next_to_normal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
next_to_normal) wrote2010-11-06 12:58 pm
next_to_normal) wrote2010-11-06 12:58 pm
Semi-belated Vampire Diaries thoughts
I meant to comment on last week's episode and then got all busy with my mom and didn't, so here's two weeks' worth of Vampire Diaries in one post.
I loved seeing everybody team up to take down Katherine - everybody except Elena, that is, but Nina Dobrev was probably overworked as it is. I am so glad in particular that Jeremy is finally being included and that Bonnie is back in the gang, however reluctantly.
Speaking of which, WTF Bonnie? Usually, I am all, "Well at least there's one reasonable person in that town" when Bonnie holds the line on the "vampires are bad" thing. But here she just comes off as a jerk, because taking down Katherine - who already killed Caroline, almost killed Jenna, and is determined to kill everyone Elena cares about (which INCLUDES YOU, Bonnie) - really ought to outweigh any distrust she has about helping Stefan and Damon. She agrees in the end, so I guess that's what matters, but her reluctance annoyed me this time.
Anyway, I thought the plan to ensnare Katherine was pretty clever, but of course Katherine was cleverer. I felt like the gang (I really want to call them Scoobies, lol) missed a golden opportunity with Jeremy's ring, though. I know Elena refused to wear it, but Elena's being stubbornly dumb. If they killed Katherine while Elena was wearing the ring, Katherine and Elena would die, the spell linking them would be broken, and Elena would be brought back to life by the ring. Everybody wins! Except Katherine, obviously, but that was the point.
But no, instead we have to lock Katherine in the tomb, which is clever of the writers, since it gets her out of the way for now but allows them to bring her back later on if they come up with something more interesting for her to do. But it's obviously really short-sighted of the characters, because of course she's going to get out and cause trouble again. (Which Damon actually points out in the very next episode, but I suppose we have to forgive the poor boy for wanting Katherine to suffer after what she put him through. I still don't know why Stefan, Caroline, and/or Bonnie didn't insist on staking her, though.)
Am I the only one who thought Lucy would turn out to be Bonnie's long-lost mother? I suppose that would be too much of a rehash, since Elena's long-lost mother (and father!) showed up last season. In that case, a distant cousin works, I guess, although it seems rather convenient the way she shows up, saves the day, and then disappears. Like, what was the point of introducing her if that's all you're going to use her for? She did say she'd be back, though, so who knows?
In other news, Tyler is now a werewolf, but Matt's still alive, so I don't have to put out a hit on anyone associated with this show. I really think Tyler becoming a werewolf is going to be good for him. I've always pretty much thought Tyler was a douche, and had no interest in the werewolf storyline when Mason was around, but I saw some real potential this week. Tyler's vulnerability, his terror at going through this scary, strange life change all alone, learning how to control his new strength - that actually made me care about him a little bit, for the first time ever. I like the idea of Caroline being the one to help him through this, partly because Tyler has always underestimated Caroline (remember his derogatory comments to Matt?). Becoming a vampire has really brought Caroline into her own, she's become totally kick-ass and confident, and I love that now she has the chance to use that to prove to Tyler how wrong he was about her, while helping him in the process.
So, the main thing going on this week is Elena's kidnapping by 500-year-old vampires - Tyler, who pissed off the nigh-invulnerable Elijah long ago and got dead pretty quick, and Rose(marie), who appears to be sticking around for a bit. I am holding off on judging this new broadening of the mythology with the Originals until we find out more about who they are and where they came from. I'm also a little "whatting a what?" about how this whole doppelganger thing works. Either we don't have the whole story yet, or it's a handwavey "fuck you, it's magic" (okay, I'll stop quoting my icons now). But for right now, I am intrigued at the way they've upped the stakes post-Katherine. (I do wonder where they go from here, though. With this kind of escalation and the frenetic pace of the show, it's only a matter of time before they start averting apocalypses, am I right? Then we'll really have to call them the Scoobies.)
