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intrikate88Yay Vampire Diaries is back! I survived somehow!
And I actually got to watch "The New Deal" live, because now I am a person with cable, because it came free with the internet upgrade. These commercials, guys, what are these? They just keep happening like every few seconds. I don't want to see promos for The Devil Inside that often. We already have HAVE Stefan.
I have some mixed feelings on this episode, though. It did not exactly blow me away.
First off, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY QUEEN CAROLINE. This is an abomination not to be tolerated.
Things I liked:
ELENA BEING EVERYTHING AMAZING. She's making her own deals, she's teaming up with Alaric in her concern over Jeremy, she's slapping Stefan for being a dick, she's dealing with scrubbing blood off her front porch, she cares for everyone who is getting almost killed around her and she just keeps moving the fuck forward. LOVE.
Awkward Alaric cooks family dinner! Awkward family tells Jeremy "We don't want you seeing that boy anymore, he's bad news." The minute I saw Jeremy and Tyler in the woods together, I just knew a million slashers were firing up their Word documents.
Bonnie gets some stuff to do, like plotting with Stefan. Ooh, I like. I wish we could have seen a bit more of them working together and how Bonnie isn't taking shit from anyone.
Elena actually talking about how she's having a slow paranoid breakdown with all that's going on. Her balancing her developing strength with her coping with the daily fear is interesting, and something I hope we see more developed as a character arc.
JEREMY KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES OR AT LEAST HEADS EVEN IF HE DOES FAIL AT SHOOTING TYLER.
Damon and Stefan maturely discussing their differences. By which I mean Damon staking Stefan, Stefan complaining that he was saving Damon's ass AGAIN, Damon being sort of touched and acting like he wished Stefan would just fuck off already. Awww, brothers. I'm pretty sure you're about 155 years younger than you think you are.
Elena trading Jeremy's safety for Rebekah's by having her own dealings with Klaus, then just dropping that Rebekah's going to not be happy with Klaus when she wakes up. Klaus then being a moron and thinking that he'll just let Rebekah sleep off her anger. Dude, she's going to wake up where she left off and be pissed about you AND about you being too much of a coward to face her being alive. You've been alive and known Rebekah for a thousand years and you think THAT'S the best way to deal with any woman, let alone her? Good luck, buddy.
This sarcastic motherfucker:
Things I was not so fond of:
A DISTINCT LACK OF CAROLINE OR KATHERINE. AHEM.
Stefan doing little more than sitting around a basement going "Hey I'm a dick, I feel like making sure my revenge on Klaus... revunges." Then Damon wanting in on his plan and not telling Elena about it. SALVATORE PLANS, THEY ALWAYS WORK OUT AND OF COURSE THEY WORK BEST WITHOUT ANY OUTSIDE INPUT. I see this going well, yeah.
All Originals drama, all the time. I'm really kind of over the Originals. Klaus was the big bad of last season, and I really feel like broadening the plotlines to make sure that him and the Originals always have a place is taking up a lot of time that isn't being spent instead on deepening the characterization of the core characters. That storyline will have energy for a little while, but it's not building as much depth and foundation as previous stories have, and sooner or later you need that foundation.
Klaus... moving to Mystic Falls? IDGI.
Unclear motivations for Stefan's revenge. Okay, he's pissed at Klaus about the whole free will thing, but he did choose to take the blood to cure Damon and he knew he was saying a pretty final goodbye to the last year of his life in the process. And it seemed like in "Homecoming" Katherine was distinctly planning something that Stefan was going to do (more than "get mad" obvs) and I'd like to have seen a hint of that?
Things I was very not cool with/would like to re-write myself:
COMPELLING JEREMY. OH MY GOD DID WE LEARN NOTHING ABOUT THIS BEFORE. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING IN GENERAL ABOUT TAKING AWAY FREE WILL. ELENA WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I think for Jer's protection Elena could have absolutely sat down with him and said "hey I want a better life for you where you might have a chance of surviving highschool and maybe even have a chance of getting into college, plus you are a gift-wrapped hostage while you live around me" and reasoned with him, instead of forcing him. In addition, he's finally becoming an interesting person in his own right! He can shoot a crossover and he hacked the head off a werepire on his own front porch! ...why is he getting sent away?
