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that it is something a vampire will not do to someone they love. Damon and Stefan showed their love for Elena by trying to make her less vulnerable—which highlighted how vulnerable she, or any other human, is in the presence of a vampire.
We don’t just see Stefan compelled by Katherine and Caroline compelled by Damon. We also see Katherine’s pupil Isobel, who compelled a man not to be gay so she could use him as a sex toy and blood bank, and compelled another man to kill himself. We see Jeremy, whose memories Damon wiped away, feeling wronged and confronting Damon and Elena about it. Neither Damon nor Elena can entirely justify their behavior, even though both of them meant it for the best. We keep being shown that vampires ruin your life and take away your will: I do think that Damon will have to pay for what he did to Caroline.
So I am super impressed by how thoughtful The Vampire Diaries is in its treatment of vampires and their relation to humans: positioning both men and women as vampires’ victims, and never waving either’s victimhood away. We viewers love Damon, who has the best lines and the best bone structure on the show, but we’re never allowed to ignore how very harmful he is.
However, the question of who is harmed and who has the power on this show is a little problematic. Women don’t fare very well on The Vampire Diaries. We have seen both Caroline and Vicki compelled and fed upon, and Elena only protected by the gift of vampire boyfriendly love. And women who can hold their own—at least the nonevil ones—tend 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 12
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not to stick around. Bonnie is a powerful witch, but the show isn’t called The Witch Diaries. It would be nice to see a sympathetic vampire woman who doesn’t die.
How, as a girl, do you survive appearing on The Vampire Diaries? I hope you guys can hang on a minute: I’m off to become a vampire and then—this is the most important part—join Team Evil. It’ll be great; I’ll get to wear revealing clothing and make out with Damon.
Best of all, I might live.
The first important vampire girl on the show was Vicki, Jeremy and Tyler’s sometime bad-girl girlfriend, who was turned into a vampire by Damon on a whim. She’d barely become a vampire before Stefan had to kill her because her bloodlust was out of control and she was going for Elena.
Kevin Williamson said in an interview with TV Guide about this abrupt end to Vicki and Jeremy’s romance, “A love story between a vampire and a guy? We’re watching that on True Blood [with Jessica and Hoyt].” Good point, Mr. Williamson, we can’t have a minor plotline that involved a vampire girl and a human guy. Man, dodged that stake. Imagine what would be even worse: if both The Vampire Diaries and True Blood had major plotlines about a human girl who attracts two very different vampire guys! Wouldn’t that be terrib—
uh. Look, a flying vampire! Gotta go.
As you can see, I was as unconvinced that Vicki needed killing as I was excited by the idea of seeing a vampire girl on the show, but part of the charm of The Vampire Diaries is that it has a very fast-moving plot, and people die early and often.
Just before Vicki’s death the last Salvatore descendant, Zach, 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 13
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also died, and at Damon’s hands. “This is just the kind of crazy ride The Vampire Diaries is!” I told myself. Vicki’s death was, however, followed by the death of Lexi, an older, experienced vampire lady who was Stefan’s best friend. I winced then, but worse was to follow.
Pearl and Anna, the mother-daughter vampire pair, were definitely my favorite vampire ladies ever on the show. Pearl was old, wise, and never looked for trouble or put up with any nonsense, and Anna was smart, sometimes deceptive.
No matter what men they loved, their first loyalty was always to each other. I particularly enjoyed that Anna and Jeremy’s romance was