4.22 - 'The Walking Dead' (The Vampire Diaries)
Woohoo! My show!
TEAM BAD-ASS IS IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! The crowd roars and cheers and begs and pleads, offering first born and all the riches in the world to Julie Plec so that Alaric never leaves Damon (and us) again! PLEASE!!! Ahem. Seriously, I was just all agog with feels over every Alaric/Damon moment. Come on, look at these two mofos!
The smiles, the hugs, the endearing insults, the bromance alive and strong and making me a very, very happy camper! Erm, I will say that though as much as I loved seeing Alaric, the two of them just happening to be at locker 42 was just a wee bit convenient. :Rolls eyes: Still, again, I loved Damon's smile, Ric's answering smile and then the hug. And it wasn't just because of the bromance (briefly) alive and well. I loved how we saw in just that first bit of interaction with Alaric (once Damon realized it truly was Ric) how much Damon has grown emotionally. He smiled openly, freely (because he was happy). He went to Ric and hugged him without holding back, without reservation. It was just... aah! So beautiful and seeing Damon be so open and revealing with his feelings to someone without fearing repercussions, I just really, really loved that.
Ooh, ooh, and we even got a callback to the wonderful Ghost!Alaric appearance in episode two. ("You heard that? Well, that's not creepy." Hee!) Overall, yeah, I just had all the feels in the world!
And (squee!) Ric is sooooooo Team Delena! (Man, I hate the smooshed names on this show, they're all so terrible, sigh.) Which was just yet another little neon sign that this is so heading to Damon and Elena now. Ric pointing out that Elena is Damon's girlfriend (he really has been spying, huh? hmm, or maybe Jere shared?). Then he got to the root of his Damon issues right away and without beating around the bush, making it clear to the audience (well, the part of the audience that wants to pay attention) that Damon and Elena are the couple that are being designed to root for. Oh, Lordy, and that last scene with them? OK, yeah, the shared drink was adorable--had to gif it--but more importantly for this point of view is how Ric just smiled and calmly, succinctly told him to go get the girl! (And this is partly why it was so important that we saw what we did in episode 18--Damon hesitating when it came to the cure. That was the set up for this, Damon having the power of the cure in his hands.) Ahh, forget thinky-thoughts... Ric's "Go get the girl," just had me all a'grinning.
The stuff with Stefan and Elena, Stefan and Caroline and Stefan and Lexi was also pretty telling with regards to the Damon/Elena-ness of it all. But more on that later. Concentrating on my couple specifically still we saw the same thing here that we did when Elena first turned the switch off--annoyed with Stefan's methods, making it clear she's just not feeling those feelings for him. This is in opposition to what Elena is pulling with Damon. Like in "Bring It On" and "Because the Night," Elena tapped into Damon's feelings because she feels more comfortable going that route with him, something that she obviously doesn't with Stefan.
And, really, girl is a quick learner. She tried to appeal to Damon through his emotions for her (lust on the New York roof, love in the halls of Mystic Falls High) and when it doesn't work? Well, Rebekah took Damon out of commission in New York, so Elena employed that strategy here. That's my girl! She ain't stupid. However.... The problem is that Elena continues to underestimate the depths of Damon's insecurities. When she says "I'll be myself and things will go back to normal," she's thinking of the two of them before the switch was flipped. That's her key to get him to give in to her. But Damon is thinking of Elena with Stefan before the "sire bond" took hold. And that is why he didn't budge at all from her spiel.
Still, while Elena doesn't quite know what makes Damon tick, as seen in the second gif, Damon knows what does Elena. He knows that while the full-on humanity Elena wants to apologize, wants to make things right (see her with Bonnie, then Stefan who both let her speak and spoke in kind). However, right now, the important thing is Jeremy and spending those moments with him. And so he made sure that she knew it was OK to not worry about him, this time was for Jeremy.