Not only that, but family is SUCH an important theme on this show. If it wasn't, Elena's internal guilt and need to compensate for it over having been responsible for her parents picking her up the night they died, and her doppelganger self causing everyone else to die, would not make her such a nuanced and interesting person. If family weren't so important, Damon and Stefan would not always be doing crazy things to save/mutilate each other. Jenna's death wouldn't have hurt. The Originals wouldn't even be a storyline. And so killing off all of Elena's family until she's all alone with her sorta-stepdad and adoptive brother, and then sending her brother away as well? I feel like the core of the show is being eviscerated a bit.
THE DAMON/ELENA KISS. I.e., the thing the entire internet was squeeing about. I have no objections to Damon/Elena happening; obviously right now it's the better choice if she has to have a Salvatore brother. It's just that... there were no doubts as to Damon's wants and availability when it came to Elena. He put himself out there and put himself out there some more. So right now, when she is struggling with everything in her life plus the choice she just made for Jeremy, Damon steps forward to kiss her? I'm not entirely fond of that.
I would have preferred it a lot more if maybe they'd sat on the front steps and had a little chat about who Elena is becoming, how she feels about compelling Jeremy again. If she had said something to Damon like "It's just us, now. I've let Stefan go because he's never coming back. I've let Jeremy go so I can save his life. And now it's just me and you, because I've started doing all the things you would do," and then leaned over to kiss him, as her own step forward, I feel like that would have been a better character move. Elena having the strength to move on with someone else, and believing that she has the autonomy around Damon that she can make the choice to show she loves him too, would have done a lot more for me than Oh look it's Damon being impulsive again.
Otherwise... I'm just underwhelmed at the moment. I feel like there's a lot of plot going on and one of my favorite things about this show has always been that brilliant character moments were not sacrificed for plot LIKE ON CERTAIN OTHER SHOWS. And right now, maybe it's just a lot of setup to get moving again, but I want my character moments back. I want Elena and Caroline and Bonnie to be having fun together. I want to see the Council utilized in a bit more of a complicated way, now that half the people on it have secrets and relationships they're protecting with supernaturals. I want some flashbacks to before the show, when the girls and Matt were all best friends- who were they then, and how far have they come? I want Elena to have brutally honest conversations assessing the person she's becoming with people she hasn't had those conversations yet (everyone but Damon, I think, which is hardly a healthy way to examine one's personal developments).
Tiny detail, but I'm curious about where the failures of Ric's ring and the introduction of Dr. Fell is going to come in. Kris said the actress playing Dr. Fell is contracted for the rest of the season, so we should be seeing more of her; Fells always seem to be bad news, don't they though? We'll see.
Also curious about the themes of self-control invoked earlier- Bill Forbes and his inability to be compelled, the obvious parallels of what Bill was trying to train Caroline to do with the blood treatment Lexi and Elena were carrying out on Stefan (in the exact same chair with the same basic tactics.) Mikhail, too, clearly trained himself to only drink vampire blood. So this seems to be recurring, and I'm wondering where it will end up.
Alright everyone, come disagree with me! :P
And I actually got to watch "The New Deal" live, because now I am a person with cable, because it came free with the internet upgrade. These commercials, guys, what are these? They just keep happening like every few seconds. I don't want to see promos for The Devil Inside that often. We already have HAVE Stefan.
I have some mixed feelings on this episode, though. It did not exactly blow me away.
First off, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY QUEEN CAROLINE. This is an abomination not to be tolerated.
Things I liked:
ELENA BEING EVERYTHING AMAZING. She's making her own deals, she's teaming up with Alaric in her concern over Jeremy, she's slapping Stefan for being a dick, she's dealing with scrubbing blood off her front porch, she cares for everyone who is getting almost killed around her and she just keeps moving the fuck forward. LOVE.
