Reviews/Recaps: A Game of Thrones (Slight Book Spoilers), Doctor Who and The Vampire Diaries
Some TV Talk while I procrastinate on finishing the Massive Paper of Doom, here are watch-along reviews/liveblogs of Game of Thrones 1.03 and 1.04, Doctor Who 6.03 and The Vampire Diaries 2.21.
Game of Thrones Episode 1.03 - Lord Snow
The scene between Jaime and Ned in the throne room was a great way to give exposition about the mad Targaryan king was wonderful - both men are wary of each other, with a long history between them leading back to the war that put Robert on the throne, and yet they were still able to get the backstory out. Very well done scene indeed.
Lord Varys and Littlefinger are exactly as I imagined them - Renley less so, but still capable of winning me over. Grand Maester Pycelle also was fittingly cast. It is a frustrating position Ned has inherited, with tight-lipped, quiet animosity from Littlefinger, simpering placating from Lord Varys, and a kingdom in debt up to its ears. Seeing how Robert rules must have been eye-opening for Ned.
Cersei and Joffrey were deviously delightful together - she as the smothering mother and he as the spoiled little prince who longs to rule. You can almost hear him singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from The Lion King as he explains his plans for a standing army, but with more antagonism. "Everyone who isn't us is an enemy." I love watching how Cersei thinks.
I adore bratty, petulant Arya, because she has such fire. Bratty, petulant Sansa who rejects her father's gift? Not so much. I'm biased towards Arya because I love her story in the books (I would skip ahead to the Arya chapters when reading), so that might account for why I like Arya more than Sansa. Sansa gets better in later books, but for now she's such a silly girl that it's easy to dismiss her. "Little ladies shouldn't play with swords." "I wasn't playing. And I don't want to be a lady." I love Arya! And Ned is such a good father to her, both reprimanding gently and encouraging without coddling.
Bran is . . . kind of boring, though his point of view chapters are important to tell about what's happening at Winterfell. He is kind of heartbreaking, though.
Catlyn is growing on me, even though I'm still holding it against her that she isn't played by Lizzie Bennett. The plot thickens as it's revealed the dagger used to attack Bran belonged to Tyrion Lannister.
Up at the Wall, Jon is pwning everyone at sword practice, and it's earning him resentment. Tyrion and Commander Mormont discuss.
Maester Pycelle brings Ned a letter from Winterfell, when Littlefinger offers to bring Ned to Catlyn in the whorehouse. Ned doesn't take kindly to the establishment in which Catlyn is housed.
Three boys gang up on Jon, when Tyrion comes and talks them down. Jon and Tyrion discuss how the Wall is not the place for a Lordling like Jon, but Tyrion gives Jon a run down on the other boys before telling him Bran's awake. Peter Dinklage is knocking it out of the park every time.
Catlyn and Ned are in a sticky situation with the dagger. If they accuse Tyrion of trying to kill Bran, it's pretty close to treason because the Lannisters are the power behind the throne. Cat tells Ned Littlefinger will help find the truth. Wonder if that'll come back to bite them in the ass?
Cersei and Jaime are brilliant and creepy and devious and terrible and wonderful together.
Ned and Catlyn have a very good marriage, don't they? Wonder how long that's gonna last.
The entire scene with Robert was used to show how much of a drunken lout Robert has become and how powerful the Lannisters are.
Finally! A Daenerys scene! And she's all dressed up as a proper Dothraki! Ooh, it was good to see Viserys laid low, wasn't it?
And back to Jon at the Wall, where everyone seems to be freezing their asses off. I loved the creaking of the wooden elevator. Very clever engineering for a medieval-esque society. I like Benjen Stark, First Ranger. Very wise advice given to Jon. "We'll speak when I return" he says. Foreshadowing?
Tyrion is so wonderful to watch. I love the expressions he gives when he's listening to someone.
Ooh, Daenerys is pregnant! This is a good thing in patriarchal societies! I like that they're fleshing out Rakharo by having him learn the common tongue from Ser Jorah. And I ship Irri (the slave girl) and Rakharo.
Maester Aemon! I've been waiting to see him! He's not as old as I was imagining, but then I was imagining Richard Harris' Dumbledore for him.
Dany's sure it's a boy. She and Khal Drogo sure are close. I just wish they hadn't gone with full-on rape for her wedding night. It makes shipping them now feel really uncomfortable.
Jon and Tyrion have a good rapport. I'm sad to see Tyrion leave the Wall.
