SPECIFICALLY ELENA
IN SEASON 1 AND 2
(also, above i have attached a video of a behind the scenes look of how they made Katherine, it especially includes how talented and professional Nina Dobrev was to pull it off and how she did a great job bringing the characters to life)
okay so i'm rewatching the first season of TVD and lemme tell you, ya'll need to calm down when it comes to the Elena hate
but before all that, i have to acknowledge that isn't it kinda nice that the majority of us fans after rewatching this series and reading the dialogue after countless fanfics that a lot of us know the Korean war was from 1950 to 1953 after Stefan's scene in history class?
now, for the purpose of this chapter
after you finish TVD, either if you stopped after S6 or did the whole show, or did until S6 and then skipped to the series finale; you've got a lot of experience with these characters, you've formed your own opinion on them and most of the time it's hard to change that
the thing about main protagonists is that after a while, we start to dislike them or question their choices
i've seen it with a bunch of shows, movies, and books
we've all got a deep dislike for sookie stackhouse
we all wonder how dense harry potter can be at times
but some protagonists are well loved
like percy jackson
or scott mccall
but the question remains on how Elena got to be so disliked, and yet Katherine Pierce is praised
this is going to be an evaluation on elena, with some parallels to katherine, but not both as katherine should have her own chapter
First, season one
I've recently went back and rewatched the first season. Let me start off that a couple of months ago I was also rewatching S7 (dont ask why) and then when I got to S1 now, I had this overabundance of knowledge about everything that's going to happen, as well as the vampires past and future, you're basically all-knowing. So, when I saw Elena meeting Stefan and Stefan's watching her or answering her friend's questions about him, I know what the actual truth is. So, I'm meeting this human Elena with Stefan, she's basically a new person compared to the one we've gotten used to (especially because after reading fanfics for so long, Elena just constantly becomes more unlikable, but that's not Elena's fault but the ones who are writing her).
when i went into S1 again, there's this scene during a dinner party Elena is hosting for Stefan and Bonnie getting to know each other, and you know Damon and a compelled Caroline crash it afterwards. In the kitchen, Damon is talking about Katherine his own sob story to try and make Stefan look bad, but that's not the point, the point is how Elena says she's sorry about all that and Damon looks at her with thoughtfulness but also almost waiting for the other shoe to drop, like she isn't sincere. Except that she is, she has no reason not to be. Elena is a very sincere and kind girl. It's one of the reasons both Stefan and Damon fell in love with her.
When the town went to shit and the tomb vampires were on the prowl, we didn't blame Elena, because it wasn't her fault. She wasn't even supposed to know about vampires in the first place, all of that falls onto Stefan, he's the one that inserted him into her life. (though let me pause that, as I'm sure Klaus would've ended up finding her one way or another, gimme a minute, we're on season 1 right now). Now I'm not blaming Stefan here either, he was definitely interested and way too curious about Elena, and I personally also think that during his time in watching her and figuring out this can't be Katherine, that this sweet sad orphan girl is who he originally believed Katherine to be and his subconscious decided to pursue her. And then in spending time with her saw how she was better than his ideal version of Katherine could ever be.
Now we get to season two, which is where Katherine enters the picture.
Let me explain as to how Klaus would've found her anyway. I'm sure most of you remember Elena's birth mother, Isobel. Isobel was the one to find Katherine even whilst she was on the run from Klaus, and I'm sure Isobel kept tabs on Elena, or even went to see her after her parents died or maybe later on as in the episode where she dies she tells Elena that she always hoped to meet her daughter one day. Plus, John Gilbert, Elena's biological father also told her he was there when Isobel gave birth to Elena, she was wrecked at giving up her baby.
Point is, I'm sure Katherine would've learned that Isobel's daughter is her doppelgänger and would've eventually led to securing her for Klaus so she could stop running. You gotta remember that Kat had been planning this for a while now.
- She had Isobel and John get the Gilbert device to take down the tomb vampires so none would escape and spread the word she was alive which would have led to certain vampires visiting Mystic Falls and discovering Elena which meant that they would get back to Klaus and try to deliver her to him for the Sun & the Moon curse or just to get in favor with him.
- she met Mason Lockwood a year prior, got him to fall in love with her, triggered his werewolf curse, supported him, and convinced him to go home and get the moonstone.
- She did all of that so Klaus could have a werewolf to sacrifice and she would've made a vampire for him too, so technically without the Salvatores and their misadventures in S1, Elena would've probably died in that sacrifice. Because we all know Isobel and John couldn't of stopped Katherine or Klaus for that matter.
Let's talk about the sacrifice, shall we?
Elena learns that she's a doppelgänger, but specifically a doppelgänger that's meant to be sacrificed to break the Sun & the Moon Curse. She's definitely shaken, so she decides to ask Katherine about it and about Klaus. Katherine talks, but the part that sticks to Elena the most is that when Katherine turned into a vampire, Klaus got back at her by killing her entire family.
In that episode, Katerina, we also learn what else is needed to break the curse. A werewolf, which is why she had Tyler trigger his wolf curse, a vampire, and because she'd rather not sacrifice the Salvatores or herself, a newbie like Caroline is easier for grabs plus the line "I like the poetry of Caroline.", a witch to do the spell, Bonnie, and finally Elena.
(by the way, i totally loved that scene because it sorta brings all the high school mains together, just felt very nice and wrapped up)
(not to mention that Nina Dobrev was playing four characters.)
- Elena
- 1492 human Katherine
- 1864 Katherine
- modern day Katherine
Throughout the episode we also hear Katherine say twice, "Better you die than I." First to Trevor and Rose, and then to Elena about her and her friends.
