tvd 3x14
I had a lot of thoughts flooding around about this episode, but I'm kind of overwhelmed by the idea of trying to be coherent about it. (I know flu-brain is probably the least catastrophic thing in the world, but seriously, I can't even sit up straight to type this out.)
(I missed the first few of scenes? pretend I said something pithy and insightful about them, I guess.)
So, I don't know if the witches storyline shows they're just straight-up the most clueless people ever, or if it's the best indication yet that they're actually listening to some of the more thoughtful criticisms. Esther taps into such an ugly history there, of white women assuming that some level of shared self-interest with their "sisters" means that WOC will just gratefully fall into line. It's so on the nose, and the performance is so deliberately condescending and manipulative and egocentric, I kind of think it's on purpose? And it's complicated. The show doesn't insult Abby and Bonnie - they really do share a goal with Esther, and it really is the right thing to do, or at least, the least bad course of action. And the parallels between the Bennetts and the Mikaelsons came so perfectly into focus, I don't know why I didn't catch it before - Abby's dessication of Mikael that sucked out her power, and Bonnie and Klaus being phenomenal adversaries because they almost simultaneously untapped the family power that was denied them before. But ew, that doesn't mean Esther should expect them to take on way more risk to help undo her mistake, on her terms.
(Though, without excusing her, I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by pretending I totally hate Esther? after she completely earnestly tried to broker an alliance by throwing down with "you killed my husband, OF COURSE I LIKE YOU." Still Team Bennett 100%, don't get me wrong, but lol.)
And I don't know if that last scene made it better or worse. Is that the show implying that Caroline should be speaking for Bonnie? Or is it Caroline doing something supportive of Bonnie, in recognizing that Bonnie shouldn't ever have to do that juggling act of deciding when to try to explain and when to let it all slide, especially not at that moment? I do like the way it's explicit that really, there's no bad guy there. Bonnie isn't being vindictive in not being able (or even willing, and that's okay too) to put that burden on top of all her others at the moment. Elena really did want to be a good friend, but she would still have been creating an extra burden for Bonnie with her *help.* It's not that the situation is her fault, it's that it would be her fault if she'd gone ahead and made the whole thing more difficult for shoving her way in because it's what she wanted.
Here is what I hope, SO SO MUCH - that Abby transitions. Part of it's that it would just be gross to kill her off; part of it is that I want her around more, obviously. But think of how great it could be if she decided Bill Forbes and John Gilbert could keep their pointless flinging themselves on the sword, Abby isn't done living yet. And then Bonnie had to deal with her mother being a vampire - like what happened with Caroline, but a thousand times worse - but also navigating how it means she's glad her mom's back in her life, on whatever terms. And a witch who becomes a vampire is surely at least as innately badass as a vampire who becomes a werewolf, it'd be SO much fun to see her get that kind of power. And THEN if Esther's master plan really is to eliminate all vampires, then Abby would get to be the one rallying the troops against the Big Bad. IT COULD BE SO AWESOME. DO NOT WASTE THIS CHARACTER, SHOW. DO NOT DO IT.
idk, this episode felt like it was ALL ABOUT THE BENNETTS for me, but I tend to make it all about Bonnie whenever I can, so I don't know. thoughts?
I love how Elena's first explanation for why someone would sleep with Damon is "YOU'RE OUT TO GET ME!!!" oh, honey, we all know you can think of a few other reasons, don't front. This episode is full of the doppelganger metaphor and imagery - Elena stuck in a cave underground just like Katherine when she finally realizes out loud that it's not her fault and starts bargaining for her own life. The white ash tree that lives, even when they assumed it was dead. Elena finding out what it's like to get Single White Femaled, rather than being the one doing it (however unconsciously and unwillingly). I SUPPORT THIS WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
My Salvatore boos! I liked the reveal that Stefan backed off the blood after the bridge - it means he realized he'd crossed a line, all by his big boy self, and was capable of backing off that exacerbating factor while not subsuming himself into the I'M A REAL BOY, LOOK MOM NO VEINS performance. Also, if he could just quit this time, then we're recognizing that it wasn't some vampire physiological dependence thing, which honestly gives him more culpability than I'd ever expected to see. It's suspiciously convenient that we can put this whole mess behind us just in time to watch Damon try to be as RAWR!CRAZY as Klaus and Kol at once, but I personally feel that's more than a fair bargain.
I really don't know how Damon could be more transparent. He lost the coin toss! But he went over Stefan's head to be the bad guy because - because he still owes Stefan, he still feels like he needs to assert his big-brother role and responsibilities. Because he does like the freedom of chaos more than the romantic hero strictures. Because he doesn't want to be with Elena - he loves what she represents, as the object of his affections (but he cares for her too much to be able to keep that up for long), for her Katherine-ness, most of all for being yet another link between him and Stefan. Damon just doesn't want to try to construct a self which doesn't incorporate his brother.
I liked the Original Kids storyline as well. Klaus and Kol going off to smoke behind the bleachers cracked me up; Ric getting in his RDA of underestimated dork daggering always makes me smile. I continue to adore Rebekah and her volatility and her infinite capacity for love and rage. And her fierce sleuthing skills! She's the one who figures out about the tree. I agreed with Elijah's little monologue about how she didn't make us monsters, we did that to ourselves; I worry a little he's going to bump up on Manliest Pain territory, ("a thousand years of ripping out hearts and treating little girls like cherry Slushies, WOE IS ME,") but it wasn't just that he recognized how wrong he's been all this time, but he also appropriately articulated why, so I hold out a little hope.
