real life and tvd and grey's: "let's dance to Joy Division and celebrate the irony..."
one | THE WOMBATS WERE MIND BLOWING!!!! (As in, I'm pretty sure a piece of my mind was left in the mosh pit when it all came to a very sad end...). I'm not sure how well known this band is outside Australia and the UK so, just in case, have these...
Let's Dance To Joy Division | Jump Into The Fog | Techno Fan
two | Grey's Anatomy. Any good was COMPLETELY overshadowed by Mr. Entitled Douche Derek Shepherd. Just, I can not even... Though, I really did enjoy Jackson's mum! Her casting was inspired! All the parents we've met so far have been really well played and awesome for different reasons. Ellis Grey, Robbie Stevens, Carlos Torres. So yeah, Jackson's mum? Come back any time you like! I love that she wasn't a redux of Ellis even though they kinda had the characters talk her up as such. She definitely loves Jackson and connects with him as her child far more than they ever really showed Ellis doing with Meredith.
three | The Vampire Diaries. I wasn't going to make a post about 0305 but, apparently I'm going to anyway?! I think I've managed to sort out my tumultuous feelings by first venting them in other TVD fan journals! APOLOGIES!
I was going to start with 'good stuff', but I want to end on a positive, so I'll start with (what I consider to be the very, very) 'bad stuff'.
BAD STUFF (just in case I didn't make it clear already! Haha! Feel free to skip on by this bit!)
~ OH! Bonnie and Matt were lifeguards together?! Did we already know this? I don't think we did. I must admit to tuning a lot of Bonnie stuff out over the seasons so I may have missed it but, I DO SO HATE IT when writers dump seemingly irrelevant and tangential information into a forced conversation mere minutes before it takes on V.V. IMPORTANT status. So contrived. And non-clever.
~ The whole drowning thing in general made me roll my eyes like nothing else.
~ DO THESE SCHOOLS NOT HAVE DOORS THAT LOCK?! OR SECURITY?!!! What even? Is it really possible for groups of students to be able to get into ALL the areas of a high school (INCLUDING THE POOL), in the middle of the night, completely undetected, and for hours at a time? Not any high school that I've ever been to.
~ Damon Salvatore. What the HELL have the writers done to you? Besides your snark with Katherine and your fierce determination to settle in the land of denial regarding your past with her, I found you to be ridiculously short sighted, one-note and, dare I say it? Season One Stefan-esque. And we all know what I thought about Season One Stefan. (Nothing good).
~ Elena. You continue to annoy me.
~ Damon giving Elena the necklace back. Again, that felt like a GIANT dose of manipulation from the writers to get me on board the D/E train. Because I refuse to believe Damon is that short sighted and having the act be some desperate straw clutch from the writers is much easier to cope with than the idea that Damon really HAS become Season One Stefan. On all counts! I mean, Katherine had only just finished telling him the necklace was important. That Klaus had wanted it. That she hadn't yet figured out the significance but that there most definitely WAS significance to be figured out. And he thinks stealing it back and handing it straight over to Elena is a good idea? Without checking it out first???? Season One/Two Damon would NEVER have even considered doing this before making sure it was safe. And I don't think Season Three Damon would do that either. Which simply leaves me with "The Writers Wanted To Manipulate Me Onto The D/E Train", which... cheap. It wouldn't have even taken much for them to make that more realistic. I mean, Damon could have researched it for a few minutes (even if just a cursory mention were given to it) and then deemed it safe and handed it over. OR, he could have told her that he had it, but that there was something about it that still needed to be figured out but that he'd keep it for her. OR, well... any number of things that DIDN'T involve him blindly handing it over.
~ Why would Klaus freak out at Damon's mention of Michael (Mikael?), but then take some time out of his getaway FLEE to not steal Elena and take her with him, but track down Stefan and entrust him (the dude who has recently proved himself MOST LIKELY TO BETRAY) to keep an eye on her? That seems so counter intuitive to me! And while Klaus really hasn't proved himself to be the BIG BAD he was built up as, he's surely smarter than that?? SURELY?!
~ And while we're on Stefan and Klaus. Are we now to assume that Rose's "the switch isn't really a thing" has been ret-conned into oblivion? So much confusion to keep up with. And I guess this is (again!) the writers manipulating me into giving Stefan a giant PASS on all the things he's going to do next when they inevitably start their Redemption Of Brother Number Two arc. BUT THEN, Stefan was able to resist the "KILL ELENA" compulsion (just) so... what the fuckity fuck are we meant to be thinking about all of this? There's been talk that Stefan might be faking the compulsion, but the fact that they gave us the close-up pupil dilation/constriction thing makes me think we're supposed to believe it. Unless Stefan went so far as to fake THAT?!
~ Umm, so Tyler is a hybrid. He was in transition to a vampire. So, what? If you're already a werewolf, then becoming a vampire is a piece of cake? Like, one sip of human blood is enough and now he's vamp and not STARVING and trying to take off and find humans to feed on a la every other transition to vampire scene we've been given? He's just merrily chatting away to Caroline about how GREAT it all is? Huh? Does. Not. Compute.