Awkward Alaric cooks family dinner! Awkward family tells Jeremy "We don't want you seeing that boy anymore, he's bad news." The minute I saw Jeremy and Tyler in the woods together, I just knew a million slashers were firing up their Word documents.
Bonnie gets some stuff to do, like plotting with Stefan. Ooh, I like. I wish we could have seen a bit more of them working together and how Bonnie isn't taking shit from anyone.
Elena actually talking about how she's having a slow paranoid breakdown with all that's going on. Her balancing her developing strength with her coping with the daily fear is interesting, and something I hope we see more developed as a character arc.
JEREMY KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES OR AT LEAST HEADS EVEN IF HE DOES FAIL AT SHOOTING TYLER.
Damon and Stefan maturely discussing their differences. By which I mean Damon staking Stefan, Stefan complaining that he was saving Damon's ass AGAIN, Damon being sort of touched and acting like he wished Stefan would just fuck off already. Awww, brothers. I'm pretty sure you're about 155 years younger than you think you are.
Elena trading Jeremy's safety for Rebekah's by having her own dealings with Klaus, then just dropping that Rebekah's going to not be happy with Klaus when she wakes up. Klaus then being a moron and thinking that he'll just let Rebekah sleep off her anger. Dude, she's going to wake up where she left off and be pissed about you AND about you being too much of a coward to face her being alive. You've been alive and known Rebekah for a thousand years and you think THAT'S the best way to deal with any woman, let alone her? Good luck, buddy.
This sarcastic motherfucker:
Things I was not so fond of:
A DISTINCT LACK OF CAROLINE OR KATHERINE. AHEM.
Stefan doing little more than sitting around a basement going "Hey I'm a dick, I feel like making sure my revenge on Klaus... revunges." Then Damon wanting in on his plan and not telling Elena about it. SALVATORE PLANS, THEY ALWAYS WORK OUT AND OF COURSE THEY WORK BEST WITHOUT ANY OUTSIDE INPUT. I see this going well, yeah.
All Originals drama, all the time. I'm really kind of over the Originals. Klaus was the big bad of last season, and I really feel like broadening the plotlines to make sure that him and the Originals always have a place is taking up a lot of time that isn't being spent instead on deepening the characterization of the core characters. That storyline will have energy for a little while, but it's not building as much depth and foundation as previous stories have, and sooner or later you need that foundation.
Klaus... moving to Mystic Falls? IDGI.
Unclear motivations for Stefan's revenge. Okay, he's pissed at Klaus about the whole free will thing, but he did choose to take the blood to cure Damon and he knew he was saying a pretty final goodbye to the last year of his life in the process. And it seemed like in "Homecoming" Katherine was distinctly planning something that Stefan was going to do (more than "get mad" obvs) and I'd like to have seen a hint of that?
Things I was very not cool with/would like to re-write myself:
COMPELLING JEREMY. OH MY GOD DID WE LEARN NOTHING ABOUT THIS BEFORE. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING IN GENERAL ABOUT TAKING AWAY FREE WILL. ELENA WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I think for Jer's protection Elena could have absolutely sat down with him and said "hey I want a better life for you where you might have a chance of surviving highschool and maybe even have a chance of getting into college, plus you are a gift-wrapped hostage while you live around me" and reasoned with him, instead of forcing him. In addition, he's finally becoming an interesting person in his own right! He can shoot a crossover and he hacked the head off a werepire on his own front porch! ...why is he getting sent away?
Not only that, but family is SUCH an important theme on this show. If it wasn't, Elena's internal guilt and need to compensate for it over having been responsible for her parents picking her up the night they died, and her doppelganger self causing everyone else to die, would not make her such a nuanced and interesting person. If family weren't so important, Damon and Stefan would not always be doing crazy things to save/mutilate each other. Jenna's death wouldn't have hurt. The Originals wouldn't even be a storyline. And so killing off all of Elena's family until she's all alone with her sorta-stepdad and adoptive brother, and then sending her brother away as well? I feel like the core of the show is being eviscerated a bit.
