2.20 - 'The Last Day' (The Vampire Diaries)
Another Thursday, yay, The Vampire Diaries. Sniff, sniff, only two episodes left now.
- Just getting the Stefan/Elena stuff out of the way quickly and then I'm done with them because if I go into detail, I may see rage-y colors again. I can only hope that the reason we had so much time spent on Sightseeing with Stefan Salvatore was ...
i.) so that viewers could hear Elena emphatically say that she doesn't want to be a vampire (unspoken -- even to be with Stefan), wants to grow old, have kids, etc. (unspoken -- that she can't do with Stefan), which will contrast with Elena wanting to turn, and forsaking those things for Damon.
ii.) because when Stefan and Elena are over, they will be over and good. Period. And so this season of ever-increasing nicely wrapped presents to the Stefan/Elena shipping community is their lovely parting gifts to enjoy as long as Stefan/Elena last ... and it ain't gonna be much longer.
This episode once again made it so clear why I believe non-Stefan/Elena fans are so very sick and tired of them and their U-T-T-E-R stupidity. While Damon was trying to convince Klaus to postpone the ritual, working with Alaric (and Katherine, to a degree) in redressing his whole make-Elena-a-vampire move, saving Caroline and Tyler, getting attacked by a witch, killing a witch, having a gun pointed at him by Boy Wonder, Jenna was getting captured, killed and about ready to transition into a vampire ... Stefan and Elena were looking at waterfalls. LOOKING AT FUCKING WATERFALLS! In the midst of everything that is going on THEY. WERE. LOOKING. AT. WATERFALLS! Yeah, yeah, talking about Elena and the whole vampire thing, which easily (and smartly should have been done) could have been done at the boarding house -- you know where Jenna was, and someplace where they'd be easy to find if necessary and they have really good cellphone reception! Instead, Stefan decided it was a good idea to take Elena out into nature ... and look at waterfalls.
OH. MY. GOD! The impotent stupidity. It hurts my brain.
Okay, so rageiness remains. Ahem.
- I shall continue with my annoyance and get it out of the way. I feel gypped of the Jenna/Elena vampire conversation reveal. I was willing to gloss over it last week, because I assumed we'd get some nice follow-through in this episode. Yeah, not so much. I really would have appreciated more on Jenna dealing with it, and I know that Sara Canning would have kicked ass. Ah well. Oh, yeah, about Jenna. So. She's a vampire too now? You know, on one hand, it is kinda cool, but I'm actually thinking that she might for reals die now because that would be surprising. On the other, I admit, I'm getting a wee annoyed. If you're going to keep promising deaths, show, do it. This bringing back to life (or "life" as the case may be) is not cool.
- Damon. Oh, Damon. I admit, I was completely on his side in this episode. When he fed Elena his blood, I was all, 'right on,' because he's the only one who -- yes, Stefan! -- has the balls to do what has to be done. Still, I was surprised by how un-pissed off (in the scheme of things) Elena appeared about it. I mean, she's been way more pissed at him in the past. No, she doesn't want to be a vampire, but she seemed pretty accepting, and much less rage-y about Damon than I expected. Which makes me think, yeah, she's mad, but she does get it. And, well, it looks like Damon does too. Even though I do think he was right, I appreciated that he realized that even he was, it wasn't his right to force it on her and he did try his damndest to repair the damage he'd done. Even to the point of flat-out telling Klaus about it to get Elena free knowing that Klaus would most likely (definitely) kill him.
Of course, he figures he's going to die anyway now, right? So Tyler did bite him -- which I called way back, but I did change my tune to it being Klaus, but still, I originally said Tyler! I gotta say I ADORED his reaction. It was so an unspoken, 'yeah, fuck.' Great moment there by Ian Somerhalder.
Also great was after he staked Stefan and then left the room. I don't know if it was scripted, was the director's idea or just how Ian chose to play it, but I thought it was fantastic. In that moment after he staked him, it really seemed as if Elena (nor anyone else) was even in the room. It was all about Damon reeling over what he had just done to his brother. Who was kicking his ass! What the hell? Seriously, how was Stefan so kicking Damon's ass? I get that he's been drinking human blood again, but shouldn't Damon's 140 years of it -- including drinking copious amounts of the fresh stuff recently -- give him the edge?