~ I have a feeling the writers might be about to make Damon into a hypocrite. Do. Not. Want.
GOOD STUFF
~ Katherine and Damon and their SNARK OF WIN AND MUTUAL (but different) DENIAL! (She's in denial that he's over her, he's in denial that he loved her and would have done -- and DID -- anything for her).
~ Katherine kidnapping Jeremy and stowing him in the trunk and her whole reveal to Damon and the whole road trip was made of win (right up to the point where Damon left and lost most of what makes him interesting in the process).
~ Katherine and Jeremy. I 'ship it. Not gonna lie. And it feels gooooooood!
~ Jeremy. And him being all cool and calm with the goings on. And his teaming up with Katherine (and Anna?) to find Michael/Mikael. Please let there be moar K/J! Also, let's have it be by choice that J hangs out with her. And let's have E getting her feathers all ruffled about the whole thing. Kthx.
~ Rebekah. She is SENSATIONAL. And I'm very sad that she's (hopefully only temporarily) gone. I think she and Katherine should get together and MARVEL at their mutual LUV and RESPEKT for all things Elena (and Stefan/Elena).
~ Stefan's "carry on" made me LOLOL. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've had this reaction to something Stefan has said (when it was what the writers were intending... because there's been plenty of times I've LOLed at Stefan but none of them were when I was supposed to!). So, while I don't get the situation with Stefan at the moment (compulsion/ripper/neither/both/babysitter/huh?), if he brings Teh Snark then I'm happy to put up with it for a while.
AND ALSO...
There has been talk (here at youcallitwinter's journal) that television shows simply don't turn their protagonist into the BIG BAD for real because it never works and they can never retain sympathy and that this is why the TVD writers have pulled back with Stefan (and written in the compulsion get out of jail free card). Well, I disagree. And there is a current day example of a show that has done (and continues to do) EXACTLY that. Walter White (Breaking Bad) was a loving, devoted family man and unassuming high school chemistry teacher. And now, three and a bit seasons in, he's a mass murdering drug chef with a kill list a mile long and an ego the size of Europe. He's still the main protagonist of the show and still garners sincere sympathy and support from a vast majority of the BB fandom (including me). And I believe it lies in the carefully written and BRILLIANTLY acted deconstruction of his character. We (the viewers) have been given a front row seat to his careful unravelling. We sympathise with him because we UNDERSTAND exactly how he got to where he is. And the grace and sheer clever-ness of the scripts, of the storytelling, has been deftly sublime. So, TVD writers, it CAN be done. I just wish you'd been a little braver. Paul Wesley may not be Bryan Cranston (let's be honest, who is?), but I still think it was worth the risk. I, for one, would have applauded the audacity...
Verbose re-cap is verbose! If you got to the end... have some
to celebrate!
Let's Dance To Joy Division | Jump Into The Fog | Techno Fan
two | Grey's Anatomy. Any good was COMPLETELY overshadowed by Mr. Entitled Douche Derek Shepherd. Just, I can not even... Though, I really did enjoy Jackson's mum! Her casting was inspired! All the parents we've met so far have been really well played and awesome for different reasons. Ellis Grey, Robbie Stevens, Carlos Torres. So yeah, Jackson's mum? Come back any time you like! I love that she wasn't a redux of Ellis even though they kinda had the characters talk her up as such. She definitely loves Jackson and connects with him as her child far more than they ever really showed Ellis doing with Meredith.
three | The Vampire Diaries. I wasn't going to make a post about 0305 but, apparently I'm going to anyway?! I think I've managed to sort out my tumultuous feelings by first venting them in other TVD fan journals! APOLOGIES!
I was going to start with 'good stuff', but I want to end on a positive, so I'll start with (what I consider to be the very, very) 'bad stuff'.
BAD STUFF (just in case I didn't make it clear already! Haha! Feel free to skip on by this bit!)
~ OH! Bonnie and Matt were lifeguards together?! Did we already know this? I don't think we did. I must admit to tuning a lot of Bonnie stuff out over the seasons so I may have missed it but, I DO SO HATE IT when writers dump seemingly irrelevant and tangential information into a forced conversation mere minutes before it takes on V.V. IMPORTANT status. So contrived. And non-clever.
~ The whole drowning thing in general made me roll my eyes like nothing else.
~ DO THESE SCHOOLS NOT HAVE DOORS THAT LOCK?! OR SECURITY?!!! What even? Is it really possible for groups of students to be able to get into ALL the areas of a high school (INCLUDING THE POOL), in the middle of the night, completely undetected, and for hours at a time? Not any high school that I've ever been to.
~ Damon Salvatore. What the HELL have the writers done to you? Besides your snark with Katherine and your fierce determination to settle in the land of denial regarding your past with her, I found you to be ridiculously short sighted, one-note and, dare I say it? Season One Stefan-esque. And we all know what I thought about Season One Stefan. (Nothing good).
~ Elena. You continue to annoy me.