THE DAMON/ELENA KISS. I.e., the thing the entire internet was squeeing about. I have no objections to Damon/Elena happening; obviously right now it's the better choice if she has to have a Salvatore brother. It's just that... there were no doubts as to Damon's wants and availability when it came to Elena. He put himself out there and put himself out there some more. So right now, when she is struggling with everything in her life plus the choice she just made for Jeremy, Damon steps forward to kiss her? I'm not entirely fond of that.
I would have preferred it a lot more if maybe they'd sat on the front steps and had a little chat about who Elena is becoming, how she feels about compelling Jeremy again. If she had said something to Damon like "It's just us, now. I've let Stefan go because he's never coming back. I've let Jeremy go so I can save his life. And now it's just me and you, because I've started doing all the things you would do," and then leaned over to kiss him, as her own step forward, I feel like that would have been a better character move. Elena having the strength to move on with someone else, and believing that she has the autonomy around Damon that she can make the choice to show she loves him too, would have done a lot more for me than Oh look it's Damon being impulsive again.
Otherwise... I'm just underwhelmed at the moment. I feel like there's a lot of plot going on and one of my favorite things about this show has always been that brilliant character moments were not sacrificed for plot LIKE ON CERTAIN OTHER SHOWS. And right now, maybe it's just a lot of setup to get moving again, but I want my character moments back. I want Elena and Caroline and Bonnie to be having fun together. I want to see the Council utilized in a bit more of a complicated way, now that half the people on it have secrets and relationships they're protecting with supernaturals. I want some flashbacks to before the show, when the girls and Matt were all best friends- who were they then, and how far have they come? I want Elena to have brutally honest conversations assessing the person she's becoming with people she hasn't had those conversations yet (everyone but Damon, I think, which is hardly a healthy way to examine one's personal developments).
Tiny detail, but I'm curious about where the failures of Ric's ring and the introduction of Dr. Fell is going to come in. Kris said the actress playing Dr. Fell is contracted for the rest of the season, so we should be seeing more of her; Fells always seem to be bad news, don't they though? We'll see.
Also curious about the themes of self-control invoked earlier- Bill Forbes and his inability to be compelled, the obvious parallels of what Bill was trying to train Caroline to do with the blood treatment Lexi and Elena were carrying out on Stefan (in the exact same chair with the same basic tactics.) Mikhail, too, clearly trained himself to only drink vampire blood. So this seems to be recurring, and I'm wondering where it will end up.
Alright everyone, come disagree with me! :P
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 02:28 am (UTC)Elena was so badass. I really liked the opening shot of her running, because she's committed to becoming stronger and that's a good visual of it. Also the fall leaves were pretty.
I wanted Rebekah woken up! Mostly because it would have been explosive. So, do you ship them? I... sort of do? Not in the way that I think about it and want to write fic, more that I just assume that in a thousand years of impassioned devotion to each other, they've probably done it at least once.
I'm glad to see several people not seeing the kiss as romantic. I like my romances awkward and my kisses meaning more than Twoo Wub? I do love the two of them together, taking comfort in friendship love when they both have been left alone.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 05:58 pm (UTC)I have one incest ship. And that's why I have a sockpuppet journal. Well, that and the characters in question are a bit less than a thousand years old. I wish I had more shame.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 11:27 pm (UTC)And I have SO MANY problems with Elena asking Damon to compel Jeremy, once again. It's just ridiculous that she'd resort to that sort of thing after everything that she's seen happen in regards to losing one's free will. I can buy Alaric going along with it because I think he often makes crappy decisions for somewhat pure reasons but Elena? I just didn't believe it and it pissed me off on top of that.
The Damon/Elena kiss was just wrong. Bad timing, anti-climactic, and done for all the wrong reasons. And all the stuff with Klaus and the Originals just bores me to tears. Rebekah was fun and Elijah was interesting but until they come back into the picture, I have no interest in the Originals and I think Klaus is a terrible villain so...
