I honestly don't care what you do with it, Daniel. TVD 3x11
I meant to do a recappy post thing much earlier than this, but my subconscious has decided that my life isn't spontaneous enough and we should play this hilarious game where I forget my keys and lock myself out of the apartment at inopportune times. Keep in mind that in my seven years of upstanding key-ownage and apartment living, I have only done this twice, and both of those times were this week. The first was on Monday, when the fiance wouldn't be home until 9 so I countered with an impromptu post-work viewing of The Descendants. ME: 1, SUBCONSCIOUS: 0, GEORGE CLOONEY: .5. But then on Friday--when the fiance was working a night shift at the hospital and wouldn't be home until the next morning--I did it again, a fact I didn't realize until it was 2am and had basically imbibed what probably amounted to a bottle of wine at Friday happy hour and my problem solving skills < 0. ("I know! Feed it wine! 2+2=9, Do you think I can sleep on this footstool?, etc.")
Luckily thunderemerald, otherwise known as Fellow Wine-Drinker, Esquire, took pity and let me borrow peacock pajama pants and sleep on her tiny, tiny couch of concentrated awesomeness. All this was well and good until I stumbled home around 8am the next morning, still tipsy, to be greeted by the fiance saying, "Hi hon! My parents will be here in 45 minutes with the new bed." At this point, we of course sobered up immediately--IMMEDIATELY--and I began the mad dash of cleaning/hiding all the things around the apartment that I don't want to be associated with, i.e. dust bunnies, the honey-monster on the top of the fridge, the empty bottles that bely my Gatorade addiction, and my weird cat who chews on people. It went okay, and I managed to appear sane and not hungover, and now we have a shiny bed that is actually shaped like a bed and does not secretly want to be a hammock. Happy endings for all.
BUT ONTO THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN MY LIFE, which is my ongoing date with my television at 8pm on Thursdays. Spent most of this week's episode smiling like a nut. I don't know how this show does it--their story lines are made of pure crack and yet they manage to avoid falling into a pit of sheer ridiculousness by dint of good characterization and the ambition and the courage to not always go for an easy out. If this show were looking for a job, I would happily be its reference, is all I am saying. ("Sometimes TVD spends a little too much time showing off its new tablets and Mi-Fi capability, but a good worker, yes. Handsomes up the office like you wouldn't believe.")
SPECIFIC THOUGHTS:
+++Laughed like a madwoman at the juxtaposition of Damon in the bathroom and Elena with the punching bag, because it's a nice that they are giving attention to their post-kissage headspace, but also because I have come to realize that Damon/His Bathroom are my true OTP. When Damon said later that he had "a small list," was pretty sure that list went:
1. Stefan.
2. Elena.
3. Ric.
4. Makers of luxury soaps and shower equipment.
5. Liz.
+++Elena and Bonnie decorating Caroline's locker took me back to middle school. My group of friends did this for a couple of years, and there was always the fear that I would come in on my birthday and no one would have done it and then I would have to contemplate my entire 13-year-old existence and maybe move away and change my name to live down the pure shame of a balloon-less locker. But they never forgot! And coming in to see it was pretty much the best feeling in the world, other than stalker staring at my crush all through fourth period art class. But taking it back to the context of the show, it was so nice to see the friend group attempting to go about their business the normal way because that's all they can try to do. It's also a nice reminder of how really, truly young they are, despite their respective responsibilities and problems, i.e. All the Vampires Love Me, No One Will Leave My Witch Business Out of Anything, I Am the Collateral Vampire Everyone Hurts to Make a Point. (I am redrawing up my "Leave Caroline Alone!" petition as we speak).
+++I never thought I would say this, but MVP of this episode is Matt, Matt all the way, starting with ZR's delivery of ". . . But with Tequila!" when they surprised Caroline at the house. I would like to request that this become an ongoing line of his, like maybe:
Elena: (panicked) The hybrids are amassing down by the falls!
Matt: . . . But with tequila!