Arya and Syrio Forel! I've been looking forwards to her dancing lessons, though it appears it triggered some memories in Ned. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the next couple episodes.
Game of Thrones Episode 1.04 - Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things
It took me a while to get used to the lack of a cold open. The cold open has been used so effectively on other shows (Doctor Who and Lost come immediately to mind) that the complete lack of them in Game of Thrones is almost jolting. When the episode begins, we go straight into the opening credits, and while I enjoy the clockwork map (a brilliant way to get the geography of Westeros in there, btw), a cold open usually gets some important plot point across so that we can get immediately into the action as soon as the credits are over.
Bran is walking and chasing a crow. What up with that? Oh, just a dream. Is that Theon, coming into Bran's room? Hodor isn't what I imagined him to be at all; this is distinctly the first time that's happened.
Look at Robb! He's kind of good looking, isn't he? Oh, Tyrion! How I love you! Bringing the designs for a saddle for Bran! So sweet for such a crude character. "I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things."
Yep. That's Theon Greyjoy. Bit of an ass, isn't he? Tyrion is good at verbal sparring, and Greyjoy can't really keep up. And we got out the exposition on the Greyjoy Rebellion nicely. Now we know who Theon is and why he's at Winterfell. Good job, Tyrion!
Jon! Jon, Tyrion, Arya and Daenerys are probably my favorite characters, so it's good to see Jon doing well. And here comes Samwell Tarley! Let's play kick the Sam, why don't we? And there goes Jon, defending him. Poor Sam. He's a coward.
The place the Dothraki are now traveling looks a bit like California. It was filmed in Malta, wasn't it? That's what I heard, at least. Vaes Dothraki, ooh, I've wanted to see what they do with it. And look at Dany, standing up to Viserys! I'm so proud of my girl. And how obtuse is he? I like Ser Jorah. He gives good advice to Dany.
. . . and here's Viserys to tell the tale of the Targaryans and their dragons. And to make an ass of himself.
Sansa is finally getting it into her head what it will mean to be queen. Poor kid, she asks the pertinent question: "what if I have all girls?" And she realizes Joffrey's resentment for seeing him laid low by Arya back in episode 2. She's got a brain on her head, our girl Sansa. Good for her.
And we're in the small council, with Janos Slynt as the head of the City Watch. Yeah, Tourneys are good for the economy, but still the crown is in debt. Ned takes this time to question Maester Pycelle about Jon Arryn, the last hand, and the mystery of his death that drove Ned to King's Landing in the first place. A peerage book? What was Jon Arryn up to? "The seed is strong?"
My Arya's doing Tai Chi. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is how you do a tai chi scene. Not sweaty Angel and Buffy tai chi! That's just a stupid attempt to create sexual tension where there's little chemistry. Parroting everything Syrio says!! She's adorable! And so wise.
Back to Jon. And Sam. Poor Sam. At least Jon's nice to him.
News travels fast around the castle, doesn't it? Good demonstration of how news travels, with all the whisperers
IS IT TRUE? IS GENDRY CHRIS FROM GEN 1 OF SKINS? MY GOD, HE LOOKS LIKE CHRIS, but IMDB doesn't give any info on Gendry . . . BUT JOE DEMPSIE IS LISTED IN THE CLOSING CREDITS! CHRIS! IT'S CHRIS! And because I know what role Gendry plays later in the books, I'm very pleased to see him. Now that the squee is over with, why was Jon Arryn going to visit Gendry the Smith? Oh, that's not a mystery. Robert probably has tons of bastards in the days before birth control.
And we get to see what a pig Robert is. And Jaime's rude to Jory Cassel. At least Jory didn't leave the letter with Jaime. That could have been bad.
The boys of the Night's Watch are cracking jokes about Sam, and Jon tries to defend him. Nice Jon.
Jon threatens the boy who wanted to beat up Sam. Ghost growls at him (remember the direwolves? Nymeria might have gone feral and Lady may have been killed, but the boys still have theirs), and Jon threatens him. Next day, everyone's afraid to touch Sam.
Viserys drags Doreah in to Danys tent and rants for a while about Dany giving him commands. He slaps Dany, but Dany gets back on her feet and gives him a taste of his own medicine. Go Dany! "I am a Khaleesi of the Dothraki! I am the wife of the great Khal and I carry his son inside me. The next time you raise a hand to me will be the last time you have hands!" You go, girl, is actually an appropriate thing to say at this moment.
