BANNA!

Avid V Owen

From episodes 1 to 5, Avid and Owen are very clear foils. Complete opposites of each other with completely different ideals. They still are so eerily similar yet both want each other dead. Episode 6 they branch off a little, but their similarities are still glaringly obvious. (This was all written pre Episode 7, but my opinions have not changed. There is a section on Episode 7 now though)

Isolation

Owen’s isolation from people in general is obvious. Even when blending in, he makes himself scarce. He rarely shows up anywhere and really doesn’t call anywhere ‘home’ throughout the entire series so far. (Ignoring the ooc fact he did most of the building for the castle lol). In his argument with Legundo towards the end of episode 6 he even mentions how he has never viewed Oakhurst as any sort of home either, not at any point in his 225 years of life.

Avid’s isolation is a little less self-imposed. He’s impulsive, he’s untrustworthy, he’s paranoid, he’s a complete loose cannon. Even though all his shouting at the beginning of the series ends up being correct, that vampires are real and Scott and Owen are some, in how loudly and boldly he says it, it really only comes across as fearmongering, as Martyn said. His blatant mistrust of everyone around him ends up turning the town against him, pretty much banishing him. Not even the few people he could call friends even spoke up for him as he was banished. Avid doesn’t have anywhere to call home, not because he doesn’t want to, but because he isn’t welcome anywhere. Yes, he has a house with Drift, but it's not a home. He knows it can’t keep him safe and he knows it can’t keep those he cares about safe. After he learns Drift was turned and after he was turned himself, he moves to the jail cell out of fear. He’s aware he’s a loose cannon and fears what he will do and who he will betray (rightfully so). Lastly, he moves to the castle. Simply because he had nowhere else to go. He burnt his bridge with town, he’d burnt his bridge with the vampires, but he needed somewhere. Avid is very aware he is unwelcome at the castle (if Cleo and Owen constantly attempting to kill him wasn’t enough to prove that), but he assumes he will be more unwelcome at the town.

Both characters are without a home, without people they can trust reliably, and without people they can place their trust in.

Trust

As previously stated, neither character has trust in themselves or anyone else. They fully believe themselves to be on their own. A good common thread here is their relationships with Legundo. The doctor made it very clear he doesn’t care about species differences, he gives his trust to both Owen and Avid, he tries to help them (Well, after he realizes Avid wasn’t entirely insane). Yet, both Owen and Avid refuse this trust. Avid actively wants the cure, he doesn’t want to hurt people. But he still goes behind the doctor’s back, stealing the precious stock of holy water from Legundo’s secret lab. He doesn’t believe he deserves trust anyways, believing all trust placed in him was misfounded. That is why he was able to betray Legs so easily and without a second thought. With Owen, Legundo has given him absolutely no reason to mistrust him but Owen’s general mistrust of the world is what leads him to always ignoring that extended hand. Legs allows Owen to drink from him, one of the only consensual feedings in the entire series (Sausage doesn’t count I’m 99% sure he has a kink for it at this point). Legs also makes it clear that he refuses to force anything on Owen, just simply wants him to understand his point of view. Owen, being the angst king he is, completely refuses any and all help though. Neither Avid nor Owen ever believe in any trust shown to them.

Turning

The circumstances in which both turn are nearly identical, even acknowledged by Owen himself as Avid explains to him in episode 6. Owen was outcast by his family, friends, and entire community because of his illness. He finally found one person he could trust (Louis) and in doing so, cured his illness by becoming a vampire. Avid is outcast as well, though mostly for just being deranged and crazy (he is). But, he is also sick. In desperation, he turns to one of the only people he can trust (Shelby) and cures his illness by becoming a vampire. The biggest difference between their turning is what happened afterwards. Owen did not think about the consequences for Louis if he was turned and Avid thinks too heavily about those consequences. Now, Avid didn’t think clearly about those consequences at first but it was pretty instant he realized he was the one at fault. Didn’t need to commit genocide on a small country town to figure that out. After both of them turn, they realize that they are stuck that way. Forever. Neither are able to take the cure. Avid because he values Shelby’s life over his own and Owen out of fear of losing his last link to Louis.

