TVD 3x20
grrrrrr.
MY ISSUES
I was so fucking disgusted at the way Ric's self-blame for his alter ego continued to pass without comment. I get that TVD is trying to show it won't let its characters dodge responsibility, but dude, that only works if they are actually responsible. There is nothing to suggest Ric had any choice about whatever actions ring-Ric took, except Ric feeling guilty about it all, which sadly is not an uncommon reaction people have to violations of the sort, but it is not any more his fault than it was his fault for being possessed by Klaus at the end of last season. Oh, no, I'm sorry, we have Esther's opinion of the forces she was manipulating, and she says he wanted it bad. And somehow this is the clusterfuck of events that leads to him choosing his own death twice in about twenty minutes? For once I am going to be serious here:
IF YOU GET ROOFIED, YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO DIE FOR IT.
Just putting that out there.
(And, sorry, what are we saying now about Samantha Gilbert, who had the exact same thing happen to her? She probably totally had it coming.)
Even thinking I understand what the writers are responding to here, those criticisms have really been about Stefan, which. Even as someone who's been relatively satisfied with Stefan's journey to the edge and back this season, albeit with some handwaving, I was pretty appalled with the way he in - in this episode, where Ric is doing his whole song and dance - dates his problems to when Klaus compelled him to do something. Um, really? Not the months he'd spent before that ripping Appalachia to bloody shreds? K then.
So I was sure someone was going to forcefeed Ric. I was just thinking it would be Damon? Particularly because Ric was all, "things will go smoothly according to my wishes, BECAUSE DAMON'S AROUND." Because nobody is allowed to self-destruct around Damon Salvatore except Damon Salvatore, and because we know Damon has no issues with saving people from themselves/screwing with them. But I guess his new determination to be good because SUCK IT!!! combined with his genuine bromance with Ric explains that he didn't. (Also, was anyone else irked about the name-dropping of Jenna and no mention of, oh, idk, HIS WIFE?)
I just have issues with the LET ME DIE!!!!! thing whenever someone gets turned? I mean, I'm not saying vampires aren't generally rabid dogs who are all begging for a stake, because as much as I love the ones we know, they've made me pretty sympathetic to that assessment. But if there's any validity to the idea that Vampires Are People Too and they All Deserve A Chance because They Can Be Good, then the "oooh, I have a chronic condition that I'm going to have to manage for the rest of my life, MIGHT AS WELL JUST DIE RIGHT NOW" business is kind of extremely disturbing to me?
The Bonnie/Jamie thing was just as irritating as we knew it would be! In fact it was even more irritating! I felt so robbed when Elena said they were going to have girlfriend time at the dance, and instead they all felt like they had to pair off and get dates. (Also, is Show seriously trying to fan the flames of my Bonnie/Damon love? Ha ha, he interrupted her Seven Minutes in Heaven! And then she fried his brain again and we all know how much I love when that happens.)
I did really love that we're getting some of Bonnie's perspective on her power. She gets a reason that makes sense for helping her friends over Esther - she doesn't want Caroline and Tyler to die. She's much less certain of herself than she used to be - the girl who didn't care if she died taking out Klaus is tired of losing people and not being able to do anything about it.
It's a shame about the Ric stuff, because I think the deprioritized storylines were good. Which, different as they all were, had one common thread: Klaus is returning to his role at the center of the narrative.
MY ISSUES
I was so fucking disgusted at the way Ric's self-blame for his alter ego continued to pass without comment. I get that TVD is trying to show it won't let its characters dodge responsibility, but dude, that only works if they are actually responsible. There is nothing to suggest Ric had any choice about whatever actions ring-Ric took, except Ric feeling guilty about it all, which sadly is not an uncommon reaction people have to violations of the sort, but it is not any more his fault than it was his fault for being possessed by Klaus at the end of last season. Oh, no, I'm sorry, we have Esther's opinion of the forces she was manipulating, and she says he wanted it bad. And somehow this is the clusterfuck of events that leads to him choosing his own death twice in about twenty minutes? For once I am going to be serious here:
IF YOU GET ROOFIED, YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO DIE FOR IT.
