Lexi the Savior
Oct. 29th, 2011 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
About Stefan's friendship with Lexi. Spoilers up to TVD 3x07. I'm having a bad day and lately I've discovered that reading too much into a teen vampire show is my best way to relax, so here I go.
As some of you have probably noticed, my initial reaction to Lexi's arch in 3x07 was pretty bad. The long "corrective" torture combined with creepy, twisted pep-talk both shocked and disgusted me; I couldn't understand why the writers would push Stefan onto such a stupid, pointless path of forced redemption, and how is it different from Caroline's dad trying to "contition" her. It was bugging me so much that I spent a good part of a day trying to figure it out, and I even came to some conclusions.
When we first meet Lexi in 1x08, she is one of the good vampires. She is Stefan's best friend, she comes to Mystic Falls to celebrate his birthday; her job is to stop him from brooding and make him have some fun. Personally, I loved her; she was the kind of friend Stefan needed, a perfect match for his gloomy personality, someone who really would help him laugh from time to time.
From the very beginning it's made perfectly clear that Stefan thinks it was Lexi who saved him when he was at his lowest and darkest. The image is enforced in 2x15 flashbacks:
Stefan: Lexi? She wouldn't let me give up. (TVD 2x15)
So I eagerly interpreted Lexi as a savior Stefan was presenting her, and I never paid attention to one simple fact: she never really asked questions.
As
softly_me pointed out, Stefan defines himself by everyone else and what they want him to be (btw, she also wrote a great fic about Stefan). So after Lexi brings him back to his old, good self, he eventually thanks her for that, and he does it sincerely. This is how their friendship works. And Lexi's brutal behavior in 3x07? The behavior I interpreted as a negation of everything their friendship stood for? This is the very essence of this friendship, just shown from the dark side.
Every time Lexi stepped in, she took responsibility for Stefan. When she enters the Salvatore house in 2x15 flashback, she simply says: "Well, we're going to have to change that", and starts changing things right away. Stefan never asks for help, he never decides he wants to change; he simply lets Lexi lead him, because it feels better to have a stronger person making decisions again. Stefan gives up his agency for safety; that's the thing many people do.
The recurring theme of s3 was that someone (preferably Elena) must save Stefan: save him from Klaus, save him from bloodlust, save him from himself, take your pick. And all those attempts were failed. Stefan came back wrong, Stefan is a ripper, Stefan calls Elena a human bloodbag, Stefan is Klaus' puppet. The situation is so hopeless that Elena in the begining of 3x07 actually decides to bring Lexi back, because Lexi, the ultimate savior, will be able to give her a tip how to save the day. And guess what? Ta-da, here comes Lexi! She kicks Stefan's ass right away, she locks him in the old Forbes cell (of all places!) and Redeeming Mass Murderers 101 can begin!
The trick is, Lexi is doing the very same thing everyone's been doing since the beginning of s3. Of course it's horrible, scary and disgusting, but she is a vampire, and in this show being a vampire means being a magnifying glass. Lexi does exactly what Elena wished her to do - and Elena is horror-struck. The Elena who spent the entire s2 refusing to be damsel in distress and refusing to be saved cannot just take Stefan's choice away from him. She has to lock him up, because she has other people to care for, and Stefan is a threat to them, but she's done fighting with the bloodlust, she is done fighting with compulsion, she is done saving Stefan. Lexi made her realize that Stefan finally needs to save himself.
Stefan: I don't want your help.
Lexi: You know, you say that every time. (TVD 3x07)
I'm still not sure if I liked how the whole thing was pictured - as Lexi said herself, it was not pretty. But I really believe that it was the end of "Now We Team Up And Save Stefan" crap. This is the show telling us that the person we used to admire for being such a good friend and saving Stefan every time was wrong. Lexi was wrong from the very beginning, and Elena finally understood it. From now on Elena makes Stefan responsible for his actions. Klaus might've compelled Stefan to "switch it off" (let' not even start on this...), but he didn't compel him not to switch it back on. This is his choice entirely.
I understand that a good part of the last paragraph probably is just wishful thinking, but I feel that I'm allowed to believe it until the next episode proves me wrong ;).
And how did you like Stefan's story in 3x07?
