15 Female Characters on The CW Who Deserve(d) Better
7. Elena Gilbert (The Vampire Diaries)
I know what you’re thinking. Elena Gilbert had a happy ending; why is she on a list about women who deserved better? Well, it is all in Elena’s contrived love for Damon Salvatore.
Before I get attacked, let’s all think for a second. Why would any sane person start falling in love with a man who constantly tramples on her free will, killed her brother twice, sexually assaulted her, emotionally used and physically and psychologically abused both of her best friends, killed her best friends mother, tried to keep the cure away from her even though he knew it was the only real way she would achieve happiness, etc.?
I could go on and on. In order to make this relationship work, they had Elena settle time and time again on the dependent psychopathic brother and believe it was actually what she deserved. Not to me.
Elena Gilbert deserved better.
Are you noticing a building trope with our last three women? PSA announcement for television: It not the women’s obligation to be a man’s redemption.
Instead of placing that weight on women, like it’s their jobs to be the fixer, why don’t the fixer uppers get their own character development and do it themselves? Let our female character’s make the decision that is best for them, not their love interests.
8. Luisa Alver (Jane the Virgin)
Luisa is an incredibly funny character in a semi-satirical TV show, so she fits right in Jane the Virgin. I understand that many storylines on this show could be a bit ridiculous because that is how satire generally works; however, Luisa’s arcs are beyond ridiculous.
She was introduced as a pretty stable character: the sweet, loving, supportive, sister who is happily married and works as a doctor. All of this explodes when she finds out her partner cheated on her and everything goes down hill.
Not that this is the problem. Life happens and sometimes we have to unravel to build back up. But the writer’s refuse to let Luisa grow.
She lets her life be controlled by the relationships that she is in, especially her relationship with Rose. So that even after everything she goes through (the mental hospital, Rose murdering her father, the Sin Rostro investigation, etc.) she just slides back into dependent habits.
At the end of Season 3, Luisa makes a break again from Rose to go to rehab, but with her character’s track record who knows how long this revelation of a better life will last.
9. Davina Claire (The Originals)
Like Lexa, Davina’s misuse stems from her death. She was actually a well-developed character up until her demise. She was a mixture of vulnerable, strong-willed, loving, and cold when she needed to be. She was only in her teens, but she was one of the biggest thorns in the Originals’ sides throughout the entire series and I absolutely loved her for it.
After she had gone through so much, she had grown into such a strong and intelligent witch that I just wanted her to be happy. Or if she died, I wanted it to be in a blaze of glory because she deserved it.
Instead, she was murdered by her boyfriend Kol because she refused to heed common sense and stay away from the man who was cursed to desire blood rabidly until he killed her.
And what makes matter worse? When Marcel tried to bring her back, this boyfriend’s family proceeded to damn her into an unknowable hell. I get that she was a thorn in The Originals sides, but she never deserved this end.
10. Linda Park (The Flash)
On a different wave than many of the other entries, Linda Park makes this list because she was simply underutilized. She was written and is still written very well.
Her storylines were seamless and interesting. However, she’s used so sparingly in the show that it makes me very nostalgic of the comics. She works with Iris, she is a TV reporter who laughs in the face of danger, and we only get a glimpse of her now and again.
She has so much potential that The Flash simply hasn’t tapped into yet. Linda is an opportunity to show a side of Iris at work that is away from Barry and her family. I would love to see that side and I would love to know more about Linda, herself.
Hopefully next season, we can get more of WestPark.
11. Thea Queen (Arrow)
On the same vein as Linda, Thea is on this list because she is currently underutilized.
Now I do understand that her appearance in episodes has a lot to do with a 10-episode contract that she signed; however, for those 10 episodes, can we see more of the Thea in the gif above? She set aside her suit, but that doesn’t mean she can’t take the lead and conquer something else in the real-world that is just as interesting.
Like many characters on Arrow, she’s become an ornament for Oliver and that is not befitting of Thea Queen — one of the few characters that has grown so much since this show began. She deserves better than being a second-thought character.
12. Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaries)
The one, the only– Katerina. Like Lexa and Davina, her misrepresentation came from her last episode when she dies.
Throughout the series of The Vampire Diaries, Katherine Pierce was a formidable woman who did whatever she wanted. Her independence and freedom led her to be the woman I initially loved to hate then simply learned to just love. She was strong, she was smart, but most of all she was unapologetically her — even if it meant she needed to be in Elena’s body to get what she wanted.