~ Damon giving Elena the necklace back. Again, that felt like a GIANT dose of manipulation from the writers to get me on board the D/E train. Because I refuse to believe Damon is that short sighted and having the act be some desperate straw clutch from the writers is much easier to cope with than the idea that Damon really HAS become Season One Stefan. On all counts! I mean, Katherine had only just finished telling him the necklace was important. That Klaus had wanted it. That she hadn't yet figured out the significance but that there most definitely WAS significance to be figured out. And he thinks stealing it back and handing it straight over to Elena is a good idea? Without checking it out first???? Season One/Two Damon would NEVER have even considered doing this before making sure it was safe. And I don't think Season Three Damon would do that either. Which simply leaves me with "The Writers Wanted To Manipulate Me Onto The D/E Train", which... cheap. It wouldn't have even taken much for them to make that more realistic. I mean, Damon could have researched it for a few minutes (even if just a cursory mention were given to it) and then deemed it safe and handed it over. OR, he could have told her that he had it, but that there was something about it that still needed to be figured out but that he'd keep it for her. OR, well... any number of things that DIDN'T involve him blindly handing it over.
~ Why would Klaus freak out at Damon's mention of Michael (Mikael?), but then take some time out of his getaway FLEE to not steal Elena and take her with him, but track down Stefan and entrust him (the dude who has recently proved himself MOST LIKELY TO BETRAY) to keep an eye on her? That seems so counter intuitive to me! And while Klaus really hasn't proved himself to be the BIG BAD he was built up as, he's surely smarter than that?? SURELY?!
~ And while we're on Stefan and Klaus. Are we now to assume that Rose's "the switch isn't really a thing" has been ret-conned into oblivion? So much confusion to keep up with. And I guess this is (again!) the writers manipulating me into giving Stefan a giant PASS on all the things he's going to do next when they inevitably start their Redemption Of Brother Number Two arc. BUT THEN, Stefan was able to resist the "KILL ELENA" compulsion (just) so... what the fuckity fuck are we meant to be thinking about all of this? There's been talk that Stefan might be faking the compulsion, but the fact that they gave us the close-up pupil dilation/constriction thing makes me think we're supposed to believe it. Unless Stefan went so far as to fake THAT?!
~ Umm, so Tyler is a hybrid. He was in transition to a vampire. So, what? If you're already a werewolf, then becoming a vampire is a piece of cake? Like, one sip of human blood is enough and now he's vamp and not STARVING and trying to take off and find humans to feed on a la every other transition to vampire scene we've been given? He's just merrily chatting away to Caroline about how GREAT it all is? Huh? Does. Not. Compute.
~ I have a feeling the writers might be about to make Damon into a hypocrite. Do. Not. Want.
GOOD STUFF
~ Katherine and Damon and their SNARK OF WIN AND MUTUAL (but different) DENIAL! (She's in denial that he's over her, he's in denial that he loved her and would have done -- and DID -- anything for her).
~ Katherine kidnapping Jeremy and stowing him in the trunk and her whole reveal to Damon and the whole road trip was made of win (right up to the point where Damon left and lost most of what makes him interesting in the process).
~ Katherine and Jeremy. I 'ship it. Not gonna lie. And it feels gooooooood!
~ Jeremy. And him being all cool and calm with the goings on. And his teaming up with Katherine (and Anna?) to find Michael/Mikael. Please let there be moar K/J! Also, let's have it be by choice that J hangs out with her. And let's have E getting her feathers all ruffled about the whole thing. Kthx.
~ Rebekah. She is SENSATIONAL. And I'm very sad that she's (hopefully only temporarily) gone. I think she and Katherine should get together and MARVEL at their mutual LUV and RESPEKT for all things Elena (and Stefan/Elena).
~ Stefan's "carry on" made me LOLOL. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've had this reaction to something Stefan has said (when it was what the writers were intending... because there's been plenty of times I've LOLed at Stefan but none of them were when I was supposed to!). So, while I don't get the situation with Stefan at the moment (compulsion/ripper/neither/both/babysitter/huh?), if he brings Teh Snark then I'm happy to put up with it for a while.
AND ALSO...
There has been talk (here at youcallitwinter's journal) that television shows simply don't turn their protagonist into the BIG BAD for real because it never works and they can never retain sympathy and that this is why the TVD writers have pulled back with Stefan (and written in the compulsion get out of jail free card). Well, I disagree. And there is a current day example of a show that has done (and continues to do) EXACTLY that. Walter White (Breaking Bad) was a loving, devoted family man and unassuming high school chemistry teacher. And now, three and a bit seasons in, he's a mass murdering drug chef with a kill list a mile long and an ego the size of Europe. He's still the main protagonist of the show and still garners sincere sympathy and support from a vast majority of the BB fandom (including me). And I believe it lies in the carefully written and BRILLIANTLY acted deconstruction of his character. We (the viewers) have been given a front row seat to his careful unravelling. We sympathise with him because we UNDERSTAND exactly how he got to where he is. And the grace and sheer clever-ness of the scripts, of the storytelling, has been deftly sublime. So, TVD writers, it CAN be done. I just wish you'd been a little braver. Paul Wesley may not be Bryan Cranston (let's be honest, who is?), but I still think it was worth the risk. I, for one, would have applauded the audacity...
Verbose re-cap is verbose! If you got to the end... have some
to celebrate!