Just putting that out there.
(And, sorry, what are we saying now about Samantha Gilbert, who had the exact same thing happen to her? She probably totally had it coming.)
Even thinking I understand what the writers are responding to here, those criticisms have really been about Stefan, which. Even as someone who's been relatively satisfied with Stefan's journey to the edge and back this season, albeit with some handwaving, I was pretty appalled with the way he in - in this episode, where Ric is doing his whole song and dance - dates his problems to when Klaus compelled him to do something. Um, really? Not the months he'd spent before that ripping Appalachia to bloody shreds? K then.
So I was sure someone was going to forcefeed Ric. I was just thinking it would be Damon? Particularly because Ric was all, "things will go smoothly according to my wishes, BECAUSE DAMON'S AROUND." Because nobody is allowed to self-destruct around Damon Salvatore except Damon Salvatore, and because we know Damon has no issues with saving people from themselves/screwing with them. But I guess his new determination to be good because SUCK IT!!! combined with his genuine bromance with Ric explains that he didn't. (Also, was anyone else irked about the name-dropping of Jenna and no mention of, oh, idk, HIS WIFE?)
I just have issues with the LET ME DIE!!!!! thing whenever someone gets turned? I mean, I'm not saying vampires aren't generally rabid dogs who are all begging for a stake, because as much as I love the ones we know, they've made me pretty sympathetic to that assessment. But if there's any validity to the idea that Vampires Are People Too and they All Deserve A Chance because They Can Be Good, then the "oooh, I have a chronic condition that I'm going to have to manage for the rest of my life, MIGHT AS WELL JUST DIE RIGHT NOW" business is kind of extremely disturbing to me?
The Bonnie/Jamie thing was just as irritating as we knew it would be! In fact it was even more irritating! I felt so robbed when Elena said they were going to have girlfriend time at the dance, and instead they all felt like they had to pair off and get dates. (Also, is Show seriously trying to fan the flames of my Bonnie/Damon love? Ha ha, he interrupted her Seven Minutes in Heaven! And then she fried his brain again and we all know how much I love when that happens.)
I did really love that we're getting some of Bonnie's perspective on her power. She gets a reason that makes sense for helping her friends over Esther - she doesn't want Caroline and Tyler to die. She's much less certain of herself than she used to be - the girl who didn't care if she died taking out Klaus is tired of losing people and not being able to do anything about it.
It's a shame about the Ric stuff, because I think the deprioritized storylines were good. Which, different as they all were, had one common thread: Klaus is returning to his role at the center of the narrative.
- The tiny bit of Tyler we saw just did all kinds of horrible things to my heart. The way he's trying to seize some agency from Klaus, even if it means his own death - it's not that he has a death wish, I don't think, so much as he prefers death to this constant spiral of powerlessness. If he sacrifices himself to get to Klaus, then not only will he be free of it all, but he'll have gone out getting one over on Klaus, which is of course a desire he's had since long before Klaus rolled into town vis a vis his father. Which makes me feel a bit better - if he does go out, it'd be on his own terms, which means he's unlikely to get that chance. Whew.
- And oh, man, Klaus and Stefan. Will never get tired of watching the two of them dance around each other.
- I do like how Damon's determination to be good to show someone is followed up immediately with Klaus deciding he's going to survive to spite his mother. If I love anything more than characters making bad decisions for good reasons, it's characters making good decisions for hideously selfish reasons.
- I do quite enjoy Esther when she's not mooching off the Bennetts. Bad Mommy/Good Witch is a pretty fantastic dichotomy to embody.
- And of course, even the whole Ric nonsense was all about Esther trying to take Ric (the last father figure) and turn him into another Mikael, a self-loathing vampire vampire hunter.