Let's Be Real, The Vampire Diaries' Stelena And Delena Were Equally Horrible

There is no doubt that The Vampire Diaries was truly iconic for its time and still stands as one of the most fan-favorite vampire shows of all time. With a perfect balance of supernatural and teen drama, The CW hit the jackpot and also created two of the most iconic and constantly battling ships of the 2010s.

Elena Gilbert was always meant to be a girl-next-door type that many young female viewers could relate to. So naturally, her two main love interests, Damon and Stefan Salvatore, were equally interesting to the fanbase. The audience quickly split between the two brothers, fueling the rivalry.

Looking back on the show, though, would you really think that either of them were really good?

Let's start with Stelena, as the show did. Not only did everything happen too fast to be at least somewhat believable, but there was no real development in their relationship at all. Although there is a prism of the perfect boyfriend through which Stefan is always viewed, in reality, there is no excuse for stalking or manipulation.

For Damon, the list of his crimes is even longer and more obvious. Although it wasn't always Elena who suffered as a result of his actions, he wasn't a good person, and he definitely wasn't a good influence. Dating someone so deeply involved in sexual assault and rape, and justifying and romanticizing that kind of behavior, is downright dangerous.

The only difference between the two pairings is how they are perceived. While there are far more people who admit that Damon's behavior is dangerous, that's not the case with Stefan. If anything, he's seen as the lesser of two evils, which should somehow make him a good guy, but it doesn't.

The Vampire Diaries' biggest crime was not breaking up or creating a couple, but depriving its characters of the only thing they really needed: therapy. If that weren't the case, there wouldn't be so much abuse in both relationships, and there wouldn't be a horrible ending that was supposed to be happy.

If you want to re-watch The Vampire Diaries and refresh your memory of all the messy drama the show has brought to life, you can stream it on Netflix or MAX.