Everyone: o_0
I have been reading a lot of fan-grumblings lately about sending Jeremy away when there are much less active characters that could be sent away, i.e. Matty, but this episode stressed why he's so important, why the show needs an outsider perspective to make the characters stop and reflect. Because imminent peril is becoming the norm for them, the day-to-day are quickly becoming things like "What spell will open the coffin?", and it's nice to have Matt to get drunk and say, "You guys are all so messed up. I hope you can still be happy," and force them to recognize and confront this. Without Matt, Elena would never have stopped and thought to confront her feelings so directly, and we would have never had the truly fantastic Elena Gilbert memorial scene at Wickery Bridge. I teared up! I teared up so hard when she was saying how she wasn't that girl anymore, and things have gone so far that she'll never be that girl again. Also loved the notion of feeling guilty and disappointing her parents, because at some point, girl's gotta feel like creepy pushover for still loving Stefan after all that he's done, and forgiving Damon all that he's done. I feel guilty shipping these fictional characters sometimes, so you'd start to wonder about her mental state if she didn't bring it up in some way, and so it's nice to see that it's there, clicking along behind everything. And Matt's acceptance of it all, and willingness to build her up just made my heart grow twenty sizes. (Also, not gonna lie, the D/E shipper part of me, which refuses to go away no matter how much logic you throw at it, did leap a little bit when she said "who falls in love with vampires," plural. I don't think Elena is in love with Damon right now at all, but I still think it's telling, and wouldn't be surprised if it was deliberately ambiguous. *sprays logic on herself* Auuuurgh, that stings! But, okay, I am done).
+++MVP #2 is Klaus. WHAT, I CAN HAVE TWO OF THESE AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON DIFFERENT SIDES. . . That is a new rule I just made up. I have this bad habit of sympathizing with villains who have a master plan that would work except for what they must see as the boneheaded actions of the show's protagonists. Like with Breaking Bad, I was always on Gus's side. He just wants to run a profitable meth business and be the meth king of the world and be the guy everybody likes with fried chicken and get vengeance on the people who humiliated him in the past, and effing Walt just keeps effing it all up with his family drama and his misplaced father-son relationships, and NOW I HAVE TO KILL THIS GUY WHEN I JUST WANT TO MAKE A SALAD, ARE YOU HAPPY?! I don't know why this is. As far as I know, I don't have any wild ambitions, apart from maybe owning a giant jacuzzi tub one day, and I don't think anyone's going to swoop in and try to stop me from owning a jacuzzi tub, so this sympathy, I don't know where it comes from! But it's totally starting with Klaus--I was never really on the Klaus train when he just wanted to be a hybrid because bah! That's easy. Drink a doppleganger. But now that he's trying to get the Haus of Klaus off the ground and Stefan's gone off the rails and his hybrids don't want to be sired to him and his sister knows that he shops at Matricide R Us, I'm like, OH HONEY, I am sorry. Also JM's delivery of "I honestly don't care what you do with it, Daniel," was incredibly fantastic. I get the feeling Daniel is his least favorite hybrid, and the one he makes sleep under the stairs.
All this said, I really hope they keep this Klaus/Caroline thing is one-sided. My perspective on Klaus's sudden interest in her is because he wants to prove a point to Tyler and get in good with the people who were once Team Stefan, but also because Caroline has pretty bouncy hair and looks like his sister, i.e. his type. I'm hoping Caroline uses that interest to her advantage and becomes a spy in the Haus of Klaus, the most awesome spy that has ever lived.
+++STEFAN/ELENA. So . . . I have never shipped you more. It was nice to get a peek into Stefan's head and manpire pain here, even if it was only a tiny peek. Still feel bad for Elena, because his manpire pain looks so much like douchetardery from the outside. I am so excited with his arc this season, because I feel like when Stefan appeared in S1, he was just like one of those giant jawbreakers that has approximately 402 layers, and we have finally reached layer 201, and it is the color of everyone hate me because I really am a vampire, no matter how hard I try. What color is the center? WHAT COLOR IS THE CENTER? I am guessing beige.
