#tyler x caroline

The Vampire Diaries’ Second Season Was the Show at Its Very Best

It Made Tyler and Caroline Into Crucial Players

The Vampire Diaries has always struggled at successfully integrating characters who aren’t aware of the supernatural into the show, which is why Caroline and Tyler (Michael Trevino) barely rose above the archetypes of ditzy blond and athlete bully during the show’s first season. But oddly enough, becoming a vampire and werewolf humanized both Caroline and Tyler, who then underwent some of the most impressive character transformations in the show’s history.

Having learned about vampires and werewolves, Caroline and Tyler were finally allowed to be active participants in the show’s main storylines in Season 2, turning them into crucial players rather than mere foils or bystanders. But more importantly, Caroline and Tyler’s journeys were the first time the show truly explored the heart-wrenching struggles of leaving your human life behind and facing a lifetime of deadly urges beyond your control. Caroline’s issues with her mother (Marguerite MacIntyre) were particularly moving, with the pair struggling to trust each other in the wake of her transformation. And Tyler’s search to find his place in the world – one that included very few people like him – broke our goddamn hearts.

But Caroline and Tyler found strength in each other during these trying times, and eventually they learned to find that same strength in themselves. So while Season 2 will always be remembered as the birth of Steroline, it should also get credit for turning Caroline and Tyler into characters worth rooting for (and ones who had quite the epic love story of their own).

- via TVGuide