ORITE, I almost forgot that last scene. Um, I don't think Ric will die? If only because I don't have the energy to fret about it for a month. It still seems a little convenient for Meredith to have been the murderer, but eh, I can go with it.
(I missed the first few of scenes? pretend I said something pithy and insightful about them, I guess.)
So, I don't know if the witches storyline shows they're just straight-up the most clueless people ever, or if it's the best indication yet that they're actually listening to some of the more thoughtful criticisms. Esther taps into such an ugly history there, of white women assuming that some level of shared self-interest with their "sisters" means that WOC will just gratefully fall into line. It's so on the nose, and the performance is so deliberately condescending and manipulative and egocentric, I kind of think it's on purpose? And it's complicated. The show doesn't insult Abby and Bonnie - they really do share a goal with Esther, and it really is the right thing to do, or at least, the least bad course of action. And the parallels between the Bennetts and the Mikaelsons came so perfectly into focus, I don't know why I didn't catch it before - Abby's dessication of Mikael that sucked out her power, and Bonnie and Klaus being phenomenal adversaries because they almost simultaneously untapped the family power that was denied them before. But ew, that doesn't mean Esther should expect them to take on way more risk to help undo her mistake, on her terms.
(Though, without excusing her, I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by pretending I totally hate Esther? after she completely earnestly tried to broker an alliance by throwing down with "you killed my husband, OF COURSE I LIKE YOU." Still Team Bennett 100%, don't get me wrong, but lol.)
And I don't know if that last scene made it better or worse. Is that the show implying that Caroline should be speaking for Bonnie? Or is it Caroline doing something supportive of Bonnie, in recognizing that Bonnie shouldn't ever have to do that juggling act of deciding when to try to explain and when to let it all slide, especially not at that moment? I do like the way it's explicit that really, there's no bad guy there. Bonnie isn't being vindictive in not being able (or even willing, and that's okay too) to put that burden on top of all her others at the moment. Elena really did want to be a good friend, but she would still have been creating an extra burden for Bonnie with her *help.* It's not that the situation is her fault, it's that it would be her fault if she'd gone ahead and made the whole thing more difficult for shoving her way in because it's what she wanted.
Here is what I hope, SO SO MUCH - that Abby transitions. Part of it's that it would just be gross to kill her off; part of it is that I want her around more, obviously. But think of how great it could be if she decided Bill Forbes and John Gilbert could keep their pointless flinging themselves on the sword, Abby isn't done living yet. And then Bonnie had to deal with her mother being a vampire - like what happened with Caroline, but a thousand times worse - but also navigating how it means she's glad her mom's back in her life, on whatever terms. And a witch who becomes a vampire is surely at least as innately badass as a vampire who becomes a werewolf, it'd be SO much fun to see her get that kind of power. And THEN if Esther's master plan really is to eliminate all vampires, then Abby would get to be the one rallying the troops against the Big Bad. IT COULD BE SO AWESOME. DO NOT WASTE THIS CHARACTER, SHOW. DO NOT DO IT.
idk, this episode felt like it was ALL ABOUT THE BENNETTS for me, but I tend to make it all about Bonnie whenever I can, so I don't know. thoughts?
I love how Elena's first explanation for why someone would sleep with Damon is "YOU'RE OUT TO GET ME!!!" oh, honey, we all know you can think of a few other reasons, don't front. This episode is full of the doppelganger metaphor and imagery - Elena stuck in a cave underground just like Katherine when she finally realizes out loud that it's not her fault and starts bargaining for her own life. The white ash tree that lives, even when they assumed it was dead. Elena finding out what it's like to get Single White Femaled, rather than being the one doing it (however unconsciously and unwillingly). I SUPPORT THIS WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
My Salvatore boos! I liked the reveal that Stefan backed off the blood after the bridge - it means he realized he'd crossed a line, all by his big boy self, and was capable of backing off that exacerbating factor while not subsuming himself into the I'M A REAL BOY, LOOK MOM NO VEINS performance. Also, if he could just quit this time, then we're recognizing that it wasn't some vampire physiological dependence thing, which honestly gives him more culpability than I'd ever expected to see. It's suspiciously convenient that we can put this whole mess behind us just in time to watch Damon try to be as RAWR!CRAZY as Klaus and Kol at once, but I personally feel that's more than a fair bargain.
I really don't know how Damon could be more transparent. He lost the coin toss! But he went over Stefan's head to be the bad guy because - because he still owes Stefan, he still feels like he needs to assert his big-brother role and responsibilities. Because he does like the freedom of chaos more than the romantic hero strictures. Because he doesn't want to be with Elena - he loves what she represents, as the object of his affections (but he cares for her too much to be able to keep that up for long), for her Katherine-ness, most of all for being yet another link between him and Stefan. Damon just doesn't want to try to construct a self which doesn't incorporate his brother.
I liked the Original Kids storyline as well. Klaus and Kol going off to smoke behind the bleachers cracked me up; Ric getting in his RDA of underestimated dork daggering always makes me smile. I continue to adore Rebekah and her volatility and her infinite capacity for love and rage. And her fierce sleuthing skills! She's the one who figures out about the tree. I agreed with Elijah's little monologue about how she didn't make us monsters, we did that to ourselves; I worry a little he's going to bump up on Manliest Pain territory, ("a thousand years of ripping out hearts and treating little girls like cherry Slushies, WOE IS ME,") but it wasn't just that he recognized how wrong he's been all this time, but he also appropriately articulated why, so I hold out a little hope.
ORITE, I almost forgot that last scene. Um, I don't think Ric will die? If only because I don't have the energy to fret about it for a month. It still seems a little convenient for Meredith to have been the murderer, but eh, I can go with it.