The chemistry was completely wasted.
Starting out as a mean girl, Caroline Forbes quickly managed to become one of the fan-favorite characters in The Vampire Diaries. Unlike the only female lead, Elena Gilbert, who viewers were supposed to root for, she had a clear arc, constantly growing and learning from her mistakes.
The fact that even with that arc, Caroline wasn’t treated nearly as fairly by the writers as her counterpart only made viewers more angry for her. Between Damon’s attack, her horrible relationship with her mother, the situation with Stefan, and the creepy whatever-it-was with Alaric, she never got a break.
What’s even sadder is that one of the things mentioned above actually had some nice potential. However, the chemistry that Paul Wesley and Candice King (Accola) had as Stefan and Caroline was completely wasted by the writers.
The Worst The Vampire Diaries Pairing
Unfortunately, Steroline was a complete mess from the beginning. The writers failed to set up the longing and interest part from Stefan’s perspective in a way that didn’t feel too sudden to the audience, and in the end, predictably, it felt very forced.
Stefan was almost guilt-tripped into dating Caroline, since she had feelings for him and was clearly struggling with her humanity being turned off at the moment. If it weren’t for the death of her mother, the relationship probably wouldn’t have happened at all, and that would have been a good thing in their case.
But that’s not even the worst part, because many would be willing to overlook the rocky start. It’s the way the relationship progressed that led The Vampire Diaries fandom to believe that Stefan and Caroline never had a chance.
Communication between the two was off from the start, but it became especially difficult when Caroline moved in with Alaric and the kids. She cried herself to sleep over Stefan, but returned his letters unopened, only to shame him for it later. The longer their relationship dragged on, the worse they became at being two responsible adults.
However, Caroline wasn’t the problem for all the challenges they faced as a couple. The underlying problem for their relationship for as long as it lasted was Elena Gilbert.
No matter how devoted Stephan may have seemed, his revelation in season 8 that Elena was never going away was the nail in the coffin of the ship.
While it was canonical and had some sweet moments for shippers to enjoy, the writing failed them both and made it hard to watch. However, if you like Steroline together despite all the nonsense above, go ahead and relive their story by streaming The Vampire Diaries on Max.
