So, I finally saw the latest TVD episode ...
Actually getting to watch it was a bit of an adventure. Our Town became available for download on iTunes at 11 am yesterday (that was when I got my notify e-mail), unfortunately the iTunes Store was not working until about 12:30 pm. I get the downloads started. A couple of hours later, I think I should check on it, and find out there have been problems and the downloads have stopped. First it was due to lack of space on my hard drive, then because the network signal strength wasn't what it should be. I emptied my Trash folder, and attached the network cable and all was good. By the time I finished watching the show, it was 10:30 on and my intention of posting this directly afterwards quickly evaporated in favour of going to bed (as my back meds had started to kick in).
On a purely shallow note, any episode that starts with Happy!Naked!Damon is AWESOME and Dear Heavens, how does he just keep getting hotter and sexier and more attractive to me???
Ahem, that seems like a good segue way to discuss Damon & Elena (because we all know that I have to do them first ;o). I was delighted with the fact that the show chose to show their individual reaction right at the start of the episode. How wonderful it was to see Damon really, genuinely happy? I can't recall every having seen him like that before. Damon has certainly earned something positive in his life, even if it's just this little moment (that really isn't little). Having Stefan there to show Damon's reaction was lovely. Having Damon's "No reason." echoed by Elena was so sweet. It just showed how similar (and connected) they are. The way Elena asked Ric if he'd talked to Damon that morning seemed so "nonchalant teenager wanting more info on her crush" in the best possible way. I was chuckling at that as well as the fact that she didn't sleep and needed a release for all her pent-up sexual frustration.
I love that their relationship is regularly included in many scenes that aren't between just Damon & Elena. Stefan questioning whether Damon kept his word not to tell Elena the location of the coffins showed how strong he feels the bond is between his brother & Elena. As an aside, I don't think it will be a huge deal if Elena does find out the Damon kept that from her. I think she has some degree of acceptance now that Damon does things (like keeping information from her) that are in her best interest that she may not agree with. It was great to see Ric noticing the difference in Elena and asking Damon about it. I've missed him having a front-row seat to their developing feelings and asking or commenting about it. Then from The New Deal there was Klaus laughing at Damon's protective instincts in The Grill and him putting Damon on Elena's list of loved-ones. I'm very much enjoying that pretty much everyone is aware of them now, rather than Ric being their sole audience.
Their relationship has evolved so much and I'm absolutely adoring the place they are at now. Damon is Elena's rock. She depends on him for all the deep, difficult issues in her troubled life. How much growth does that show on Damon's part? Tons!!! Another thing that showed just how far he's come in handling his emotions is that he didn't just lose it when others started pressuring him to get Stefan under control, while meanwhile Stefan is putting Elena directly in harms way, but I digress. Elena relies on Damon and is aware of his progress but also wants him to continue it, so will still point out traits that she does not agree with. I'm glad she told him that Stefan's methods should not be looked up to. Although, I did find Damon's brotherly pride cute. Not that I condone Stefan's methods, but when framed from a vampire POV, it seems part of their nature to take risks that are unacceptable big for us humans.
It sent my heart aflutter when he softly put his hand under her chin and slid his thumb across her jawbone. He truly wants to make sure she is okay, and their closeness is such that he can so easily tell when she gives a partial answer to his question. His tone of voice, her reaction, her change in tone of voice, and the shift in the emotion during the scene ... all of this just made me melt. The absolute capper was, "It's right. It's just not right now." *swoons* How perfect was that?? Ian's delivery was superb, as always. Getting back to Elena's reaction, it was ideal - from the look between them, to her voice softening, to her looking at his lips again - all of it was perfect. Her expressions spoke loudly of what's going on inside her. Her words were saying one thing but it was clear to me that part of her expected him to kiss her again, and maybe secretly hoped that he would so that she wasn't the one making the decision. The longing look she gave him as he walked away certainly spoke volumes of how much she wants him.
An interesting thing I noticed is that since having kissed her, Damon is allowing himself to touch her face directly. Prior to, when he was trying to comfort or get through to her, he would place his hands on her head and neck but over her hair. It seems to me that it was his way of holding back a shade to protect himself, but now that he's kissed her AND she kissed him back, he's removed that layer of self-protection and also wants to feel her skin with his fingers, and the intimacy that brings with it. :D
Moving on to Stefan ... Wow! He scared me in this episode. I thought he was being unduly harsh & callous in The New Deal, but that was nothing!!! Stefan acting in crazy mode when not even Damon knows how far he'll go is definitely a wild ride for us viewers.
