aided in the reconciliation plot. All of which have been resolved. He's hooked up, he's reconciled, and his demons have been fought.

So far, this season, it seems like Stefan is politely turning down any potential character arcs or storylines. Nope, not interested in a continuation of the human blood addiction. No current issues with Damon that he needs to work out, thanks. And despite the minor flurries, his relationship with Elena has been solid - even when they were broken up, they were reassuring each other that they loved each other every five seconds. Katherine offered Stefan a plotline ('work out your denial issues'?) and Stefan declined to pursue it (and, in 2x15, what could have been a jumping off point to explore Stefan reconciling with his past as a 'monster' (for five minutes, big deal) turned into what currently appears to be a one-episode wonder that is all about Elena's character arc of embracing the fight inside her, while continuing to give the audience additional insight into Damon's character).

Mostly, he's been facilitating other people's plotlines.

The other major characters all have plots and several of the supporting and minors have carrythrough plotlines as well.

Damon: the struggle with his desire to feel and his desire not to feel; humanity, etc, and after losing Elena's affection in 2x01, he spent several episodes working to regain it.

Elena: doppelgänger hijinks galore and her dealing with what that means to her. And she just had a several episode stint devoted to the idea that she needs to fight fate, not just passively accept death.

Caroline: how becoming a 'monster' can sometimes help someone who was lost in human life; all the various struggles of what it means to be a new vampire. Struggle against desire.

Bonnie & Tyler: Blood/genetics or friendship? Tyler came down on the side of genetics (his werewolf blood), while Bonnie chose friendship. The importance of friendship. Plus, they both got new love interests (Jeremy and Caroline, respectively), which always leads to character stuff.

And Jeremy has had a 'growing into his (hot) own' plotline, getting to be part of the major action (including making missteps like going into the tomb), plus the Bonnie relationship arc.

Am I missing something from Stefan's side of things? Does he have a character arc this season that's just slipped by me? Because, as it currently stands, it looks like he's a supporting character in Damon, Elena, and now Caroline's dramas, rather than a major player all his own.

Comments

[scy]

*is thinking*

I am wondering if they are going to do more with Stefan in regards to Katherine or not, and he is involved in Elena's desire to sacrifice herself...but he isn't at the forefront of that.

Hmmm.

[butterfly]

I really hope that they do something with Stefan re: Katherine because... Stefan needs something. It feels like the writers have written him into a corner at the moment. Everyone else is moving somewhere and Stefan is treading water. I want Stefan to move, too!

[scy]

I know, it's nice that everyone is getting stuff to do but Stefan need something too - and he has a LOT of things he hasn't faced about Katherine.

[butterfly]

Right - you, me, and Katherine all agree on that. I just... after this most recent episode, I worry that maybe the show doesn't. Hopefully, we'll get something good for Stefan in 2x16. I was actually hoping for something great for Stefan out of this episode, though, which is probably why I felt inspired to write this up. I loved the vast majority of 2x15, but felt like Stefan was done a disservice by the way that the flashbacks were done. It really wasn't given enough weight and having Lexi 'save him' a few days into him being a vampire is, I think, a weaker choice on the parts of the writers.

It just kinda seems like they're afraid to take risks with Stefan's character. I don't know why - they're willing to do it with every other character.

[scy]

I mean, I get that the writers see all the stuff that Damon and Katherine have - but Damon is at a different point now and his old conflicts are not the same ones he has now. He is looking to protect his family and his pack and he will use whatever resources he has to.

Stefan on the other hand is hampered by his control. He can't be fully a vampire and embrace all that it means because he slips and goes too far the other way and maybe the writers aren't sure how to get him to a place where he deals with it?

[threerings]

It's interesting. It just popped in my head that TVD is kinda different from other shows in its willingness to have multiple POV characters. There's lots of Elena POV, but a fair about of Stefan in S1 and lots of Damon in S2, plus lots of Caroline this season. And other characters get shorter scenes of POV. Contrasted to say BTVS where the POV was pretty much always Buffy, regardless of what was going on.

I'm not wrong about that, right?

[butterfly]

Yeah, TVD is more of an ensemble show than BtVS, for sure. It was always something of a big deal when BtVS looked at the show from someone else's PoV (if I recall correctly, Joss said that, with every episode, he asked "What's the Buffy of it?" to make sure that they were representing her) - like "The Zeppo" being from Xander's PoV.

It depends on what kind of shows that you watch, I think. BtVS and AtS were shows that were explicitly based around a single character, while Firefly was more of an ensemble show (though Mal and Simon-River were more showcased than the rest of the cast in what they got to shoot and air).

TVD started out being more the Stefan-and-Elena show but then it branched out. Once Damon stopped being an antagonist, he started getting a lot of scenes where we got to see what he was thinking and feeling. And Caroline has gotten a lot of exposure in this season.