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 02:42 am (UTC)THANK YOU for agreeing with me re: Elena and the compelling. I totally believe she did it because she thinks she can protect him that way. But she has seen SO MUCH of what happens when you get people to do things by this method, I think she would do anything to find another way. If compelling him was a last resort, I'd get that, but it felt like SUCH a shortcut to not have a wonderful sibling moment where they talk about him leaving town.
Klaus can gtfo, I'm just so tired of him. It's not even the villainy that makes me tired, it's his... whininess? I mean it's just this endless circle of him doing bad things to people so that he can complete some grand scheme to not be alone anymore. And then he complains about it and plots some more. Figure it out, dude, if I can figure out how to make a few friends in 23 years surely you can manage it in over a thousand.
Damon/Elena. I guess cause it's pretty much season opener they had to do a strong image to hook viewers until the end of the season? I just see that there's SO much characterization and development to be accomplished there for it to be meaningful and timely. Instead, it just looks like Damon grasping out into the dark again because he's clueless and Elena letting him because she's not sure what she's doing right then. If it was supposed to convince me it wasn't a romantic step forward, then I think it was done correctly? :P
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 03:42 am (UTC)lol, I actually saw this kissed as Damon's desperate attempt to get Elena to be angry with him again. Here was Elena with all these expectations for Damon and he freaked out and tried to find a way to piss her off. Forcing himself on her had always done the trick in the past so he went for it, but when she didn't get angry, he had to flee into the night :) I doubt that was what the writers INTENDED with the kiss, but that's how I saw it.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 01:07 am (UTC)First. I totally agree, I missed Caroline (and Katherine) A LOT. Its been two months and I was very upset to come back to an episode without Caroline. It's just not right.
And I loved the Jeremy stuff they worked into this episode. I've wanted to see more of his reaction to Jenna's death and they finally gave me that. And in an awesome kind of a way. And that scene with the hybrid. I probably shouldn't like it as much as I did. BUT HE WAS JUST SO BADASS IN IT. And I just loved how realistic it was, how it showed what happens when you put a person in this type of situation. It makes them that much harder.
BUT THEN THEY TOOK IT ALL AWAY! My problems with that whole thing were the exact same as yours. Especially about the core of the show being about family. You said it so well too, btw. Hopefully it gets fixed soon.
And I did really love the awesomeness that was Elena (minus the whole Jeremy thing I'm going to discard that for right now) this episode. I love when the show lets her be a part of what's happening and show that she really can get things done. Same with Bonnie. Though I totally agree, I would have loved to see more of her and Stefan and what they were doing.
And I love your thoughts on the reoccuring trend of self-control issues. I never really combined all of those, but there are a lot of parallels.
And I probably started rambling at some point, I hope you don't mind. XD
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 02:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 02:58 am (UTC)Kris (my BFF in Hollywood) said that next episode is supposed to focus on Caroline a lot supposedly? So hopefully that is super excellent to make up for everything missing in this episode.
Jeremy was AMAZING. I liked him before this, but mostly because he was endearing and the characters I loved loved him. But this time, we get to see how everything has mixed together and is now coming out. And he's coming out as a fucking badass. I'm not entirely convinced he absolutely will go to Denver (should probably check IMDB on episode casting, lol) because plans so frequently go wrong on this show, but I hope he stays.
Huh, I think the prime tension of this episode was that family was on the line. Everyone's. I mean, it usually is the issue, but very much in the forefront here was Klaus and his family being stolen, Damon and his brother being the dude he wants to thank and also kill, as usual, but mostly get back, and Elena trying to keep her created family (all she has left) safe.
Yeah, not sure where they're going with the self-control issues. But there's been a lot of discussion of "the switch" and if it exists, and I think there's a lot to vampire and human psychology that is being dropped in for a reason.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 02:26 am (UTC)Stefan doing little more than sitting around a basement going "Hey I'm a dick, I feel like making sure my revenge on Klaus... revunges."
ugh ikr. Stefan is/was my favourite manpire but I'm growing so annoyed by how inconsistent the writing has been for him this season. I need a good Stefan episode, man, in the vein of The End of the Affair or something because I just don't understand what is up with him.
