The Vampire Diaries had a knack for killing its characters and bringing them back to life almost immediately. No one truly stayed dead in the TVD universe, and for those who never returned, their spirit usually lingered in the afterlife.
One such character was Lexi Branson, who spent much of her time on the series on “The Other Side.” However, Lexi had so much to offer and should have returned from The Other Side.
Lexi was Stefan’s best friend
Viewers first meet Lexi in season one, episode eight. She was a vampire and Stefan’s best friend who had known the Salvatore brothers for more than a century. Lexi only appeared alive in the series for one episode before Damon killed her to get the Founder’s Council off his and Stefan’s scent.
Lexi was 350 years old, and her history with Stefan helped her become his guiding light whenever he needed it. She and Elena met briefly before her death, and she gave Elena advice on Stefan, asking her to give him a shot.
That encounter made Elena view Lexi as a friend as well as she realized how much Lexi loved and cared about Stefan. Lexi didn’t appear much on TVD, but she always returned whenever Stefan and Mystic Falls truly needed her.
She returned in the episode “Ghost World” and helped Stefan restore his humanity after he’d switched it off and returned to his ripper behavior. She also returned to prevent Stefan from going to Hell but found happiness and disappeared afterward. She and Stefan reunited at the end in the afterlife when Stefan sacrificed himself to save the town.
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Lexi should have come back from The Other Side like everyone else
Stefan didn’t really have friends during his existence. Partly because he lived so long and outlived many of those he interacted with and also because anyone he tried getting close to almost always died, usually by Damon’s hands.
Lexi was one of the few people Stefan cared for, and having the show kill her off felt unfair to Stefan. TVD kept Lexi around as a moral compass for Stefan, but she wasn’t as effective as a ghost on The Other Side as she would have been alive. Fans enjoyed her bond with Stefan and thought she deserved better than death.
Several characters died and came back on the show. Characters like Alaric, Matt, and Elena constantly died and were brought back from The Other Side, so Lexi’s resurrection wasn’t a matter of if the show could do it, but if they would, and they never did. There was buzz about her return in season 5, but that never came to fruition.
‘TVD’ fans wish Lexi would have been a permanent character
Lexi was a great character on TVD, and fans on Reddit think she should have been promoted to a permanent character. A fan on the platform said, “Her and Stefan’s dynamic was just adorable, and I think she could have formed amazing friendships with Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline. She was so badass.”
Other users agreed with the poster, with one saying, “Would have loved to see her as a main for at least a couple of seasons. She would have added a fun element to the group.” Another wrote, “Yes, I hate that they never brought her back permanently,” but another user theorized that the show killed her “for the shock factor.”
