TVD 3.15 All My Children

[linsell_farm]

This time around, I decided to make my rounds first and do a re-watch of the episode before posting.  Part of my reason for doing that was the emotional turmoil I found myself in last week.  I thought this process would allow me to come from a better place.

Comments

[arabian]

The thing that I enjoyed most was the return of snarky, quick-witted & tongued Damon.

Well, see, I don't know that it was so much a return, it was just that we saw, well, no, it wasn't a return. Last week, there wasn't much of that from Damon, but that was due to what was happening in the episode. The week before had Damon in full-on snarky, quick-witted/tongued glory at the dinner party.

As much as I love his emotional, tender, soft-hearted side

I really do believe that we've gotten both sides, I honestly can't recall when we've ever lost the snark. Heck, he's even been that way with Elena. We just didn't get the soft, mushy side WITH Elena this time.

felt good to have him take a step back, become just detached enough and have him be able to give Elena what for. I think that's exactly the Damon to make her realize she's been taking him for granted and just how much she wants to rely on his never-changing love for her. That will lead her to finally see how much she actually loves him.

This I do agree with 100%. I've been saying for a while now that this is exactly what needs to happen because Elena will happily not rock the boat if she can avoid it, and of course, let us not forget ... Miss Elena Gilbert = denial girl extraordinaire. :)

I'm so glad the show did not go for the obvious jealousy, rather they had her stay completely in character by having her exhibit her I-was-wrong-and-do-not-know-how-to-act side.

Yup, and on top of that, by having her tell everyone (and I do mean everyone, LOL!) about Damon sleeping with Rebekah it SHOWED us that she was jealous, as opposed to telling us. Good job.

a little to tell him again that she didn't want Elijah to go down with the rest of his sibling.

But she'd already expressed that to Stefan the night before; that's why I think it was about Damon. And whereas it makes sense that she wouldn't mention Damon in the message when she couldn't coach it judging from his tone (you know, with him being the brother of her ex that she kissed and this is the ex she's leaving the message for), she could have mentioned the Elijah regret in her voicemail, or something about the Originals plan. I just personally don't see how it was anything but Damon-concern-related.

All their scenes were based in the brothers' knowledge of each other, their effectiveness when they work together, Damon's desire to spare Stefan more guilt, and Stefan's ability to see through Damon.

And now I hope this signals a turning point and that Stefan stops being SUCH a dick to Damon!

Damon's belief that he was unable to win her fair and square just makes me sad.

Sigh, I know. :(

Next, I have to voice my delight in Caroline. I love her to pieces and in this episode I enjoyed her a great deal.
She was awesome in EVERY moment, from her reactions/attitude in both scenes with Elena and Bonnie, in her look to Ric as the distraction, and how she was with Klaus. She was utter perfection!

Esther seemed to be suggesting that it was her children's choice to do that. Did she not make it a part of her spell?

No, remember in "Ordinary People," Rebekah when talking about the unexpected downsides mentioned that they found themselves hungry for human blood.

It seems no condition or rule of the supernatural has any kind of permanence on this show (which is to be expected in a TV series).

No, they are really good about keeping it all tied and making sense without breaking previously stated rules.

I love that the Originals way of speaking denotes the length of time they have inhabited this planet.

Me too. There were a couple examples in this one (Klaus' "acquit myself," and Kol's "strumpet," but my favorite will probably always be Rebekah comparing modern music to a "cable car accident." Hee!)

didn't find Ric getting shot that great of a cliffhanger in the traditional sense. My curiosity is based more on my wondering if maybe Meredith is a supernatural being

I think that's what we were supposed to be thinking

This should bother me more, but evidently I've lost interest in him as a character this season.

Yeah, I know. Sigh.

[linsell_farm]

Okay, so you & Val have both made me see that I didn't express myself correctly regarding Damon's snarkiness & wit. What I meant was, it was great to see him using them with/at Elena. You are right that there is no return as those traits never did disappear.

I remembered Rebekah's account but had mistakenly thought that it was part of the spell. I also remembered Mikael saying he never intended the bloodlust to be a part of it. I understand now that was a side-effect and that each of the Originals had a choice whether to give in to it or find another way to survive. Perhaps Esther might have had an inkling that bloodlust might occur since part of the spell was feeding them Tatia's blood?

