30 Days of TVD - Day Five
Before I start with the episode reaction, I'm gonna carry on with the meme. I've been waiting for Day 5 :D.
Warning: this is a wordy post in which I have thoughts.
Day 5 - Your favorite episode
Ladies and Gentlemen - The Return! Every time I see this episode I find something new about it, so now I it feels like I could write an entire essay with footnotes ;). I'll try to be briefer, though. So, reasons why 2x01 is so awesome:
1. It explains Bonnie's behavior in the first half of s2, especially her attitute towards Caroline. Bonnie realizes that the device didn't just help to kill the vampires: it also caused Mayor's death and Tyler's car accident. Bonnie feels guilty and responsible, so she tries to fix things, and then things get even worse. Caroline was dying because of Bonnie (well, not objectively, but I think that's how Bonnie sees it), she was fed vampire blood, and then turned (Bonnie doesn't know that Katherine turned Caroline on purpose and if it wasn't for Damon, she would just feed her blood herself). And suddenly Bonnie's hostility towards Caroline in the beginning of the season starts making sense. Guilt-ridden much, Bonnie?
2. Stefan threatens John. As in, force-feeds him blood. Screw you, Ripper Alter Ego Arc. It's one of Good Stefan's rare dark moments, and I love every second of it. He is stronger now. Meaner. Sexy.
3. Katherine's playfulness in the middle of chaos she is creating is simply irresistable.
4. The brothers having one of their Epic Dialogues. With Damon being a drama queen to the point of mockery (I like to think that in this scene he actually mimics Stefan's lofty speeches), and Stefan being all reasonable. My favorite thing about this scene is that Stefan uses a phrase: What we do now will define us, and Damon behaves like he couldn't care less, but then, when he sees Katherine in the evening, he actually uses the same phrase: This could be our defining moment. So he was listening, and he paid attention, and it was important to him (by the way, the same thing happens in 2x08; when Damon has his I love you speech, he also quotes Stefan when he says: I just need you to hear this). And just look at the way they communicate. The entire conversation looks much like a quarrel, but it's not. They get everything out, they understand each other, and they move on. After this conversation they never come back to the infamous kiss, and it doesn't create any awkwardness: they managed to communicate in their own way and put the whole thing behind them.
5. All the amazing lines that've been stuck in my head for weeks (and I've just quoted a sample here; we wouldn't want me posting half of the script now, would we?):
My sweet, innocent Damon.
I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine.
Now I'm hurt
This could be our defining moment
All you've gotta do is flip the switch and snap
Oh, you know, when two lips pucker...
Do you have a favorite The Return quote?
6. Damon/Katherine hotness. It doesn't need words.
7. The Damon/Katherine and Damon/Elena scenes in the end. The way Damon is constructed is just priceless. He's spent a good part of s1 trying to fit in a new role, trying to be the better man (I've already written a separate post on narratives in TVD, so I'm not gonna bore you with repetition). And here Damon tries to act according to the new role in the only way he knows: by applying his old (old, as in: human) ideas of how love should look like. So he stages the scene with Katherine and delivers an epic speech just to find out that, well, you can totally bang me, kiddo, but we're not gonna get all mushy about it. So he drinks some more (because, obviously, drunk people are more romantic), and then he feels that it's a great idea to go to Elena and stage another scene (my boy is dumb like that). When he tries to force himself on Elena, he hears that, well, we're NOT doing the Romantic Forbidden Love thing, darling, thank you very much. So instead he does the romantic desperate thing, and breaks Jeremy's neck. It's his grand gesture. Here we have Damon Salvatore losing his romantic delusions at the age of 168 (or something like that; this number is totally head!canon). Damon's motivation in those scenes was purely based on playing things out. It's his first and only attempt to re-establish the identity that's been crushed by the fake kiss in 1x22. He thought that he had a proper story that ended with a kiss, and now it was time for happily-ever-after of some sort (it might've been a twisted one; after all, it's Damon who we're talking about), but it turns out that the climax of his story has been a mockery from the very beginning, so Damon tries to push himself back on the track of some sort of story: old romance, new forbidden love, it doesn't matter. Without a story his world collapses. That's why he went for one after another, and that's why he was broken after that. It doesn't really matter what Katherine and Elena said about Stefan; the important thing is that they didn't recognize that Damon was going to push them into a story, and by doing that, they crushed all the story openings he saw for himself. From now on, Damon is storyless, or, in other words: Damon's lost his narrative, and forgining a new one takes time. Instead, he is driven solely by his impulses. It's also the last time when Damon is honest about himself without creating a "safety zone" first (like, deathbed confession, or telling Elena things and compelling her to forget). Just look at him. If you want to forget what happened, fine. But I can't. Or his entire speech for Katherine. 100% vulnerability. Can you imagine Damon saying something like this now?
8. Damon breaking Jeremy's neck, aka The Scene That Turned Me Into A TVD Fangirl (I started watching TVD when s2 already started airing, so I had a quick marathon through s1, and then I had, like, three s2 episodes to catch up, and this was the first time this show REALLY ate my brain). It's like the ultimate commentary on the Bad Boy Thing. Bad Boys are attractive like hell, and we can understand that. Your time with them might be the most interesting and breathtaking thing you've ever had. And they'll damage you irreperably. Your choice. He loves you, but what gave you the idea that he won't hurt you?
