TVD 4x17: Because the night...what? Does anyone get this title?

[dante_kent]

Hi, kids! Apologies for missing last week. I was out of town and couldn't watch the new ep until Sunday night, and by that time it felt too awkwardly late to say anything. Not to mention I was a bit confused about how I felt last week, and wanted to wait for this week's ep to clear it all up. Turns out that was futile, because I'm still pretty

Comments

[eowyn_315]

LOL OVER THE CHARACTER LIMIT.

I just...don't feel Elena right now?

LOL. She doesn't feel you either, bro.

But if we're being serious, a lot of Elena's behavior to me feels like ~performance. Like she's trying too hard to be bad. (How much of what she does is solely to get under Damon's skin? lol) And so there is that disconnect, where what we're seeing is not "what would Elena be like without emotions?" so much as it's "what does Elena think she should be like without emotions?"

IDK, I'm just really looking forward to a face-to-face with Katherine, because I think that's when we'll see what flipped-switch Elena is really like.

It just feels like the show is trying so damn hard, and even if I DID ship this, this kind of storytelling would take me out of it completely. A ship should happen organically or not at all, and it's very clear to me that the show realizes that this ship cannot happen organically.THIS, basically. Nothing turns me off a ship quicker than feeling like the show is TELLING me to ship it. If you're doing a

[eowyn_315]

continued...

Damon and Elena both seemed to be vying for the title of Least Sneaky.

LOL! I give Elena a bit of a handicap because of the no-emotions thing, though. Think about it: ALL of her power comes from being able to emotionally appeal to and manipulate people. It's something that comes naturally to her - so naturally that she probably doesn't even know exactly how she does it. But if she has no emotions, she's flying blind. She can't read Damon the way she used to, and she flubs it because it's not a skill she consciously learned. (Unlike Damon, who learned from the best, and Katherine would be supremely disappointed to learn how easily Elena saw through him. Though, to be fair, Elena didn't actually beat him at this game. She only came out on top because Rebekah got the jump on him.)

[dante_kent]

ALL of her power comes from being able to emotionally appeal to and manipulate people. It's something that comes naturally to her - so naturally that she probably doesn't even know exactly how she does it. But if she has no emotions, she's flying blind.

Ooooh, I like this. My favourite Elena is emotionally manipulative Elena, so it makes sense that part of the reason I found this Elena so unsettling was that she was all bluntness and no subtlety. That's a nifty idea, that she tried to be sneaky but couldn't manage it because she no longer had that emotional intuition that makes her so lethal.

Though, to be fair, Elena didn't actually beat him at this game. She only came out on top because Rebekah got the jump on him.Yeah, that. Much as Damon is an idiot, he didn't actually fuck this one up. Stefan's already giving him tons of grief about it, but to be absolutely fair, Damon actually didn't screw up too badly. He could totally have handled Elena. But he never had a shot with Rebekah around, even if Elena hadn't been conspiring with

[ever_neutral]

But if we're being serious, a lot of Elena's behavior to me feels like ~performance. Like she's trying too hard to be bad. (How much of what she does is solely to get under Damon's skin? lol) And so there is that disconnect, where what we're seeing is not "what would Elena be like without emotions?" so much as it's "what does Elena think she should be like without emotions?"
Yep, this.

LMAO, every time Lexi shows up, I hate her a little bit more, tbh, so I shrieked with glee when I realized he was playing her.
lmao you're terrible

[dante_kent]

LOL OVER THE CHARACTER LIMIT.

WELCOME TO MY LIFE *EVIL LAUGH.*

But if we're being serious, a lot of Elena's behavior to me feels like ~performance. Like she's trying too hard to be bad.

You know, I thought I'd feel this way but was surprised by how genuinely apathetic Elena seemed. Then again, I only watched the episode once and you can never fully trust a first time close-reading, so I'm going to let it be. I think you're probably right and I'm just being emotional (lol, are we a husband and wife from the 1870s).

Nothing turns me off a ship quicker than feeling like the show is TELLING me to ship it.

OMG THIS THIS THIS. Straight from my brain. I LOATHE this, on any show. When a show starts aggressively pushing a ship, that's the quickest way to get me and my counterreactionary self on the opposite train. This is why I so often end up shipping alterna-ships. I do not like being told what to do.

The reason the scene with Silas was so awesome is because it did what all the ~romance with Caroline couldn't: it defanged Klaus