Not to say that Stefan and Elena didn't have their moment because they totally did. I do not deny that. She first looked at him after letting her full emotions in and with those emotions came a rush of love and, yes, it was directed at Stefan because she does love him. And that's why I believe we got that first look, that smile and soft expression. However, it was followed with a dampened smile and a look of frustration. The weight of all that happened, the things they'd said and done to each other, her relationship with and feelings for Damon intervened and just like that the "moment" was gone. And Stefan knew that, and he was OK with it. Which I continue to think is key in terms of Damon and Elena being able to move on together.
Because he's always been the chosen one, Stefan does have a selfishness to his personality neither Damon (as the one never chosen) and Elena (simply because of her ridiculously empathetic self) do not have. So as long as Stefan is not OK with Elena not with him (and with Damon) that would always be a wedge between Damon and Elena together because they aren't selfish enough, not when it comes to those they love and they both love Stefan. That moment after *the* moment showed me that while Stefan still loves Elena too and right now he probably can't see himself ever getting over her, he is resigned at this point that it's not the same for her anymore.
And it's really not. Emotionless and rage-only Elena without that empathetic compassion that generally directs her words and actions basically called Stefan out on his uselessness. This time, she basically said the same thing Damon did about Stefan's stupid cinderblock plan. The bottom line is that Stefan just sooooo does not get Elena. Like at all. He thinks he's getting through to her and instead Elena takes from his speech that he thinks she's hopeless--once again, Elena gets that Stefan sees her as something broken--and then when he offers to help, i.e., fix her we see just how tired of it she is. She literally rolled her eyes. (Admittedly, the words he said did sink in later, but this was her first reaction to his speechifying.)
With that said, she did have some moments before her graveyard breakdown and Kol confrontation where we saw that our Elena was just trying to break free. And I loved that it was one of her friends who got that crack opened. (I don't know if Damon could have, he certainly just wasn't trying. Stefan was right, Damon was avoiding being there for Elena... because--say it with me--he believes that he's not what Elena needs, is not what is best for Elena, can't get through to her. Nope, he believes that's all on Stefan. Oh, Damon.) Anyhoo, back to my point. I loved that Elena flat-out acknowledged what was going on with her. She wasn't in denial at all, she knew what she was doing. She just couldn't deal and acknowledging that is actually a pretty big step for her. And back to that "admittedly" part above, to be fair, Stefan did help with that (despite his "self-righteousness.") That conversation with him did make sense and got through to her a bit (unless this supposed to be another sire bond sign and she said Stefan was right because Damon said that Stefan was right earlier. Who knows?) What I'm getting at is that Elena doesn't want to feel anything but the rage because anything else will probably open the floodgates and she thinks she's incapable of handling that.
And this helped give us insight into just how right Damon was about how far gone she was after Jeremy died. She really was just ready to die. I think that if Damon hadn't have done that (or at least reminded her of that possibility) she would have taken her ring off and walked into the sun first chance. Her reaction to Kol made it clear that she really did just give up. Thankfully, the veil was down and Elena was able to have her chance to say goodbye to Jeremy, to get some kind of closure. Whether Jeremy is able to stick around (please!) or not, I think at least getting that chance to be with him before he goes will help tremendously in helping her move on mainly in part because he will *want* her to move on.
Uhm, can I interrupt the Jeremy/Elena moment to say just how much I loved that Damon was there during what we saw of their goodbye? For reals. As someone who adored the dynamic that was created between these three in season 03 (and some of this season), I just loved so much that Damon was a part of that moment.
I also loved that Damon applied logic and his knowledge of the tunnels to know that it wasn't Ric, but Silas instead. Go smart!Damon. Oh, and speaking of smart!Damon... SEE?!?!? Damon and Bonnie get shit done! Who tag-teams to put Silas down? Damon and Bonnie. Yuppers.
Oh, yeah, O.M.G. BONNIE!?!?!??!?!? Serious jaw-dropping moment. I just kinda sat there stunned, literally unable to utter a sound. Just... wha?!?!?!? Bonnie?!?!?!? Sigh. I just don't know, man, I do not know what to think. I do know what to think about Grams, though. Damn, I love whenever they manage to bring her back. And once again the show didn't spill on who was showing up. I knew that Alaric, Jeremy (and Kol, thanks preview!) would be there, but not Grams (!), Lexi (more on her later), or the Hunters and I love that I didn't know that. (I was surprised to not see Vicki though. Maybe she's still pissed at Matt for sending her away, LOL!) But, anyway, back to Bonnie.
