Heretic Beau

The treatment of this character is probably one of the most overlooked and I understand why. A) he was a heretic, something everyone always saw as knock off Originals. B) he was in season 7 and by that point most people done with Plec’s racist bullshit had stopped watching the show. And C) No one really remembers him probably because he had absolutely no lines, you’d think they would at least have him use sign language, but naw–I’ll get into that later.

I remember him, and I remember being very uncomfortable with what they did to his character and not realizing exactly why beyond the fact that the only black Heretic is also mute and it’s completely gratuitous. After analyzing my thoughts more I realized it’s so much more.

For me the only really memorable heretics were Nora and Mary Louise, and Valerie. The reason for this is because a) a lot of screen time was given to them, b) they’re the only ones that made it past one episode and c) a lot of development was given to these characters. Then I remember Beau, he was one of those three things, and trust me it wasn’t screentime or development. He’s in more than one episode, but why isn’t he given the same treatment as the other heretics? Surely he holds the same exact importance as the others, but he isn’t and I think we all know why.

So a lot bothered me about how this character was written. First he’s the only black heretic which isn’t what bothers, what bothers me is there’s no context for this character. There’s lots of context for what Nora and Mary Louise went through as lesbians in the 19th century, but absolutely none for Beau. Lily, a white woman from the Confederate south meets Beau, a black man who can suck the life out of her quite literally, imma needs some backstory on him. They already had the “white savior” thing going, but I would have loved to know what his struggles were back then–his were a lot worse than Mary Louise and Nora (and I’m not arguing about that so don’t @ me)

Then there’s the fact that he’s mute. The only black one in the bunch literally has no voice, he has no say in anything, but what’s worse is that being mute doesn’t automatically make someone non-communative, that’s just what they did to his character. He rarely voices his opinions in any sense someone else is always doing it for him. There’s also how he lost his voice. The only reason we get this information is because Lily laments about missing his singing voice. He doesn’t get to voice or express any of his pain at losing his voice, it’s Lily, the white woman he’s been essentially an indentured servant for who does–it’s her pain that’s focused on (sound familiar). I seriously could not make this shit up.

But the thing that gets me most is that he is the only one treated as a slave to Lily and it’s all under the mask of “loyalty” which is the most reoccurring theme when it comes to black witches on this show. Bonnie “loyal” to the Elena, Emily “loyal” Katherine, Greta “loyal” to Klaus, Ayanna “loyal” to Esther, and the list goes on and on. Beau seems to be the only one who has to be “loyal”. All the other heretics love and respect Lily, but everyone has rebelled in some capacity, all except Beau. He does everything she says, never questions it, and is honestly the only one ordered to do things. The only other one who gets ordered to do something is Oscar, the only other minority heretic, but at least got to rebel, and choose his own path.

Beau honestly reminded me of Harper from season 1 which I know most of you don’t remember, he was the first tomb vampire to be introduced. He black and the only other thing known about him is that he “died” in the war as a soldier. Again due to TVD’s complete negation of slavery we’re missing context, and he’s the only tomb vampire loyal to Pearl. The only difference is a) he has a voice, b) he has opinions, and c) he isn’t forced to act outside of his own self-interest which are all pretty significant differences BUT why is there such a low bar when it comes to black characters?

Even with that small amount of agency, he, like Beau, ends up dead and forgotten. With as much as Lily stressed that they were a “family” or becomes inherently clear that Beau isn’t apart of it. He isn’t afforded the same amount of care as the other. No character of color is.