Sam likes girls. Good to know. Sam hasn't been with a girl. Neither has Jon. Ah, we hear about the illustrious Roz, the whore of Winterfell. Tyrion and Theon were talking about her. Oh, Jon doesn't want to make any bastards. Sam and Jon hear a story about Mance Rayder and what real cold is. We're talking Donner Party cold. I have the biggest cannibalism squick.
Dany is in shock that she hit Viserys. Ser Jorah tells Dany that the common folk don't pray for the Targaryans, and Dany realizes Viserys will never be king.
Ooh, the tournament! Robert sits drinking his wine, Cersei sits stone cold, Joffrey looks over at Sansa, and looks away whens he half smiles at him. Ass. Baelish comes to introduce himself to Sansa, but Arya interrupts to ask why he's called "Littlefinger." I adore Arya, if you haven't guessed, btw.
Ser Gregor vs. Ser Hugh, Jon Arryn's squire, who Ned wanted to talk to . . . and Ser Hugh gets a lance in the neck. And dies slowly. Sansa is shocked, but Baelish disturbs her further by telling the tale of how Sandor Cleagone, the Hound, got his burn mark.Turns out Gregor pushed Sandor's face into a fire. Sansa doesn't look happy.
Ned and Cersei have a chat. She wants to put what happened on the King's Road (the bit where Ned had to kill Lady because Joffrey's a dickhead). They have a tightly wound conversation about Robert and how he'll shrug off Ned's advice and continue to run the crown into the ground. And they give each other thinly veiled warnings. Good acting, all around.
Catlyn and Roderick are at an inn, trying to be inconspicuous, when Tyrion comes in and spills the beans. Catlyn counts all the loyal bannermen she sees in the inn, and has them arrest Tyrion for trying to kill Bran. And all swords in the inn are pulled on Tyrion.
These two episodes blur together a bit in my mind because I watched them one after the other, but together they're telling a compelling story. I wouldn't say they're episodes because they don't have unifying themes or distinct beginnings and endings (everything blurs together nicely), but as parts in a miniseries they work very well. The acting is superb, as are the direction and production values. HBO was smart to promote this as much as they did. There are scenes not in the books, but they're used to further the story along and inform us about stuff we need to know. And the boobage isn't as gratuitous as it was in the first episode, which is nice. All together, this is going along very well. I look forwards to episode 6, which is written by Jane Espenson.
Brief bit about Doctor Who 6.03 - The Curse of the Black Spot
Doctor Who was rather fun this week, though anything after the brilliance that was the two-parter premiere ( about which I'm still working on my recap, Jamie! I'll finish it soon!) would be a bit of a let down. So we have the TARDIS landing on a pirate ship, a sea siren killing off anyone that bleeds, and a terrified crew. We have Amy swashbuckling, and Rory as the damsel, while the Doctor gets to wear a pirate's hat. It wasn't a particularly well-crafted episode, and it wasn't very deep, but it was fun. It will never be known as one of the better one-shots, but I enjoyed watching it, and we got another glimpse of the lady with the eyepatch we saw in "Day of the Moon." All in all, a fair episode, but I look forwards to better things to come.
And whatever thoughts I have on The Vampire Diaries that I haven't posted on other people's journals,
What's there really to say? Bonnie and Damon made a badass team, Klaus broke the curse, John sacrificed himself with a last-minute spell to save Elena without making her a vampire, and they killed off Jenna. Oh, and I'm in the infant stage of shipping Caroline/Tyler. It wasn't a very good episode; there was too much going on and the dialoge seemed cliche, but it moved the season-long plot far enough along so that we can spend the finale focusing on the dying Damon, which is what I'd want to do anyways. I'm kind of mad about Jenna, because there's very little normalcy grounding the show anymore. Everyone is either a badass witch or a vampire or a baby werewolf or the doppelganger. Jenna was a normalizing force on the show, and now she's gone. As fantastical as Buffy was, it was always grounded in the everyday that was interrupted by slayage and magic and stuff. We have school dances and carnivals in TVD, and that's about it for normalcy, except for the phenomenal Matt, who has so much reality to deal with that he can't handle vampire!Caroline as well. That breakup was a poignant scene, and I wonder what they'll do with Matt next year. Anyway, full speed ahead with the Damon-centric finale. I'm hoping we get some tender moments between him and Alaric, because I totally dig the bromance.
