The Vampire Diaries 30 day meme - Day 12
Day 12 - Your favorite quote
This one was easy as I have come back to this quote in different ways time and time again. Every time I hear it, I still have the same, strong reaction.
The Return (2x01) Damon's "You're the liar" speech
From 0:51 - 1:14 in the clip below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PVHkdh8Us
"You're suprised that I thought you'd kiss me back. You can't imagine that I'd believe that you'd want to, that what we've been doing here means something? You're the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it. And you're lying to me, and you're lying to Stefan, and most of all, you're lying to yourself. I can prove it."
Truer words have never been spoken. What got me the most was the absolute honesty and insightfulness. Even in Damon's drunk, devastated, and emotionally spent state, he can still see Elena's caring and actions for what they really are: the underpinings of love. He desperately wants to get Elena to consider the idea, as that would ease some of the horrible pain that Katherine had just inflicted.
Ian's delivery of this speech was eloquent, perfectly timed, and excellent. These lines could easily have been messed up by over-acting, but he was spot-on (as per usual). His tone of voice, his unrelenting eye contact, his gradual crescendo all made this a superlative performance.
This speech left us with no doubt of how important this was to Damon and ignited the same desire, in us, for Elena to look inside herself to see what she really, truly feels for him. I'm sure there were a few of us who also felt sympathetic to his plight. I love how we can see the pain it causes him:
I also love how he starts out sitting on her bed and escalates to kissing her. The transitions were seemless and fit beautifully. I love the ernest expression on his face:
and finally, him taking action to accentuate the words he has just uttered:
Certainly, Elena wasn't ready to hear this at this point, but that just makes it more interesting and beautifully performed. The writing, the performance, and the tone all make this easily my favorite quote. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's between my 2 favorite characters (who have consistently awesome chemistry) ... ;)