Absolutely loved the Salvatore brothers' road trip bonding and guerrilla ass-kicking. I'm kind of amused at how unthreatened Stefan seems at the idea that Damon loves Elena. I'm not sure if that's confidence borne of "I got the girl twice" or if he's just hiding his jealousy because he knows he needs Damon on his side. For his part, Damon puts on a show of not caring very much (how many times does Stefan have to say, "I'm going to save Elena, you can stay here if you want" only for Damon to concede and follow him?), but that look when Elena came down the stairs said EVERYTHING.
The Damon/Elena scene at the end KILLED ME. Damon totally and utterly breaks my heart, that he needs to tell Elena that he loves her, but he doesn't think he deserves her and makes her forget. And he's probably right that she's better off with Stefan, because "I need to feel safe" aside, they're pretty functional, but I can't help finding Damon/Elena a thousand times more fascinating. Stefan/Elena strikes me as very straightforward. Now that all the Katherine stuff is out, what you see is what you get with them. Damon/Elena, on the other hand, is complex and conflicted and I think there's so much more to explore. And the last thing I want is for Elena to be dithering over which brother she really wants, but I also ache for Damon to, just once, be loved back. I think a lot of his evil behavior is really just "no one loves me" rebellion. Look how much just having Elena as a friend has done for him.
In other shipping news, Jeremy/Bonnie is clearly happening. I don't really have feelings about it one way or another. I'm betting Elena will, though, lol. I'm also not a huge fan of Caroline/Tyler. As I said above, I like the idea of her helping him through this difficult transition, but what Tyler really needs is a friend, and I'd much rather have Caroline/Matt or Caroline/Stefan anyway. I also expect that a Caroline/Tyler ship would marginalize Matt even more than he already is. He's already the only one who's unaware of the supernatural (well, him and Jenna, who is also underused), and now he's got very little reason to interact with anyone.
Also, I miss Alaric. Two episodes in a row with kick-ass vampire take-downs, and all Alaric contributes is his extensive weapon collection. What happened to the Damon/Alaric buddy cop routine?
I loved seeing everybody team up to take down Katherine - everybody except Elena, that is, but Nina Dobrev was probably overworked as it is. I am so glad in particular that Jeremy is finally being included and that Bonnie is back in the gang, however reluctantly.
Speaking of which, WTF Bonnie? Usually, I am all, "Well at least there's one reasonable person in that town" when Bonnie holds the line on the "vampires are bad" thing. But here she just comes off as a jerk, because taking down Katherine - who already killed Caroline, almost killed Jenna, and is determined to kill everyone Elena cares about (which INCLUDES YOU, Bonnie) - really ought to outweigh any distrust she has about helping Stefan and Damon. She agrees in the end, so I guess that's what matters, but her reluctance annoyed me this time.
Anyway, I thought the plan to ensnare Katherine was pretty clever, but of course Katherine was cleverer. I felt like the gang (I really want to call them Scoobies, lol) missed a golden opportunity with Jeremy's ring, though. I know Elena refused to wear it, but Elena's being stubbornly dumb. If they killed Katherine while Elena was wearing the ring, Katherine and Elena would die, the spell linking them would be broken, and Elena would be brought back to life by the ring. Everybody wins! Except Katherine, obviously, but that was the point.
But no, instead we have to lock Katherine in the tomb, which is clever of the writers, since it gets her out of the way for now but allows them to bring her back later on if they come up with something more interesting for her to do. But it's obviously really short-sighted of the characters, because of course she's going to get out and cause trouble again. (Which Damon actually points out in the very next episode, but I suppose we have to forgive the poor boy for wanting Katherine to suffer after what she put him through. I still don't know why Stefan, Caroline, and/or Bonnie didn't insist on staking her, though.)