I thought it was interesting that when Bonnie was putting Silas down she didn't speak Latin. And I thought it made perfect sense and was pretty cool. Of course she wouldn't need Latin because it had nothing to do with witchcraft as explained by Grams. It was all about Bonnie's will, Bonnie's strength so all it needed was her words fueled by her will and strength.
Not that she was strong enough. *sigh*
"I'm dead." And with those two words, yeah, something totally happened that I did not think would. Now they may come up with a way around it, but for the moment I was done shocked and good!
I gotta say I was also shocked--OK, more happily surprised--at the continued Stefan/Caroline stuffies! I mean, when Stefan walked into the Grill all bummed, I expected him to be upset about Elena. I also expected Caroline to expect him to be upset about Elena. Instead, Stefan was bummy over Lexi, and Caroline didn't even mention Elena's name as a possible reason. Speaking of Stefan bummed, can I just say how much I love the fact that even when bummed, Stefan with Caroline still manages to be light and open? I just... sigh, I just adore them so.
I also adored the whole Lexi/Stefan conversation. I mean, O.M.G! OK, yeah, I was more than happily surprised, definitely closer to shocked. Lexi laughed about Elena punching Stefan in the face and then said "Take a hint!" TAKE. A. HINT! From Lexi. To Stefan. About Elena. As in 'dude, she's not that into you.' AWESOME! Also totally, completely and adorably awesome? That Lexi was all for matchmaking Stefan with Caroline! SQUEE!!! When she first mentioned another blond taking her place, I expected the whole "friend" thing, pushing the platonic angle. But then... but then... but then!!!! Lexi gave him that look and he *caught* the look and he called her on it! And she said that Caroline was cute! As in 'you could so do worse!' Damn, we got characters on the show who used to be Team!Stefan/Elena, now a member of Team!Stefan/Caroline. YEAH, BABY!
Now comes a shocker for my lovely readers. I did... not hate Lexi. When I heard her voice, I actually smiled. And I grinned through all of her scenes with Stefan. Seriously. I was actually happy for Stefan that he got to see Lexi. And seeing the two NOT in a bad situation (since season 01), it was obvious how much they (platonically) love each other, even if Lexi had fucked up ways of fixing him that didn't really fix him at all. It clearly did come from a place of love. I guess I just don't hate Lexi anymore. See what knowing that Damon played her ass does for a character I once hated? Of course I can understand where she's coming from now. Pfft, she probably always had sublimated hots for him all along and that can mess with a girl. I get it.
You know what I also might get? Some closure with Stefan and Katherine next season (if, erm, she doesn't die!). I was muy intrigued by Elena asking Stefan if he still had feelings for Katherine in the midst of their tête-à-tête. Things that make you go hmmmmm......... Yes, some Stefan/Katherine closure would be nice so we know he can start to move onto Caroline. I mean how many ex-hang-ups does the guy need? Thank goodness, he already found closure with one.
That's right! Rebekah! Who is now free to be adorable and awesome and squee-worthy with my lovely, lovely Matt! Seriously, I so had all the feels for Matt and Rebekah and their every scene. From them discussing graduation and their lack of maternal love, to Matt's reaction to her "helping" Elena to those looks in the Grill full of candles and having a moment, I was all a'squee!
And, OMG!, you guys! For those who have read my fic ( How To Make A Better Vampire -- the last chapter has Matt and Rebekah... in the Grill... and it is filled with candles and they have a moment! (That was not cock-blocked by Kol!) I'm so psychic about this show! AAAHHH!!!