Episode 6

Episode 6 is where their characters take a huge pivot. Mostly because of Avid’s sudden acceptance of vampirism. The new contrast between them is best seen in their conversation at the crypt beacon. Though Avid doesn’t realize yet, Owen finally recognizes how similar the two of them are. In a way, that realization serves as a kick to the gut for Owen, a push to ‘grow up’. Owen sees his old self in Avid.. and starts to see Louis in himself. Avid, turning to vampirism in desperation for a cure, in desperation to be ‘normal’, to not be seen as a monster. Yet also succumbing to the rage, the anger at the fact he was seen as a monster in the first place (even if it was just by himself). Owen realizes that he can be who Louis was to him for Avid, someone to trust. Someone who doesn’t see him as only his illness. This doesn’t result however in rainbows and sunshines though. Owen doesn’t have Louis’ kindness and never will. His realization about Avid terrifies him. It makes Louis’ ghost, his memory, twenty times sharper as it digs through his heart. Hence, his hostility towards Legundo, his quick assumption that Legundo wanted to get rid of Louis.

Validation

Avid’s full apology after returning from his first banishment is completely cut from his POV and only pieces can be seen from Owen’s POV. However, watching from a neutral party who captures the entire apology, Abolish, a lot more can be grasped about Avid’s character. The reason he comes running back to Oakhurst in the first place is because he sees Scott and Pyro transform into bats in front of his very eyes. Definite proof he was right, that vampires are real and Scott is one of them. Though the group that finds him in the woods first hears (very loudly) about it, the others aren’t told yet (or ever). These people include Shelby and Drift, Avid’s two closest allies, so it’s clear he’s keeping his cards to his chest to protect himself and rejecting the townsfolk’s safety by hiding the information they don’t want to hear. The most interesting part of this scene though is when he yet again steps in front of the entire town and says he ‘made everything up’, he was ‘lying’ about everything. So quickly he pivots and completely embraces what the town wants from him, giving up himself in the process. And he acts like this after finding hard proof that he was right, he wasn’t crazy. He completely discards himself to be welcomed back into the town… perhaps like covering up his true self in bandages so as to not be seen as a monster. Though Owen would never admit it, he too is desperate for validation and approval from those around him. He says he enjoys being alone but his actions prove otherwise. Like the other vampires, he also looks to Scott as a leader, looks to him for validation, for praise. He may insist in episode 6 he doesn’t follow Scott but again, actions speak louder than words. Avid seeks validation from the town, company to endure the horrors with. After losing the only person he could ever call a friend, he’s entirely alone and that, above everything else, is his biggest fear. Hence why he so quickly swaps to the vampires side, why he needs so little convincing to want to wipe out all of the townsfolk.

Episode 7

spoilers!!

In episode 6 Avid and Owen branch off a little. It looks like they’re about to have character growth. Until episode 7 where they just snap back to being complete foils. Avid’s stupidity, need for validation, and impulsiveness is on full display in this episode. In a way, so is Owen’s. However, Owen is objectively a lot smarter than Avid (love him but he nose dives into every wrong choice), so for him its more subtle. I mentioned before why Avid pivoted so quickly to the vampire’s side but Owen’s speech about how no one ever really changes hammers it home. Avid always had bloodlust. For supernatural creatures. He saw them as fundamentally ‘wrong’. Hence how quickly he killed Elle after finding out she’s become some creature. When he turns into a vampire, that bloodlust never goes away. It just simply switches. He doesn’t want to kill himself now, so his anger switches onto the humans. It matters not what people are to him, it matters more what he is. Owen is the same way. Like with Avid when he killed Elle, Owen’s first instinct after Louis’ death was… death. Neither person thinks rationally in a traumatic situation.