Stefan Salvatore, part 3

[lauren3210]

And again, because apparently I write way too much for LJ to cope with!

Stefan continues in this vein throughout season 2, as he manipulates situations in order to get what he wants.  Perhaps most notable for this behaviour is the scene in The Dinner Party (2x15).  Elena is reading the journals of her ancestor John Gilbert, and as she reaches the part where he describes being attacked by a newly turned Stefan, Stefan intervenes, taking the book from her:

 

STEFAN: What does Jonathan Gilbert have to say?

ELENA: A lot. It's insane the things he wrote in his journal, that he kept from the founding families. Stuff that nobody knows. Stuff that... You never told me.

STEFAN: We were, uh... We were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge. I didn't know about Jonathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would... that he would survive.

ELENA: He describes you as a monster.

STEFAN: That's what I was. I want you to know the truth... But I want you to hear it from me. In the weeks after I became a vampire, I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could.

 

He uses the plural pronoun, implicitly including Damon in his actions.  By doing this, he puts Damon into Elena’s mind, so that despite what the flashbacks show, she is unconsciously conditioned into thinking of Damon as a part of the massacre.  The flashbacks show us that Damon was actually horrified by the acts that Stefan committed alone, so that last sentence of that scene is particularly ironic.  He doesn’t want her to know the truth, despite what he claims.  He wants her to hear his version of the truth, which will leave him in a flattering light at best, and is an outright lie at worst.

 

Despite all of these moments throughout seasons 1 and 2, it is actually in season 3 that we get to see Stefan at his manipulative height.  Interestingly enough, these scenes actually happen after he stops drinking human blood, although nobody is aware of this at the time.  The first time in season 3 that this happens is in The Ties That Bind (3x12):

 

(Stefan stands there and does nothing, Elena is coming after him.)

ELENA: Stefan... say something. Please.

STEFAN: I shouldn't have kidnapped you. The car, the bridge, that was too far.

ELENA: Thank you.

STEFAN: But you shouldn't have lied to me today. You can't go off and do things like that, Elena. Not while Klaus is still alive.

ELENA: I know. I just... I wanted to give Bonnie a moment with her mother... without everything else is getting in the way.

STEFAN: Without me getting in the way.  

ELENA: I didn't plan on kissing him.

STEFAN: You're better than him, Elena. You're better than both of us.

 

This scene comes just after Elena tells Stefan that she kissed Damon, and he walks away from her and waits for her to catch up, which is, in and of itself, fairly manipulative.  Then he compounds this by using this moment to apologise for what he did to her on the bridge.  He does this so that she will feel a sense of guilt for ‘betraying’ him by kissing his brother.  And she does, giving a roundabout excuse for the kiss, despite saying earlier that she didn’t feel guilty about it.  Stefan then goes one step further; not content with having her feel guilty, he also has to try to drive home the point that his brother isn’t good enough for her, tacking himself onto the end of the sentence, letting her know that out of the two of them, he is still the better option for her, despite what he has done recently.

 

The next (and last, at least so far) obvious moment of manipulation in season 3 is in Dangerous Liaisons (3x14), and it is again with Damon and Elena, which is where Stefan’s manipulation techniques excel:

 

ELENA: If Esther wants to talk to me, maybe I should find out why.

DAMON: Well that's a dumb idea, she already tried to kill you once.

STEFAN: No, Elena is right. Bonnie was led to open that coffin for a reason. I think there is more to this than just some family reunion.

DAMON: Can we go back in time with the old Stefan who cared if Elena lived or died?

STEFAN: What for? It's your job now.

ELENA: Stefan has a point, Damon. I should find out what she wants.

DAMON: You can't protect yourself.

STEFAN: Okay fine, then I'll go.

DAMON: You pissed off enough Originals to last a lifetime. I'll go.

ELENA: Hey!

DAMON: End of story.