And I'm also totally psycho for it! Uh huh! Anyhoo, time for randoms now. :)
First some acting notes. Intentional or not, I loved how Paul Wesley played the scene with Damon and Liz and the dead body dripping blood in the hospital bed. You could see that Stefan was affected by the sight and smell of the blood, but he was controlling it. Very nicely done. On the other hand, I wasn't terribly impressed with Candice Accola's take on Silas. She just kinda slowed her words down and enunciated carefully. Eh, didn't work for me. Nor did Steven R. McQueen's return. I don't know, I was way more affected by Alaric and I think it's because Matt Davis sold the hell out of every moment he was onscreen, but I didn't feel that oomph! with McQueen. Sorry, I still love you, Jeremy. On the other hand, I don't love Kol, but to give credit where due, Nathaniel Buzolic sucked way less than he did in his last couple of appearances. He was actually decent. I was pleasantly surprised.
- "Do you not notice all the end of the world crap going on right now?" Seriously, this was the line of the episode!
- I mentioned the scene above where Elena admitted that she couldn't allow herself to feel bad because it could open the floodgates. There was a great moment right before that where Caroline's voice trembled as she asked Elena if she really meant the awful things she'd said to her and it was matched by Elena's shaking hand holding the dart. It was a small, but beautifully acted moment that highlighted the friendships that so permeate this show.
- Erm, why is a vampire with all that strength breathing heavily after a few push-ups? Mmmhmmm. Shoulda gave Nina Dobrev a break to get her breathing under control and then cut to her. It was... slightly distracting.
- Is it bad that I was little bummed that Liz called Stefan too? Shoulda just been Damon and Liz. :pouts:
- Damn, Caroline, Elena and Rebekah's hair looked so limp and lifeless. Ugh. Katherine's looked fantastic though. (She also had some great lines. But, of course, she's Katherine. Duh.)
- Yup, there's that reminder that Elena really has so few people left in the world. One graduation invite. Oh, my poor Elena.
- The linking of Bonnie and Katherine was a nice callback to the Katherine/Elena linking in "Masquerade."
- I love how casual Matt was with his all "I guess this means Bonnie dropped the veil" comment to Kol. LOL!
- OK, I love Elena dearly, but how did she overtake Katherine so easily? I know rage gives a vampire extra-strength but she totally had Katherine's number from moment one.
- This show, first aid and my couples? Me likey!
- "Brother and friend. What genius thought that up?" Hah!
- I like that Silas basically played Bonnie and let her think what he wanted her to think. It makes sense for someone that old and powerful.
- At first I thought: Really? A slap upside the head did the trick? But it does make sense. Caroline did need to be snapped out of it, and that rocked her head enough to snap her out of it. Worked for me.
- Aww, Matt told Damon to watch his back. I just... squee! I totally thought he was going to say look out for Elena again at the end, but nope, he wanted Damon to be careful. Awww. Matt and Damon love each other!!!!!
- Aha! I knew that Jeremy and Damon were going to be responsible for turning Elena's humanity back on. Damon started it in the last episode and Jeremy finished it here. Uh huh.
- So, in the last write-up I commented that I was sad that Bonnie couldn't forgive what Elena did to her, and florencia7 (Whee! Welcome back!) said "I actually think Bonnie did forgive Elena and the only reason why she told Caroline she didn't was because she was busy with all the Silas and Katherine related stuff and needed a convincing reason not to join Caroline at the Boarding House... maybe?)" Based on what Bonnie said to Elena in this episode, I think that she was absolutely right. I stand corrected. Sorry, Bonnie!
- So, yeah, all the Hunters showing up and surrounding Rebekah and Matt was cool. And woulda totally made a cool ending. But, but, but... it was not to be.
- Nope. In the premiere, Sheila told Bonnie that she couldn't overdo the magic or it would be a problem. Now here we have the parallel of Bonnie once again overextending her powers and this time she paid the ultimate sacrifice. Oh, Bonnie!
Phew, so one episode left. VERY EXCITING! I have hopes for the finale, hopefully, it will play out as well as the rest of the season and we'll get some explanation for the sire bond in all its inconsistent totality, LOL! And I gotta say as someone who saw good groundwork for Damon and Elena, not to mention the squee of Stefan and Caroline, knowing that Caroline Dries co-wrote this episode, I'm all filled with gleeful anticipation for next season because she will be co-running the show. SQUEE! See you all next week! :)
TEAM BAD-ASS IS IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! The crowd roars and cheers and begs and pleads, offering first born and all the riches in the world to Julie Plec so that Alaric never leaves Damon (and us) again! PLEASE!!! Ahem. Seriously, I was just all agog with feels over every Alaric/Damon moment. Come on, look at these two mofos!
