Meta: We'll Always Have Cara

[trobadora]

A few reasons why Cara is something special, and you should absolutely watch the second season of Legend of the Seeker RIGHT NOW if you haven't yet:

1. You know, I love this archetype. The bad guy who changes sides. The redemption arc. The stoic woobie. The closed-off introvert giving tantalising glimpses into their emotional landscape while remaining mostly closed off and an introvert. I love it. But what I don't love so much is that this kind of arc is nearly always given to male characters. There are so few women who get to play that role. But Cara does.
   
   Cara does, and it’s not played any differently than it would be for a man. She's the toughest and least emotional of all four main characters; she's stoic and introverted; she's inexperienced with the softer emotions. And yes, she's discovering those, gradually warming up to her companions, learning friendship and empathy - but the other characters never imply that that's required of her. She isn't badgered or bullied into "opening up" in canon, isn't criticised explicitly or implicitly for being as she is. On the contrary: as is often the case with male characters of this kind, her reticence is shown as endearing. When Cara takes back her confession of friendship - "I was delirious from the lack of air" -, Kahlan's response shows her not at all bothered by Cara's reaction. Cara's confession meant a lot to her, but she doesn't need Cara to become more outwardly emotional. It's just Cara being Cara.
2. Since Cara's come on board, this show passes the Bechdel test all the time. Cara's strongest relationship is not with Richard, the show's nominal lead, but with Kahlan. Kahlan, whose sister she killed, Kahlan, who was ready to confess her, condemn her to a painful death without hesitation at the beginning of the season - Kahlan's become her closest friend, and the touchstone for her development over the course of the season. Subtext aside, how often do we get that?
3. For all that there's enough that's problematic about the show's depiction of sexuality - certainly as it relates to Confessors - Cara's sexuality is shown as rather uncomplicated. She gets canon love interests, with whom she gets to sleep without being criticised for it; she has sex because she likes it. And she's forceful and dominant without it ever being implied that this is somehow connected to her Mord'Sith training, something she should overcome. It's not something she should shake; it's who she is, and that's that.
4. She's canonically bi, and her relationships with men and women (well, one man and one woman, for now) are shown respectfully, without any creepy subtext. When her (male) lover dies, it's not punishment for her sexuality; it's because she's one of the heroes and he's the (fridged) temporary love interest. When her (female) lover betrays her, that's not implicit criticism of the relationship: Dahlia's doing what she's doing because she loves Cara and is trying to do right by her. It's complicated and real. They did it RIGHT.

So, you know, this right here is something pretty damn special, and I hope so very much that we'll get to keep it for another season or five. But if not, this one season of Cara is still here, still proof that these things can be done right.