After that, we see Elena blaming herself for even existing, saying that because of her a ton of her friends are going to die. She's in shock and doesn't understand it isn't her fault for being alive, but imagine that, instead of being angry at the situation, of having a fear that she's going to die, she's instead scared that her friends are going to die. But what I love is what she does next. She gets Rose to take her to Slater's, she wants to find out more about Klaus and Elijah, but her actual reasons was that she wanted to surrender. She wanted to be taken so her friends would be spared. I love this part, but not because I don't like Elena and want her gone. I love how we see what Elena would do in a situation of choosing death or choosing her family dying. She doesn't even talk with anyone about it, she chooses death.
Elena so far has shown us her bravery and determination time and time again, I saw it when she didn't care about her safety when Stefan was in trouble with the tomb vampires or later when he was in human blood withdrawal. Sometimes it's a bit reckless, but the fact that she actually keeps going and sticks around when she's surrounded by creatures far stronger than her is standing her ground and I admire that. I remember small scenes when she's scared shitless in front of a vampire, from the 50's dance in S1, to Rose hallucinating from a werewolf bite and yes she's scared, but she fights back.
I think I just realized Elena has final girl energy. You know those classic 80's and 90's slasher films with a final girl being the one to take on the monster and survive at the end? Yeah, Elena's got that vibe.
(^^ from the movie Final Girls)
What I like most is that in that episode where she and Rose went to find Slater and find info on Klaus, that Elena says she can't stand back and let her friends and family all take on Klaus and die in the process, it's better if it's just her. This, as well with my knowledge of how ruthless Klaus is, is completely understandable. Klaus would definitely have done what he did to Katherine's family to Elena's, and he did with Jenna anyway so.
And though when Stefan finds out that Elijah's deal was to keep just her friends safe, not Elena herself, he calls her a martyr. He says that it's different when he risks his life for her because he's already had a life, he's lived and she's barely begun. He hates how she accepts what's going to happen and doesn't want to fight, but he's biased. He loves her and wants her to live, if it was the other way around she would ask the same of him.
The thing is, as I was watching those episodes unfold, I already have hundreds of Klaus scenes in my head. I've read dozens of fanfics on him and I probably won't stop. So when I see that she's giving in to her fate so her friends stay alive I just see it as smart. We know Klaus, we know what he's capable of and even in season 2 when we hadn't even met him, Elena was smart enough to know it was better she gave in than trying to fight him. Because at least that way she won't drag her friends or family with her. Yes, it's important to fight back but it's also important to know when to back down.
We even find out that Elena's deal with Elijah was strictly for her friends, not her. Which is deeply in contrast to Katherine. I keep finding so many opposite parallels to her and Katherine, like take Damon:
Damon by S2 is in love with Elena, and I've seen hints of it since S1. There are moments where he mentions tough situations and horrible moments (in the usual Damon way) and she sees through the humor and is genuinely sorry. Even when Damon was planning on getting Katherine out of the tomb, I think he also saw something in Elena that he wanted Katherine to have or to be. He was questioning her like "Why couldn't Katherine have been this sincere? This gentle or kind?" Because even if Damon was whipped by KP at this point, he knew her faults, her schemes, her twisted mind, and sure in 1864 it was definitely exciting and monumental and new, plus human Damon was very rebellious. But Elena was the opposite, she was something to protect that still didn't back down even when she knew what he was. She held her ground even when he could easily snap her neck.
I think the most Elena and Katherine have in common is their determination. Elena doesn't go down without a fight, and Katherine refuses to die, she fights with everything in her breath. The difference is their reasons. Elena wants to live, of course she does, she wants to make a life for herself and when someone wants to hurt her she runs until she has no choice but to fight back. When someone she loves is in danger or hurting she wants to help them and if it's between them or Elena, Elena chooses them. Like in the 50's dance when that vampire threatened Jeremy and wanted to get Elena alone, Elena did everything she could to keep her brother alive, meanwhile Katherine would've left anyone with her for dead. Now, Katherine in this case is a fighter, most definitely. But, she fights for herself, she runs, she fights, she does everything possible to stay breathing.
Point is, you guys need to lighten up on Elena.
when you look at it from the brother's perspective you basically see this human girl who just went through a tragedy but she's trying her best to make other's feel better, she doesn't want them worried about her,
it's almost what they thought Katherine would've been when they heard of her, only in a strange way she's much more honest and real
there's an interview about how Nina played Elena and Katherine in that episode, Katerina, where the entire episode for these characters is just them talking, so it's basically Nina talking to herself and she says that when she's playing Elena she has to look at everyone with honesty and plans to be honest in response, but when she's playing Katherine she's never truthful, there's always something she's keeping from either other characters or the audience itself
some of you might ask why I only did season 1 and 2 of elena and not just do her whole entire character, well that's because she has layers
season 2 starts directly where season 1 ends, we can all remember the scene where Katherine chops John's fingers off and stabs him right? and then Elena gets home and here's a commotion in the kitchen,
well no time passes, if you want it's almost like one season of 44 episodes
anyway, elena does evolve as the episodes go by but there's no filler in between those seasons, no missing time that we need to get through to see why or how she changed
we all know that season 3 starts off a couple of months after season 2, but season 4 starts directly after season 3 ends, so those two pair well for another separate chapter that I'll get to once I finish season 2
(and just so you all know I'm legit limiting myself to watching like two to three episodes per week so it's going to be a little while but I'll get to it, in the mean time you have my weekly legacies chapters)
in the mean time, give her a break okay?
comment if i let anything out, comment your own thoughts
comment if you have more to add, but just regarding S1 and S2, if you have anything for S3 or S4 and onwards, private message me and I'll tag you in the chapter as well