The smiles, the hugs, the endearing insults, the bromance alive and strong and making me a very, very happy camper! Erm, I will say that though as much as I loved seeing Alaric, the two of them just happening to be at locker 42 was just a wee bit convenient. :Rolls eyes: Still, again, I loved Damon's smile, Ric's answering smile and then the hug. And it wasn't just because of the bromance (briefly) alive and well. I loved how we saw in just that first bit of interaction with Alaric (once Damon realized it truly was Ric) how much Damon has grown emotionally. He smiled openly, freely (because he was happy). He went to Ric and hugged him without holding back, without reservation. It was just... aah! So beautiful and seeing Damon be so open and revealing with his feelings to someone without fearing repercussions, I just really, really loved that.
Ooh, ooh, and we even got a callback to the wonderful Ghost!Alaric appearance in episode two. ("You heard that? Well, that's not creepy." Hee!) Overall, yeah, I just had all the feels in the world!
And (squee!) Ric is sooooooo Team Delena! (Man, I hate the smooshed names on this show, they're all so terrible, sigh.) Which was just yet another little neon sign that this is so heading to Damon and Elena now. Ric pointing out that Elena is Damon's girlfriend (he really has been spying, huh? hmm, or maybe Jere shared?). Then he got to the root of his Damon issues right away and without beating around the bush, making it clear to the audience (well, the part of the audience that wants to pay attention) that Damon and Elena are the couple that are being designed to root for. Oh, Lordy, and that last scene with them? OK, yeah, the shared drink was adorable--had to gif it--but more importantly for this point of view is how Ric just smiled and calmly, succinctly told him to go get the girl! (And this is partly why it was so important that we saw what we did in episode 18--Damon hesitating when it came to the cure. That was the set up for this, Damon having the power of the cure in his hands.) Ahh, forget thinky-thoughts... Ric's "Go get the girl," just had me all a'grinning.
The stuff with Stefan and Elena, Stefan and Caroline and Stefan and Lexi was also pretty telling with regards to the Damon/Elena-ness of it all. But more on that later. Concentrating on my couple specifically still we saw the same thing here that we did when Elena first turned the switch off--annoyed with Stefan's methods, making it clear she's just not feeling those feelings for him. This is in opposition to what Elena is pulling with Damon. Like in "Bring It On" and "Because the Night," Elena tapped into Damon's feelings because she feels more comfortable going that route with him, something that she obviously doesn't with Stefan.
And, really, girl is a quick learner. She tried to appeal to Damon through his emotions for her (lust on the New York roof, love in the halls of Mystic Falls High) and when it doesn't work? Well, Rebekah took Damon out of commission in New York, so Elena employed that strategy here. That's my girl! She ain't stupid. However.... The problem is that Elena continues to underestimate the depths of Damon's insecurities. When she says "I'll be myself and things will go back to normal," she's thinking of the two of them before the switch was flipped. That's her key to get him to give in to her. But Damon is thinking of Elena with Stefan before the "sire bond" took hold. And that is why he didn't budge at all from her spiel.
Still, while Elena doesn't quite know what makes Damon tick, as seen in the second gif, Damon knows what does Elena. He knows that while the full-on humanity Elena wants to apologize, wants to make things right (see her with Bonnie, then Stefan who both let her speak and spoke in kind). However, right now, the important thing is Jeremy and spending those moments with him. And so he made sure that she knew it was OK to not worry about him, this time was for Jeremy.