Maybe it was Stefan's anger giving him that edge, making him all heroic? I dunno, if it was, the heroism didn't last long because, damn, Stefan did shit in this episode. Seriously. Damon's the one who made the hard choice to turn Elena -- something that Stefan obviously wants, but would never do ... so Damon does it, but Stefan gets the reward. While people are getting attacked, killed, etc., Stefan takes his girlfriend out sightseeing. And then -- Lord help me because I'm still reeling from Stefan's complete inaction here -- Klaus shows up to get Elena ... STEFAN LET HIM. No fight, no attack, no push, nothing. Just closed his eyes and let her go.
There's respecting her wishes, and there's putting up a damn fight when she's walking to her death, Stefan. I'm sorry, but if Damon was there, he would have done everything in his power to kill Klaus, had the dagger handy, something, anything, but he would have NOT let Elena just walk to her death. Period. I was mind-boggled at Stefan's response to that moment. He SHOULD have fought her at least, raging and crying like he was when she broke up with him even if he knew it was to no avail, he should have in that moment of desperation TRIED! But he didn't. And why not? All I can think is that because after it's all said and done, he gets his vampire girlfriend for all of eternity who will hate his brother for putting her there.
I don't know if this is what the show was intending for us to see, and Julie Plec was just talking bs to get people to watch in her earlier interview, or if I'm really, really missing their point: That what Stefan did was noble and selfless. I'm sorry, I didn't see it that way AT ALL. He didn't even fight in that moment. He just let her go with a few words. Let her go. And then at the end of the day, when all is said and done, what is the one significant action he finally took:
Yup, he made a phone call to Damon expecting him to save the day. Oh, Stefan. You know, I really hope that I'm right and that we are supposed to see the selfish, non-perfect Stefan in this episodes because I do love him with all of his flaws and insecurities. Please make them real and not just my hopes because it makes him so much more interesting, with so much more room to grow.
- On the other hand, my bb, Damon, was a hero in my eyes, no question. He did the ballsy thing to save Elena's life, and then tried to repair that when he saw how she truly didn't want it. (Yes, yes, part of it was definitely selfish because thinking he could deal with her hating him forever, and her actually hating him forever are two separate things ... but still, he was willing to die to fix it.) He also saved Caroline -- twice! First by getting her from the tomb, then when Tyler went after her. He chose to save Tyler, didn't kill Matt despite knowing the risk of him clearly knowing what was going on. Then he confronted Klaus to his face, knowing that he was was pretty much facing death. Of course, he also did the last thing there -- and didn't let Stefan know -- after he'd been bitten. He also didn't tell Caroline or Matt, just made sure that they got to safety. Oh, Damon, you do have such good in you. And, hey, this was the first time that other people actually got to witness it in action. Maybe it WILL get back to both Stefan and Elena. Would be nice.
Finally, speaking of Damon ... and Elena. While I did enjoy their scene, pre-make-Elena-a-vampire moment, it felt much like "Daddy Issues" in which Elena used physicality and soft, pretty words to keep Damon calm and doing what she wants. Obviously, it backfired this time, but yeah, she was once again, unintentionally emotionally manipulating him. Girl needs to stop that. But, but, but, the couple-girl in me did enjoy the hand/finger caressing while it lasted regardless of the impetus behind it. :)
And going back a bit. These really are the consequences of her actions. She pushes for this emotional intimacy with Damon because she loves the fact (which she so is not even aware of really) that she has this power over Damon. And then it backfires on her and she gets mad at him. She can't treat him like her sexless boyfriend that she can lean on and create these moments with just to make her feel awesome and not expect bad things to happen. Because, even though I believe it's totally unintentional, that is exactly what she does with Damon. Leaving Stefan to go and make Damon "understand" was not the right move to make because he does love her, and every time she does stuff like that, it chisels away at his control and he becomes that much more desperate to save her.
Okay, a few quick more randoms --
- Damon shirtless in bed. A full shot would have been nice, but I won't complain ... much.
- So, yeah, Caroline was concerned when she thought (rightly) that Tyler bit Damon. Good. I want Damon to have people on his side. Speaking of, so much for Stefan, he who wants friends and to be a part of a community. In this episode, he had deep moments with Damon and Elena. Damon? With Stefan, Elena, Alaric, Katherine, Matt, Caroline, Tyler and referenced strong connection to Liz. Uh huh.
