Vampire Diaries aired in 2009 and since then became an instant hit, making all of us fall in love with these beautifully written and unique characters. However, there was one among those who outshone even the protagonist’s role but didn’t receive the love that she deserved.
This character was Bonnie Bennett, who was initially introduced as the token black friend to Elena, the main protagonist of the show. However, as the show progressed further, Bonnie revealed her strong sense of being and more than that her compassion for others, just like how she almost sacrificed herself and her powers for Jeremy and other characters of the show. She stood with both Elena and Caroline while her life was being threatened. All throughout the show, we thought Elena withstood the most, however, we all ignored the wounds that weren’t healed but rather kept on increasing for Bonnie. Her mother and father were absent all throughout her childhood and her grandma had to take on the role of both her parents, staying strong not for the sake of Bonnie but for herself too.
“We need Bonnie. Bonnie will find a way. She will have the answer”.
Bonnie Bennett was underrated
Initially, when Bonnie Bennett was still clueless about her powers and had to act as a medium of balance between both Elena and Caroline, everyone only saw her as “Elena’s best friend” and not as a different person other than living in Elena’s shadow’s.
Bonnie has always had a mind of her own and wasn’t afraid to speak out her thoughts and opinions on many questionable moves that were undertaken by certain characters which questioned her morals and she, therefore, refused to help them and put them in their place.
Since her heritage was more connected with Nature than any of the supernatural species in Mystic Falls, she always stood for people in need and helped them to the best of her abilities. Her intuition and chakras were always aligned towards Mother Nature and her Ancestors, that’s why she lost her powers while trying to save Jeremy while also going through the cheating trauma between him and a ghost and the pain of losing her only family while trying to protect others even if it meant at the cost of herself.
And when she was finally found her happiness with Enzo, Stefan came and killed him which through the trauma and pain of it all made her revive her powers again and become more powerful than she ever was. She throughout the entire show, made us see her incredibly strong and courageous personality which could be rivalled with any of the other protagonists of the show.
She showed us the true meaning of growth and versatility from the beginning when she found out about her powers and through the end as she the key to solving and curing many of the mysteries of the show. While she deserved more screen time as without her the show wouldn’t have even survived past season 2, the producers never gave her a break, even Elena got a break from all the chaos once in a while, but not Bonnie, she had to save everyone even if it meant at the expense of her own well-being. Everyone always needed her for getting their things done or to get them out of messy situations that they themselves created.
In the end, without Bonnie and her shenanigans, TVD felt empty like literally, they all were either dying or killing, never in between. Bonnie Bennett was the true hidden MVP of this series since she always displayed the abilities of a true hero. She was compassionate, selfless, independent, and never needed anyone, in retrospect to how others always needed her help.
She deserves as much love as any other lovable character of the series because while her character development wasn’t as tremendous as Caroline’s, she carried a consistent character development as she was always represented as the symbol of balance between the trio.