Not to say that Stefan and Elena didn't have their moment because they totally did. I do not deny that. She first looked at him after letting her full emotions in and with those emotions came a rush of love and, yes, it was directed at Stefan because she does love him. And that's why I believe we got that first look, that smile and soft expression. However, it was followed with a dampened smile and a look of frustration. The weight of all that happened, the things they'd said and done to each other, her relationship with and feelings for Damon intervened and just like that the "moment" was gone. And Stefan knew that, and he was OK with it. Which I continue to think is key in terms of Damon and Elena being able to move on together.
Because he's always been the chosen one, Stefan does have a selfishness to his personality neither Damon (as the one never chosen) and Elena (simply because of her ridiculously empathetic self) do not have. So as long as Stefan is not OK with Elena not with him (and with Damon) that would always be a wedge between Damon and Elena together because they aren't selfish enough, not when it comes to those they love and they both love Stefan. That moment after *the* moment showed me that while Stefan still loves Elena too and right now he probably can't see himself ever getting over her, he is resigned at this point that it's not the same for her anymore.
And it's really not. Emotionless and rage-only Elena without that empathetic compassion that generally directs her words and actions basically called Stefan out on his uselessness. This time, she basically said the same thing Damon did about Stefan's stupid cinderblock plan. The bottom line is that Stefan just sooooo does not get Elena. Like at all. He thinks he's getting through to her and instead Elena takes from his speech that he thinks she's hopeless--once again, Elena gets that Stefan sees her as something broken--and then when he offers to help, i.e., fix her we see just how tired of it she is. She literally rolled her eyes. (Admittedly, the words he said did sink in later, but this was her first reaction to his speechifying.)
With that said, she did have some moments before her graveyard breakdown and Kol confrontation where we saw that our Elena was just trying to break free. And I loved that it was one of her friends who got that crack opened. (I don't know if Damon could have, he certainly just wasn't trying. Stefan was right, Damon was avoiding being there for Elena... because--say it with me--he believes that he's not what Elena needs, is not what is best for Elena, can't get through to her. Nope, he believes that's all on Stefan. Oh, Damon.) Anyhoo, back to my point. I loved that Elena flat-out acknowledged what was going on with her. She wasn't in denial at all, she knew what she was doing. She just couldn't deal and acknowledging that is actually a pretty big step for her. And back to that "admittedly" part above, to be fair, Stefan did help with that (despite his "self-righteousness.") That conversation with him did make sense and got through to her a bit (unless this supposed to be another sire bond sign and she said Stefan was right because Damon said that Stefan was right earlier. Who knows?) What I'm getting at is that Elena doesn't want to feel anything but the rage because anything else will probably open the floodgates and she thinks she's incapable of handling that.
And this helped give us insight into just how right Damon was about how far gone she was after Jeremy died. She really was just ready to die. I think that if Damon hadn't have done that (or at least reminded her of that possibility) she would have taken her ring off and walked into the sun first chance. Her reaction to Kol made it clear that she really did just give up. Thankfully, the veil was down and Elena was able to have her chance to say goodbye to Jeremy, to get some kind of closure. Whether Jeremy is able to stick around (please!) or not, I think at least getting that chance to be with him before he goes will help tremendously in helping her move on mainly in part because he will *want* her to move on.
Uhm, can I interrupt the Jeremy/Elena moment to say just how much I loved that Damon was there during what we saw of their goodbye? For reals. As someone who adored the dynamic that was created between these three in season 03 (and some of this season), I just loved so much that Damon was a part of that moment.
I also loved that Damon applied logic and his knowledge of the tunnels to know that it wasn't Ric, but Silas instead. Go smart!Damon. Oh, and speaking of smart!Damon... SEE?!?!? Damon and Bonnie get shit done! Who tag-teams to put Silas down? Damon and Bonnie. Yuppers.
Oh, yeah, O.M.G. BONNIE!?!?!??!?!? Serious jaw-dropping moment. I just kinda sat there stunned, literally unable to utter a sound. Just... wha?!?!?!? Bonnie?!?!?!? Sigh. I just don't know, man, I do not know what to think. I do know what to think about Grams, though. Damn, I love whenever they manage to bring her back. And once again the show didn't spill on who was showing up. I knew that Alaric, Jeremy (and Kol, thanks preview!) would be there, but not Grams (!), Lexi (more on her later), or the Hunters and I love that I didn't know that. (I was surprised to not see Vicki though. Maybe she's still pissed at Matt for sending her away, LOL!) But, anyway, back to Bonnie.