- Heh, Damon calling Stefan "Baby bro," I don't know why, but I got such a kick out of that.
- I did love that Alaric was such a great friend to Damon, there by his side. Aww. (And now that he's been invited into Alaric's apartment, they can have drinking sessions there.)
- Speaking of, would they really kill off Alaric when they just built an apartment set for him a few episodes ago?
- I love Elijah, and I love that he calls Katherine "Katerina." I hope that becomes their thing. Squee! I also liked his little moment with Damon.
- Joseph Morgan as Klaus is so calm even while radiating cheerful evil. It's impressive.
- Also impressive? The lengths that Katherine will go to to survive. Even Klaus has no clue. She knew he didn't want her dead, so she was willing to stand there and burn until he let her go, all in the name of self-preservation. That's our Kat.
- Speaking of, I did love her little pout after Damon pointed out that if she didn't help him, she'd have to fight Elena an eternity for Stefan's love. He's so over her, and Katherine is so adorable when she pouts, LOL!
- I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Damon's "I'll write her a really good eulogy" about Bonnie cracked me up.
- I totally thought it was Alaric who shot Maddox, but it was Matt. Cool surprise there. I also liked Damon disarming Matt with words before zooming over, grabbing the gun and knocking him out. Even though Matt knows about vampires now, it was a nice reminder to how new he is, that he didn't know to be cautious like that at all. And frankly, I just liked how the whole thing with Damon and Matt was handled. Because it shows how Damon will size up a situation and do what needs to be done, and he's flexible. And, yes, again, damnit, showing his good side! He didn't kill Matt, he saved Caroline twice, he chose to help Tyler and he was doing all he could to reverse his earlier action.
So I say proudly: YOU GO, DAMON! I LOVE YOU, BB!
Before I sign off, I wanted to thank sarcasticcheese. She listens to my impassioned venting and ranting post episodes regarding the lack of Damon/Elena, the abundance of Stefan/Elena, the pile-up on Damon, and helps calm me down, eases my thought process into logic-based thinking thoughts, and helps bring me to my happy place about the show and lets me focus on all that I do love about it. So thank you, m'dear. :)
- Just getting the Stefan/Elena stuff out of the way quickly and then I'm done with them because if I go into detail, I may see rage-y colors again. I can only hope that the reason we had so much time spent on Sightseeing with Stefan Salvatore was ...
i.) so that viewers could hear Elena emphatically say that she doesn't want to be a vampire (unspoken -- even to be with Stefan), wants to grow old, have kids, etc. (unspoken -- that she can't do with Stefan), which will contrast with Elena wanting to turn, and forsaking those things for Damon.
ii.) because when Stefan and Elena are over, they will be over and good. Period. And so this season of ever-increasing nicely wrapped presents to the Stefan/Elena shipping community is their lovely parting gifts to enjoy as long as Stefan/Elena last ... and it ain't gonna be much longer.
This episode once again made it so clear why I believe non-Stefan/Elena fans are so very sick and tired of them and their U-T-T-E-R stupidity. While Damon was trying to convince Klaus to postpone the ritual, working with Alaric (and Katherine, to a degree) in redressing his whole make-Elena-a-vampire move, saving Caroline and Tyler, getting attacked by a witch, killing a witch, having a gun pointed at him by Boy Wonder, Jenna was getting captured, killed and about ready to transition into a vampire ... Stefan and Elena were looking at waterfalls. LOOKING AT FUCKING WATERFALLS! In the midst of everything that is going on THEY. WERE. LOOKING. AT. WATERFALLS! Yeah, yeah, talking about Elena and the whole vampire thing, which easily (and smartly should have been done) could have been done at the boarding house -- you know where Jenna was, and someplace where they'd be easy to find if necessary and they have really good cellphone reception! Instead, Stefan decided it was a good idea to take Elena out into nature ... and look at waterfalls.
OH. MY. GOD! The impotent stupidity. It hurts my brain.
Okay, so rageiness remains. Ahem.
