TVD Thoughts
Sep. 16th, 2011 01:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalMY SHINY VAMPIRE SHOW IS BACK, YOU GUYS!! Which reminds me that I never actually wrote the post-s2 review I was planning on. Oops.
Before we begin, let's recap the things I want to happen this season:
1. Alaric living with Elena and Jeremy and being their pseudo-father figure.
2. Elena and Damon searching for Stefan.
3. ROAD TRIP.
4. Dark!Stefan
5. Dark!Elena
6. Addressing this Andie business soever_neutral is reassured that the writers aren't totally made of fail on consent issues.
7. More Elena/Bonnie/Caroline friendshippy stuff.
8. Damon/Alaric BroTPing.
9. Elijah coming back.
Let's see how we did!
* So, we start right in on the killing! And Stefan seems to have either totally bought into the evil thing, or he's putting on a superb show for Klaus. Either way, he is fully committed to upholding his end of the bargain to save Damon and doing whatever Klaus wants. (That's one!) The plan, apparently, is for Klaus to experiment on werewolves until he figures out how to make more hybrids like himself. Which is interesting and makes sense, and it's better than just randomly killing people up and down the coast, but I'm still not sure why he needed Stefan in particular for this mission. Stefan's ripper thing does seem more sadistic than the show had previously let on (very Angel-like, if we're making BtVS comparisons), but I still don't see what's so unique about him that Klaus couldn't have found someone else to do it. Or compelled someone else, since we know Klaus can compel vampires. Maybe it's the parallels between them? The brothers, the involvement with Katherine, maybe he likes the idea of corrupting Stefan in particular and using his love for his brother to do it (much the way he played on Elijah's love for his family to get what he wanted from him). I don't know. It seems like too much of a coincidence for Stefan to be somehow "special" and therefore uniquely useful to Klaus (like how Katherine and Elena are special by being doppelgangers), but I feel like I want SOME kind of explanation for "why Stefan?" otherwise it seems a bit contrived.
* Alaric IS still living at the Gilberts'! (TWO!) He's kind of a terrible father figure, but he's grieving just as much as Elena and Jeremy are. I don't really blame him for not wanting to stay in that house, or for not wanting the responsibility of parenting these two kids. I think he sort of knows he should stay and be a father figure, since he was dating their aunt and is sort of Elena's step-father. He's the only adult left in their lives, but at the same time, this is not what he signed up for. I do think he'll be back, though, once he gets his shit together and starts to recover from Jenna's death. In the meantime, I want him crashing with Damon. It's not like he's gonna go back to his apartment where ALL THE WORST VAMPIRES EVER have an invitation, right?
* Love the callback to Elena's "Everything's fine" pretense in the pilot. She's still playing that game, setting a good example for Jeremy, putting in an appearance at a party she severely doesn't want, even being strong for Stefan when he needs her encouragement. And yet, people are STILL harping on her to "move on" (which, I was not totally clear on whether they meant Jenna or Stefan there). You people! You have no idea how little of Elena you even see. Seriously, I just want Elena to fucking LOSE IT at some point. Like, totally off the rails. She deserves the chance to just FEEL ALL HER FEELINGS.
* So... Damon and Andie are still together? Or back together? I don't understand. Andie is clearly less compelled than she was last season, but it's unclear whether she's with him totally of her own volition. And, if so, WHY? I appreciate that Damon seems to have learned that having a compelled slave isn't all its cracked up to be (if the relationship has to continue, at least it's on better terms), but it looks like they're not actually going to address the consent issues. Meh.
* Elena and Damon ARE looking for Stefan (THREE!), but Damon's got an extra side-investigation of his going on. I liked that Sheriff Forbes was helping them out with leads, but I wish we'd seen more Liz/Damon interaction. I want to know how things stand with her now that she knows (and has seemingly accepted) that the people she trusted are vampires.
* Bonnie is visiting her family? I AM SO CONFUSED NOW. I assumed Bonnie lived with her dad in Mystic Falls after her grandmother died. Because, you know, teenagers require legal guardians and all. Apparently not. Does this mean Bonnie has been living on her own for the last two years???
* ROAD TRIP! (FOUR!) I was hoping for Damon and Elena, but BroTPing with Alaric makes an excellent substitute. (FIVE!) Also, hahahahahaha Stefan feels remorse so he puts the bodies back together after he rips them apart. That is so fabulously hilarious and sick.
* I am still "meh" on Caroline and Tyler. Sorry, guys. I mean, Caroline's totally my girl, and they're cute together, but I just have a hard time feeling invested in the relationship. Maybe because it's too functional? I like my couples desperately in need of industrial-strength therapy, thanks. But seriously, as much as I loved Caroline's development last season, so often it felt like she might as well have been in a completely different show from everyone else because she was off with Tyler all the time (or worse, harping on the Matt/Caroline/Tyler triangle) and completely separate from the plot. So, I mean, I'm fine with them being together, just don't shunt them off to the side in some sort of supernatural Odd Couple routine. This business with Mrs. Lockwood looks promising, at least...