I thought it was interesting that when Bonnie was putting Silas down she didn't speak Latin. And I thought it made perfect sense and was pretty cool. Of course she wouldn't need Latin because it had nothing to do with witchcraft as explained by Grams. It was all about Bonnie's will, Bonnie's strength so all it needed was her words fueled by her will and strength.
Not that she was strong enough. *sigh*
"I'm dead." And with those two words, yeah, something totally happened that I did not think would. Now they may come up with a way around it, but for the moment I was done shocked and good!
I gotta say I was also shocked--OK, more happily surprised--at the continued Stefan/Caroline stuffies! I mean, when Stefan walked into the Grill all bummed, I expected him to be upset about Elena. I also expected Caroline to expect him to be upset about Elena. Instead, Stefan was bummy over Lexi, and Caroline didn't even mention Elena's name as a possible reason. Speaking of Stefan bummed, can I just say how much I love the fact that even when bummed, Stefan with Caroline still manages to be light and open? I just... sigh, I just adore them so.
I also adored the whole Lexi/Stefan conversation. I mean, O.M.G! OK, yeah, I was more than happily surprised, definitely closer to shocked. Lexi laughed about Elena punching Stefan in the face and then said "Take a hint!" TAKE. A. HINT! From Lexi. To Stefan. About Elena. As in 'dude, she's not that into you.' AWESOME! Also totally, completely and adorably awesome? That Lexi was all for matchmaking Stefan with Caroline! SQUEE!!! When she first mentioned another blond taking her place, I expected the whole "friend" thing, pushing the platonic angle. But then... but then... but then!!!! Lexi gave him that look and he *caught* the look and he called her on it! And she said that Caroline was cute! As in 'you could so do worse!' Damn, we got characters on the show who used to be Team!Stefan/Elena, now a member of Team!Stefan/Caroline. YEAH, BABY!
Now comes a shocker for my lovely readers. I did... not hate Lexi. When I heard her voice, I actually smiled. And I grinned through all of her scenes with Stefan. Seriously. I was actually happy for Stefan that he got to see Lexi. And seeing the two NOT in a bad situation (since season 01), it was obvious how much they (platonically) love each other, even if Lexi had fucked up ways of fixing him that didn't really fix him at all. It clearly did come from a place of love. I guess I just don't hate Lexi anymore. See what knowing that Damon played her ass does for a character I once hated? Of course I can understand where she's coming from now. Pfft, she probably always had sublimated hots for him all along and that can mess with a girl. I get it.
You know what I also might get? Some closure with Stefan and Katherine next season (if, erm, she doesn't die!). I was muy intrigued by Elena asking Stefan if he still had feelings for Katherine in the midst of their tête-à-tête. Things that make you go hmmmmm......... Yes, some Stefan/Katherine closure would be nice so we know he can start to move onto Caroline. I mean how many ex-hang-ups does the guy need? Thank goodness, he already found closure with one.
That's right! Rebekah! Who is now free to be adorable and awesome and squee-worthy with my lovely, lovely Matt! Seriously, I so had all the feels for Matt and Rebekah and their every scene. From them discussing graduation and their lack of maternal love, to Matt's reaction to her "helping" Elena to those looks in the Grill full of candles and having a moment, I was all a'squee!
And, OMG!, you guys! For those who have read my fic ( How To Make A Better Vampire -- the last chapter has Matt and Rebekah... in the Grill... and it is filled with candles and they have a moment! (That was not cock-blocked by Kol!) I'm so psychic about this show! AAAHHH!!!