SERIOUSLY, HOW IN GOD'S NAME COULD HE KIDNAP ELENA, FORCE-FEED HER HIS BLOOD AND DRIVE LIKE A MANIAC ACROSS THE BRIDGE THAT KILLED HER PARENTS???? HE IS THE ONE PERSON WHO KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MUCH THAT WOULD TERRIFY HER AND HE'S DOING IT SIMPLY TO PUSH KLAUS TO THE POINT WHERE HE'LL BLINK??? DO THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS??? I THINK CATEGORICALLY NOT!!!
Ahem, enough of the caps lock. I was cursing a blue streak in my head as I watched that scene. Overall, he just creeped me out.
Now for Klaus. I haven't been quick to jump on his bandwagon, but I will admit that I am finding him a very interesting character now. He is a Master strategist and such a dangerous combination of evil and the appearance of good. That scene with him and Caroline?? Wow! I didn't see that coming, at all. I kept trying to figure out what horrible thing he was going to ask for in exchange for saving her. It was lovely how he told her of the genuine beauty in the world and gave her the choice. She is lacking guidance from another of her kind, since Stefan has gone off the rails. As much as Elena and Bonnie are her best friends, they can never understand some aspects of her life now. That bracelet from Klaus was stunning and certainly showed the difference in perspective between him and his newbie hybrid, Tyler. I think I might be giving up my Caroline/Stefan ship and changing to see where Caroline & Klaus may go ...
This episode has several very insightful lines that either showed fore-sight, or could be applied to characters other than who it was directed at. I love how the show does that.
Damon: "The only way to call someone's bluff, Stefan, is to be willing to lose everything if you're wrong."
Elena: "You need to say goodbye to your old life so that you can move on with your new one."
Stefan: "I lost you the minute I left town with him. You just haven't let yourself admit that yet."
Random thoughts:
-YAY!!! Caroline's back. NOOOOO!!! she can't die :(
-Damon & Liz in all their BFF-ness :D
-I'm not really feeling any chemistry between Alaric and Dr. Fell
-Matt & Elena on the bridge was a nice call-back to their history and felt right that he'd be the one to tell her that it's okay to let that Elena go. Lovely metaphor of water under the bridge.
- Elena said: "The girl with a normal life and didn't fall in love with vampires" - TEE HEE - PLURAL - AS IN MORE THAN ONE!!!! Just saying' :D
-How did Elena call Damon to pick her up? Surely her phone would have been severely damaged when Stefan threw it out the window of his not-going-slowly car ...
- I like Elena's boots in this episode with the heels better than the flat ones she wore in The New Deal.
-Jeremy better not be gone for good.
That's all for now, folks. I'll be around to your journals in a little bit :D
On a purely shallow note, any episode that starts with Happy!Naked!Damon is AWESOME and Dear Heavens, how does he just keep getting hotter and sexier and more attractive to me???
Ahem, that seems like a good segue way to discuss Damon & Elena (because we all know that I have to do them first ;o). I was delighted with the fact that the show chose to show their individual reaction right at the start of the episode. How wonderful it was to see Damon really, genuinely happy? I can't recall every having seen him like that before. Damon has certainly earned something positive in his life, even if it's just this little moment (that really isn't little). Having Stefan there to show Damon's reaction was lovely. Having Damon's "No reason." echoed by Elena was so sweet. It just showed how similar (and connected) they are. The way Elena asked Ric if he'd talked to Damon that morning seemed so "nonchalant teenager wanting more info on her crush" in the best possible way. I was chuckling at that as well as the fact that she didn't sleep and needed a release for all her pent-up sexual frustration.
I love that their relationship is regularly included in many scenes that aren't between just Damon & Elena. Stefan questioning whether Damon kept his word not to tell Elena the location of the coffins showed how strong he feels the bond is between his brother & Elena. As an aside, I don't think it will be a huge deal if Elena does find out the Damon kept that from her. I think she has some degree of acceptance now that Damon does things (like keeping information from her) that are in her best interest that she may not agree with. It was great to see Ric noticing the difference in Elena and asking Damon about it. I've missed him having a front-row seat to their developing feelings and asking or commenting about it. Then from The New Deal there was Klaus laughing at Damon's protective instincts in The Grill and him putting Damon on Elena's list of loved-ones. I'm very much enjoying that pretty much everyone is aware of them now, rather than Ric being their sole audience.