* I like this Jeremy/Matt development. I was worried about how Matt would fit in, since he didn't have much to do last season except have relationship issues with Caroline, but considering that Vicki is something he and Jeremy have in common, it makes sense to work him into the "I see deadpeople vampire girlfriends" thing. Which... I was hoping for more development on that front, but I guess they can't deal with everything in the first episode. It's interesting that Jeremy's been seeing Vicki and Anna for two months and didn't tell anyone.
* Aaaaand, Andie's dead. I'm pretty pissed that they brought her back this season SOLELY TO BE FRIDGED.
* On the other hand, this feels like a turning point for Stefan, so it's interesting that it involves Andie, who seemed to represent a turning point for Damon last season. They're going in opposite directions: Damon's becoming more human, and Stefan's losing his humanity. Through Andie, we see Damon's progress: S1 Damon wouldn't have given a crap about Andie's death - in fact, he probably would've been pleased to see his brother back in touch with his evil side. S2 Damon could barely keep from killing her himself, but at least he felt bad about it. And S3 Damon feels guilty for getting her killed, for not stopping Stefan, and probably for putting Stefan in this position in the first place.
Meanwhile, Stefan isn't just killing random people anymore. This is someone he knew. Someone who (by some definition) was his brother's girlfriend. And it's not to feed or because Klaus made him do it; it's simply to make a point. He could've sent Damon a message any number of ways, but he chose this. And while I don't think the show would be so bold as to prove Damon right (that Stefan is gone and won't be back in Elena's lifetime), I do think he just made it that much harder for himself. I am curious what Elena will say when Damon tells her about Andie, whether that'll convince her to stop looking for Stefan. We already know that she can't save Damon, but what happens when she realizes that she can't save Stefan, either?
* It occurs to me that Caroline and Tyler are the only people in this entire town with parents. Apparently, Social Services has never heard of Mystic Falls, because they'd totally have a field day. Which is to say, I am skeptical that Elena turning 18 is really enough to be her brother's legal guardian. Sure, Elena's legally an adult, but just BARELY. No disrespect to Alaric, because like I said above, I get why he wouldn't want this, but it seems kind of irresponsible to leave an 18 year old and a 16(?) year old completely on their own. But of course Matt and Bonnie are basically on their own, too, so. PARENTS. WHO NEEDS 'EM?
So, the final tally of things I wanted to see seems to be 5 out of 9. Not bad for a first episode.
Before we begin, let's recap the things I want to happen this season:
1. Alaric living with Elena and Jeremy and being their pseudo-father figure.
2. Elena and Damon searching for Stefan.
3. ROAD TRIP.
4. Dark!Stefan
5. Dark!Elena
6. Addressing this Andie business so
ever_neutral is reassured that the writers aren't totally made of fail on consent issues.7. More Elena/Bonnie/Caroline friendshippy stuff.
8. Damon/Alaric BroTPing.
9. Elijah coming back.
Let's see how we did!
* So, we start right in on the killing! And Stefan seems to have either totally bought into the evil thing, or he's putting on a superb show for Klaus. Either way, he is fully committed to upholding his end of the bargain to save Damon and doing whatever Klaus wants. (That's one!) The plan, apparently, is for Klaus to experiment on werewolves until he figures out how to make more hybrids like himself. Which is interesting and makes sense, and it's better than just randomly killing people up and down the coast, but I'm still not sure why he needed Stefan in particular for this mission. Stefan's ripper thing does seem more sadistic than the show had previously let on (very Angel-like, if we're making BtVS comparisons), but I still don't see what's so unique about him that Klaus couldn't have found someone else to do it. Or compelled someone else, since we know Klaus can compel vampires. Maybe it's the parallels between them? The brothers, the involvement with Katherine, maybe he likes the idea of corrupting Stefan in particular and using his love for his brother to do it (much the way he played on Elijah's love for his family to get what he wanted from him). I don't know. It seems like too much of a coincidence for Stefan to be somehow "special" and therefore uniquely useful to Klaus (like how Katherine and Elena are special by being doppelgangers), but I feel like I want SOME kind of explanation for "why Stefan?" otherwise it seems a bit contrived.
* Alaric IS still living at the Gilberts'! (TWO!) He's kind of a terrible father figure, but he's grieving just as much as Elena and Jeremy are. I don't really blame him for not wanting to stay in that house, or for not wanting the responsibility of parenting these two kids. I think he sort of knows he should stay and be a father figure, since he was dating their aunt and is sort of Elena's step-father. He's the only adult left in their lives, but at the same time, this is not what he signed up for. I do think he'll be back, though, once he gets his shit together and starts to recover from Jenna's death. In the meantime, I want him crashing with Damon. It's not like he's gonna go back to his apartment where ALL THE WORST VAMPIRES EVER have an invitation, right?