Now, back to the Massive Paper of Doom, which is due at 2:00 tomorrow, and don't forget to comment a lot, because those LJ study breaks are what get me through the doldrums of essay writing!
Game of Thrones Episode 1.03 - Lord Snow
The scene between Jaime and Ned in the throne room was a great way to give exposition about the mad Targaryan king was wonderful - both men are wary of each other, with a long history between them leading back to the war that put Robert on the throne, and yet they were still able to get the backstory out. Very well done scene indeed.
Lord Varys and Littlefinger are exactly as I imagined them - Renley less so, but still capable of winning me over. Grand Maester Pycelle also was fittingly cast. It is a frustrating position Ned has inherited, with tight-lipped, quiet animosity from Littlefinger, simpering placating from Lord Varys, and a kingdom in debt up to its ears. Seeing how Robert rules must have been eye-opening for Ned.
Cersei and Joffrey were deviously delightful together - she as the smothering mother and he as the spoiled little prince who longs to rule. You can almost hear him singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from The Lion King as he explains his plans for a standing army, but with more antagonism. "Everyone who isn't us is an enemy." I love watching how Cersei thinks.
I adore bratty, petulant Arya, because she has such fire. Bratty, petulant Sansa who rejects her father's gift? Not so much. I'm biased towards Arya because I love her story in the books (I would skip ahead to the Arya chapters when reading), so that might account for why I like Arya more than Sansa. Sansa gets better in later books, but for now she's such a silly girl that it's easy to dismiss her. "Little ladies shouldn't play with swords." "I wasn't playing. And I don't want to be a lady." I love Arya! And Ned is such a good father to her, both reprimanding gently and encouraging without coddling.
Bran is . . . kind of boring, though his point of view chapters are important to tell about what's happening at Winterfell. He is kind of heartbreaking, though.
Catlyn is growing on me, even though I'm still holding it against her that she isn't played by Lizzie Bennett. The plot thickens as it's revealed the dagger used to attack Bran belonged to Tyrion Lannister.
Up at the Wall, Jon is pwning everyone at sword practice, and it's earning him resentment. Tyrion and Commander Mormont discuss.
Maester Pycelle brings Ned a letter from Winterfell, when Littlefinger offers to bring Ned to Catlyn in the whorehouse. Ned doesn't take kindly to the establishment in which Catlyn is housed.
Three boys gang up on Jon, when Tyrion comes and talks them down. Jon and Tyrion discuss how the Wall is not the place for a Lordling like Jon, but Tyrion gives Jon a run down on the other boys before telling him Bran's awake. Peter Dinklage is knocking it out of the park every time.
Catlyn and Ned are in a sticky situation with the dagger. If they accuse Tyrion of trying to kill Bran, it's pretty close to treason because the Lannisters are the power behind the throne. Cat tells Ned Littlefinger will help find the truth. Wonder if that'll come back to bite them in the ass?
Cersei and Jaime are brilliant and creepy and devious and terrible and wonderful together.
Ned and Catlyn have a very good marriage, don't they? Wonder how long that's gonna last.
The entire scene with Robert was used to show how much of a drunken lout Robert has become and how powerful the Lannisters are.
Finally! A Daenerys scene! And she's all dressed up as a proper Dothraki! Ooh, it was good to see Viserys laid low, wasn't it?
And back to Jon at the Wall, where everyone seems to be freezing their asses off. I loved the creaking of the wooden elevator. Very clever engineering for a medieval-esque society. I like Benjen Stark, First Ranger. Very wise advice given to Jon. "We'll speak when I return" he says. Foreshadowing?
Tyrion is so wonderful to watch. I love the expressions he gives when he's listening to someone.
Ooh, Daenerys is pregnant! This is a good thing in patriarchal societies! I like that they're fleshing out Rakharo by having him learn the common tongue from Ser Jorah. And I ship Irri (the slave girl) and Rakharo.
Maester Aemon! I've been waiting to see him! He's not as old as I was imagining, but then I was imagining Richard Harris' Dumbledore for him.
Dany's sure it's a boy. She and Khal Drogo sure are close. I just wish they hadn't gone with full-on rape for her wedding night. It makes shipping them now feel really uncomfortable.
Jon and Tyrion have a good rapport. I'm sad to see Tyrion leave the Wall.
Arya and Syrio Forel! I've been looking forwards to her dancing lessons, though it appears it triggered some memories in Ned. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the next couple episodes.