Am I the only one who thought Lucy would turn out to be Bonnie's long-lost mother? I suppose that would be too much of a rehash, since Elena's long-lost mother (and father!) showed up last season. In that case, a distant cousin works, I guess, although it seems rather convenient the way she shows up, saves the day, and then disappears. Like, what was the point of introducing her if that's all you're going to use her for? She did say she'd be back, though, so who knows?
In other news, Tyler is now a werewolf, but Matt's still alive, so I don't have to put out a hit on anyone associated with this show. I really think Tyler becoming a werewolf is going to be good for him. I've always pretty much thought Tyler was a douche, and had no interest in the werewolf storyline when Mason was around, but I saw some real potential this week. Tyler's vulnerability, his terror at going through this scary, strange life change all alone, learning how to control his new strength - that actually made me care about him a little bit, for the first time ever. I like the idea of Caroline being the one to help him through this, partly because Tyler has always underestimated Caroline (remember his derogatory comments to Matt?). Becoming a vampire has really brought Caroline into her own, she's become totally kick-ass and confident, and I love that now she has the chance to use that to prove to Tyler how wrong he was about her, while helping him in the process.
So, the main thing going on this week is Elena's kidnapping by 500-year-old vampires - Tyler, who pissed off the nigh-invulnerable Elijah long ago and got dead pretty quick, and Rose(marie), who appears to be sticking around for a bit. I am holding off on judging this new broadening of the mythology with the Originals until we find out more about who they are and where they came from. I'm also a little "whatting a what?" about how this whole doppelganger thing works. Either we don't have the whole story yet, or it's a handwavey "fuck you, it's magic" (okay, I'll stop quoting my icons now). But for right now, I am intrigued at the way they've upped the stakes post-Katherine. (I do wonder where they go from here, though. With this kind of escalation and the frenetic pace of the show, it's only a matter of time before they start averting apocalypses, am I right? Then we'll really have to call them the Scoobies.)
Absolutely loved the Salvatore brothers' road trip bonding and guerrilla ass-kicking. I'm kind of amused at how unthreatened Stefan seems at the idea that Damon loves Elena. I'm not sure if that's confidence borne of "I got the girl twice" or if he's just hiding his jealousy because he knows he needs Damon on his side. For his part, Damon puts on a show of not caring very much (how many times does Stefan have to say, "I'm going to save Elena, you can stay here if you want" only for Damon to concede and follow him?), but that look when Elena came down the stairs said EVERYTHING.
The Damon/Elena scene at the end KILLED ME. Damon totally and utterly breaks my heart, that he needs to tell Elena that he loves her, but he doesn't think he deserves her and makes her forget. And he's probably right that she's better off with Stefan, because "I need to feel safe" aside, they're pretty functional, but I can't help finding Damon/Elena a thousand times more fascinating. Stefan/Elena strikes me as very straightforward. Now that all the Katherine stuff is out, what you see is what you get with them. Damon/Elena, on the other hand, is complex and conflicted and I think there's so much more to explore. And the last thing I want is for Elena to be dithering over which brother she really wants, but I also ache for Damon to, just once, be loved back. I think a lot of his evil behavior is really just "no one loves me" rebellion. Look how much just having Elena as a friend has done for him.
In other shipping news, Jeremy/Bonnie is clearly happening. I don't really have feelings about it one way or another. I'm betting Elena will, though, lol. I'm also not a huge fan of Caroline/Tyler. As I said above, I like the idea of her helping him through this difficult transition, but what Tyler really needs is a friend, and I'd much rather have Caroline/Matt or Caroline/Stefan anyway. I also expect that a Caroline/Tyler ship would marginalize Matt even more than he already is. He's already the only one who's unaware of the supernatural (well, him and Jenna, who is also underused), and now he's got very little reason to interact with anyone.
Also, I miss Alaric. Two episodes in a row with kick-ass vampire take-downs, and all Alaric contributes is his extensive weapon collection. What happened to the Damon/Alaric buddy cop routine?
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