And I'm also totally psycho for it! Uh huh! Anyhoo, time for randoms now. :)
First some acting notes. Intentional or not, I loved how Paul Wesley played the scene with Damon and Liz and the dead body dripping blood in the hospital bed. You could see that Stefan was affected by the sight and smell of the blood, but he was controlling it. Very nicely done. On the other hand, I wasn't terribly impressed with Candice Accola's take on Silas. She just kinda slowed her words down and enunciated carefully. Eh, didn't work for me. Nor did Steven R. McQueen's return. I don't know, I was way more affected by Alaric and I think it's because Matt Davis sold the hell out of every moment he was onscreen, but I didn't feel that oomph! with McQueen. Sorry, I still love you, Jeremy. On the other hand, I don't love Kol, but to give credit where due, Nathaniel Buzolic sucked way less than he did in his last couple of appearances. He was actually decent. I was pleasantly surprised.
- "Do you not notice all the end of the world crap going on right now?" Seriously, this was the line of the episode!
- I mentioned the scene above where Elena admitted that she couldn't allow herself to feel bad because it could open the floodgates. There was a great moment right before that where Caroline's voice trembled as she asked Elena if she really meant the awful things she'd said to her and it was matched by Elena's shaking hand holding the dart. It was a small, but beautifully acted moment that highlighted the friendships that so permeate this show.
- Erm, why is a vampire with all that strength breathing heavily after a few push-ups? Mmmhmmm. Shoulda gave Nina Dobrev a break to get her breathing under control and then cut to her. It was... slightly distracting.
- Is it bad that I was little bummed that Liz called Stefan too? Shoulda just been Damon and Liz. :pouts:
- Damn, Caroline, Elena and Rebekah's hair looked so limp and lifeless. Ugh. Katherine's looked fantastic though. (She also had some great lines. But, of course, she's Katherine. Duh.)
- Yup, there's that reminder that Elena really has so few people left in the world. One graduation invite. Oh, my poor Elena.
- The linking of Bonnie and Katherine was a nice callback to the Katherine/Elena linking in "Masquerade."
- I love how casual Matt was with his all "I guess this means Bonnie dropped the veil" comment to Kol. LOL!
- OK, I love Elena dearly, but how did she overtake Katherine so easily? I know rage gives a vampire extra-strength but she totally had Katherine's number from moment one.
- This show, first aid and my couples? Me likey!
- "Brother and friend. What genius thought that up?" Hah!
- I like that Silas basically played Bonnie and let her think what he wanted her to think. It makes sense for someone that old and powerful.
- At first I thought: Really? A slap upside the head did the trick? But it does make sense. Caroline did need to be snapped out of it, and that rocked her head enough to snap her out of it. Worked for me.
- Aww, Matt told Damon to watch his back. I just... squee! I totally thought he was going to say look out for Elena again at the end, but nope, he wanted Damon to be careful. Awww. Matt and Damon love each other!!!!!
- Aha! I knew that Jeremy and Damon were going to be responsible for turning Elena's humanity back on. Damon started it in the last episode and Jeremy finished it here. Uh huh.
- So, in the last write-up I commented that I was sad that Bonnie couldn't forgive what Elena did to her, and florencia7 (Whee! Welcome back!) said "I actually think Bonnie did forgive Elena and the only reason why she told Caroline she didn't was because she was busy with all the Silas and Katherine related stuff and needed a convincing reason not to join Caroline at the Boarding House... maybe?)" Based on what Bonnie said to Elena in this episode, I think that she was absolutely right. I stand corrected. Sorry, Bonnie!
- So, yeah, all the Hunters showing up and surrounding Rebekah and Matt was cool. And woulda totally made a cool ending. But, but, but... it was not to be.
- Nope. In the premiere, Sheila told Bonnie that she couldn't overdo the magic or it would be a problem. Now here we have the parallel of Bonnie once again overextending her powers and this time she paid the ultimate sacrifice. Oh, Bonnie!
Phew, so one episode left. VERY EXCITING! I have hopes for the finale, hopefully, it will play out as well as the rest of the season and we'll get some explanation for the sire bond in all its inconsistent totality, LOL! And I gotta say as someone who saw good groundwork for Damon and Elena, not to mention the squee of Stefan and Caroline, knowing that Caroline Dries co-wrote this episode, I'm all filled with gleeful anticipation for next season because she will be co-running the show. SQUEE! See you all next week! :)