There were some good D/E kiss breakdowns on my flist - my favourite was about how, since Damon now knows that ONCE AGAIN Stefan's intentions were noble, he's seeing the end of the line and figuring it will be Stefan/Elena (which now that I'm thinking about it is the ultimate irony since I'm pretty sure Stefan himself has given up ALL HOPE of ever getting his life with Elena back again) and that the moment with Elena on the porch, a stolen kiss and "I want to remember the things you felt while he was gone" is the closest he will ever get. WHICH I LIKE. I dunno if that's what the writers are/will go for but it makes sense to me so I'm just going to roll with it.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 03:21 am (UTC)I'm not convinced Jeremy is leaving, as successful plans on this show are something that happen to other people. So maybe there will be more cleaving!
Plus why is that everyone except Elena gets to have codependent messed up sibling relationships?
AMEN PREACH IT SISTER. I am totally hoping that the super codependent Elena-Jeremy-Alaric family keeps happening. Family of awesome vampire slayers FTW!
Yeah some sensible Stefan characterization would be nice. He's just doing shit to be a dick and show, I expect better from you.
That's an interesting analysis of Damon kissing Elena; I can imagine Damon would think in absolute terms, that if Stefan is in any way acting good then he's back with Elena, and Damon's just saying a slow goodbye to hope. I've also seen the explanation that it wasn't a very romantic kiss, just two people grasping in the dark at each other. But yeah, if they're moving into longer-term D/E territory, I don't want it to be all Damon. For Elena's decision-making, and for Damon needing love to be more than forever pursuing someone not quite attainable.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-07 09:23 pm (UTC)Ahaha. Story of my life!
The Devil Inside that often. We already have HAVE Stefan.
Lol. A brilliant point, expertly made.
Ugh. I disagree. I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE Elena put she had no right to do what she did to Jeremy. I felt violated on his behalf.
I want Alaric to be my dad. He was too awesome.
Stefan/Damon was also flawless. Ahaha you're right, you don't really get a sense of age with Damon. Like with all the other vampires, I kind of feel oh 'gosh, you're old' but Damon could be younger than Jeremy.
LOL at the gif. Stefan worked that chair. It's his throne!
A DISTINCT LACK OF CAROLINE OR KATHERINE. AHEM.
This is criminal. But it makes me feel that hey, Katherine is about to be used to maximum effect! Stealing Klaus' family was her plan, after all!
All Originals drama, all the time.
You don't like that hahaha? I LIVE for it. Their scenes for me are just like 'Bye bye Delena show! HELLO mysterious strangers :)'
Oh Stefan is making no sense at the moment!
Tiny detail, but I'm curious about where the failures of Ric's ring
NOT A TINY DETAIL. What if he like, dies? D:
Hopefully Dr. Fell will flesh out Alaric's plotlines (yay)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-08 12:06 am (UTC)Stefan and Damon, never stop being hilariously dramatic together. Especially Damon, I like his friendship with Ric because it's like they're twelve year old boys who are embarrassed to be each other's friends so they bicker all the time while cooking up plots and adventures.
You don't like that hahaha? I LIVE for it. Their scenes for me are just like 'Bye bye Delena show!
I mostly just feel that it brings way too many focuses into the show. We already had 42 minutes to work with a fairly large ensemble cast, and now there are even more people in it. So everything feels stretched a little thin and I'd rather have it deeper, with the Elena & Friends show. But I can understand the desire to have new things going on!
And they better get moving on this Katherine and Stefan plot. Stefan's just sitting around and Katherine isn't having chemistry with the actual glass of my television screen, this is a problem.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-08 12:24 am (UTC)Hey! Hot father figures are all the rage ;)
OHHH DALARIC IS A FLAWLESS DYNAMIC! FLAWLESS, I SAY!
I see what you're saying about the originals. But I can't help it. I'm their bitch. Also it's the only thing that's driving the plot...
Katherine isn't having chemistry with the actual glass of my television screen, this is a problem.
Huge problem!