yo shout out to Lauren Shippen for making Damien’s arc in The Bright Sessions possibly the best handled story i’ve seen about redeeming a villain/antagonist possibly ever. I’m not gonna say “step aside, Zuko” because i think both these stories have their places and are the best at being their respective selves but holy hell people need to learn from Damien’s arc.
Like. There’s plenty of narratives where the antagonist is someone who could have been good but due to their choices and reactions ends up a villain, and its seen as something irredeemable. Either they’re too far gone, or the choices they made locked them into their fate even if they did have a change of heart. and there’s plenty of narratives where an antagonist severely hurts the protags in significant ways, before they have a Redemption Arc and when they come to their senses about not being evil/abusive/a dick/etc they go to the protags and apologize, and even if the protags dont welcome them with open arms, there’s usually acceptance, and a facilitation of the redemption arc, where the protags basically help rehabilitate the villain.
But TBS did something I’ve never seen and did it with such fucking nuance??? Like Damien has legitimate tragedy in his backstory, which is never presented (by anyone either than himself) as an excuse for his behavior. As the story went on we were provided enough insight to see the reason Damien became who he is today. His powers and his past present him with a legitimate obstacle to connecting with people, and his awful awful coping mechanisms basically lead him to go down a road thats inconsiderate of others and generally self-centered. He hurts al the other characters, deeply and significantly, in a variety of ways, emotionally and physically. He manipulates and abuses, and not always, but sometimes he legitimately does not clock what hes doing as wrong. Even when he sees what he’s doing as wrong he doesn’t see why that even matters. Even as we’re meant to have a little sympathy for the pain in Damien’s past and even his present, we’re also meant to recognize what a screaming fucking tire fire of a human being he is.
But he’s still a human being. He’s capable of learning and growing. And we see him being capable of this, and we see him refuse to do so several times. But what’s more important is that, after his release from the AM, he seems much more willing to learn and grow, especially during episode 48. He realizes there’s things worth learning and growing for. Even then he’s doing it from a bit of a selfish angle, but he truly does want to connect with someone, and he’s beginning to realize a few of the baby steps he needs to take regarding like. considering someone else’s feelings. Which has been an issue for him given that like. while he had his powers, its hard to take other peoples feelings seriously when you can make them feel however you want (cue “poor baby” responses that are simultaneously sarcastic and genuine).
But to get back on point. He’s capable of change. And by this point he’s willing to change. I don’t know exactly how committed he’d be but he’s there, for once. He wants to stick around and prove to Mark he’s worthy of redemption. Mark recognizes Damien might be capable of change, and then asks Damien to kindly fuck off. Forever. Be a better person somewhere else. Because even if Damien could become a fucking saint, Mark is not obligated to be the one there for that. Mark doesn’t owe Damien anything; that includes justice, and that includes forgiveness, and it certainly includes a place in Mark’s life.
And i’ve never seen any other media so blatantly lay it out on the table like that. Damien manipulated and abused the people around him. He had reasons, but those reasons were not even a little justifying of his actions. He has the capability to learn and become a better person, but that doesn’t mean his presence wouldn’t negatively affect the people he’s hurt. Its not his victims’ responsibility to sacrifice their own well-being for his redemption arc, and its OK that he can have one avenue of life closed to him because of his choices. and its OK that he needs to have his redemption arc Elsewhere.
Like I dont know how to articulate this in a more condensed fashion but this whole thing is so incredibly important???
like TBS is filled with really nuanced narratives about People Interacting and existing together while having competing needs, as well as dealing with what’s deserves versus whats owed versus whats given???
