TVD review!
Elena came to life for me in this episode in a way she doesn't always. She's coming to terms with her loss, she's slowly moving away from being defined by it. The fact that it's Stefan who forces her to the bridge is what brings it home that no, it's not merely the vampire nonsense that's getting to her, it's also life itself, and she's embracing it. I'm not surprised that Bonnie went along with the mind-wipe, because she is ultimately all about doing the pragmatic thing, even if she figured it out and confronted Elena with how messed-up it was. And hgggn, I was all for a big fake-out on Jeremy's part, wah.
Care-bear! I was so sure Tyler's gift to her was going to turn out to be wolfsbane, in a callback to Elena's vervain necklace, but it turns out, it's something sweetly human. I don't really think Klaus wanted to kill her any more than Katherine did last season, it's just a way to get to Stefan's inner circle. AND OH, GOD, TYLER. I still feel so incredibly sympathetic to him about the sire-thing. Because it turns out he was right, right? He quite possibly can't escape the hold Klaus has over him; thinking he could fight it enough to see her was the thing that put Caroline in danger. It's a hell of a lot more complicated than "just stop being sired already!" - and Caroline's about to find that out herself.
MOSTLY THOUGH DAMON, as per usual. OTC-ing is stressful! What if they lose sight of his arc? What if they straightforwardly go for it with D/E? WHAT IF HE REALLY REFORMS?!
Fortunately, there is none of that nonsense in this episode. I suppose you could see his actions now as reformation? (I do not use the other r-word. TO HELL WITH SHCMESCHMEPTION.) But I kind of think this is seriously about his pettiness transcending good and evil. Klaus stomps on into town and booga-boogas at everyone, and that's Damon's thing! Klaus sucked Liz and Carol into his web, and they're Damon's gal-pals! Klaus messed with Stefan, and nobody gets to fuck with Stefan but Damon! Damon, being as he is the biggest closet Gryffindor ever, throws himself into a losing fight in large part just for the hell of it and then convinces himself it's FOR LUUUUUUUURVE. Of course he does care about the town and especially his people there, but he feels as strongly as he does about it in large part because he wants to feel strongly about the beat-down he's so not going to be able to issue to Klaus.
And just that he's contrary, and thinks he has to balance his brother in some way. Stefan's over the edge, and Damon owes him, so Damon has to clean up after him. And everyone takes it for granted that Damon will do that, rather than being an agent of mayhem for its own sake. Including Stefan, of course; if he didn't think Damon could keep it all in check, he'd probably get the hell out of Dodge. I love the way Damon straight-up tells Stefan and Klaus the exact same thing about Stefan being a total wild card at the moment, and for once, I don't think that's an unreliable narrator thing. He really is, and Damon knows it.
That little spat the boys have at the Council meeting couldn't possibly encapsulate their attitudes toward their vampirism better. Stefan can't help but think in competitive and normative terms - the "better" "villain." He's always out to prove himself, always all with the judgment. Power corrupts; more power corrupts more. Damon looks at things from a more utilitarian perspective - you don't have to be villainous at all to be smarter than the villain. (I love that Damon has exactly my perspective on Stefan's planning?! HE IS MY EVIL TWIN OH GOD WHY AM I LIKE THIS.) And, they're both theoretically right; they aren't even saying anything different.
Stefan's plan works, though, at least for the moment, because this isn't happening in theory. With the other Originals all dead, Stefan knows Klaus better than anyone; in true fantasy villain fashion, Klaus created his own most dangerous adversary. So he knew exactly how to play it. Which isn't to say that was all it was about - it's in part, as she says, about trying to make Elena hate him as much as he hates himself, and it's not a little bit about him convincing himself that he's the big bad. I don't know how much of that he was consciously calculating, because he's in free fall right now, but I do think he knew exactly what he was doing. (But really though? There is no need to go around slaughtering women of color to prove a point about their massive foe-yay? Because aside from the grossness of that, the vibe is there just fine on its own?)
I do love that Klaus let us into the way that the experience of being a vampire does change their perspective. It's not a soul mythology (I like that as well, it's just different), where there's a change to some inherent identity when a person stops being human, but it absolutely would change the way you experience the world, to be free from the fear of death and demands of life. It's a big part of why Klaus is playing the game he is - he's tolerating cat-and-mouse with Stefan because, you know, it's not like he's getting any older. I loved Stefan's little throw away line about how it's not like Klaus is just going to self-destruct - because that is probably the only way Klaus is going to go out.
EDIT, because apparently I have decided to be an armchair scholar of masculinity in the media: HOW MUCH DO WE LOVE RIC. Because this is the...third? fourth? time we see him deal with a threatening prick by calling out and refusing to engage in the douchebag behavior, while not being possessive of or entitled about the other people involved. He's perceptive of and willing to diffuse these types of situations and does not expect a fucking gold star for it. STUFF WHAT BOYS CAN DO: doing it impressively well.
I AM VERY INTRIGUED by Meredith! And the death at the end - it could have been her, it could have been Stefan or Klaus, or even an entirely new player.
Updates on other television for which YOU SO CANNOT JUDGE ME AND ANYWAY I REGRET NOTHING:
- Who else is watching Revenge? OMG it is so fabulously trashy, NOM NOM NOM.
- I feel like some of you have said Ringer started to get good?! Where should I pick it up? And y/n on The Secret Circle?