 

To truly understand the manipulation in this scene, we first have to imagine how that scene would have happened if it had just been Damon and Elena talking about going to the ball.  These two characters have had many conversations over the past season where they have talked and come to a compromise, but the most notable is perhaps the lake scene in Hybrid (3x02).  There they began their conversation with an argument, which eventually led to each of them making a compromise.  In the scene quoted above, it starts out much the same, with Damon calling the plan “dumb” (much like he called Elena an idiot in Hybrid).  But the difference here is Stefan’s involvement.  Damon assumes that as Stefan is here being involved in the conversation that he will want to play the part he usually plays; that of protector to Elena.  When Stefan tells him in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t care (despite the fact that he does, as we later find out he has already stopped drinking human blood because of what he did to Elena, which is another layer of manipulation in this scene), Damon is forced to play the role instead, and in his worry he overdoes it.  Stefan then watches their interaction very carefully, and uses it to his further advantage later in the episode:

 

STEFAN: Took you about 30 seconds to put Damon in the mood.

ELENA: He's just looking out for me.

STEFAN: I think he needs to figure out that you can look out for yourself.

ELENA: I need to talk to you.

STEFAN: Ok, so talk.

ELENA: Not here.

 

In the first quoted scene, he tells Damon that looking out for Elena was “your job now”, but then in this scene, he condemns Damon for doing that job, insinuating that Damon is over-stepping his boundaries.  Here, he is passively asserting his perceived place in the Salvatore hierarchy; in effect, he is saying “I am the better brother for you, look how much more I respect your agency”.  Which, considering the amount of times he has manipulated her or lied to her by omission, is laughable.  But unfortunately, it works.  She pulls him aside to talk to him:

 

ELENA: If Esther is secretly on our side, we need to know. But I can't get to her with two bodyguards.

STEFAN: Why are you telling me this?

ELENA: Because Damon won't let me anywhere near her without protection. And you care about killing Klaus more than you care about anything. (Stefan looks down pensively) So...What, am I wrong?

STEFAN: (pauses, and smiles bitterly) No, you're not wrong. What do you need me to do?

ELENA: Make sure that I can get into that room with Esther, Alone.

STEFAN: You're sure you can do this?

ELENA: I can do this. When we were together you used to let me make my own decisions. You trusted me. After all this at least that hasn't changed.

 

The first thing to note that Stefan does in this scene is how he reacts to Elena suggesting that the only thing he cares about is killing Klaus.  He knows that she is waiting for a sign that he still cares, and that he still cares about her, and with that reaction, he gives it to her, which then elicits the later scene on the porch between these two characters.  But the most important part of this conversation is Elena’s last line.  It had quite a few viewers scratching their heads in puzzlement, because this is completely not true.  He hasn’t always let her make her own decisions: he didn’t tell her he was a vampire before they started dating; he didn’t tell her she looked like Katherine before they had sex; he didn’t tell her about Damon’s involvement in Isobel’s disappearance.  All of these things that he kept from her she had to find out on her own, because he didn’t trust her reaction and ability to handle the information.  However, in light of Stefan’s manipulation, it is possible to see why Elena would think so.  She is frustrated with Damon’s current over-protectiveness (encouraged by Stefan), and then Stefan tells her that he respects her agency and her ability to handle situations.  Here, Stefan has conditioned her subconscious to see him as the one person that she can rely on.  And all of this is quite deliberate on Stefan’s part, as we can see by his reaction in the earlier scene.  Gone are the days where he subconsciously manipulated people; now he does it with ease, and with complete knowledge of his actions.  He wanted to drive a wedge between Damon and Elena.  And he succeeded.

 

My main question while thinking about Stefan will always be, do the writers know that this is how they’ve written him?  His manipulative streak is fact; it’s right there in the text, but do the writers realise this?  It is a running joke within the DE community that Stefan’s halo will never be tarnished; we’ll never see him owning up to his actions and taking responsibility for the consequences; we’ll never get to see other characters call him out on his duplicitous behaviour.  I would like to think that we will eventually get to see this, because otherwise half of Stefan’s journey will be pointless.  And that would just be bad writing.

So, that's the end of this part o the essay, but I still have more to say!  OMG, are you all as exhausted as I am?

Comments

[lisal825.livejournal.com]

This is a really interesting read.