* Love the callback to Elena's "Everything's fine" pretense in the pilot. She's still playing that game, setting a good example for Jeremy, putting in an appearance at a party she severely doesn't want, even being strong for Stefan when he needs her encouragement. And yet, people are STILL harping on her to "move on" (which, I was not totally clear on whether they meant Jenna or Stefan there). You people! You have no idea how little of Elena you even see. Seriously, I just want Elena to fucking LOSE IT at some point. Like, totally off the rails. She deserves the chance to just FEEL ALL HER FEELINGS.
* So... Damon and Andie are still together? Or back together? I don't understand. Andie is clearly less compelled than she was last season, but it's unclear whether she's with him totally of her own volition. And, if so, WHY? I appreciate that Damon seems to have learned that having a compelled slave isn't all its cracked up to be (if the relationship has to continue, at least it's on better terms), but it looks like they're not actually going to address the consent issues. Meh.
* Elena and Damon ARE looking for Stefan (THREE!), but Damon's got an extra side-investigation of his going on. I liked that Sheriff Forbes was helping them out with leads, but I wish we'd seen more Liz/Damon interaction. I want to know how things stand with her now that she knows (and has seemingly accepted) that the people she trusted are vampires.
* Bonnie is visiting her family? I AM SO CONFUSED NOW. I assumed Bonnie lived with her dad in Mystic Falls after her grandmother died. Because, you know, teenagers require legal guardians and all. Apparently not. Does this mean Bonnie has been living on her own for the last two years???
* ROAD TRIP! (FOUR!) I was hoping for Damon and Elena, but BroTPing with Alaric makes an excellent substitute. (FIVE!) Also, hahahahahaha Stefan feels remorse so he puts the bodies back together after he rips them apart. That is so fabulously hilarious and sick.
* I am still "meh" on Caroline and Tyler. Sorry, guys. I mean, Caroline's totally my girl, and they're cute together, but I just have a hard time feeling invested in the relationship. Maybe because it's too functional? I like my couples desperately in need of industrial-strength therapy, thanks. But seriously, as much as I loved Caroline's development last season, so often it felt like she might as well have been in a completely different show from everyone else because she was off with Tyler all the time (or worse, harping on the Matt/Caroline/Tyler triangle) and completely separate from the plot. So, I mean, I'm fine with them being together, just don't shunt them off to the side in some sort of supernatural Odd Couple routine. This business with Mrs. Lockwood looks promising, at least...
* I like this Jeremy/Matt development. I was worried about how Matt would fit in, since he didn't have much to do last season except have relationship issues with Caroline, but considering that Vicki is something he and Jeremy have in common, it makes sense to work him into the "I see dead
* Aaaaand, Andie's dead. I'm pretty pissed that they brought her back this season SOLELY TO BE FRIDGED.
* On the other hand, this feels like a turning point for Stefan, so it's interesting that it involves Andie, who seemed to represent a turning point for Damon last season. They're going in opposite directions: Damon's becoming more human, and Stefan's losing his humanity. Through Andie, we see Damon's progress: S1 Damon wouldn't have given a crap about Andie's death - in fact, he probably would've been pleased to see his brother back in touch with his evil side. S2 Damon could barely keep from killing her himself, but at least he felt bad about it. And S3 Damon feels guilty for getting her killed, for not stopping Stefan, and probably for putting Stefan in this position in the first place.
Meanwhile, Stefan isn't just killing random people anymore. This is someone he knew. Someone who (by some definition) was his brother's girlfriend. And it's not to feed or because Klaus made him do it; it's simply to make a point. He could've sent Damon a message any number of ways, but he chose this. And while I don't think the show would be so bold as to prove Damon right (that Stefan is gone and won't be back in Elena's lifetime), I do think he just made it that much harder for himself. I am curious what Elena will say when Damon tells her about Andie, whether that'll convince her to stop looking for Stefan. We already know that she can't save Damon, but what happens when she realizes that she can't save Stefan, either?
* It occurs to me that Caroline and Tyler are the only people in this entire town with parents. Apparently, Social Services has never heard of Mystic Falls, because they'd totally have a field day. Which is to say, I am skeptical that Elena turning 18 is really enough to be her brother's legal guardian. Sure, Elena's legally an adult, but just BARELY. No disrespect to Alaric, because like I said above, I get why he wouldn't want this, but it seems kind of irresponsible to leave an 18 year old and a 16(?) year old completely on their own. But of course Matt and Bonnie are basically on their own, too, so. PARENTS. WHO NEEDS 'EM?
So, the final tally of things I wanted to see seems to be 5 out of 9. Not bad for a first episode.
no subject
Date: Sep. 17th, 2011 03:06 pm (UTC)And yeah, I'm curious how they bring Stefan back from this, too. But I am enjoying Dark!Stefan, so I wouldn't mind if they didn't. :)
no subject
Date: Sep. 17th, 2011 03:40 pm (UTC)