- I shall continue with my annoyance and get it out of the way. I feel gypped of the Jenna/Elena vampire conversation reveal. I was willing to gloss over it last week, because I assumed we'd get some nice follow-through in this episode. Yeah, not so much. I really would have appreciated more on Jenna dealing with it, and I know that Sara Canning would have kicked ass. Ah well. Oh, yeah, about Jenna. So. She's a vampire too now? You know, on one hand, it is kinda cool, but I'm actually thinking that she might for reals die now because that would be surprising. On the other, I admit, I'm getting a wee annoyed. If you're going to keep promising deaths, show, do it. This bringing back to life (or "life" as the case may be) is not cool.
- Damon. Oh, Damon. I admit, I was completely on his side in this episode. When he fed Elena his blood, I was all, 'right on,' because he's the only one who -- yes, Stefan! -- has the balls to do what has to be done. Still, I was surprised by how un-pissed off (in the scheme of things) Elena appeared about it. I mean, she's been way more pissed at him in the past. No, she doesn't want to be a vampire, but she seemed pretty accepting, and much less rage-y about Damon than I expected. Which makes me think, yeah, she's mad, but she does get it. And, well, it looks like Damon does too. Even though I do think he was right, I appreciated that he realized that even he was, it wasn't his right to force it on her and he did try his damndest to repair the damage he'd done. Even to the point of flat-out telling Klaus about it to get Elena free knowing that Klaus would most likely (definitely) kill him.
Of course, he figures he's going to die anyway now, right? So Tyler did bite him -- which I called way back, but I did change my tune to it being Klaus, but still, I originally said Tyler! I gotta say I ADORED his reaction. It was so an unspoken, 'yeah, fuck.' Great moment there by Ian Somerhalder.
Also great was after he staked Stefan and then left the room. I don't know if it was scripted, was the director's idea or just how Ian chose to play it, but I thought it was fantastic. In that moment after he staked him, it really seemed as if Elena (nor anyone else) was even in the room. It was all about Damon reeling over what he had just done to his brother. Who was kicking his ass! What the hell? Seriously, how was Stefan so kicking Damon's ass? I get that he's been drinking human blood again, but shouldn't Damon's 140 years of it -- including drinking copious amounts of the fresh stuff recently -- give him the edge?
Maybe it was Stefan's anger giving him that edge, making him all heroic? I dunno, if it was, the heroism didn't last long because, damn, Stefan did shit in this episode. Seriously. Damon's the one who made the hard choice to turn Elena -- something that Stefan obviously wants, but would never do ... so Damon does it, but Stefan gets the reward. While people are getting attacked, killed, etc., Stefan takes his girlfriend out sightseeing. And then -- Lord help me because I'm still reeling from Stefan's complete inaction here -- Klaus shows up to get Elena ... STEFAN LET HIM. No fight, no attack, no push, nothing. Just closed his eyes and let her go.
There's respecting her wishes, and there's putting up a damn fight when she's walking to her death, Stefan. I'm sorry, but if Damon was there, he would have done everything in his power to kill Klaus, had the dagger handy, something, anything, but he would have NOT let Elena just walk to her death. Period. I was mind-boggled at Stefan's response to that moment. He SHOULD have fought her at least, raging and crying like he was when she broke up with him even if he knew it was to no avail, he should have in that moment of desperation TRIED! But he didn't. And why not? All I can think is that because after it's all said and done, he gets his vampire girlfriend for all of eternity who will hate his brother for putting her there.
I don't know if this is what the show was intending for us to see, and Julie Plec was just talking bs to get people to watch in her earlier interview, or if I'm really, really missing their point: That what Stefan did was noble and selfless. I'm sorry, I didn't see it that way AT ALL. He didn't even fight in that moment. He just let her go with a few words. Let her go. And then at the end of the day, when all is said and done, what is the one significant action he finally took:
Yup, he made a phone call to Damon expecting him to save the day. Oh, Stefan. You know, I really hope that I'm right and that we are supposed to see the selfish, non-perfect Stefan in this episodes because I do love him with all of his flaws and insecurities. Please make them real and not just my hopes because it makes him so much more interesting, with so much more room to grow.