She was so resourceful that when she died and went to hell, she became the puppet master, pulling the strings of the devil. Yet, in all her years of planning, all of her wit and resourcefulness, the Salvatore brother’s killed her by simply stabbing her long enough for hell’s fire to get her? Come on. That was ridiculous.
Katherine Pierce deserved a much better second death than what The Vampire Diaries gave her. Much better.
Candice Horde
An English enthusiast that watches a couple of shows from time to time. Candice is an honors graduate of Texas Tech University with an English double major in Creative Writing and Technical Communication. She loves the colors turquoise and pearl pink, and binges all 7 seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at least once a year. She’s also a huge fan of anime, basketball, and Japanese and Chinese action movies.
9 comments
I don’t watch all these shows but I do agree with what you said about Bonnie and Elena but I thought Caroline should be included as well. It sucks to be a woman on that show! I don’t agree about Kara. First off, Ka-el is her cousin, Superman. Mon-El is her boyfriend who is according to the comics, a super hero in the future. I think you should have included Emma Swan from OUAT instead of Kara. Now everything you said about Kara applies to Emma plus Emma changed from the strong compassionate woman she was before Hook into a meek, fashion clueless, excuses her boyfriend no matter what he does woman! She is the fixer, Hook is the Fixer upee who feels no need to really change. Mon-El and Kara started with Kara showing him how to control his powers and do good. Mon-El was never given any kind of background in how to be good but he learned and Kara took no shit from him. She inspired his change whereas Hook is dependent upon Emma for his change and the minute she is gone, he reverts back to form. I saw none of that with Mon -El and I saw Kara only grow stronger through her relationships with her sister, friends, and Mon_el. Emma couldn’t let Hook go, Kara could and Mon-el unlike Hook, left. Are Kara and Mon-EL perfect together, no they had problems but I felt that would change over time because with or without Kara, I am sure Mon-El would continue on the hero path that Kara is on unlike the mess that was Hook and Emma. I will probably get a lot of hate for this and I am sure someone will bring up Belle and Rumbelle from OUAT but they have a different viewpoint than I do and I can only write what I see. Now Belle is underused and often the heroes on that show and the villains use her for a pawn but unlike Emma, she remained strong and held fast to her beliefs and changed and grew as a character should do despite lack of appearances. I just don’t see the Mon-El/Kara romance as bad as you said. I know there is a lot of hate and I have had debates about this but I just don’t see it but I saw it with Emma and Hook!
My mistake since this is cw only. I am sorry but I stand by what I said about Kara. Sorry again over the confusion.
Felicity deserves to be on that list as much as any other female character you’ve listed but not for the reasons you’ve listed. Felicity has always been more than her relationship with Oliver. I’m sorry that your bias doesn’t allow you to see it but since I don’t remember you tweeting about her besides bashing said relationship, the character, her fans or even the actress most recently, I don’t think I should bother with this. Because you never cared about the character unless she’s a prop to #15
Awesome article!
Who knew? Very enlightening article. Great insight!
Wow, I agree with you on all the shows I watched! Someone calling Damon out on his bs instead of romanticizing his character. All the applause!
The Originals has 3 women on this list and honestly you couldn’t be more right. Davina and Cami had so much potential that their deaths still feel pointless and aggravating to me even after all this time.
TVD is much of the same, and the worst was Bonnie. She got screwed up again and again, and even in the end they killed Enzo’s for no reason and so she doesn’t even get her happy ending.
Interesting read. I’ve only watched a hand full of shows youve listed but it was interesting learning about others. It’s funny how people in the comments can say you’re being bias and then they give their bias opinion though. But that’s neither here nor there. Thanks again for this insight candice.
As a person who constantly spends her time bashing Felicity Smoak as well as her relationship with Oliver I find it hilarious that you’re pretending to care about her character in this article, which is why I can’t take you seriously. Don’t be fake.
I do think she deserves better, but not for the reasons you listed (which I think is way off base). Felicity deserves her PoV to be more explicit, she deserves to have powerful storylines (like how she had in season 5), she deserves to continue to interact with different characters.
And it’s hilarious that you reduce Felicity to only just a love interest when she has always been more than that. You just refuse to see it because you hate her that much.
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