Game of Thrones Episode 1.04 - Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things
It took me a while to get used to the lack of a cold open. The cold open has been used so effectively on other shows (Doctor Who and Lost come immediately to mind) that the complete lack of them in Game of Thrones is almost jolting. When the episode begins, we go straight into the opening credits, and while I enjoy the clockwork map (a brilliant way to get the geography of Westeros in there, btw), a cold open usually gets some important plot point across so that we can get immediately into the action as soon as the credits are over.
Bran is walking and chasing a crow. What up with that? Oh, just a dream. Is that Theon, coming into Bran's room? Hodor isn't what I imagined him to be at all; this is distinctly the first time that's happened.
Look at Robb! He's kind of good looking, isn't he? Oh, Tyrion! How I love you! Bringing the designs for a saddle for Bran! So sweet for such a crude character. "I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards and broken things."
Yep. That's Theon Greyjoy. Bit of an ass, isn't he? Tyrion is good at verbal sparring, and Greyjoy can't really keep up. And we got out the exposition on the Greyjoy Rebellion nicely. Now we know who Theon is and why he's at Winterfell. Good job, Tyrion!
Jon! Jon, Tyrion, Arya and Daenerys are probably my favorite characters, so it's good to see Jon doing well. And here comes Samwell Tarley! Let's play kick the Sam, why don't we? And there goes Jon, defending him. Poor Sam. He's a coward.
The place the Dothraki are now traveling looks a bit like California. It was filmed in Malta, wasn't it? That's what I heard, at least. Vaes Dothraki, ooh, I've wanted to see what they do with it. And look at Dany, standing up to Viserys! I'm so proud of my girl. And how obtuse is he? I like Ser Jorah. He gives good advice to Dany.
. . . and here's Viserys to tell the tale of the Targaryans and their dragons. And to make an ass of himself.
Sansa is finally getting it into her head what it will mean to be queen. Poor kid, she asks the pertinent question: "what if I have all girls?" And she realizes Joffrey's resentment for seeing him laid low by Arya back in episode 2. She's got a brain on her head, our girl Sansa. Good for her.
And we're in the small council, with Janos Slynt as the head of the City Watch. Yeah, Tourneys are good for the economy, but still the crown is in debt. Ned takes this time to question Maester Pycelle about Jon Arryn, the last hand, and the mystery of his death that drove Ned to King's Landing in the first place. A peerage book? What was Jon Arryn up to? "The seed is strong?"
My Arya's doing Tai Chi. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is how you do a tai chi scene. Not sweaty Angel and Buffy tai chi! That's just a stupid attempt to create sexual tension where there's little chemistry. Parroting everything Syrio says!! She's adorable! And so wise.
Back to Jon. And Sam. Poor Sam. At least Jon's nice to him.
News travels fast around the castle, doesn't it? Good demonstration of how news travels, with all the whisperers
IS IT TRUE? IS GENDRY CHRIS FROM GEN 1 OF SKINS? MY GOD, HE LOOKS LIKE CHRIS, but IMDB doesn't give any info on Gendry . . . BUT JOE DEMPSIE IS LISTED IN THE CLOSING CREDITS! CHRIS! IT'S CHRIS! And because I know what role Gendry plays later in the books, I'm very pleased to see him. Now that the squee is over with, why was Jon Arryn going to visit Gendry the Smith? Oh, that's not a mystery. Robert probably has tons of bastards in the days before birth control.
And we get to see what a pig Robert is. And Jaime's rude to Jory Cassel. At least Jory didn't leave the letter with Jaime. That could have been bad.
The boys of the Night's Watch are cracking jokes about Sam, and Jon tries to defend him. Nice Jon.
Jon threatens the boy who wanted to beat up Sam. Ghost growls at him (remember the direwolves? Nymeria might have gone feral and Lady may have been killed, but the boys still have theirs), and Jon threatens him. Next day, everyone's afraid to touch Sam.
Viserys drags Doreah in to Danys tent and rants for a while about Dany giving him commands. He slaps Dany, but Dany gets back on her feet and gives him a taste of his own medicine. Go Dany! "I am a Khaleesi of the Dothraki! I am the wife of the great Khal and I carry his son inside me. The next time you raise a hand to me will be the last time you have hands!" You go, girl, is actually an appropriate thing to say at this moment.
