REACTION POST. I AM ABSOLUTELY GLEEFUL.
JOY! A real storyline for Bonnie, and a better one than I could possibly have anticipated at that.
But to get to that, we have to do the more interesting story of Mama Bennett. (edit: Abby! God, I suck with names) OF ALL THE CHARACTERS to have taken down Mikael! But the price, the price was so high, it cost her her power; her very identity. And so she ran; she started a new life outside of the Bennett name and line (no surprise that she adopted a boy, rather than birth another witch). This show excels in sympathetically complicated Bad Mommies, and she might well be my favorite yet.
Bonnie has thought all this time that she was prepared to take down Klaus; she’s faced the fact that she might have to die to do it. (You’ll both die! I. don’t. care! Most badass moment on this show yet?!) But this is something completely different. Will she be able to live with the aftermath, no matter what kind of shape it leaves her in?
She’s also having to revisit her trauma over Grams all over again. She chose Team Salvatore over her family once, and it killed the woman who raised her. Now she’s chosen them again, and been on the receiving end of the betrayal - in the present when she chose her adopted son over Bonnie’s safety, but also, back when she chose to protect Elena rather than keep her family together.
All of which is why Damon’s gambit at the end can work. Witches will protect their own, yes, but they do so by taking the long view, especially once they’re dead and have nothing left to lose; protecting their own means being absolutely fucking ruthless against threats. And witches talk on the other side - that means Esther, too, and she’s making the impossible choice between her own.
I get more and more invested in Elena/Stefan as things get more and more awful with them. This episode shows just how well they know each other - Stefan following them; Elena knowing exactly why he did it. I liked their understated interaction as she’s pulling the buckshot out of him. And how great was Elena, when she manipulated the guy’s compulsion in that way, and ripped herself free?
The subplot with Tyler, unsurprisingly, wrung my heart in all kinds of awful ways. The werewolf metaphor continues to amaze me. Bill’s behavior modification was an excruciating failure last time, and it’s not like he saw the error of his ways (who does THAT). Is it better if Tyler sought him out, or does that just mean Tyler turned himself over to yet another abusive father figure who promises him freedom and approval? If siring is really a conflict of the mind and so they have to take an approach which is participatory, or will that just make Tyler feel complicit in anything bad it does to him? It’s all well and good to say people need to face their trauma in order to shake off the grip it has on them; at the same time, it risks becoming just as debilitating if the expected way of healing is to make him relive the worst of it over and over for some indeterminate period of time, turning himself inside out just for the sake of the pain of it all? HRG WHY YOU GOTTA BE OPRAH THOUGH. There are no easy answers, even if everyone involved is working in good faith.
I’ll say this for Bill Forbes, though - this is possibly the first time a YOU STAY AWAY FROM DADDY’S LITTLE PRINCESS lecture didn’t piss me off royally. Because not only is his concern specific and entirely reasonable, but we know those things aren’t a given with him. It’s possible that he didn’t just kill Tyler because he’s about to use the kid as some kind of experimental weapon, I wouldn’t put it past him, but really, if he were going to do the macho douche swagger thing, he would’ve just ripped Ty’s heart out. I think he might be really trying, which may or may not work out well, but I’d love it.
I can tell already I’m going to love Meredith. Even if she’s not a murderer! (Though, obviously, bonus. RIC, DARLING, YOU DO SEEM TO HAVE A TYPE.) I think it makes sense that nobody who’s lived in Mystic Falls all along has started doing what she does, harnessing the power of the supernatural to save people. The Council were always elitist pricks who were content to let the townspeople live in dangerous ignorance; the current incarnation, even with the excellent influences of Liz and Carol, have had to rally for the first time in well over a century and are barely treading water keeping the worst of it all at bay. Meredith has just enough outside perspective to be arrogant as hell with her willingness to play God, using the vampire perversion of nature to stave off natural deaths. I LOVE it.
Ric and Damon, naturally, are delightfully amusing about the whole thing. Damon has a tendency to justify his need for distraction by getting all worked up about potential threats; plus, after losing his influence over Liz and Carol to Klaus, of course he’s going to be jealous suspicious of any threat to his bond with Ric. In contrast, Ric trusts Meredith waaaay too easily - one thing to tell her he’s a vampire hunter, but another thing entirely to tell this person he just met about the RING OF IMMORTALITY. And, you know, it’s poetic justice in such a big way for him to get strapped down and have blood taken from him, especially when some of it’s used on someone he tried to eat, but dude, she roofied him and bled him out like a pig! It sounds like a good enough explanation to Ric, because he knows Damon deserves it and because he lives in that morally dubious space, especially after compelling Jeremy, but there’s so much more she could be hiding that he’s about to be so much less willing to see.
AND. OMFG. That awesome moment when Damon Salvatore decides there aren’t enough vengeful, bloodthirsty lunatics running amok in Mystic Falls. WHEN MY BOO IS HAPPY, I’M HAPPY, and right now, Damon has everything he wouldn’t admit he wants. Damon loves the edge for the thrill of it, and being able to pick a fight with fucking Klaus on his own terms is all kinds of exhilarating. That gives him a purpose that just so happens to necessitate being a giant troll. He’s got the us-against-the-Big-Bad bond with Stefan, he’s getting back at Klaus for messing with his little brother, and he’s gained temporary dominance in that partnership. (STEFAN, CHECK OUT THIS DAGGER I HAVE WHICH IS IN NO WAY SYMBOLIC OF PSYCHOSEXUAL CONFLICT. HAHAHA, I HAVE THE DAGGER. SUCKA.) Stefan’s jealousy shows he still cares about Elena, which means Damon can balance out the sort-of-good Stefan by being gleefully chaotic again.
His whole game at the end was - well, very Katherine of him. (It’s a compliment!) Klaus clearly underestimates him, but even in his arrogance, he’d see some kind of trick if Damon just handed it all over - he picked the right coffin to take, but it was also the perfect ruse, because whatever’s in there really is important enough (HAHAHA, DAMON SALVATORE KIDNAPPED YOUR FUCKING ORIGINAL DOPPELGANGER, PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE LET IT BE HER) to keep Klaus in check, which throws Klaus off-balance because it never happens. Then he goes on the offensive and lets loose the one most likely to do his dirty work for him.
I’m wondering how much Elijah knows. I mean, we know he knows Klaus betrayed him and he’s probably pissed enough to at least be a temporary ally. What’s interesting is if he knows Damon is responsible for undaggering him. I’m leaning toward yes. Possibly Damon gave him some blood, made sure he was awake, and Elijah waited until the perfect moment to strike, because that motherfucker can make an entrance. But even if he really did only have time to yank out the one dagger, I’d expect him to leave a note or something, because then Elijah - ELIJAH - owes him one. Damon is a much better strategic thinker than he pretends to be, but more importantly, his fatal flaw is not about to be an excess of maturity. Whatever else, I cannot picture him passing up that kind of opportunity to fucking gloat.
THIS EPISODE WAS PACKED, OMG, WHAT DID I FORGET.
EDITED FOR THE FACT THAT I APPARENTLY MISSED THE BEST LINE EVER. HE LIKES TO WAVE AT NEWBORNS THROUGH THE WINDOW. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA. LOLOL, ON THEIR ACTUAL BIRTH DAYS. SUCK IT, KLAUS!