As some of you have probably noticed, my initial reaction to Lexi's arch in 3x07 was pretty bad. The long "corrective" torture combined with creepy, twisted pep-talk both shocked and disgusted me; I couldn't understand why the writers would push Stefan onto such a stupid, pointless path of forced redemption, and how is it different from Caroline's dad trying to "contition" her. It was bugging me so much that I spent a good part of a day trying to figure it out, and I even came to some conclusions.
When we first meet Lexi in 1x08, she is one of the good vampires. She is Stefan's best friend, she comes to Mystic Falls to celebrate his birthday; her job is to stop him from brooding and make him have some fun. Personally, I loved her; she was the kind of friend Stefan needed, a perfect match for his gloomy personality, someone who really would help him laugh from time to time.
From the very beginning it's made perfectly clear that Stefan thinks it was Lexi who saved him when he was at his lowest and darkest. The image is enforced in 2x15 flashbacks:
Stefan: Lexi? She wouldn't let me give up. (TVD 2x15)
So I eagerly interpreted Lexi as a savior Stefan was presenting her, and I never paid attention to one simple fact: she never really asked questions.
As
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Every time Lexi stepped in, she took responsibility for Stefan. When she enters the Salvatore house in 2x15 flashback, she simply says: "Well, we're going to have to change that", and starts changing things right away. Stefan never asks for help, he never decides he wants to change; he simply lets Lexi lead him, because it feels better to have a stronger person making decisions again. Stefan gives up his agency for safety; that's the thing many people do.
The recurring theme of s3 was that someone (preferably Elena) must save Stefan: save him from Klaus, save him from bloodlust, save him from himself, take your pick. And all those attempts were failed. Stefan came back wrong, Stefan is a ripper, Stefan calls Elena a human bloodbag, Stefan is Klaus' puppet. The situation is so hopeless that Elena in the begining of 3x07 actually decides to bring Lexi back, because Lexi, the ultimate savior, will be able to give her a tip how to save the day. And guess what? Ta-da, here comes Lexi! She kicks Stefan's ass right away, she locks him in the old Forbes cell (of all places!) and Redeeming Mass Murderers 101 can begin!
The trick is, Lexi is doing the very same thing everyone's been doing since the beginning of s3. Of course it's horrible, scary and disgusting, but she is a vampire, and in this show being a vampire means being a magnifying glass. Lexi does exactly what Elena wished her to do - and Elena is horror-struck. The Elena who spent the entire s2 refusing to be damsel in distress and refusing to be saved cannot just take Stefan's choice away from him. She has to lock him up, because she has other people to care for, and Stefan is a threat to them, but she's done fighting with the bloodlust, she is done fighting with compulsion, she is done saving Stefan. Lexi made her realize that Stefan finally needs to save himself.
Stefan: I don't want your help.
Lexi: You know, you say that every time. (TVD 3x07)
I'm still not sure if I liked how the whole thing was pictured - as Lexi said herself, it was not pretty. But I really believe that it was the end of "Now We Team Up And Save Stefan" crap. This is the show telling us that the person we used to admire for being such a good friend and saving Stefan every time was wrong. Lexi was wrong from the very beginning, and Elena finally understood it. From now on Elena makes Stefan responsible for his actions. Klaus might've compelled Stefan to "switch it off" (let' not even start on this...), but he didn't compel him not to switch it back on. This is his choice entirely.
I understand that a good part of the last paragraph probably is just wishful thinking, but I feel that I'm allowed to believe it until the next episode proves me wrong ;).
And how did you like Stefan's story in 3x07?
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 09:20 pm (UTC)I got where Elena was coming from in 3x07 but she was just about the only character who I feel like I really got since Stefan and Lexi's interactions felt soooo far away from how I'd imagined it.
From now on Elena makes Stefan responsible for his actions. Klaus might've compelled Stefan to "switch it off" (let' not even start on this...), but he didn't compel him not to switch it back on. This is his choice entirely.
I'm just going to go ahead and adopt this as canon.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 09:53 pm (UTC)That's exactly what I'm doing :D.
Stefan and Lexi's interactions were horrible, but the more I think about them, the more I feel they were in character. I watched the 2x15 flashbacks when I was writing this post, and OMG, Lexi is so bossy in them. The only difference is that before she wasn't shown while stabbing Stefan and stuff. It's creepy how consistant this story turns out to be, ugh.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 08:26 am (UTC)I never paid attention to one simple fact: she never really asked questions.