Their relationship has evolved so much and I'm absolutely adoring the place they are at now. Damon is Elena's rock. She depends on him for all the deep, difficult issues in her troubled life. How much growth does that show on Damon's part? Tons!!! Another thing that showed just how far he's come in handling his emotions is that he didn't just lose it when others started pressuring him to get Stefan under control, while meanwhile Stefan is putting Elena directly in harms way, but I digress. Elena relies on Damon and is aware of his progress but also wants him to continue it, so will still point out traits that she does not agree with. I'm glad she told him that Stefan's methods should not be looked up to. Although, I did find Damon's brotherly pride cute. Not that I condone Stefan's methods, but when framed from a vampire POV, it seems part of their nature to take risks that are unacceptable big for us humans.
It sent my heart aflutter when he softly put his hand under her chin and slid his thumb across her jawbone. He truly wants to make sure she is okay, and their closeness is such that he can so easily tell when she gives a partial answer to his question. His tone of voice, her reaction, her change in tone of voice, and the shift in the emotion during the scene ... all of this just made me melt. The absolute capper was, "It's right. It's just not right now." *swoons* How perfect was that?? Ian's delivery was superb, as always. Getting back to Elena's reaction, it was ideal - from the look between them, to her voice softening, to her looking at his lips again - all of it was perfect. Her expressions spoke loudly of what's going on inside her. Her words were saying one thing but it was clear to me that part of her expected him to kiss her again, and maybe secretly hoped that he would so that she wasn't the one making the decision. The longing look she gave him as he walked away certainly spoke volumes of how much she wants him.
An interesting thing I noticed is that since having kissed her, Damon is allowing himself to touch her face directly. Prior to, when he was trying to comfort or get through to her, he would place his hands on her head and neck but over her hair. It seems to me that it was his way of holding back a shade to protect himself, but now that he's kissed her AND she kissed him back, he's removed that layer of self-protection and also wants to feel her skin with his fingers, and the intimacy that brings with it. :D
Moving on to Stefan ... Wow! He scared me in this episode. I thought he was being unduly harsh & callous in The New Deal, but that was nothing!!! Stefan acting in crazy mode when not even Damon knows how far he'll go is definitely a wild ride for us viewers.
SERIOUSLY, HOW IN GOD'S NAME COULD HE KIDNAP ELENA, FORCE-FEED HER HIS BLOOD AND DRIVE LIKE A MANIAC ACROSS THE BRIDGE THAT KILLED HER PARENTS???? HE IS THE ONE PERSON WHO KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MUCH THAT WOULD TERRIFY HER AND HE'S DOING IT SIMPLY TO PUSH KLAUS TO THE POINT WHERE HE'LL BLINK??? DO THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS??? I THINK CATEGORICALLY NOT!!!
Ahem, enough of the caps lock. I was cursing a blue streak in my head as I watched that scene. Overall, he just creeped me out.
Now for Klaus. I haven't been quick to jump on his bandwagon, but I will admit that I am finding him a very interesting character now. He is a Master strategist and such a dangerous combination of evil and the appearance of good. That scene with him and Caroline?? Wow! I didn't see that coming, at all. I kept trying to figure out what horrible thing he was going to ask for in exchange for saving her. It was lovely how he told her of the genuine beauty in the world and gave her the choice. She is lacking guidance from another of her kind, since Stefan has gone off the rails. As much as Elena and Bonnie are her best friends, they can never understand some aspects of her life now. That bracelet from Klaus was stunning and certainly showed the difference in perspective between him and his newbie hybrid, Tyler. I think I might be giving up my Caroline/Stefan ship and changing to see where Caroline & Klaus may go ...
This episode has several very insightful lines that either showed fore-sight, or could be applied to characters other than who it was directed at. I love how the show does that.
Damon: "The only way to call someone's bluff, Stefan, is to be willing to lose everything if you're wrong."
Elena: "You need to say goodbye to your old life so that you can move on with your new one."
Stefan: "I lost you the minute I left town with him. You just haven't let yourself admit that yet."
Random thoughts:
-YAY!!! Caroline's back. NOOOOO!!! she can't die :(
-Damon & Liz in all their BFF-ness :D
-I'm not really feeling any chemistry between Alaric and Dr. Fell
-Matt & Elena on the bridge was a nice call-back to their history and felt right that he'd be the one to tell her that it's okay to let that Elena go. Lovely metaphor of water under the bridge.
- Elena said: "The girl with a normal life and didn't fall in love with vampires" - TEE HEE - PLURAL - AS IN MORE THAN ONE!!!! Just saying' :D
-How did Elena call Damon to pick her up? Surely her phone would have been severely damaged when Stefan threw it out the window of his not-going-slowly car ...
- I like Elena's boots in this episode with the heels better than the flat ones she wore in The New Deal.
-Jeremy better not be gone for good.
That's all for now, folks. I'll be around to your journals in a little bit :D