quick TVD reaction post
Computer drama STRIKES BACK. I had my laptop for all of three less-than-glorious days last week before it went LOL, IT IS SO NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY and went to shit again, and now the old one, having been used more in the last two weeks than it has in the last year, is even more of a wreck. I have limited access during the daytime and sometimes can coax this thing into working for short stretches, but for the time being, if I'm not as responsive to comments or posts as I might otherwise be, it's not you!
Most important thing about this episode: Bonnie got to say no. She could've helped Damon, Klaus probably would've let her, and she turned her back on him, because why should she always have to be the bigger person and save everyone? And oh, fuck, it hurt her so badly. Leaving Damon there didn't get her mom back or her grams back or make any of it go away. The lack of real choice in the witch-labor came to the forefront this week, and while I can't say it was pleasant to see Klaus pushing her around, at least she didn't have to suck it up and pretend to be okay with being taken for granted on top of it all.
I was really hoping that would be Esther's plan, to undo the mistake of the vampire species rather than just her own children, and it's great that it's in their laps rather than hers to have to make that call. I love how totally Mystic Falls it is that nobody even considers whether or not letting all the vampires die is the right thing to do. It's just HOW WILL THIS AFFECT ELENA US? Be funny if the Salvatores' bloodline or whatever goes back to Mikael before he went vegan, and since he's dead already they are immune. (Or would killing the Original sire always have killed the whole bloodline, since Sage did go down after Bonnie broke the spell?) I don't see the show giving us that easy of an out, but it is a possibility. It seems more likely to be Elijah or Klaus, based on what I remember of flashbacks in S2.
Klaus was some approximation of his old self this week, I thought, though he wasn't the focus in the way I remember him being. I loved that he came at Stefan with his old mind games, and that they worked in the way they always have. Stefan spent all this time defining himself around Klaus and their relationship, whether he was Klaus' buddy or nemesis. Klaus, in his hilarious self-justifying way, nails the way Team Salvatore can only really function under a direct threat. I do hope they at least think to make some white oak ash so they can re-dagger the Originals if need be, but I'm not holding my breath.
And generally, I can't think of an episode where I liked Stefan better. He's right that Damon would rip them new ones for even considering passing up the chance to kill Klaus; Elena's right that Damon would totally ignore that rule and drop everything for him. Stefan's pulling it all together now in a way that I don't think he ever has before, accepting a reasonable amount of responsibility for his part in stuff while not flinging himself into some oblivion of blood or self-loathing that he's always tried to lose himself in before.
Usually when I love a character like I love Damon, I'm all HIS PAIN IS MY PAIN, but Damon so completely deserves whatever he gets, and especially the particulars of the thrashing he took in this episode, I was all for it. (Probably it was easy at least in part because we know how much he gets off on women who tie him up and beat him down? Oh Rebekah.)
Rebekah is still the best! I loved the little exchange where Klaus tried to tell her how to torture, one of those little moments that reminds you how the show gets sibling relationships pitch-perfect. I'm glad Finn got to be super-attractive for a hot second there! I'm sorry about the loss of Sage before we really got a chance to explore that character, seems like a waste of potential to me but whatever. I continue to boggle at how far out of its way the show will go to create some racefail (re: Finn's comment about the natives making sacrifices). I want Tyler and Jeremy back, please and thank you. I do like the way the Original plot and the serial-killing-ring plot were tied together at the end by the missing stake.
Most important thing about this episode: Bonnie got to say no. She could've helped Damon, Klaus probably would've let her, and she turned her back on him, because why should she always have to be the bigger person and save everyone? And oh, fuck, it hurt her so badly. Leaving Damon there didn't get her mom back or her grams back or make any of it go away. The lack of real choice in the witch-labor came to the forefront this week, and while I can't say it was pleasant to see Klaus pushing her around, at least she didn't have to suck it up and pretend to be okay with being taken for granted on top of it all.
I was really hoping that would be Esther's plan, to undo the mistake of the vampire species rather than just her own children, and it's great that it's in their laps rather than hers to have to make that call. I love how totally Mystic Falls it is that nobody even considers whether or not letting all the vampires die is the right thing to do. It's just HOW WILL THIS AFFECT ELENA US? Be funny if the Salvatores' bloodline or whatever goes back to Mikael before he went vegan, and since he's dead already they are immune. (Or would killing the Original sire always have killed the whole bloodline, since Sage did go down after Bonnie broke the spell?) I don't see the show giving us that easy of an out, but it is a possibility. It seems more likely to be Elijah or Klaus, based on what I remember of flashbacks in S2.
Klaus was some approximation of his old self this week, I thought, though he wasn't the focus in the way I remember him being. I loved that he came at Stefan with his old mind games, and that they worked in the way they always have. Stefan spent all this time defining himself around Klaus and their relationship, whether he was Klaus' buddy or nemesis. Klaus, in his hilarious self-justifying way, nails the way Team Salvatore can only really function under a direct threat. I do hope they at least think to make some white oak ash so they can re-dagger the Originals if need be, but I'm not holding my breath.
And generally, I can't think of an episode where I liked Stefan better. He's right that Damon would rip them new ones for even considering passing up the chance to kill Klaus; Elena's right that Damon would totally ignore that rule and drop everything for him. Stefan's pulling it all together now in a way that I don't think he ever has before, accepting a reasonable amount of responsibility for his part in stuff while not flinging himself into some oblivion of blood or self-loathing that he's always tried to lose himself in before.
Usually when I love a character like I love Damon, I'm all HIS PAIN IS MY PAIN, but Damon so completely deserves whatever he gets, and especially the particulars of the thrashing he took in this episode, I was all for it. (Probably it was easy at least in part because we know how much he gets off on women who tie him up and beat him down? Oh Rebekah.)
Rebekah is still the best! I loved the little exchange where Klaus tried to tell her how to torture, one of those little moments that reminds you how the show gets sibling relationships pitch-perfect. I'm glad Finn got to be super-attractive for a hot second there! I'm sorry about the loss of Sage before we really got a chance to explore that character, seems like a waste of potential to me but whatever. I continue to boggle at how far out of its way the show will go to create some racefail (re: Finn's comment about the natives making sacrifices). I want Tyler and Jeremy back, please and thank you. I do like the way the Original plot and the serial-killing-ring plot were tied together at the end by the missing stake.