So there was a time last season when in my mind a "good" episode of TVD qualified as "Did Stefan and Elena makeout, yes or no?" Usually the answer was "yes" and so I spent most of the season going \o/ \o/ \o/. Lol self, I WAS SO YOUNG. Is it wrong of me to miss that? Sometimes I feel like in fandom it's cool to ship the really messed up things (and I have mostly loved S3 Stefan n' Elena) but I don't quite ship S3 S/E the way I shipped their stupidly cute functionality ala S2 and now that is gone forever and right now that is making me sadface. Goddamn you, TVD, you are responsible for all my therapy bills.
It's cool I am fine though. hold me
All that aside, THIS EPISODE WAS MOSTLY EXCELLENT AM I RIGHT.
-Inept stepdad!Alaric and Elena trying to make "family" dinners! \o/ I love their stupidly messed up family. And Elena is totally daddy!Alaric's favourite, y/y? I bet he takes her "F" History Papers and just gives her "A's" without needing to sit down and have a serious talk first.
-Shine on you crazy coffin stealing diamond, Stefan. Way to come across like a ticking time bomb, continue.
-I enjoyed Elena's RAGE at Stefan for refusing to give up his fight against Klaus even though Jeremy's life was on the line (lol it's okay, Stefan, not a fatal mistake in your relationship with Elena). I know some S/E shippers are annoyed that Elena is taking a hard line against Stefan when she's forgiven Damon for all the worst things he did to her, but it sort of makes sense to me? She had higher standards for Stefan. And up until this season, she depended on Stefan to always back her up and be the person she could turn to for comfort and then he... let her down and took that away. Total disillusionment of her expectations. So yeah, RAGE.
Give me a gif, tumblr:
Ugh that was so hard to find, everyone on tumblr is going on about some other scene that happened in this episode. Rude. ANYWAY I think being slapped is an important milestone in all Salvatore relationships with Elena.
-Bonnie and Stefan teaming up to take on Klaus?? IS THIS REAL OR IS IT JUST FANTASY. I know we haven't got much yet, but AMAZING and I APPROVE. I could ship it. I don't ship Stefan with anyone but Elena. Still, I could ship it.
-I liked Tyler again this week! I found the cult logic explanation weirdly understandable? Okay yes Team Elena and Alaric that he is fucking nuts, but... all he has is faith/belief! And as an atheist, I like stories that deal with the disillusionment of "faith" so you score a point there TVD.
-JEREMY GILBERT, FUCK YEAH. Where has this version of Jeremy been all my life and why are we only getting him now? I've been increasingly annoyed all season long that siblings have been front-and-centre... EXCEPT the Gilberts apparently. When there is so much there to work with! Jeremy spiralling out of control with no real parental figures there to guide him! Elena being the only one he has left! His increasing integration into the vampire world! Also I loled so hard when his solution was "LET'S JUST PACK UP AND LEAVE TOWN" because tbh it is a mystery why so many people tend to stay in Mystic Falls given its high death rate. You should have all packed up a year ago, dudes.
ALSO THIS SCENE HAPPENED AND WAS ON MY TV AND WHAT THE HELL:
He shot a Hybrid in the back and then calmly sliced off his head with a meat cleaver from their kitchen??? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. AMAZING.
The compulsion thing at the end, though? WHAT IS THIS BULLSHIT YOU GUYS. It was sad when I first watched it BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. Finally as Jeremy gets interesting (and finally defined outside of his relationship with Anna/Vicki/Bonnie) and we start exploring Elena and Jeremy, HE LEAVES THE SHOW? Plus Elena ALREADY did this to him and Jeremy was FURIOUS and Elena and Alaric were JUST on Tyler's back for his lack of free will so frankly they come off as a bunch of hypocrites. (Weirdly I don't blame Damon at all? Because Elena could say "walk across some vervain for me" and Damon would say "okay" and Elena knows all this and asked him to compel Jeremy anyway.)
It's like when Jenna got interesting just before they killed her kill her off, I do not approve. :|
-WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN STEFAN TO ME BECAUSE I DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM AND IT MAKES ME VERY UPSET. Like even when Damon was at his worst, I still feel like I understood him. It didn't excuse his actions, but I got him. But Stefan...? It's this whole is the switch on/off thing, is what happened his fault or is it Klaus's, how much humanity does he have left, does he still care about Elena? I don't know the answer to any of these questions! He deserves better writing. :| I still have hope (lol see what I did there) that this arc will magically make sense to me by the end of the season, but right now I'm starting to cynically feel like the whole plotline was done to get Damon and Elena together and not to explore Stefan's character. D:
-It should be illegal for Klaus and Elena to have that much chemistry. Damn you, Nina Dobrev, and your ability to have chemistry with the plates in the kitchen. This is bad and wrong and you need to stop now. Her little speech about how Stefan is now Klaus's problem, though?? A+. That's my girl.
-Lastly, this episode finally brought long simmering romantic tension to a head! I was just SO FLOORED when Klaus got Rebekah back and then staked her again!! Their weird incestuous love is undeniable.
HAHAHA KIDDING. Damon and Elena kissed! Damon and Elena kissing is never going to make me flap my hands in shipper delight (just because sometimes I read D/E fic and find myself on youtube watching D/E fanvideos doesn't mean I want weekly D/E makeouts, OURS IS A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP), but it was pretty okay! I was actually surprised (in a good way) that Damon went for it? I honestly thought they would draw the will they/won't they out for ten more episodes lol and I'm relieved that they're not. Good for you, TVD people. And I liked Elena's reaction of not doing anything at first, and then reaching for his hands like she wanted to push him away and then getting caught up in the ~moment. It was not as hot as the Damon/Katherine kiss back in the day but what could be tbh.
Also I have to congratulate the TVD people on not turning this triangle into a ~who will she choose~ thing. There was never any doubt that Elena loved and wanted to be with Stefan and now there's no doubt that Elena truly believes that "her" Stefan is gone. Thank you writers for NOT actually turning this into "Elena is torn between two hot vampire brothers" aka the way the show is always promoted.
The main thing I still have trouble with in D/E, though, is Elena's feelings. Mostly I can fanwank it away, but I could really use another 3x04esque episode which explores how Elena feels about Damon these days. In my head it's a mixture of: 1). Damon is the most dependent thing in Elena's fucked up life right now (she thought she could depend on Stefan but he left and Damon stayed); 2). Transference from her relationship from Stefan to Damon; 3). Intense physical attraction. It would be hard for me to buy at this point that Elena is IN LOVE with Damon (obv she loves him, but in love with him...?). She's been in such a vulnerable place since the season began and Damon comes on so strong with his "I will never leave you" speeches and she IS attracted to him, but does it mean she's in love with him? Eh we'll see.
A part of me wishes that we could have seen Elena on her own for a bit (why does the law of TV love triangles mean she has to move on to the second option as soon as the first one is out of the picture?), but D/E moving on to the next stage could be really interesting if the writers explore it in a way at all close to the meta
upupa-epops writes me. What would a D/E relationship even look like? I cannot see Damon taking Elena to school dances ala Stefan. Amd what happens when Damon occasionally snaps and kills people because he doesn't like everyone telling him what to do? DAZZLE ME, WRITERS.
p.s. I have NOT watched the trailer for next week and I will NOT be reading any spoilers for it but already there are gifs of it up on tumblr and I'm scared and what to hug something. WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS TO ME TVD.