When I use the term 'bad,' I'm not referring to criticism of Tracy. I'm talking about tragedy. I'm speaking of trauma - the kind of things you hope to never experience - perils that you wouldn't wish on your dentist, no matter how many root canals you're scheduled for next week. Tracy had bad times, there's no two ways around it. Let's discuss, shall we?

Tracy is haunted. The episode Dead Of Night brings to light ghosts from several character's pasts. We learn that, as a child, Tracy witnessed her friend Susan struck to death by a train. This isn't the sort of event that shapes a person into a shallow twit. On the contrary, I think it instilled in Tracy some of the same issues of self-doubt and guilt that are so poignant in the character of Nick Knight.

Susan's death must have lingered in the back of Tracy's mind over the years for it to actually become a visible entity during Dead Of Night. Tracy is plagued with remorse that she didn't act, that she did nothing to rescue her friend, to the point that it threatens her own life. This situation can be projected into the ordinary. How often are people confronted with an issue where they regret their past actions? Tracy blames herself for causing another individual harm, and has the capacity to come to terms with the event, as well as forgive herself. That ability strikes me as well-adjusted, especially considering the other dysfunctional and supernatural issues in Tracy's personal life.

In addition to fighting the stigma of nepotism, the episode Avenging Angel reveals that Tracy grew up in a less-than-perfect family. While at times, other characters and her real-life critics seem to regard Tracy as a spoiled, Daddy's-little-girl princess, it becomes apparent through the scenes with her mother that Tracy's home life resembled a battlefield more than a fairytale castle. Her mother is an alchoholic, her father is an overbearing philanderer, and Tracy is caught in the middle. I think she can be considered a successful adult, despite the pressures of her upbringing. We're not given any signs that Tracy abuses alchohol, and she's a Generation X'er with her own car, apartment, doing well in her chosen career. Not too shabby, in my opinion.

Of course, Tracy's career had its own sublimely horrible moments. It must have been difficult for Tracy when Nick was shot in the head during Night In Question, and she was the only witness. One minute at the hospital her partner is pronounced dead, the next he's alive, but with amnesia. That's emotional upheaval.

Then there's Trophy Girl. Tracy is drugged and imprisoned by a serial killer a few nights after the first time she is required to kill someone in the line of duty. Tracy is forced to fight for her own survival, and she crawls her way to the finale with her finger on the trigger. Tracy may be blonde, but she is a tough blonde.

Finally, we reach the roughest part of Tracy's season on Forever Knight, her personal life. Mad bombers picking her up at coffee bars, college buddies with multiple sclerosis, and old friends who turn out to be crooked cops aside, it all boils down to one person: Vachon.

Was Tracy in love with him? Well, she was bawling over him at her desk the night after they met. Like Natalie said, Vachon definitely had Tracy in his spell, and, like Natalie, not only must Tracy deal with the normal problems inherent to a relationship there's that irritating mortal/vampire obstacle, too. It ends terribly, it ends abruptly, with Tracy forced to stake Vachon, then she is left alone with her grief. We are also given the impression that LaCroix later alters Tracy's memory, making her believe that Vachon has simply moved on and left Toronto. Would Tracy really feel less cheated, if that were the case? I don't think the change reduced Tracy's pain. She's still the one left behind, still believing she has no one in which to safely confide. I'm all teary just thinking about it. Poor Tracy.

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