YES. I think you just articulated what bugged the hell out of me in that 2x15 ep. It all comes to a head at the end when she tells Damon that ~the hate will get the better of him~ and it's like… okay well if you're so sure of that, woman, why are you letting him walk out the door? Buh? It was this VERY WEIRD condescending vibe of choosing for other people that they did/didn't need to be saved, which I thought was just me being cranky, but no. Validated.
Stefan gives up his agency for safety; that's the thing many people do.
YES.
Lexi made her realize that Stefan finally needs to save himself.
I HOPE SO. It'd be a really great consistent theme then. But I'm still not 100% convinced the show doesn't want us to take away that Stefan should reform himself ~for Elena's sake. Didn't feel like that much of a breakthrough, tbh.
From now on Elena makes Stefan responsible for his actions. Klaus might've compelled Stefan to "switch it off" (let' not even start on this...), but he didn't compel him not to switch it back on. This is his choice entirely.
I LIKE YOUR THOUGHTS. This storyline may be salvaged after all. But. You know. I'll keep my security blanket of cynicism handy. ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-10-30 09:15 am (UTC)I didn't really notice any of this when I was first watching 2x15. Some time ago
But I'm still not 100% convinced the show doesn't want us to take away that Stefan should reform himself ~for Elena's sake. Didn't feel like that much of a breakthrough, tbh.
I really hope this is when Damon steps in. Of course it would be best if Stefan made an independent choice to redeem himself, but if the show insists on him having some sort of an external motivation, it had better be his brother, not his girl. Damon might push him in the right direction by reminding him that he was happier when he was a reformed vampire, but Damon cannot tell Stefan to change FOR him.
I'll keep my security blanket of cynicism handy.
This is precisely what I'm doing. Otherwise this post would be full of gifs featuring dancing Damon, dancing Katherine, cute fluffy animals and rainbow vomits.
when life is shit, write great meta
And it really worked! :D
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 01:28 pm (UTC)how is it different from Caroline's dad trying to "contition" her.
To me, the difference is that Caroline doesn't hurt anyone. Caroline lives her life and doesn't kill and should be able to keep doing that without the torture/conditioning. The Lexi-Stefan sequence was disturbing, but it is different because Stefan kills a lot of people. So, I can't really fault her for it. I love the current storyline if only because it is the first time Stefan has been off the rails without Lexi there to pull hi back. He's really on his own this time.
The Elena who spent the entire s2 refusing to be damsel in distress and refusing to be saved cannot just take Stefan's choice away from him.
Oooh, my ship! I loved this insight, well-done. Elena recognizes this behavior. Lexi was treating Stefan the same way Damon treated Elena last season. Damon took away Elena's agency time and again, deciding to save her no matter the costs, but Stefan didn't do that to her. Stefan let it be her choice, but stood by her side through it all. This is what Elena will do for Stefan now. She tells him that she wants him to "fight for it". Those are the same words Stefan spoke to her at the lakehouse in 2x15 ("I just want you to fight for it"). Stefan knew that he couldn't force Elena to find the will to live and Elena now realizes that she can't force him to want to be feel.
Wonderful meta! I really hope the writers are as aware of their story as you are.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-31 01:45 pm (UTC)She tells him that she wants him to "fight for it". Those are the same words Stefan spoke to her at the lakehouse in 2x15 ("I just want you to fight for it").
Thank you, I didn't notice the reference!
I wasn't bothered by Lexi in 2x15, and now I'm sort of double bothered. I've re-watched the Lexi flashbacks when I was writing this meta, and I was all: "Oh, girl, if you thought THIS was ok, you need to sort out your priorities...".
To me, the difference is that Caroline doesn't hurt anyone. Caroline lives her life and doesn't kill and should be able to keep doing that without the torture/conditioning. The Lexi-Stefan sequence was disturbing, but it is different because Stefan kills a lot of people.
I had an impression that Caroline's dad simply doesn't believe that she doesn't hurt people. That's why I made a comparison. Of course Lexi has better reasons, but her effort is just as brutal and just as futile as Bill's.