+++Damon and the "It's right . . . It's just not right now.": This + his shower chipperness threw me for a little bit of a loop, because it seems like in between the kiss and the porch scene the following day, Damon has decided that something is going to happen between him and Elena. I don't think he's thinking like, epic relationship of the ages, because that is Elena and Stefan. But in his head, there will be a Damon and Elena, dot dot dot, whatever that means, and he is willing to wait whatever number of years for it to happen. And on Elena's part, she didn't seem to protest.
I am ready for next Thursday now.
Luckily thunderemerald, otherwise known as Fellow Wine-Drinker, Esquire, took pity and let me borrow peacock pajama pants and sleep on her tiny, tiny couch of concentrated awesomeness. All this was well and good until I stumbled home around 8am the next morning, still tipsy, to be greeted by the fiance saying, "Hi hon! My parents will be here in 45 minutes with the new bed." At this point, we of course sobered up immediately--IMMEDIATELY--and I began the mad dash of cleaning/hiding all the things around the apartment that I don't want to be associated with, i.e. dust bunnies, the honey-monster on the top of the fridge, the empty bottles that bely my Gatorade addiction, and my weird cat who chews on people. It went okay, and I managed to appear sane and not hungover, and now we have a shiny bed that is actually shaped like a bed and does not secretly want to be a hammock. Happy endings for all.
BUT ONTO THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN MY LIFE, which is my ongoing date with my television at 8pm on Thursdays. Spent most of this week's episode smiling like a nut. I don't know how this show does it--their story lines are made of pure crack and yet they manage to avoid falling into a pit of sheer ridiculousness by dint of good characterization and the ambition and the courage to not always go for an easy out. If this show were looking for a job, I would happily be its reference, is all I am saying. ("Sometimes TVD spends a little too much time showing off its new tablets and Mi-Fi capability, but a good worker, yes. Handsomes up the office like you wouldn't believe.")
SPECIFIC THOUGHTS:
+++Laughed like a madwoman at the juxtaposition of Damon in the bathroom and Elena with the punching bag, because it's a nice that they are giving attention to their post-kissage headspace, but also because I have come to realize that Damon/His Bathroom are my true OTP. When Damon said later that he had "a small list," was pretty sure that list went:
1. Stefan.
2. Elena.
3. Ric.
4. Makers of luxury soaps and shower equipment.
5. Liz.
+++Elena and Bonnie decorating Caroline's locker took me back to middle school. My group of friends did this for a couple of years, and there was always the fear that I would come in on my birthday and no one would have done it and then I would have to contemplate my entire 13-year-old existence and maybe move away and change my name to live down the pure shame of a balloon-less locker. But they never forgot! And coming in to see it was pretty much the best feeling in the world, other than stalker staring at my crush all through fourth period art class. But taking it back to the context of the show, it was so nice to see the friend group attempting to go about their business the normal way because that's all they can try to do. It's also a nice reminder of how really, truly young they are, despite their respective responsibilities and problems, i.e. All the Vampires Love Me, No One Will Leave My Witch Business Out of Anything, I Am the Collateral Vampire Everyone Hurts to Make a Point. (I am redrawing up my "Leave Caroline Alone!" petition as we speak).
+++I never thought I would say this, but MVP of this episode is Matt, Matt all the way, starting with ZR's delivery of ". . . But with Tequila!" when they surprised Caroline at the house. I would like to request that this become an ongoing line of his, like maybe:
Elena: (panicked) The hybrids are amassing down by the falls!
Matt: . . . But with tequila!