I take back what I said about supernatural rules having no permanence. The show does keep the rules tied up neatly and explains when they change (i.e. The curse of the sun & the moon)

"Cable car accident" was awesome. I also enjoyed Elijah's "I was hoping you might accompany me." It's a lovely way of speaking to me, and it's great that the show puts in throw-backs periodically.

I guess Meredith could be vampire and doing a really good human impression, because they don't want to reveal that yet. My curiosity isn't very high to find out.

PS - I've started re-watching season 3 for research into my Elena meta. It'll be interesting to see where my view of her ends up, since I'm seeing her through different eyes now ...

[arabian]

What I meant was, it was great to see him using them with/at Elena. You are right that there is no return as those traits never did disappear.

But I still maintain that he has been snarky/witty with her. The only difference in this as opposed to before is that, well, frankly, he was kind of mean to her what with the "it's over" on the phone, and then his mocking attitude when she showed up.

Perhaps Esther might have had an inkling that bloodlust might occur since part of the spell was feeding them Tatia's blood?

I don't think Esther had the inkling, I think it's just that she found out about it when they started having the bloodlust.

I guess Meredith could be vampire and doing a really good human impression, because they don't want to reveal that yet.

Hmm, it never crossed my mind that she's a vampire, I'm pretty sure that vampires can identify other vampires, so Damon would know, right?

PS - I've started re-watching season 3 for research into my Elena meta. It'll be interesting to see where my view of her ends up, since I'm seeing her through different eyes now ...

I look forward to reading it. :)

[linsell_farm]

So, I am totally out to lunch on my Damon observations (which is really quite pathetic given how much I'm obsessed with him). Obviously I have had major blinders on to have totally missed that his snark and wit have been present with everyone. I am certainly seeing this now in my re-watch. I must stop taking so many drugs, as they are clearly affecting my brain.

I thought vampires couldn't tell others of their kind (based on Damon's "We don't all hang out at the Vamp Bar & Grill" in Atlanta).
I don't think Meredith is a werewolf, since she's a Fell. Maybe they're going to introduce another supernatural entity...

I look forward to your video. Sorry that I couldn't think of any appropriate music for you.
Can't wait for your Bonnie piece as well.

[arabian]

I thought vampires couldn't tell others of their kind (based on Damon's "We don't all hang out at the Vamp Bar & Grill" in Atlanta).

I read that as Elena thinking that there were actual vampire bars where vamps got together and hung out, and Damon was all, uhm, no. But I haven't watched "Bloodlines" in a while. You could be right.

Maybe they're going to introduce another supernatural entity...

Well, they did plan on having Kelly Donovan be a succubus but that got dropped due to time, and then unavailability of the actress.

I look forward to your video. Sorry that I couldn't think of any appropriate music for you.

It's okay, I just need to find a good song! And I'll try and get to the Bonnie piece later this week. :)

GCIC CHECKED

[linsell_farm]

I also recall Stefan replying "It doesn't work like that." to Elena at the 50's dance in S1. She had asked shouldn't they be able to identify the mystery vamp (or something to that effect.

So that's what that deleted scene with Kelly Donovan was! Thanks for shedding some light on that.

Um, what does GCIC CHECKED mean?

[arabian]

Ah, okay, so they can't tell with other vampires.

Yup, that was what Kelly was going to be.

I'm so sorry, that was at work, and I was marking that something was verified, LOL! I accidentally c/ped onto your post. Oops.

[linsell_farm]

Except that in 3.15 we learned that vampires can hear heartbeats, so shouldn't that give them a pretty good way to identify other vampires (since there would be no heartbeat)?? Hmmmm

LOL - glad to know it wasn't my stupidity showing through ;)

[arabian]

Vampires have heartbeats. I suspected that from 1.22 -- Damon not knowing that Katherine was Elena (and other episodes that followed with Stefan/Katherine, Damon/Katherine), but Katherine confirmed it in 2.11 when she was telling Stefan about dessication, she included the fact that your heartbeat starts to slow down.

[linsell_farm]

Right! I'm so glad I have you as such a good reference :) That makes total sense, given that Kat has effectively impersonated Elena on several occasions (which would have been totally impossible is she had no heartbeat).