Lexi the Savior
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 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?