[silviakundera]

I really think he doesn't have a solid arc for the 1st half of the season.

Except... maybe one could perhaps say that the first half of Season 2 has been Stefan learning to let people go and resist the urge to control them. We know that he's very controlling about his personal information... but I think he can also be very controlling about other people as well in the sense that Stefan likes things to happen on his terms -- that's one of the reasons he has such a hard time with Damon in S1.

But this season we see him make a stronger, concerted effort to let live with the people he cares about. If you look at how he handled Caroline, he's less rigid in his views about "vampires have have to Live Like The Person You Want to Be" and he hasn't given her any shit about choosing to drink human blood. He also let Damon and Caroline handle what to do about Liz. He still bitches at Damon some (and usually Damon deserves it), but Stefan's backing a lot of Damon's plays and he shocked Damon by siding with him readily about Mason (that they focused on the shock from Damon means that shock was supposed to be significant).

The Stefan/Elena storyline this season so far as been about him struggling with supporting her choices and where to draw the line. And he manages to pretty much completely stay out of the Elena&Damon fight and let them work that out between themselves. This is a contrast to where he was in S1, when you often saw moments of weakness when Stefan felt threatened and not in control that had him dictating to Damon some version of 'stay about from Elena/Elena's personal business'.

I dunno, that's the most I can come up with. I really want to see something interesting from Stefan post-hiatus that's not about the romance with Elena. My hope is that they emphasize his ties to Caroline and Damon and give a clear direction for what's going on with him internally. Let's pick up the blood again! I'd love to see some reverse mentoring where Caroline helps guide him to being better adjusted there.

[butterfly]

I dunno, that's the most I can come up with.

It was more than I got, so it's good! So, it kinda sounds like his character arc might be... about being more of a supportive character and less of a pushy main character. It's funny - I don't think he's gotten that much less screen time this season, but he feels like he's so much more in background.

I really want to see something interesting from Stefan post-hiatus that's not about the romance with Elena. My hope is that they emphasize his ties to Caroline and Damon and give a clear direction for what's going on with him internally. Let's pick up the blood again! I'd love to see some reverse mentoring where Caroline helps guide him to being better adjusted there.

Yes, I would love... any of that.

[silviakundera]

I think he might actually have around the same amount of screen time, it's just what's happening in that screen time is less about what's going on with Stefan internally/emotionally. I think maybe the writers' desire to make him The Good Brother and The Perfect Boyfriend might be hampering the hammering out of an arc -- not that he doesn't have interesting flaws and complications, just that the writers seem a little worried about following them down their inevitable path. They don't want to tarnish the image too much or rock the Stefan/Elena status quo and so they pull back before things get compelling.

I believe that one thing we NEED to see is more of is Stefan fucking up. For a character to be interesting, you need to let them lose. We see Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline all make miscalculations/bad judgment calls that have reverberations.

But even the 1x18-1x20 arc isn't really Stefan fucking up, per se, because the situation was thrust upon him in 1x17. The only time we really see Stefan handle something badly because of his own judgment that blew up in his and everyone's face was the turning of Damon in 1x20 and his inability to address it with Damon for decades. It's not a surprise that his apology to Damon in 2x8 is one of his most interesting character moments for the season.

Having characters error is a way to make them grow.

[butterfly]

I believe that one thing we NEED to see is more of is Stefan fucking up. For a character to be interesting, you need to let them lose. We see Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline all make miscalculations/bad judgment calls that have reverberations.

I agree so much. Very few people like 'perfect' characters who never make any missteps and characters like that are incapable of growth (because you can't get better than perfect!).

[alchemise]

I kind of feel like season 2 Stefan is all about him learning to finally be a vampire in a way that's both healthy and fits his morality. He's finally figuring out how to drink human blood without losing control and killing people, which has been a long time coming for him.

The problem that I see with this is that there's been no real conflict. It's been too easy of a story for this guy who avoided human blood for a hundred or so years because he feared his own impulses to just slowly work himself back on it with no difficulties.

I'm hoping Katherine finds a way to mess things up a bit for him, so that Stefan has some challenges to overcome here.

[butterfly]

The problem that I see with this is that there's been no real conflict. It's been too easy of a story for this guy who avoided human blood for a hundred or so years because he feared his own impulses to just slowly work himself back on it with no difficulties.

Yes, this. Because... I can see that he apparently has fixed his human blood problem. And it seems to have worked so magically well that I feel like it diminishes the awesome arc in S1. If it's this easy for him to get better, then Damon was right all along and Stefan was just difficult for no good reason.

Then they did the same thing with Stefan's 'bad history' in the latest episode - he was bad for a handful of days. Not as much of a big deal as they'd implied that it was before.