Do I do what I want to do? Or do I do what I should do?

[upupa_epops]

Ok, so I'm still processing the finale, and I have thoughts. Actually, I have too many thoughts, so I decided to break them into three separate posts. This is the first one, the other two (maybe I'll be able to combine them in one?) will appear some time this week.

Warnings: I overanalyse teen vampire shows. In order to make it more bearable, I

Comments

[ever_neutral]

in 2009, Elena Gilbert acted on want, went for a party, and got her parents killed; in 1864, Giuseppe Salvatore acted on principle and shot his sons for treason. That's how a theme was established. The “good brother” shapes himself into who he thinks he should be. The bad brother does whatever the hell he wants.

Excellent, excellent point. Elena is Damon and always has been (she met him first) but she made herself into Stefan and now it'll always be Stefan. Because she made the "wrong" choice first.

TVD asks a fundamental, real question: when you have a dilemma, and you don't know what to do, do you trust your principles, or do you trust your instinct?

SO WELL SAID.

The episode ends with Stefan doing the right thing - respecting Elena's decision, because this is what you should do when you love someone.
And you know what? It gets Elena killed.

SO FUCKING GOOD. Bless the show for crushing this dichotomy so brutally.

You act on “should” or you act on “want”, and people still die because of your choices. Selflessness is not an answer. Principles are not an answer. Compassion is not an answer. Rules make you a monster. Instinct makes you a monster. Was Elena right to choose Stefan out of “should” instead of Damon out of “want”? How the hell am I supposed to know?

I WANT TO SOB TEARS OF BLOOD OVER THIS ENTIRE PARAGRAPH

In conclusion: life sucks either way. Let's go eat a migrant village.

Amen to this.

[upupa_epops]

Elena is Damon and always has been (she met him first) but she made herself into Stefan and now it'll always be Stefan. Because she made the "wrong" choice first.

THIS. People die when Elena does what she wants. So no more "want". It's all "should". And now she did the right thing, and died anyway. S4 Elena will be VERY interesting.

Bless the show for crushing this dichotomy so brutally.

The way this episode problematizes agency is stunning (apart from the parts when it's terribly heavy-handed).

I WANT TO SOB TEARS OF BLOOD OVER THIS ENTIRE PARAGRAPH

By now I have a separate Persian rug for you to lie down and cry tears of blood and black mascara.