Everyone: o_0
I have been reading a lot of fan-grumblings lately about sending Jeremy away when there are much less active characters that could be sent away, i.e. Matty, but this episode stressed why he's so important, why the show needs an outsider perspective to make the characters stop and reflect. Because imminent peril is becoming the norm for them, the day-to-day are quickly becoming things like "What spell will open the coffin?", and it's nice to have Matt to get drunk and say, "You guys are all so messed up. I hope you can still be happy," and force them to recognize and confront this. Without Matt, Elena would never have stopped and thought to confront her feelings so directly, and we would have never had the truly fantastic Elena Gilbert memorial scene at Wickery Bridge. I teared up! I teared up so hard when she was saying how she wasn't that girl anymore, and things have gone so far that she'll never be that girl again. Also loved the notion of feeling guilty and disappointing her parents, because at some point, girl's gotta feel like creepy pushover for still loving Stefan after all that he's done, and forgiving Damon all that he's done. I feel guilty shipping these fictional characters sometimes, so you'd start to wonder about her mental state if she didn't bring it up in some way, and so it's nice to see that it's there, clicking along behind everything. And Matt's acceptance of it all, and willingness to build her up just made my heart grow twenty sizes. (Also, not gonna lie, the D/E shipper part of me, which refuses to go away no matter how much logic you throw at it, did leap a little bit when she said "who falls in love with vampires," plural. I don't think Elena is in love with Damon right now at all, but I still think it's telling, and wouldn't be surprised if it was deliberately ambiguous. *sprays logic on herself* Auuuurgh, that stings! But, okay, I am done).
+++MVP #2 is Klaus. WHAT, I CAN HAVE TWO OF THESE AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON DIFFERENT SIDES. . . That is a new rule I just made up. I have this bad habit of sympathizing with villains who have a master plan that would work except for what they must see as the boneheaded actions of the show's protagonists. Like with Breaking Bad, I was always on Gus's side. He just wants to run a profitable meth business and be the meth king of the world and be the guy everybody likes with fried chicken and get vengeance on the people who humiliated him in the past, and effing Walt just keeps effing it all up with his family drama and his misplaced father-son relationships, and NOW I HAVE TO KILL THIS GUY WHEN I JUST WANT TO MAKE A SALAD, ARE YOU HAPPY?! I don't know why this is. As far as I know, I don't have any wild ambitions, apart from maybe owning a giant jacuzzi tub one day, and I don't think anyone's going to swoop in and try to stop me from owning a jacuzzi tub, so this sympathy, I don't know where it comes from! But it's totally starting with Klaus--I was never really on the Klaus train when he just wanted to be a hybrid because bah! That's easy. Drink a doppleganger. But now that he's trying to get the Haus of Klaus off the ground and Stefan's gone off the rails and his hybrids don't want to be sired to him and his sister knows that he shops at Matricide R Us, I'm like, OH HONEY, I am sorry. Also JM's delivery of "I honestly don't care what you do with it, Daniel," was incredibly fantastic. I get the feeling Daniel is his least favorite hybrid, and the one he makes sleep under the stairs.
All this said, I really hope they keep this Klaus/Caroline thing is one-sided. My perspective on Klaus's sudden interest in her is because he wants to prove a point to Tyler and get in good with the people who were once Team Stefan, but also because Caroline has pretty bouncy hair and looks like his sister, i.e. his type. I'm hoping Caroline uses that interest to her advantage and becomes a spy in the Haus of Klaus, the most awesome spy that has ever lived.
+++STEFAN/ELENA. So . . . I have never shipped you more. It was nice to get a peek into Stefan's head and manpire pain here, even if it was only a tiny peek. Still feel bad for Elena, because his manpire pain looks so much like douchetardery from the outside. I am so excited with his arc this season, because I feel like when Stefan appeared in S1, he was just like one of those giant jawbreakers that has approximately 402 layers, and we have finally reached layer 201, and it is the color of everyone hate me because I really am a vampire, no matter how hard I try. What color is the center? WHAT COLOR IS THE CENTER? I am guessing beige.
+++Damon and the "It's right . . . It's just not right now.": This + his shower chipperness threw me for a little bit of a loop, because it seems like in between the kiss and the porch scene the following day, Damon has decided that something is going to happen between him and Elena. I don't think he's thinking like, epic relationship of the ages, because that is Elena and Stefan. But in his head, there will be a Damon and Elena, dot dot dot, whatever that means, and he is willing to wait whatever number of years for it to happen. And on Elena's part, she didn't seem to protest.
I am ready for next Thursday now.