9. Damon throws a glass into the fireplace. Just saying.
As you see, I have many feelings about my favorite episode... Well, the next post will probably be shorter.
Warning: this is a wordy post in which I have thoughts.
Day 5 - Your favorite episode
Ladies and Gentlemen - The Return! Every time I see this episode I find something new about it, so now I it feels like I could write an entire essay with footnotes ;). I'll try to be briefer, though. So, reasons why 2x01 is so awesome:
1. It explains Bonnie's behavior in the first half of s2, especially her attitute towards Caroline. Bonnie realizes that the device didn't just help to kill the vampires: it also caused Mayor's death and Tyler's car accident. Bonnie feels guilty and responsible, so she tries to fix things, and then things get even worse. Caroline was dying because of Bonnie (well, not objectively, but I think that's how Bonnie sees it), she was fed vampire blood, and then turned (Bonnie doesn't know that Katherine turned Caroline on purpose and if it wasn't for Damon, she would just feed her blood herself). And suddenly Bonnie's hostility towards Caroline in the beginning of the season starts making sense. Guilt-ridden much, Bonnie?
2. Stefan threatens John. As in, force-feeds him blood. Screw you, Ripper Alter Ego Arc. It's one of Good Stefan's rare dark moments, and I love every second of it. He is stronger now. Meaner. Sexy.
3. Katherine's playfulness in the middle of chaos she is creating is simply irresistable.
4. The brothers having one of their Epic Dialogues. With Damon being a drama queen to the point of mockery (I like to think that in this scene he actually mimics Stefan's lofty speeches), and Stefan being all reasonable. My favorite thing about this scene is that Stefan uses a phrase: What we do now will define us, and Damon behaves like he couldn't care less, but then, when he sees Katherine in the evening, he actually uses the same phrase: This could be our defining moment. So he was listening, and he paid attention, and it was important to him (by the way, the same thing happens in 2x08; when Damon has his I love you speech, he also quotes Stefan when he says: I just need you to hear this). And just look at the way they communicate. The entire conversation looks much like a quarrel, but it's not. They get everything out, they understand each other, and they move on. After this conversation they never come back to the infamous kiss, and it doesn't create any awkwardness: they managed to communicate in their own way and put the whole thing behind them.
5. All the amazing lines that've been stuck in my head for weeks (and I've just quoted a sample here; we wouldn't want me posting half of the script now, would we?):
My sweet, innocent Damon.
I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine.
Now I'm hurt
This could be our defining moment
All you've gotta do is flip the switch and snap
Oh, you know, when two lips pucker...
Do you have a favorite The Return quote?
6. Damon/Katherine hotness. It doesn't need words.
7. The Damon/Katherine and Damon/Elena scenes in the end. The way Damon is constructed is just priceless. He's spent a good part of s1 trying to fit in a new role, trying to be the better man (I've already written a separate post on narratives in TVD, so I'm not gonna bore you with repetition). And here Damon tries to act according to the new role in the only way he knows: by applying his old (old, as in: human) ideas of how love should look like. So he stages the scene with Katherine and delivers an epic speech just to find out that, well, you can totally bang me, kiddo, but we're not gonna get all mushy about it. So he drinks some more (because, obviously, drunk people are more romantic), and then he feels that it's a great idea to go to Elena and stage another scene (my boy is dumb like that). When he tries to force himself on Elena, he hears that, well, we're NOT doing the Romantic Forbidden Love thing, darling, thank you very much. So instead he does the romantic desperate thing, and breaks Jeremy's neck. It's his grand gesture. Here we have Damon Salvatore losing his romantic delusions at the age of 168 (or something like that; this number is totally head!canon). Damon's motivation in those scenes was purely based on playing things out. It's his first and only attempt to re-establish the identity that's been crushed by the fake kiss in 1x22. He thought that he had a proper story that ended with a kiss, and now it was time for happily-ever-after of some sort (it might've been a twisted one; after all, it's Damon who we're talking about), but it turns out that the climax of his story has been a mockery from the very beginning, so Damon tries to push himself back on the track of some sort of story: old romance, new forbidden love, it doesn't matter. Without a story his world collapses. That's why he went for one after another, and that's why he was broken after that. It doesn't really matter what Katherine and Elena said about Stefan; the important thing is that they didn't recognize that Damon was going to push them into a story, and by doing that, they crushed all the story openings he saw for himself. From now on, Damon is storyless, or, in other words: Damon's lost his narrative, and forgining a new one takes time. Instead, he is driven solely by his impulses. It's also the last time when Damon is honest about himself without creating a "safety zone" first (like, deathbed confession, or telling Elena things and compelling her to forget). Just look at him. If you want to forget what happened, fine. But I can't. Or his entire speech for Katherine. 100% vulnerability. Can you imagine Damon saying something like this now?
8. Damon breaking Jeremy's neck, aka The Scene That Turned Me Into A TVD Fangirl (I started watching TVD when s2 already started airing, so I had a quick marathon through s1, and then I had, like, three s2 episodes to catch up, and this was the first time this show REALLY ate my brain). It's like the ultimate commentary on the Bad Boy Thing. Bad Boys are attractive like hell, and we can understand that. Your time with them might be the most interesting and breathtaking thing you've ever had. And they'll damage you irreperably. Your choice. He loves you, but what gave you the idea that he won't hurt you?
9. Damon throws a glass into the fireplace. Just saying.
As you see, I have many feelings about my favorite episode... Well, the next post will probably be shorter.