Sam likes girls. Good to know. Sam hasn't been with a girl. Neither has Jon. Ah, we hear about the illustrious Roz, the whore of Winterfell. Tyrion and Theon were talking about her. Oh, Jon doesn't want to make any bastards. Sam and Jon hear a story about Mance Rayder and what real cold is. We're talking Donner Party cold. I have the biggest cannibalism squick.
Dany is in shock that she hit Viserys. Ser Jorah tells Dany that the common folk don't pray for the Targaryans, and Dany realizes Viserys will never be king.
Ooh, the tournament! Robert sits drinking his wine, Cersei sits stone cold, Joffrey looks over at Sansa, and looks away whens he half smiles at him. Ass. Baelish comes to introduce himself to Sansa, but Arya interrupts to ask why he's called "Littlefinger." I adore Arya, if you haven't guessed, btw.
Ser Gregor vs. Ser Hugh, Jon Arryn's squire, who Ned wanted to talk to . . . and Ser Hugh gets a lance in the neck. And dies slowly. Sansa is shocked, but Baelish disturbs her further by telling the tale of how Sandor Cleagone, the Hound, got his burn mark.Turns out Gregor pushed Sandor's face into a fire. Sansa doesn't look happy.
Ned and Cersei have a chat. She wants to put what happened on the King's Road (the bit where Ned had to kill Lady because Joffrey's a dickhead). They have a tightly wound conversation about Robert and how he'll shrug off Ned's advice and continue to run the crown into the ground. And they give each other thinly veiled warnings. Good acting, all around.
Catlyn and Roderick are at an inn, trying to be inconspicuous, when Tyrion comes in and spills the beans. Catlyn counts all the loyal bannermen she sees in the inn, and has them arrest Tyrion for trying to kill Bran. And all swords in the inn are pulled on Tyrion.
These two episodes blur together a bit in my mind because I watched them one after the other, but together they're telling a compelling story. I wouldn't say they're episodes because they don't have unifying themes or distinct beginnings and endings (everything blurs together nicely), but as parts in a miniseries they work very well. The acting is superb, as are the direction and production values. HBO was smart to promote this as much as they did. There are scenes not in the books, but they're used to further the story along and inform us about stuff we need to know. And the boobage isn't as gratuitous as it was in the first episode, which is nice. All together, this is going along very well. I look forwards to episode 6, which is written by Jane Espenson.
Brief bit about Doctor Who 6.03 - The Curse of the Black Spot
Doctor Who was rather fun this week, though anything after the brilliance that was the two-parter premiere ( about which I'm still working on my recap, Jamie! I'll finish it soon!) would be a bit of a let down. So we have the TARDIS landing on a pirate ship, a sea siren killing off anyone that bleeds, and a terrified crew. We have Amy swashbuckling, and Rory as the damsel, while the Doctor gets to wear a pirate's hat. It wasn't a particularly well-crafted episode, and it wasn't very deep, but it was fun. It will never be known as one of the better one-shots, but I enjoyed watching it, and we got another glimpse of the lady with the eyepatch we saw in "Day of the Moon." All in all, a fair episode, but I look forwards to better things to come.
And whatever thoughts I have on The Vampire Diaries that I haven't posted on other people's journals,
What's there really to say? Bonnie and Damon made a badass team, Klaus broke the curse, John sacrificed himself with a last-minute spell to save Elena without making her a vampire, and they killed off Jenna. Oh, and I'm in the infant stage of shipping Caroline/Tyler. It wasn't a very good episode; there was too much going on and the dialoge seemed cliche, but it moved the season-long plot far enough along so that we can spend the finale focusing on the dying Damon, which is what I'd want to do anyways. I'm kind of mad about Jenna, because there's very little normalcy grounding the show anymore. Everyone is either a badass witch or a vampire or a baby werewolf or the doppelganger. Jenna was a normalizing force on the show, and now she's gone. As fantastical as Buffy was, it was always grounded in the everyday that was interrupted by slayage and magic and stuff. We have school dances and carnivals in TVD, and that's about it for normalcy, except for the phenomenal Matt, who has so much reality to deal with that he can't handle vampire!Caroline as well. That breakup was a poignant scene, and I wonder what they'll do with Matt next year. Anyway, full speed ahead with the Damon-centric finale. I'm hoping we get some tender moments between him and Alaric, because I totally dig the bromance.
Now, back to the Massive Paper of Doom, which is due at 2:00 tomorrow, and don't forget to comment a lot, because those LJ study breaks are what get me through the doldrums of essay writing!