In particular, the stuff with Katherine/Elena has always been so odd to me. Why did Stefan become so interested in Elena? I mean, was it not because she looked JUST like Katherine? I actually think the Stefan/Katherine dynamic is FASCINATING and wish the show would explore it more. Their scenes are always fantastic.

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I agree, I really would like to see the show explore the SK dynamic more; he thought she was "an angel", and he later projected that image onto Elena. There had to be a reason why he "had to know her", and that reason just has to have something to do with the fact that she looked like Katherine; he wanted a do-over, with a hopefully better ending.

[arabian.livejournal.com]

Overall this was just so spot-on. There was literally not one word I disagreed with.

As I said to part 1, I too wonder if the writers planned this. I sure hope so!

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I really hope we get to see some of this explored on the show. If they analyse the text that they themselves wrote, it should be the only logical way forward. In my opinion, if they don't go with this character arc by the time this series is over, then Stefan will have been left unfinished, which would be a tragedy, because he is actually one of the most textually layered characters to have been created in a while.

[sillyforwords.livejournal.com]

Bravo, Lauren! Very well thought out and written. I can think of so many more instances, such as in the Dinner Party when he brought up Damon killing Lexi to deflect attention away from his own heinous acts, or when he tells Damon in Dangerous Liasons that he cares too much and is a liability, which play so strongly on Damon's mind later, the entire fuckery that was the sacrifice in season 2, and his role in it ...phew, Stefan's deceptions could fill an entire novel. I'm looking forward to the next part.
xo Mandi

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Oh I know, there were so many more instances I could have used! However, a lot of them I'm going to be including in the next part of this essay, about Stefan's identity crisis, which I hope to have finished soon!

[sun-sign.livejournal.com]

I've read all the parts of your essay so far and I can only say: brilliant!

I've actually never noticed Stefan's manipulation except for a few times, so this was an eye-opener to me. Although I have to say, I'm still not convinced that all those examples were Stefan conciously manipulating people - I just feel that some of them might just be coincidences? And as you said, unconcious manipulation. Man, Stefan's a mess. He has SERIOUS issues, and I would like to see his character more explored on the show, because right now I feel like they've sort of just thrown the whole ripper thing out of the picture and it happened WAY to quick imo. It's a pity, because he's such an interesting character.

Looking forward to the next part!

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Yes, I agree, there are many times when Stefan's manipulation is more of an unconscious reaction for him to a situation; I feel as though he sometimes doesn't really understand how to fully connect with people, and so he falls back on this trait without realising it. And OMG, I cried when the Ripper s/l came to a sudden stop on the show! There were so many fascinating ways they could have taken that story arc, and I was so disappointed that they didn't seem to do even half of the things I was expecting from all the hype. Stefan is a very interesting character, and I sometimes feel like too much of his narrative evolves around the SE relationship. I really hope they find other avenues to explore with him soon.

[k-stjames.livejournal.com]

Lauren - I agree with everything you wrote and find this to be one of the biggest weaknesses with the show. They have never acknowledged or hinted at how manipulative he really is. His every action with Elena from the very beginning when he lied about why he was in town (and don't get me started on the fact that Elena has never called him out for lying and stalking her for months before he manipuated her into falling for him. . .I hate this obvious dodge by the writers) has always been to paint himself as some misunderstood, poor lost soul with a heartless devil for a brother, while diligently working to keep Elena as some frail hothouse flower that needs protecting. I can't wait for the day when Elena lets him have it for always doing / saying something negative about Damon, when Damon has never said a bad word about his brother.

[lauren3210.livejournal.com]

Hi Kat!

You're right, they don't really acknowledge this side of him, but I really think that has more to do with his current identity crisis than a lack of forethought by the writers. They created this character, they gave him this duality in his nature, so it wouldn't make sense for them to be ignoring it for no reason. Stefan's biggest issue is that, like Damon once said, he cannot live on the edge; he always falls off one side or the other. While he continues to do this, he will never be comfortable with himself, and this will affect how he interacts with people. I think that once he starts to learn moderation and becomes more comfortable with himself, the manipulation will die down, because he'll no longer have use for it. I guess we'll see.