- On the other hand, my bb, Damon, was a hero in my eyes, no question. He did the ballsy thing to save Elena's life, and then tried to repair that when he saw how she truly didn't want it. (Yes, yes, part of it was definitely selfish because thinking he could deal with her hating him forever, and her actually hating him forever are two separate things ... but still, he was willing to die to fix it.) He also saved Caroline -- twice! First by getting her from the tomb, then when Tyler went after her. He chose to save Tyler, didn't kill Matt despite knowing the risk of him clearly knowing what was going on. Then he confronted Klaus to his face, knowing that he was was pretty much facing death. Of course, he also did the last thing there -- and didn't let Stefan know -- after he'd been bitten. He also didn't tell Caroline or Matt, just made sure that they got to safety. Oh, Damon, you do have such good in you. And, hey, this was the first time that other people actually got to witness it in action. Maybe it WILL get back to both Stefan and Elena. Would be nice.
Finally, speaking of Damon ... and Elena. While I did enjoy their scene, pre-make-Elena-a-vampire moment, it felt much like "Daddy Issues" in which Elena used physicality and soft, pretty words to keep Damon calm and doing what she wants. Obviously, it backfired this time, but yeah, she was once again, unintentionally emotionally manipulating him. Girl needs to stop that. But, but, but, the couple-girl in me did enjoy the hand/finger caressing while it lasted regardless of the impetus behind it. :)
And going back a bit. These really are the consequences of her actions. She pushes for this emotional intimacy with Damon because she loves the fact (which she so is not even aware of really) that she has this power over Damon. And then it backfires on her and she gets mad at him. She can't treat him like her sexless boyfriend that she can lean on and create these moments with just to make her feel awesome and not expect bad things to happen. Because, even though I believe it's totally unintentional, that is exactly what she does with Damon. Leaving Stefan to go and make Damon "understand" was not the right move to make because he does love her, and every time she does stuff like that, it chisels away at his control and he becomes that much more desperate to save her.
Okay, a few quick more randoms --
- Damon shirtless in bed. A full shot would have been nice, but I won't complain ... much.
- So, yeah, Caroline was concerned when she thought (rightly) that Tyler bit Damon. Good. I want Damon to have people on his side. Speaking of, so much for Stefan, he who wants friends and to be a part of a community. In this episode, he had deep moments with Damon and Elena. Damon? With Stefan, Elena, Alaric, Katherine, Matt, Caroline, Tyler and referenced strong connection to Liz. Uh huh.
- Heh, Damon calling Stefan "Baby bro," I don't know why, but I got such a kick out of that.
- I did love that Alaric was such a great friend to Damon, there by his side. Aww. (And now that he's been invited into Alaric's apartment, they can have drinking sessions there.)
- Speaking of, would they really kill off Alaric when they just built an apartment set for him a few episodes ago?
- I love Elijah, and I love that he calls Katherine "Katerina." I hope that becomes their thing. Squee! I also liked his little moment with Damon.
- Joseph Morgan as Klaus is so calm even while radiating cheerful evil. It's impressive.
- Also impressive? The lengths that Katherine will go to to survive. Even Klaus has no clue. She knew he didn't want her dead, so she was willing to stand there and burn until he let her go, all in the name of self-preservation. That's our Kat.
- Speaking of, I did love her little pout after Damon pointed out that if she didn't help him, she'd have to fight Elena an eternity for Stefan's love. He's so over her, and Katherine is so adorable when she pouts, LOL!
- I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Damon's "I'll write her a really good eulogy" about Bonnie cracked me up.
- I totally thought it was Alaric who shot Maddox, but it was Matt. Cool surprise there. I also liked Damon disarming Matt with words before zooming over, grabbing the gun and knocking him out. Even though Matt knows about vampires now, it was a nice reminder to how new he is, that he didn't know to be cautious like that at all. And frankly, I just liked how the whole thing with Damon and Matt was handled. Because it shows how Damon will size up a situation and do what needs to be done, and he's flexible. And, yes, again, damnit, showing his good side! He didn't kill Matt, he saved Caroline twice, he chose to help Tyler and he was doing all he could to reverse his earlier action.
So I say proudly: YOU GO, DAMON! I LOVE YOU, BB!
Before I sign off, I wanted to thank sarcasticcheese. She listens to my impassioned venting and ranting post episodes regarding the lack of Damon/Elena, the abundance of Stefan/Elena, the pile-up on Damon, and helps calm me down, eases my thought process into logic-based thinking thoughts, and helps bring me to my happy place about the show and lets me focus on all that I do love about it. So thank you, m'dear. :)